Crucifixion Day
I have always been puzzled about the claim that the Crucifixion took place on a Friday as the various Scriptural references have to be treated as being approximate in order to allow that. Now with the help of another site (acknowledgement of which is given in my "Recommended Sites" section) I believe I have the answer. The clue lies in the fact that in addition to the 52 weekly sabbaths each year, Scripture establishes 7 more Sabbaths. (also referred to as "High Days"), two of which are in the Passover festival. Whilst the Apostles and the early church would have been fully aware of this, the Roman Catholic teaching ignored it, and still does. The Passover comprises of
A preparation day when the actual passover meal takes place, followed by
A "High Day" which is also called a "Sabbath Day" ( whether or not it falls on a Saturday,)
7 Days of unleavened bread, the final day of which is also a High Day "Sabbath".
Exo 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at eve
Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein.
Lev 23:8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein
Therefore, unless one of the two High Days fell on a Saturday, the Passover period of 8 days would contain 3 "Sabbaths". On this basis that all the scripture relating to the crucifixion and resurrection agree. i.e.
Mat 12:39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
Mat 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Clearly, as the Only Sign to be given of Jesus authority that had to be fulfilled, this condition has to be met. Remember that the Jewish “Day" consisted of the current daytime plus the previous night time, as established from the beginning.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
With this in mind we can now examine the recorded events leading up to the Crucifixion.
Mat 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover?
Mat 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.
Mat 26:19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
Mat 26:20 Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
This being the first day of the Passover. The 14 th day of the month Nissan. This day of the week changes each year under the Julien and Gregorian calendars but not always in the Israeli.
The only week day which is specifically named is before dawn the morning after the resurrection as the "First day of the week", i.e Sunday.
Joh_20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
The previous day, Saturday, was a regular weekly sabbath.
So we are left with the following calendar. using official Jewish days,
14th Day of Nissan Last supper (evening)
14th day of Nissan before Pilate (day)
14th day of Nissan Jesus crucified 1st day 3 hours +
15th day of Nissan High Sabbath 1st night + day 2
Joh 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Joh 19:32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.
Joh 19:33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
16th day of Nissan Weekly Sabbath 2nd night + day3
17th day of Nissan Resurrection Sunday. 3rd night
Therefore 14th day of Nissan was Thursday, the day of the crucifixion.
This results in 2 days +3 hours and 2 nights + unspecified hours.
Using various date calculators, the 14th Nissan seems to have occured on a Thursday on 07/04/27 AD and 18/03/37 AD in the Gregorian calendar, but I have no way of checking that, as 3 separate on line date converters give 3 different results.
Pontius Pilate was in Jerusalem from 26 AD until 36 AD so it seems the AD 27 date is applicable.
Note: Sunrise in Jerusalem on March 31 is 5.33 am local time (ignoring any "Daylight saving time" manipulation)
According to Strong's concordance, the Jews often counted part days as a "Day" when counting a sequencew of days, so I believe the day of the Crucifixion was a Thursday.
Jesus Birth Year
With regard to Jesus birth, Herod died in 4 BC and the declaration of the Quirinius’ census was in 8 B.C .and would have take a couple of years to organise. Therefore, a birth date of 6 BC would seem appropriate, making Jesus 30 years of age at rhe start of His 3 years of ministry in 24 AD, assuming crucifixion in 27 AD as per above section.
See:
Luk 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
Luk 2:2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
Luk 2:3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
Luk 2:4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
Luk 2:5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
Luk 2:6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
Mat 2:13 When they (the Magi) had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him."
Mat 2:14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,
Mat 2:15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."
Luk 2:2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
Luk 3:23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.
While matters like these might seem superfluous to many people, they do emphasise the accuracy of the Scriptures.
Announcement
When you click on a link to another site, I may or may not agree with their views on any particular subject, although I am generally happy with their approach. Many sites claiming to expound Christian beliefs are careless in their Bible quotes, referring only to those apparently supporting their view but ignoring those that do not. I have tried to avoid doing that. Our approach to Scripture must be to learn the truth, not to win arguments as if we were playing a game. You may think I have too many quotes but I believe the Sword of the Spirit should be used as much as possible.