Understanding the Bible
This post is part of our Understanding the Bible series—short, clear explanations of common questions, phrases, images, and themes found in Scripture.
The goal is simple: to help you read the Bible more clearly by explaining what the text says, what it meant in its original context, and why it still matters today.
These studies are designed for personal Bible reading, small groups, teaching preparation, or anyone who wants to grow in biblical understanding without needing technical training.
On this page:
Quick Answer
There is no contradiction. The women prepared spices before the Sabbath (Friday afternoon) and bought additional spices after the Sabbath ended (Saturday evening). Mark and Luke are describing different moments in the same timeline—not conflicting events.
Why This Question Comes Up
A popular online claim challenges the traditional understanding of a Friday crucifixion by pointing to two verses:
- Mark says the women bought spices after the Sabbath
- Luke says they prepared spices before the Sabbath
From that, some conclude, “That’s a contradiction, so the traditional timeline must be wrong.”
But that conclusion assumes something the text never requires—that both verses are describing the same moment. They are not. They describe two different moments surrounding Jesus’ burial and resurrection.
What looks like a contradiction is actually what happens when we read selectively instead of sequentially. The problem is not the Bible’s clarity. The problem is our tendency to flatten the timeline.
Luke 23:55–56 (NLT)
“Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished, the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law.”
Mark 16:1 (NLT)
“Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.”
Simple Explanation
Luke describes what happened before the Sabbath began:
- The women returned home
- They prepared spices Friday afternoon
- Then they stopped when the Sabbath began at sunset
Mark describes what happened after the Sabbath ended:
- Sabbath ends Saturday evening at sundown
- Ordinary activity resumes
- The women buy additional spices
So the answer is simple: they prepared some spices before the Sabbath and purchased more after it ended.
There is no contradiction between Mark and Luke. They are describing two different parts of the same weekend.
The Timeline (According to the Gospel Accounts)
- Friday afternoon: Jesus is crucified, dies, is buried, and the women begin preparing spices
- Friday sunset to Saturday sunset: Sabbath; they rest
- Saturday evening: Sabbath ends; they buy more spices
- Sunday morning: They go to the tomb and find it empty
This timeline fits the Gospel accounts naturally without forcing any verse or inventing a contradiction.
Deeper Dive
The supposed contradiction disappears when we remember three key realities of the biblical world.
1. The Jewish Day Began at Sunset
In the world of the Bible, a day runs from sunset to sunset, not midnight to midnight. That means the Sabbath began Friday evening, not Saturday morning.
So Luke 23:56 is describing activity before Friday sunset. Mark 16:1 is describing activity after Saturday sunset.
2. Scripture Itself Shows That Commerce Resumed After Sabbath Ended
The Old Testament already gives us that pattern.
In Nehemiah 13:19, the gates of Jerusalem were shut as Sabbath approached and were not reopened until after the Sabbath. The point is clear: commerce stopped for Sabbath and resumed when the Sabbath was over.
In Amos 8:5, corrupt merchants complain, “When will the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?” That question only makes sense if people ordinarily expected to resume selling as soon as the Sabbath ended.
3. Early Jewish Sources Reflect the Same Assumption
Both Scripture and early Jewish sources reflect the same pattern: when Sabbath restrictions ended at nightfall, ordinary activity could resume.
Mishnah Shabbat 23:3 says: “A person may not hire laborers on Shabbat, nor may he ask another to hire laborers for him. Someone may not wait at the edge of the Sabbath boundary until nightfall in order to hire laborers or bring in produce.”
That wording is important. Why would someone wait at the boundary until nightfall? Because once the Sabbath ended, he could immediately do what had been forbidden during the Sabbath—hire workers and bring in produce. The prohibition itself assumes how quickly normal activity resumed.
Later Jewish legal tradition preserves the same logic. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Sabbath 24:5, discusses going to the edge of the Sabbath boundary and waiting until nightfall in order to take care of matters that could be handled as soon as the Sabbath ended. The assumption again is straightforward: Sabbath restrictions end at nightfall, and ordinary activity resumes.
Taken together, Scripture and Jewish sources point in the same direction: the women could have prepared spices before the Sabbath, rested during the Sabbath, and then bought additional spices once the Sabbath ended Saturday evening.
4. Mark and Luke Are Complementary, Not Conflicting
Luke emphasizes the women’s devotion before the Sabbath. Mark emphasizes what they did after the Sabbath.
That is not contradiction. It is exactly what we should expect from real historical testimony. Different writers highlight different moments, and together they form a fuller picture.
What About the “Wednesday Crucifixion” Argument?
Some use this supposed contradiction to argue that Jesus must have been crucified on Wednesday in order to fit a strict “three full days and nights” model.
But this spice question does not require that conclusion at all. The timeline works naturally within the traditional Friday crucifixion and Sunday resurrection framework.
- The women prepared spices before the Sabbath
- They rested during the Sabbath
- They bought more spices after the Sabbath ended
- They came to the tomb early on the first day of the week
So this meme does not prove a Wednesday crucifixion. It only proves that people often assume a contradiction before carefully working through the timeline.
What We Can Say with Confidence
- The women prepared spices before the Sabbath (Luke 23:56)
- The women bought spices after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1)
- These refer to two different moments, not a contradiction
- Scripture itself shows that commerce resumed after Sabbath ended
- Early Jewish sources reflect the same expectation that ordinary activity resumed at nightfall
- The Gospel accounts are complementary, not conflicting
Key Takeaway
What looks like a contradiction at first glance is actually a good reminder that careful Bible reading matters. When Scripture is read in context, with attention to Jewish timekeeping and ordinary first-century practice, the problem disappears.
The women prepared spices before the Sabbath, bought more after it ended, and went to the tomb on Sunday morning. The Bible does not contradict itself here. It fits together.
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