For centuries scholars and laymen, Christians and skeptics have debated and argued when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. Even arguing whether or not he was crucified or even if he existed. Out of these “conversations” have developed many theories of when, how, and why the individual we have come to know as Jesus Christ was executed.
Instead of going through all the many theories and arguments explaining why they are missing the target. I have decided to simply present the information provided in the 4 Gospels along with the information from the Jewish scriptures (Old Testament) and the calendrical data.
The question – was Jesus of Nazareth crucified on the 14th of Nisan? …And the answer according to scripture – is NO. However, Jesus Christ was crucified during the Passover just as scripture says and I would appreciate the opportunity to show you how.
My intent is simply to show what actually happened. My research was done with the motive of simply understanding and not trying to support a predetermined theory or theology. The main problem with every theory I have read is a lack of understanding of the Jewish concept of Passover which is what Christians call Easter. Easter is a one day holiday, but Passover is not.
To prevent copying my research here in totality I would like to invite anyone who wishes to read my article to click on the link below. My conclusion of when Jesus of Nazareth was executed is based on the 4 Gospels, The Jewish scriptures (Old Testament), and the data collected from a secular calendar conversion program that specializes in Gregorian, Julian and the Hebrew calendars. I think you will see why Christians and skeptics have been arguing in ignorance which is always an exercise in futility. While I have tried to make the article interesting, the article “Timeline: The Last Passover With Jesus” is a straight forward step by step look at the events. I also include the links to the tools I used so anyone can investigate my findings.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Whatever your belief system thank you in advance for reading and I would like to Thank Dr. Erhman for suggesting I join his blog and become a member and for providing a forum for this type of discussion. If someone disagrees with my conclusion please provide verifiable evidence.
Sincerely, Jordan Michiels
Friday 1st April 33 AD (Gregorian Calendar) was 14 Nisan 3793 (Hebrew Calendar).
But 14 Nisan ends, and 15 Nisan begins, at sunset on this day. So in Hebrew Calendar the beginning of 15 Nisan is Friday.
So after twilight on the 14 Nisan 3793 the passover lamb is sacrificed. Still Friday (in Hebrew calendar) on 15 Nisan 3793 Jesus is crucified – agreeing with all four gospels.
I’ve always thought the closest thing to the truth was that there was a tradition that Jesus was crucified during the Passover. None of the gospel writers knew exactly when so Mark made it the day he did because of his theological concerns and John made it the day he did because of his theological concerns.
Orhan Aşkın said
But only Gospel of John says that Jesus of Nazareth crucified at Passover Day other three gospels it is Day before Passover.
Well Matthew and Luke depend on Mark so we’re really only talking about Mark and John.
In Mark, (and consequently Matthew and Luke), Jesus was crucified on the first day of the Passover in the morning. But John tells us Jesus was crucified at noon on the Preparation Day, one day before the first full day of Passover. In Mark, the Passover Seder is the Last Supper, and the lambs have been sacrificed and prepared earlier on the Day of Preparation. But in John, Jesus is crucified on the Day of Preparation. John tells us that Jesus was crucified as the lambs were being slaughtered because he wants his readers to see Jesus as a kind of Passover lamb.
Both Mark and John have theological concerns and they show a willingness to shape their stories to highlight these concerns. The tendency among many scholars is to treat Mark as historical and John as less so but I don’t see any reason to think Mark wasn’t theologizing his traditions as well.
Stephen said
I’ve always thought the closest thing to the truth was that there was a tradition that Jesus was crucified during the Passover. None of the gospel writers knew exactly when so Mark made it the day he did because of his theological concerns and John made it the day he did because of his theological concerns.
Mark says the son of man will rise after three days. If he was free to make up any day he liked he would have put the resurrection three days after the crucifixion – not Friday to Sunday.
Rather the must have been a strong tradition of crucifixion on Friday and resurrection on Sunday. The explanation for “after three days” is that Matthew first tried to show the story of Jonah three days and three nights in the belly of the fish was a sign of the resurrection – Friday to Sunday.
The prophecy doesn’t quite work however so Luke keeps the mention of Jonah but not the three days and three nights, Luke 11:29-30 “This generation is an evil generation; it asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so the Son of Man will be to this generation.“
and Mark removes the sign altogether Mark 8:12 “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.“
Orhan Aşkın said
But only Gospel of John says that Jesus of Nazareth crucified at Passover Day other three gospels it is Day before Passover.
The three synoptics all have Jesus eat the evening passover meal with the disciples and have Jesus crucified after sunrise on a Friday (Παρασκευήν).
John 13:1 says “It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
But this is referring to the speech he just given in chapter 12 – just before the Passover. So in 13:2 “The evening meal was in progress… ” is the Passover evening meal. And again Jesus will be crucified after sunrise on Friday (Παρασκευήν).
Reasons to think John has placed it before the Passover dont work.
John 18:26 “By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.” Unleavened bread is to be eaten for the full week and they wanted to be able to continue eating the prescribed food for the Passover festival.
John 19:18 “It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.” Incorrect interpretation – intended to mean the Friday of the Passover week. There’s no such thing as the day of preparation of the Passover. The lamb is prepared 4 days before its sacrificed and the synoptics all refer to the day before as the first day of the feast of unleavened.
Based on what I am reading none of you have actually read my article. Fascinating. I had my presuppositional biases before learning more about Passover which is explained in the article. I didn’t write the article so people could see how smart I am. I wrote the article because I wanted to share the discovery that the sequence of events does, in fact, fit the calendrical data. Regardless of the perspective of the 4 Gospels or their theological overtones, the point is that they do indeed record historical events that can be verified by calendrical data.
Leaders listen, they learn and then they lead. Part of listening is seeking to understand. If we are so full of knowledge that no one can tell us anything then we have lost the ability to learn. Easter is a one day holiday, but Passover is not. I encourage you to find out what that means. Because I don’t think it means what you think it means.
** you do not have permission to see this link **
Thank you in advance to those who actually read the research and seek to understand.
JordanMichiels said
Based on what I am reading none of you have actually read my article.
Hi Jordan,
I would love to read your article. I was wondering – is it too long to paste here so I could read it?
I hope you can understand, I don’t like to click links from people I’ve just met on-line. But if you post it in this thread I’m sure you’ll find many of us will look forward to reading your research.
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