Biblical math is tricky stuff , and centuries of Bible scholars ( and evensome scientists ) have scoured the New Testament attempt to bet the exactdate when Jesus died . The leading contenders are April 7 , 30 C.E. or April 3 , 33 C.E. Why two dissimilar dates ? You ’ll see in a minute .
For expert help , we recruitedHelen Bond , religion prof at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and co - legion ( with this author ) of a podcast calledBiblical Time Machine .
Biblical Clues to the Date of Jesus' Death
The Judaic calendar at the prison term was lunar , meaning that thefirst engagement of each monthwas specify by when the light of a new crescent moon was seeable in the holy city of Jerusalem . The setting sun meant the end of one daytime and the new moon meant the first of the next . Daylight hours were measure from sunrise , so the first minute was 6 a.m. , the third hour was 9 ante meridiem , the sixth hour was noon , and the ninth hr was 3 p.m. Some of these times were include in the biblical accounts of Jesus ' excruciation . For instance , Luke 23:44 - 46 says :
All four of the gospels ( Matthew , Mark , Luke and John ) agree on a canonical chronology of events terminate with Jesus ' excruciation on a Friday :
● Thursday evening : Jesus Christ shared a repast ( known as " theLast Supper " ) with his disciple and was hold afterward that night .
● Friday morning : Jesus was tried byPontius Pilate , the Roman prefect , and executed Friday afternoon .
● Friday evening : Jesus was hastily sink in the tomb right before sunset on Friday , the root ofShabbat , the Judaic Sabbath .
We can be fairly certain that the escort we ’re looking for has to set ashore on a Friday . So far , so ripe .
What about the yr ? The Bible does not give us a lot of specific date , but it does cite specific historic figures . By cross - reference those name withdates provided by outdoors sources(mostly the R.C. - Jewish historiographer Josephus ) , we can be fair certain that the death of Jesus happened sometime within these time skeletal frame :
● The sovereignty of Tiberius Caesar , the Roman emperor moth : 14 C.E. to 37 C.E.
● When Pontius Pilate was prefect in Judaea : 26 C.E. to 36 C.E.
● When Caiaphas was high priest in Jerusalem : 18 C.E. to 36 C.E.
However , there are still some other timeline issues to try and dissolve .
Was Jesus Killed on Passover or the Day Before?
Here ’s where we run into our first disagreement . All four creed write up accord that Jesus was down on a Friday sometime during thePassoverholiday , but was it on Passover itself or was it the day before ?
● In the gospel of Matthew , Mark and Luke ( known collectively as the " synoptic " gospels ) , Passover fall on a Friday , so Jesus was try and killed onthe very day of Passover .
● In the gospel of John , however , Passover fall on a Saturday , so Jesus was tried and killedthe day before Passover , know as the Day of Preparation . ( A Passover banquet would have had to be train the day before the Sabbath , because of the biblical injunction to do no work on the Sabbath . )
Why is it so important whether Passover land on a Friday or a Saturday ? Because that will determine in which year the excruciation could have happened . Thanks to figurer , we can look for appointment between 26 and 36 C.E. ( when the escort graze above intersection ) and when Passover either land on a Friday or a Saturday .
Using those criteria , you getthree potential datesfor the crucifixion ( calculate on the evangel ):
● April 11 , 27 C.E. ( Mark , Matthew , Luke ) on Passover
● April 7 , 30 C.E. ( John ) , the day before Passover
● April 3 , 33 C.E. ( John ) , the mean solar day before Passover
Most scholars think that 27 C.E. is too early , since the gospel truth of Matthewindicatesthat John the Baptist begin preaching in the " 15th year of the sovereignty of Tiberius , " which would have been 28 C.E. at the earliest . In the Bible ’s chronology , Jesus begins his charge after John , so 28 C.E. is the out-and-out early starting date .
And that ’s how biblical learner terminate up with two finalist for the escort of Jesus ' excruciation : April 7 , 30 and April 3 , 33 .
Bondwritesthat the majority of scholars side with April 7 , 30 , as the on-key engagement . This is the particular date favored by the great unwashed who believe that Jesus ' missionary work was comparatively light or that it began as early as 28 C.E. A smaller group of scholars are just as certain about April 3 , 33 , believing that Jesus ' foreign mission lasted three days and started closer to 30 C.E. They also affirm this date because itcoincided with a lunar eclipse , which Pilate may have referenced in a letter to the emperor Tiberius .
Or Was It Another Date?
Faced with contradicting gospels and four possible date for the crucifixion , Bondhas her own theory : They ’re all wrong . Or to put it another room , the gospel singing author were less concerned with historical accuracy than with indite a spiritually and theologically compelling narrative .
In John ’s gospel ( specificallyJohn 19:14 ) , Jesus is crucified at noon on the Day of Preparation for the Passover , the accurate clock time when the paschal lambs were being butcher for the ritual Passover meal orseder .
" John opt to time the excruciation with the Day of Preparation for theological reasons , " say Bond . " The whole power point for John is that Jesus is the young Passover lamb . He ’s going to conk out on the interbreeding as the new Passover sacrifice . "
Mark ’s gospel , too , had its own theological motivations for opt Passover itself as the day that the Romans crucified Jesus .
" According to Mark , the Last Supper takes station at exactly the same meter as the other Jews are celebrating the Passover seder , " suppose Bond . " Mark wants to say that the Last Supper , with its foundation of the Lord ’s Supper ( the bread and wine ) , is a sort of replacement for the Passover meal . "
adhesiveness thinks that it ’s far more likely that Jesus was arrest and killed several days or even a week before Passover . It progress to horse sense that both the Jewish bureau and Pilate would have wanted to be rid of this " bad hat " before the vacation began . But if Jesus ' follower knew that he was savage " around Passover " or " at Passover time , " the juxtaposition of Jesus ' end and Passover would have grown increasingly substantial .
By the time the gospel were written , decades after the events they delineate , " Passover would have had this magnetic puff , so that everything ends up find ' on the Passover ' instead of ' around the clip of Passover , ' " say Bond . " Both of the date in John and Mark are credibly wrong historically , but they represent important former reflexion on the significance of Jesus ' death and resurrection . "
