What Day Did Jesus Die And Rise

When Did Jesus Die? The Year, Day & Time

There has been much speculation concerning the day and year of Christ’s crucifixion and death, owing to the absence of clear day-to-day linkage in the stories of the four Gospels. We know that Jesus died on Preparation Day because it is mentioned in each of the four Gospel narratives. But was it a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday when that happened? In addition, what hour did Jesus die? There has even been discussion over the year in which he passed away. To figure out the day of Jesus’ death on the cross, we must piece together the evidence from his four Gospels and our understanding of his historical period and cultural context.

Cultural Information to Keep in Mind

1. The gospel writers were more concerned with depicting Jesus as a person than they were with the precise chronology of his appearance. Dates have become increasingly important in today’s environment in order to provide proper news coverage. However, the Gospel authors were more concerned with the events themselves than they were with the precise date of the occurrences. They were attempting to introduce Jesus to a variety of audiences rather than providing a thorough biography. It was the day before the Sabbath that was designated as the Day of Preparation.

This is the day on which Jews prepared meals and completed all of the tasks that were prohibited from being completed on the Sabbath but that still needed to be completed.

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What the Gospels Say about Jesus’ Burial

The Gospel of Matthew contains the most detailed account of Jesus’ death and burial (Matthew 27:31-62). In this tale, we learn about Joseph, a wealthy man from Arimathea “who had himself become a follower of Jesus,” according to one piece (Matthew 27:57 b). In Matthew 27:58-61, it is said that Joseph approached Pilate and begged for permission to bury Jesus’ body. “The next day, the day after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate,” we are told in Matthew 27:62. Joseph followed out this plan on Preparation Day.

In the Jewish calendar, it was Preparation Day (i.e., the day before the Sabbath).” (Matthew 15:42 a.) … Consequently, Joseph purchased some linen material, brought the corpse down from the casket, wrapped it in the linen, and buried it in a tomb dug into the rock.

Jesus died on the Day of Preparation, as confirmed by Luke and John: “Then he carried it down, wrapped it in linen fabric, and buried it in a tomb cut into the rock, in which no one had yet been lain.” As it happened, it was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin” (Luke 23:54).

As it happened, they placed Jesus there since it was the Jewish day of Preparation and because the tomb was close by (John 19:42).

What Day Did Jesus Die? Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday?

Over the years, academics have developed a variety of hypotheses about what occurred during the days of the week preceding up to Jesus’ death on the cross. These versions each offer a different day for Christ’s death, such as Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.

Wednesday The fact that Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday permits for Him to have been buried for three full days and nights
Nevertheless, this also means that He resurrected on the fourth day. Furthermore, the Triumphal Entry would have taken place on Saturday, the day of Sabbath rest
Instead, it took place on Thursday. With a Thursday crucifixion, the Triumphal Entry is moved to Sunday, which makes more sense and removes the necessity for a “quiet day” (a day during thePassion Weekwhen no events were recorded). On the other hand, we know that the Pharisees hurried to put Jesus in the tomb on The Day of Preparation (John 19:34-42), which is Friday, and before the Sabbath began at nightfall (the Jews timed days from the beginning of the nightfall to the beginning of the nightfall). Upon closer examination of the facts, we find that Friday is the most consistent with the Gospel narratives and the historical context. According to the New Testament, Jesus rose from the grave on the third day—not necessarily after three complete, literal days—and was buried on the third day (e.g.,Matthew 16:21
Acts 10:40). As previously stated, Jesus had to be hustled inside the tomb on the day of preparation because of the crowds. In contrast to a Friday crucifixion, which would demand a “quiet day” (most likely Wednesday), this day gives the Sanhedrin the opportunity to make plans for Jesus’s arrest and following trials. As a result, the day is just “quiet” since we haven’t documented anything significant

What Time Did Jesus Die?

According to Matthew Henry’s interpretation, Jesus was nailed to the crucifixion between the third and sixth hours, which corresponds between nine and twelve o’clock in the morning. After then, he died shortly after the ninth hour, which was sometime between three and four o’clock in the afternoon. Commensurate with the aforementioned practice, the Jews throughout the time of Christ measured days from dusk to nightfall. The Matthew 27:46 KJV, which is the “ninth hour,” can be translated into the Matthew 27:46 NIV, which is the “three o’clock in the afternoon,” according to Bible experts.

Timing of Jesus Death in Mark, Luke, and John

The Gospel of Mark 15: 33:34, 37 “At midday, darkness descended across the entire region, lasting until three o’clock in the afternoon. Also, about three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus said, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” in an obnoxiously loud voice. (which translates as ‘My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?’). “Jesus breathed his last with a piercing scream.”
Matthew 23:44-46 ” It was now around midday, and darkness descended upon the entire region until three o’clock in the afternoon since the sun had ceased shining. And the temple’s curtain was split in two by the earthquake. I put my spirit into your hands,’ Jesus said with a resounding voice, calling out to the Father. At the moment he stated this, he exhaled his final breath.” (See also John 19:14-16.) “It was approximately midday on the day of Passover preparations, and it was the day of Passover preparations. ‘Your king has arrived,’ Pilate said to the Jews. They, on the other hand, cried out, “Take him away!” Take him away from me! ‘Put him to death!’ ‘Do you want me to crucify your king?’ Pilate was the one who inquired. ‘We do not have a monarch other than Caesar,’ the leading priests responded. Eventually, Pilate gave him over to them, and they crucified him.”

What Year Did Jesus Die?

During this video, Doug Bookman, a New Testament professor at Shepherds Theological Seminary, shows why biblical academics have reached an agreement about the year Jesus died. “It all boils down to this. Pilate served as prefect of Judea and Samaria from 26 A.D. to 36 A.D., according to the evidence we have. So that’s our view out the window. The following question is: On what day of the week did Passover occur during the year that Jesus died? In the opinion of the majority, it occurred on Thursday or Friday.

Given all of this, the vast majority of researchers will agree that it leads to one of two conclusions: ” Theory 1: Jesus died about the year 30 A.D.

“At this point, the argument becomes pretty technical,” says Bookman of the situation.

I am convinced that the year 33 A.D.

3 Significant Events Shortly After Jesus’ Death

Matthew 27:51-54, Matthew 27:51-54 As a result of this, the temple’s curtain was split in half, from top to bottom. The ground trembled, the rocks cracked, and the tombs burst into flames. Many pious persons who had died were brought back to life by the power of the Holy Spirit. They emerged from the graves following Jesus’ resurrection and proceeded to the holy city, where they appeared to a large number of people. They were startled and cried, “Surely he was the Son of God!” when the centurion and others with him who were guarding Jesus witnessed the earthquake and everything that had transpired.

The temple curtain had been ripped in half.
We know from the laws of the Old Testament that entering God’s presence was a severe matter.
The fact that this curtain was destroyed represented the completion of Jesus Christ’s accomplished work on the cross, which eliminated the barrier between sinful humans and holy God by becoming the ultimate High Priest and the ultimate sacrifice on behalf of all people.
2.
John Gill’s remark on the event states that “this was a demonstration of Christ’s authority over death and the tomb.” When Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his death, he demonstrated that he had destroyed both the power of death and the permanence of the grave.
In addition to its grandiose claims, this event is noteworthy because it is a narrative predicting Christ’s second coming to collect the remainder of his people.
3.

Jesus is brought back to life from the dead. This text in Matthew glosses over such a remarkable occurrence, but Christ’s resurrection is told in greater detail in Matthew 28, which is the gospel of Matthew (as well as inMark 16,Luke 24, andJohn 20). Photograph courtesy of Joshua Earle via Unsplash.

When Was Jesus Christ Crucified and Resurrected? : Did He Really Die on Good Friday and Come Back to Life on Easter Sunday?

As recorded in Matthew 12:38, a group of scribes and Pharisees approached Jesus and requested for a sign to show He was the Messiah. However, Jesus informed them that the only sign He would provide would be similar to that of the prophet Jonah: “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the big fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:38). (Matthew 12:40). The question is, how can we accommodate “three days and three nights” between a Friday afternoon crucifixion and a Sunday morning resurrection?

A number of people feel that Christ’s “three days and three nights” remark does not necessitate a precise period of 72 hours, believing that a portion of one day can be counted as a whole day.
In this theory, however, only two nights are taken into consideration: Friday night and Saturday night Something is clearly wrong with the traditional perspective of when Christ was buried, and it is not difficult to see why.
In the event that Jesus remained in the tomb just from late Friday afternoon until early Sunday morning, the sign He delivered indicating that He was the predicted Messiah would not have been fulfilled, as previously stated.
When we do this, we unearth the true tale of how Jesus’ words were perfectly fulfilled, a story that was previously unknown.

Two Sabbaths mentioned

Take note of the events described in Luke 23. Luke 23:46-53 tells the story of Jesus’ death and burial, which took place in haste because of the approaching Sabbath, which began at sundown that evening. The Bible says in Luke 23:54, “That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing nigh.” Many have thought that the weekly Sabbath is being referenced here, and that Jesus was killed on a Friday as a result of this assumption. However, according to John 19:31, the impending Sabbath “was a high day”—not the weekly Sabbath (which runs from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset), but the first day of Unleavened Bread, which is one of God’s yearly high, or Sabbath, days (as opposed to the weekly Sabbath) (Exodus 12:16-17;Leviticus 23:6-7).

This high-day Sabbath was observed on Wednesday night and Thursday because, according to Luke 23:56, after witnessing Christ’s corpse being deposited in the tomb shortly before sunset, the women “returned and prepared spices and aromatic oils” in preparation for the final preparation of the body for burial.

As recorded in Mark’s account, “Now when the Sabbath had passed, Mary Magdalene and her sister Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and bought spices, so that they may come and anoint Him” (Matthew 26:35).

The ladies had to wait until the end of this yearly “high day” Sabbath before they could go out and purchase and prepare the spices that would be used for anointing Jesus’ body.

This second Sabbath stated in the Gospel reports corresponds to the ordinary weekly Sabbath, which is celebrated from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset every week.

The first, according to John 19:31, was a “high day”—the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which happened on a Thursday in the year A.D. 31. The second, according to John 19:31, was a “low day.” The second was the weekly Sabbath on the seventh day of the week.

Sign of the Messiah

“While it was still dark,” according to John 20:1, after the ladies had had their normal weekly Sabbath rest, they went to Jesus’ tomb on the first day of the week, Sunday, and discovered that He had already been raised (Matthew 28:1-6;Mark 16:2-6;Luke 24:1-3). It becomes evident when we look at the specifics in all four Gospel texts that the picture is painted in black and white. Jesus was killed and entombed late on Wednesday afternoon, shortly before the Jewish Sabbath began at sunset the same evening.

The Lord Jesus Christ was buried in the tomb from the evening of Wednesday until the evening of Saturday, when He rose from the dead.
It couldn’t have happened on Sunday morning since when Mary Magdalene arrived at the tomb that morning before daylight, “when it was still dark,” she saw the stone had been moved away and the tomb had been left vacant.
Exactly three days and three nights after He was laid in the tomb, Jesus resurrected from the dead.
We recommend that you read our pamphlet, Jesus Christ: The Real Story, for further information.

When did Jesus die and rise?

Updated at 6:37 p.m. on April 12, 2017. The congregation of Faith Lutheran Church in Eldorado extends greetings. When did Jesus die and rise from the dead? Yes, I am aware that it is Good Friday and Easter Sunday. But which month, which date, and which year are we talking about? According to Dr. Steve Ware’s book “When Was Jesus Really Born?” the answer provided in this article is correct. In 2013, the Center for Public Health (CPH) announced that it will be holding a conference on “Climate Change and the Environment” (CPH).

Christian calendars are still based on the Jewish calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, and the spring equinox, which is why Christians celebrate Easter every year.
The Christian church has always wished to commemorate the Lord’s resurrection on the day it occurred, and this has been a long-held goal.
(Numbers 28:16-17 explains that the Lord’s Passover is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan), and a feast is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the same month.
During the months of March and April, Nisan will be the month on our calendars (Gregorian).
However, we require the year of the Passover, during which Christ died and resurrected from the dead.
Pilate, the Roman ruler of Judea from AD 26 to AD 36, summoned Jesus to come before him.
However, we can learn more about the Romans from their history.

However, in AD 31, Tiberius, the Caesar of Rome, reversed this trend.

Pilate didn’t have to alienate the governing Jewish body over the presence of an itinerant rabbi if he wanted to preserve his post.

Pentecost is marked by St.

The date of Christ’s death, according to Dr.

As recorded in ancient Babylonian and Chinese astronomical chronicles, that day corresponds to 3 April AD 33 on the Julian calendar and 1 April AD 33 on the Gregorian calendar, respectively, which correspond to the Passover date of 14 Nisan in that year.

Ware’s study, Easter falls on the 5th of April in the year AD 33.

Without a doubt, this is not the case.

Jesus indeed died, and the tomb truly was found to be empty. The spirit instills faith in me, and history supports that conviction. Happy Easter, and best wishes for the season. Pastor Otten is a man of God.

Gospel Timeline of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

We have historically celebrated Jesus’ death on Friday because the Gospels placed it the day before a Sabbath. But did you know that Jews celebrated Special ‘Sabbaths’ that did not take place on Saturday?Figuring out when Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples and which day he died on the cross is not easy. Why? First of all, Jews started new days each evening! Our days (in the Gregorian calendar) begin and end in the middle of the night and consider daylight the middle of the day. Jewish days began at dusk with the first half of a day being the dark night and the second half of the day being the daylight. That’s why Genesis 1 says, “there was evening and morning on day one.” That’s also why we get confused about the timeline of Jesus’ death and resurrection in the Gospels.If Jesus actually died on Friday afternoon when we celebrate ‘Good Friday,’ then he would have only been in the grave for 2 nights. But Jesus said he would be in the grave for 3 nights. So either Jesus is wrong (see matthew 12:40), or our holiday is wrong. It’s worth investigating.

Review the visual timeline below that reconciles Jewish days with our Gregorian calendar. Then read the facts that support this timeline for Jesus’ final days. We must explore ancient Jewish expressions, Passover customs, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread to see a clearer picture of when Jesus died and was buried. I’m going to keep it brief so pay attention to every detail and re-read each point as necessary.10 Facts to Get the Timing of Jesus’ DeathResurrection Right

Preparing for the Jewish holiday of Passover. When did Jesus and his followers share the ‘Last Supper’ together? It is mentioned in Mark 14:12–16, Matthew 26:17–19, and Luke 22:7–13 as occurring on the evening of “the First Day of Unleavened Bread” before the festival of Passover. That does not relate to the first day of the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread, which takes place on Nisan 15-21 in the Jewish calendar, or to Passover, which takes place on Nisan 14 in the Jewish calendar. Rather, the “First Day” was the day before the 8 days of celebration (and before Passover, the 7-day Feast), when Jews abstained from eating any unleavened bread for the duration of the festival. According to the Jewish calendar, it would be Nisan 13 the day before the day of Passover on Nisan 14
Passover in Jewish Homes. According to Philo of Alexandria’s book on Special Laws (Philo, Special Laws2.148) and Josephus’ book on the Jewish Wars, Jews honored the Passover in two distinct ways during Jesus’ time. The majority of people commemorated Passover in their homes on Wednesday evening, when the Jewish calendar day of Nisan 14 began to be observed. Priests, on the other hand, commemorated Passover by sacrificing theKorban Pesachin in the Temple on Thursday afternoon, when the month of Nisan 14 came to a conclusion with the sunset. When it comes to Passover, Josephus estimates that 250,000 lambs were slain throughout the city of Jerusalem, with just a few thousand lambs being sacrificed in the Temple (see Josephus’ Jewish Wars, Book VI, Chapter 9, Section 3)
Jesus Ate and Died on Passover The Passover meal was eaten by Jesus and the majority of the people in Jerusalem on Wednesday night (modern calendar) or the first day of Nisan 14 (remember that Jewish calendar days begin at sunset!) before the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Breadon Nisan 15-21, which was also known as Passover Week at the time, began. So it occurred that on one evening, Jesus ate the Passover with his followers, and on the following afternoon, when the major Passover lamb (known as the ‘Korban Pesach’) was slain in the Temple, Jesus was murdered
Jesus died on Thursday. When the main Passover Lamb in the Temple was slaughtered on Nisan 14 before the 7-day Feast of Unleavened Bread began with a special Sabbath (Leviticus 23:6-7) on Nisan 15 (Thursday evening on our modern calendars), Jesus was killed on Thursday afternoon (modern time)
The Gospels Use Different Clocks. The Synoptic Gospels place Jesus’ crucifixion ‘at the sixth hour’ (Matt 27:45
Mark 15:33
Luke 23:34), yet the Gospel of John places Jesus before Pilate ‘at the sixth hour’ (John 18:1). (John 19:14). There is no conflict since John used Roman time for his audience in Roman Asia Minor (which meant 6 a.m. for the trial-the 6th hour after midnight), but the Synoptic Gospels all used Jewish time (which means 6 a.m. for the trial-the 6th hour after midnight) (thereby meaning Jesus was crucified at noon-the 6th hour after sunrise). Remember that the Gospels changed the contents of each tale to suit the needs of different audiences
There were special Sabbaths. The week in which Jesus died included two Sabbaths, as well as a special ‘high sabbath’ on Friday. As stated in Leviticus 23, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which happened on Nisan 15, was a particularly high Sabbath, regardless of what day of the week it fell on. Consequently, both Friday (Nisan 15) and Saturday (Nisan 16) were Sabbath days during the week in which Christ died. The first holy Sabbath of the week Jesus died began in the evening, immediately following Jesus’ hasty burial in the garden tomb of Joseph of Arimethea, which took place the next day (Thursday evening in modern calendars, or the beginning of Nisan 15 in Jewish calendars which would be a Jewish Friday). The “special Sabbath” that took place on Friday following Jesus’ burial is described in detail in John 19:31. Burial Prior to the Observance of the Holy Day. The Jewish rulers wanted Jesus tried, murdered, and buried before this unique high Sabbath described in John 19:14, 31:42, and elsewhere in the New Testament (see also Matthew 26:62). “The Day of Preparation,” or better translated “Sabbath Eve,” is mentioned in both Luke 23:54 and Mark 15:42, which would be Thursday afternoon in our calendars before the unique Friday Sabbath, which began at sundown on Thursday evening (in our Gregorian calendars). Resurrection Following both Sabbaths. Women found the empty tomb on Sunday morning, just after the 2nd Sabbath had come to a close. The Sabbath was observed on Saturday night and day, which corresponded to the 16th of Nisan in the Jewish calendar. Jesus’ death on Thursday afternoon and resurrection on Sunday morning were separated by three nights, which is referred to as the “Three Nights in the Grave.” Matthew 28:1 uses the plural “Sabbaths” to make it clear that the special Friday Sabbath and normal Saturday Sabbath had occurred during the three nights between Jesus’ death on Thursday afternoon and resurrection on Sunday morning. It is consistent with Jesus’ prophesy that he would die on Thursday afternoon (modern time) or at the end of Nisan 14 (on the Jewish calendar) and rise on Sunday morning: In the same way that Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the huge fish, so will the Son of Man spend three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, according to Jesus (Matthew 12:40)
Resurrection on the Feast of the Firstfruits. The Sadducees, who ruled the Temple in Jesus’ day, observed the Festival of the Firstfruits on the Sunday after the customary weekly Saturday Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which took place during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As a result, Jesus resurrected from the dead on the Feast of the Firstfruits, and the apostle Paul discusses the theological implications of this event in 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus’ resurrection was the first of many more to come in the future.

Passover, Sabbaths, and Firstfruits are all important religious holidays. Hopefully, knowing these ten facts will make it simpler for you to comprehend the events of Holy Week in general. Trying to navigate historical texts when we don’t know that various people observed the same holy day at different times or that the same terms may refer to different things (like the word Sabbath) can be difficult while studying ancient literature. Three things, I feel, have contributed to the largest amount of ambiguity in the timeline: Jews celebrated Passover in their homes on Wednesday evening (according to our Gregorian calendar) or as Nisan 14 began (in the Jewish calendar), whereas priests celebrated Passover by sacrificing theKorban Pesachin at Temple on Thursday afternoon (according to our Gregorian calendar) or as the Jewish day of Nisan 14 ended at sunset on Thursday, The references to “the First Day of Unleavened Bread” in Mark 14:12–16, Matthew 26:17–19, and Luke 22:7–13 are all referring to “the First Day of Unleavened Bread.” (3) A reference to multiple Sabbaths, the first of which is on Nisan 15 and is a “high Sabbath” on Friday (John 19:31), which marks the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the second of which is on Nisan 16 and is a normal Saturday Sabbath (John 19:31), which marks the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Having a better knowledge of these terms and facts should help you better appreciate how Jesus ate Passover on Wednesday evening, died on Thursday afternoon, and spent the next three nights in the grave on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights before to his resurrection on Sunday.
Despite the fact that we have no way of knowing when Jesus’ birthday occurred, you may still feel the heart of Christmas on any random day throughout December.
Nonetheless, make an effort to learn more about the meaning of Passover and Firstfruits each year in order to comprehend the entire theological implications of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
At the moment of the main Lamb’s sacrifice on the Temple altar, he was the final Passover Lamb and was crucified at the same time as he was.
He was the one his people had been hoping for all their lives.
Another thing that many people overlook is that Yeshua was the firstfruits to ascend to the Father in order to obtain His kingdom.
Personally, I feel it is right in front of us, but hidden from our eyes since it is veiled.

It’s fascinating to think about how the second temple Jews would have known exactly what heaven and earth would have meant to them.

Over the course of several years, I grappled with the so-called gap between mat 14 and mat 34 and 35.

Heaven and earth (the temple and its rites, the law (Mosaic), all of these things will pass away, but My words will not pass away with them.

We act as a go-between for the parties involved.

Is it true that whatever has been determined in heaven, primarily but not exclusively, must pass through our hands before it can be carried out on the earth?

That is a level of responsibility that few people are aware of, let alone willing to embrace.

Once again, thank you very much; your work provides me with much inspiration.

This is an excellent blog article.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

3:24:21 a.m.

I’d want to know your thoughts and feelings on the importance of Sabbath observance.

Paige 5:00:27:26 a.m.

In which source did you learn that Jews celebrated the Passover supper a day earlier?

Philo Special Laws 2.148 contains the passage that tells how Jews slaughtered and ate their lambs in their houses as a universal practice away from the Temple (since their homes had been sanctified in the same way as the Temple that night) at the time of the Exodus.

Shmuel Safrai’s chapter “Early Testimonies in the New Testament to Laws and Practices Relating to Pilgrimage and Passover,” notably pages 47-48 of the book Jesus’ Last Week, might be studied for further in-depth scholarly consideration.

Bruce Hal Miner (Ph.D.) on January 13, 2022 at 8:42:37 am To Paige, thank you so much.

1) The information presented here are based on a knowledge of Jewish traditions and calendars during HIS time period.

3) A reasonable place to start is with the question of how a Friday burial followed by a Sunday resurrection may result in three days and three nights.

Despite the fact that I’ve heard it all before about how “half of a day equals a complete day,” it still doesn’t give us three nights. I hope this has been of assistance.

The Year John the Baptist’s Ministry Began

In Luke’s account, John the Baptist began his public ministry soon before Jesus did, and the author provides us with a historical reference point for when the Baptist’s ministry began: “in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign.” (See Luke 3:16). It is known from ancient Roman history that Tiberius succeeded Augustus as emperor on August 19, AD 14 and was approved by the Roman Senate on the same day. He reigned until the year AD 37. “The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign” appears to be a straightforward date, but there are some ambiguities, beginning with when one begins the calculation.

Most likely, Tiberius’ reign was measured from the day he assumed office in AD 14 or from the first day of January of the following year, AD 15 (whichever came first).

So John the Baptist’s ministry began anywhere between the middle of AD 28 and the beginning of AD 29.

The Year Jesus’s Ministry Began

Because the Gospels appear to suggest that Jesus began his ministry not long after John, the most likely date for Jesus’ baptism would be late in AD 28 at the absolute earliest, according to the calculations above. Nevertheless, it seems more likely that it occurred somewhere around the first half of the year AD 29, because a few months had probably gone between the beginning of John’s career and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry (and the year AD 30 is the latest possible date). As a result, Jesus’ career must have began somewhere between the end of AD 28 and the beginning of AD 30 at the earliest.

The most plausible dates for Jesus’ birth are 6 or 5 BC, which means he would have been roughly thirty-two to thirty-four years old in late AD 28 to early AD 30.

The Length of Jesus’s Ministry

To determine how long Jesus’ public ministry lasted, we must first determine how long Jesus’ public ministry lasted. If Jesus’ public ministry lasted two or more years, it appears that the spring of AD 30 cannot be considered as a plausible date for the crucifixion. The Gospel of John records that Jesus attended at least three (perhaps four) Passovers, which were held once a year in the spring and were as follows:

In Jerusalem, at the beginning of his public ministry (John 2:13–23)
In Galilee, during the midpoint of his public career (John 6:4)
And in Bethlehem, at the end of his public ministry (John 6:4). In Jerusalem, at the conclusion of his public ministry, that is, at the time of his crucifixion (John 11:55
12:1), there was a final Passover celebration. And it’s possible that Jesus attended another Passover that wasn’t reported in the Gospel of John, but was documented in one or more of the Synoptic Gospels (i.e., Matthew, Mark, and Luke)

This would make a date of a.d. 30 all but impossible as the date of Jesus’ crucifixion, even if there were only three Passovers in all. As previously stated, the earliest possible date for the beginning of Jesus’ career, according to Luke 3:1, is late in the first century AD. The first of these Passovers (which occurred at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry; John 2:13) would happen on Nisan 15 in the year 29 (since Nisan is in March/April, around the beginning of a year), which would be the first of these Passovers in the year 29.

If Jesus’ ministry corresponded with at least three Passovers, and if the first Passover occurred in AD 29, this suggests that he could not have been executed in ad 30, as previously thought.

Assuming, however, that John the Baptist began his career in AD 29, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus began his mission in late AD 29 or early ad 30. The Passovers in the book of John would thus take place on the following dates:

Nisan 15	AD 30	John 2:13
Nisan 15	AD 31	Either the unnamed feast in John 5:1 or else a Passover that John does not mention (but that may be implied in the Synoptics)
Nisan 15	AD 32	John 6:4
Nisan 15	AD 33	John 11:55, the Passover at which Jesus was crucified

Jesus Was Crucified on the Day of Preparation for the Passover

It is also mentioned by the apostle John that Jesus was crucified on “the day of Preparation” (John 19:31), which corresponds to the Friday before the Sabbath of the Passover week (Mark 15:42). Earlier in the day, on Thursday evening, Jesus had a Passover meal with the Twelve (Mark 14:12), which is referred to as his “Last Supper.” Passover always falls on the fifteenth day of Nisan (Exodus 12:6), according to the Pharisaic-rabbinic calendar that was generally used in Jesus’ day. According to this calendar, Passover begins on Thursday after sundown and finishes on Friday after nightfall.

33, the year in which the crucifixion is most likely to have occurred, the most likely date for Jesus’ crucifixion is April 3 in the year a.d.

Accordingly, we created the following chart in The Final Days of Jesus to indicate the dates for Jesus’ final week in the year a.d.

April 2	Nissan 14	Thursday (Wednesday nightfall to Thursday nightfall)	Day of Passover preparation	Last Supper
April 3	Nissan 15	Friday (Thursday nightfall to Friday nightfall)	Passover; Feast of Unleavened Bread, begins	Crucifixion
April 4	Nissan 16	Saturday (Friday nightfall to Saturday nightfall)	Sabbath
April 5	Nissan 17	Sunday (Saturday nightfall to Sunday nightfall)	First day of the week	Resurrection

Conclusion

The computations in the preceding section may look difficult, but in a nutshell, the reasoning goes as follows:

HISTORICAL INFORMATION	YEAR
Beginning of Tiberius’s reign	AD 14
Fifteenth year of Tiberius’s reign:Beginning of John the Baptist’s ministry	AD 28
A few months later:Beginning of Jesus’s ministry	AD 29
Minimum three-year duration of Jesus’ ministry:Most likely date of Jesus’s crucifixion	AD 33 (April 3)

While this is, in our opinion, the most plausible scenario, it should be noted that many people think Jesus was killed in the year AD 30, rather than the year AD 33, as we have said. If, on the other hand, the beginning of Tiberius’ rule is set at the year AD 14, it becomes nearly difficult to fit fifteen years of Tiberius’ reign and three years of Jesus’ ministry between AD 14 and AD 30, as is the case. As a result, some have speculated that Tiberius and Augustus shared co-regency (combined rule) during the last few years of Augustus’ reign.

As a result, we believe that Jesus was most likely crucified on April 3, AD 33, as previously stated.

Because of this, when we celebrate Easter and walk with Jesus every day of the year, we may be certain that our faith is founded not just on subjective personal confidence, but also on solid historical evidence, which makes our faith a perfectly rational faith.

Crossway’s executive vice president and publisher for books, Justin Taylor, holds this position.

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QUESTION: Was Jesus’ resurrection day on a Sunday or a Saturday or both? Christians, as well as many other people, are familiar with the account of Jesus’ resurrection. Traditionally, it is thought that He died on a Friday (today known as Good Friday) and that He was raised the following Sunday (now celebrated as Easter Sunday). But there is disagreement about whether this timeline corresponds to the biblical prophesy contained in Matthew 12:40, which states: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Our present technique of counting days indicates that Jesus would have been in His tomb from late Friday afternoon until early Sunday morning according to our calendar.

Even if you consider Friday and Sunday to be complete days, it would imply He remained in the grave for a total of three days and two nights at the most.
In defense of Friday and Sunday, many biblical scholars argue that it was typical among Jews at the period to consider any segment of a day to constitute the full day and night, which is what happened on those days.
According to Jewish custom, the next day (Sunday) begins when the sun sets on the previous day (Thursday), making it plausible that Jesus was killed and buried on a Thursday, or possibly a Wednesday, with His resurrection occurring on Saturday night.
His disciples, without a doubt, were the only ones who knew how long He had been in the tomb.
He either opted not to fulfill the prophesy in its entirety, lingering in the grave for three days and three nights, or he chose to do it in a way that was consistent with the text.
His challenge to them, as well as to all of us, was to place our trust in Him, rather than on whatever “evidence” He may provide.

However, it would be far more awful if He had genuinely been dead for the entire three days and nights and they had failed to acknowledge it because they had hardened their hearts to the truth.

On What Day Did Jesus Rise?

The May/June 2016 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review is available online. Biblical Perspectives is a weekly column. Staff of the Biblical Archaeology Society On November 16, 20217, there were 106613 views. What day did Jesus resurrect from the dead? Is it better to wait three days or to wait until the third day? During his Biblical Views column, “It’s About Time—Easter Time,” which appeared in the May/June 2016 edition of Biblical Archaeology Review, Ben Witherington III explores this subject in further depth.

—Ed.

“It’s About Time—Easter Time”

Anachronism is a hazard that arises when reading ancient books like the Bible in the twenty-first century. By this I mean that we risk introducing damaging current notions and expectations into our readings. This challenge becomes much more serious when dealing with old manuscripts, which have significant historical significance and are thus difficult to interpret. What day did Jesus resurrect from the dead? Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome visited Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning to anoint his corpse (Mark 16:1–2), as shown in Henry Osawa Tanner’s painting “The Three Marys” (1910).

To provide an example, we are a people who are fascinated with time — and with accuracy when it comes to time — to the millisecond level.
When it came to the passage of time, they did not stress over accuracy.
Jesus promised that he would rise from the dead “after three days,” according to certain sources.
In fact, the time reference should be avoided entirely.

In Mark 8:31, on the other hand, Jesus declares, “The Son of Man will rise from the dead after three days.” In John 2:19, he refers to the same event as taking place “in three days,” and the Gospel authors tell us that Jesus used the term “on the third day” on a number of occasions (see, e.g., Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Luke 24:46).

While it is feasible that both forecasts will be incorrect, is it really possible that both will be correct?
Furthermore, the term “after three days” in the New Testament might simply indicate “after a time” or “after a few days” without any obvious specificity other than to hint that multiple days, in this case portions of three days, would be engaged in the event.
“Come to me again after three days,” says the Bible’s Second Chronicles 10:5, 12.
According to my interpretation, the term “after three days” is a more generic or imprecise way of expressing, but “on the third day” is a little more particular (albeit it still doesn’t tell us when it is on the third day).

When it comes to time, these books were not written in a way that would suit our present high expectations.

Become a Member ofBiblical Archaeology SocietyNow and Get More Than Half Off the Regular Price of the All-AccessPass!

With an All-Access pass, you may access more than 9,000 articles from the Biblical Archaeology Society’s extensive collection, as well as much more. We must recognize that most of the time references in the New Testament are not precise, and we must give the ancient author the freedom to be general when he wants to be general and more specific when he wants to be more specific. This is one of the keys to understanding how the New Testament interprets time references. When you find both types of references to the time span between Jesus’ death and resurrection in the same book by the same author, and in some cases even within close proximity to each other, it is reasonable to conclude that these texts were not written in accordance with our modern exacting expectations when it comes to time references.

I believe it is past time for us to accord these ancient authors the respect they deserve and to read them with a knowledge of the standards they followed when writing ancient history or ancient biography, rather than imposing our later genre norms on them, as we have done in the past.
This article has been updated.
Ben Witherington III is the Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky and a member of the doctoral faculty of St.
He received his bachelor’s degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky.

Notes:

Read Ben Witherington III, Reading and Learning the Bible, for assistance in understanding how to read the Bible in light of its original settings (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2014).

How do we understand the timing of the Great 3 Days?

How can we make sense of three days if Jesus died on Friday and rose from the dead on Sunday? Christians commemorate the salvific events of Jesus Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection over the course of three days, which we refer to as the “Great Three Days” (Triduum in Latin). The gospels all confirm that Jesus rose from the grave on the first day of the week, early in the morning. Matthew 28:1 (NIV): “After the Sabbath, when the first day of the week was beginning to rise.” Mark 16:1-2 (NIV): It was “after the Sabbath had ended.

Have questions?We have answers!

Fill out the form below to ask your questions and to view further FAQs. Luke 24:1 (ASKFAQSLuke 24:1): “It was the first day of the week at the crack of dawn.” “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,” says John in verse 1. Sunday is the first working day of the week. The day begins with sunset in that culture, as it does throughout the Bible, rather than with dawn or midnight. Saturday’s Sabbath came to an end at dusk. Sunday officially began just after sunset. Three days may not always equate to 72 hours.

It entails three different days, which are distinguished by the arrival and departure of the sun.

The Last Supper and the Great Commandment will be held on Thursday. The beginning of the first day is marked by the setting of the sun (Eve of Friday). Jesus is taken into custody and tried
Friday morning: The first day continues with the execution of Jesus, his removal from the cross, and his burial
Friday night at sundown: The second day has begun. Friday evening/Saturday morning
Saturday (from dawn to sunset): Jesus is laid to rest in the tomb. The third day begins at sunset on Saturday. Saturday evening
Sunday morning: The third day continues, and Jesus is risen from the grave

From at least the third century A.D., this method of determining the beginning and end of Holy Week has remained constant in Christian practice, both East and West. It was created by Ask The UMC, a ministry of United Methodist Communications, which may be found here.