The Evening of John 20

Chapter 20 of the Gospel of John elaborates on some key events that followed Jesus' resurrection. It begins with the discovery of His empty tomb on Sunday morning by Mary Magdalene and other disciples, while it was still dark (John 20:1-10). Shortly thereafter, He appeared to Mary Magdalene alone (vv. 11-18).

Next, we read, "Then, the same day [Sunday, the first day of the week] at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, 'Peace be with you'" (John 20:19).

As in other Scriptures, we see a clear pattern of morning followed by evening. Evening had to be before the end of the day at sunset, or else it could not have been the evening of the same day!

Therefore, evening in this passage can only be late afternoon before sunset. This weighs heavily on the discussion of evening and "between the two evenings." In turn, it weighs heavily on the timing of Passover, the evening sacrifice, and the evening incense offering, all of which happened "between the two evenings." It points to those events happening at the end of the day, not the beginning.

For more details on the timing of these events, see the book The Lord's Passover, available for free in PDF format.