when was Jesus crucified?
When purchasing a house or acreage one always takes the precaution of having it surveyed to insure against the unpleasant surprise of finding that half your new home has been built on your neighbor’s property, or the dam is not on your land. To prove the accuracy of the map or plan of your purchase, the surveyor will first locate a government “trig” station or absolute, then fix one corner of your property from this constant as his datum post. And from this known fixed point he will accurately measure and confirm all the other boundaries of the site. Ancient masons who built the great cathedrals first established the precise location of one point. Here they laid the cornerstone from which the whole structure was measured. In a recent teaching we learned that Christ is the head of the corner or capstone, from which the temple of the living God or Church is measured. Tonight we’re going to revisit the last supper and crucifixion and drive in a few datum posts, or establish some constants
The dating of the Crucifixion depends upon the dating of Passover in the years Pontius Pilate was ruling. The only years in which Passover occurred on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday while Pilate was in charge, and early enough to allow Paul’s conversion to have occurred at least 14 years before the council in Acts 15, were 28, 30, 31, 33, and 34. Paul says in Galatians that he was three years in Damascus following his conversion and then fourteen years elapsed until he joined in the council described in Acts 15. This council was in 48 or 49 AD. Even if we telescope the three years into the fourteen and assume the latter date of 49 for the council, the conversion of Paul can be no later than 35 AD. Since Acts shows Paul’s conversion must have been in the year following the Crucifixion, 34 AD is the latest possible year. We can absolutely eliminate the years 29 and 32 because in those years the Passover occurred at the beginning of the week and are thus impossible to reconcile with any
Several times the Gospels mention that Jesus was crucified on the day before the Sabbath, the Jewish Day of Preparation (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14, 31, 42), that is, on Friday. Some object on the basis of Matthew 12:40: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” They argue that this requires three 24-hour days. Some argue that since he was raised on a Sunday, he must have been crucified on a Thursday. However, the NT repeatedly refers to Jesus’ resurrection as occurring on the third day, not the fourth day (Matthew 16:21; 17:23; Luke 9:22; 18:33; Acts 10:40; 1 Corinthians 15:4). And the Jews reckoned a part of day as a whole day. So there is no problem with the death of Jesus on Friday, being in the tomb on Saturday, and being raised on Sunday constituting three days in Jewish reckoning.
Introduction On this page are separate studies by guests Alan P. and Barry S. as to when Jesus was crucified. These studies reflect the views of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect Biblebell’s views. Finally, there is a “Biblebell addendum” to respond to various questions posed by messages from various other readers of these pages.
