Crucifixion Date
I would like to take time today to figure out when Jesus was crucified. We can infer from today’s focus verse that there was something that darkened the sun for three hours. Possibly a solar eclipse? Was there such a solar eclipse in Jerusalem around 33 AD that lasted 3 hours? Well no! The Jewish month started on the new moon and the Passover was on the 14th day of the month.
“The Passover to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month. On the day you wave the sheaf, you are to offer a year-old male lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord.”
Leviticus 23:5, 12 HCSB
So it cannot be a solar eclipse because it would have been a full moon.
And in Joel, we see this.
“I will display wonders in the heavens and on the earth: blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and awe-inspiring Day of the Lord comes.”
If the moon turned red and the people saw it as a sign at the beginning of the Sabbath the day after the day of the Passover lamb then there could be a lunar eclipse, where the earth casts a shadow over the moon. Was there a lunar eclipse around 33 AD? Yes, April 3rd 33ad. It happened at moonrise under the horizon and under Jesus’ feet (see research paper below). The people who were higher than the eastern horizon might have seen it.
So I have no space-related explanation for why the sun went dark for three hours. There is a possible planet called Nibiru with a 3,600-year orbit. What little I know about Nibiru I cannot say for certain that this would be the cause of the sun going dark.
So there is another theory. Dust storm or ash cloud (see 3-hour darkness below)! When we cannot explain the darkness by the sun, moon, and stars we must look inside our atmosphere. In Siberia, in July 2018 locals experienced a three-hour eerie darkness. Afterward, there was a fine dust on the ground. So it is reasonable to conclude that there may have been the same kind of event during the crucifixion.
So now in determining the date of the crucifixion. I have listed the date of April 3, 33. And that fits well with the traditional view of Good Friday. But there are strong arguments against Friday being the day of crucifixion.
“For as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights.”
Did Jesus really say three days and three nights? And did he mean a literal three days and three nights? In our Friday view. He would have been in the tomb on Friday (late), Saturday, and Sunday (morning). But this is only 2 nights, Friday and Saturday.
Yes! I believe Jesus said and meant three days and three nights. Any part of a day would count as a day. So at least one partial day and night and at least one whole day and night. And the third is either a partial or whole. So how might this work?
If Jesus was crucified on Wednesday. He was placed in the tomb once it was considered night (1st night). Thursday would be a holy sabbath (1st day and 2nd night). Friday would be a regular day (2nd day, 3rd night). Saturday would be the regular sabbath, but Jesus would have to be raised before it was night (3rd day). So how does this fit with the gospel accounts? We should see hints of Friday in there.
“When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.
The next day, which followed the preparation day, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while this deceiver was still alive He said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’”
Matthew 27:57, 62-63 HCSB
“After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb.”
Matthew records. Joseph talked to Pilot on the evening of the crucifixion (after 3 when the sun returned). On the next day, a sabbath, (the day after a preparation day) the Pharisees approached Pilot asking to make the tomb secure. And on Sunday Mary and the other women find the tomb empty, announced by an earthquake and some angels.
“When it was already evening, because it was preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.”
Mark 15:42-43 HCSB
“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so they could go and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise.”
Mark records that the day Jesus was crucified was the day before the Sabbath. The women bought spices and came to the tomb the day after the Sabbath. So the question has to be asked did they buy the spices on Friday between two Sabbaths or Sunday morning on their way to the tomb? When would the markets be opened? I doubt it was before daybreak.
“It was preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Him from Galilee followed along and observed the tomb and how His body was placed. Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.”
Luke 23:54-56 HCSB
“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared.”
Luke says roughly the same thing as Mark, but they prepared spices before the Sabbath. So it would have been Friday either way. Did they have time to prepare the spices on that first day?
“They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation and since the tomb was nearby.”
“On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.”
It seem they were in a hurry in John’s account. They placed Him in the garden tomb because it was nearby. But I do not see anything about an extra day. Also in John’s account, the spices were prepared before Jesus’ burial.
So it seems there was another day for the women to get prepared for Sunday. So I have named April 3, 33 as the possible Friday of the crucifixion. So would there be a possible Wednesday that fits?
March 24, 34 fits. According to the research paper below they believe that Paul was converted in 34. So is it possible for Acts 1-7 to happen between March and December of 34?
“As they were meeting in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.” And they were deeply distressed.”
Matthew 17:22-23 HCSB
When we look at the saying, “On the third day.” The Good Friday account works. But does the Wednesday account work too? As we saw earlier, yes? Jesus rose on Saturday but was not discovered until the fourth day, Sunday. But in John, we find this statement
“Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father — to My God and your God.”
Jesus had not ascended to the Father. So what did Jesus do during the night? It does not seem to work that Jesus would be homeless during the night of Saturday just waiting till someone discovered the tomb was empty.
So Friday may not be right and Wednesday may not be either. But would Thursday work? Crucified on Thursday. Placed in the tomb after dark (1st night) sabbath on Friday and Saturday (1st and 2nd day, 2nd and 3rd night). Risen on Sunday (3rd day). So do have a date for a Thursday crucifixion? April 10, 27. However, according to the research paper below 27 AD is too early because Jesus’ baptism took place between 28 and 30 AD. So no the Thursday theory does not work.
So I do not know the year. There seem to be holes in the Friday and Wednesday theory. Could the women have found someone setting up a booth to sell spices before dawn on Sunday? It is possible. The preparation day is always a day before the Sabbath and I don’t see two preparation days in the gospel account. There is good reasoning to say that Joseph and Nicodemus would be working really hard to get Jesus in the tomb before nightfall so they could be clean for the Passover. So I want to stick with Friday, April 3rd of 33.
But as we have seen this year and also through the ages of Jesus’ possible crucifixion dates, the Passover falls on different days each year and in different parts of our calendar year. So instead of getting hung up on Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. We should be observing Passover and three days later Resurrection Sunday. Which was Monday, April 22nd, 2024. And will be on Saturday, April 12th, 2025. Whereas Good Friday was March 29th, 2024, and will be April 18th, 2025.
“The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: “This month is to be the beginning of months for you; it is the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month they must each select an animal of the flock according to their fathers’ households, one animal per household.
You are to keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; then the whole assembly of the community of Israel will slaughter the animals at twilight.
This day is to be a memorial for you, and you must celebrate it as a festival to the Lord. You are to celebrate it throughout your generations as a permanent statute.”
Exodus 12:1-3, 6, 14 HCSB
If Passover was to be a permanent statute then should we celebrate it according to God’s command and through the lens of Jesus, our Passover lamb that is coming back as the Lion from the tribe of Judah?
Those of us who are still alive during the 1,000-year reign of Jesus will also have to get accustomed to the new calendar of God and not our Gregorian calendar. We now live among people who will continue to celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday but let us also pay attention to God’s Passover the next time it comes around for a permanent celebration!
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