New Testament History

The Passion until Pentecost

The places of the Passion
The two weeks before Passover
The dates of the crucifixion and resurrection
The Passion
The two weeks after the resurrection
The ascension until Pentecost
 
Abbreviations and bibliography
 
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The dates of the crucifixion and resurrection

Christ was crucified on a Friday (Matt 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31, 42). It was Friday 14 Nisan[1] = Julian 3 April 33 AD = actual 31 March. The crucifixion came after Judas the Gaulonite had died (Acts 5:37), on 19 Nisan 31 AD. A.C.E. saw the crucifixion (and had considerably bleeding stigmata) on Friday 31 March 1820, Friday 30 March 1821, Friday 29 March 1822, and Friday 28 March 1823 (i.e. always on the last Friday of the month of March)[2] because Christ died on actual 31 March.

Christ was 33 years and 3 times 6 weeks (= 18 weeks = 126 days) old at the crucifixion.[3] From factual Julian 27 November = actual 25 November (the date of the birth of Christ) until Julian 3 April = actual 31 March (the date of the crucifixion), there are 126 days. The 33 years are inclusive years for 32 years + 126 days.[4] Similarly, David reigned 33 inclusive years in Jerusalem (2 Sam 5:5; 1 Chr 29:27). Christ lived 33 years and 33 days on earth: from Sunday actual 26 February (the date of the incarnation) until Friday actual 31 March 33 AD (the date of the crucifixion); 33 days after a Sunday is a Friday.

A miraculous solar eclipse took place around the 6th hour at the crucifixion (Luke 23:44),[5] in fulfilment of Joel 2:31 (3:4; see Acts 2:20): “The sun will be turned into darkness” (trans. NJB). Solar eclipses normally do not occur at the Full Moon of Passover. Phlegon of Tralles mentions the eclipse in chapter 13 of his Chronicles[6] and situates it during Tiberius’s rule,[7] in the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad (i.e. in the year summer 32 AD/summer 33 AD).[8] The eclipse was also mentioned by the chronographer Thallos in Book 3 of his Histories (probably written in the 1st century AD).[9]

The moon was likewise eclipsed, in fulfilment of Joel 2:31 (3:4; see Acts 2:20): “The moon [will be turned] into blood” (translation by NJB). The “blood moon” at the crucifixion is also reported by Cyril of Alexandria[10] and in the Report of Pilate 7. There was only one lunar eclipse visible in Jerusalem at a Passover during Pilate’s governorship, the one on Friday 3 April 33 AD.[11] It was a partial lunar eclipse, lasting from 13:21 UT until 16:13 UT (i.e. from about 15:40 until about 18:30 Jerusalem local time).[12]

The Jews accused Pilate that he would not be friend of the emperor if he released Christ (John 19:12). Since Pilate may have been appointed by Sejanus, Tiberius’s opponent,[13] and had been accused before Tiberius at Pentecost 31 AD, he feared a new accusation before the emperor. Hence, when the Jews pronounced this accusation, Pilate immediately acceded to their request to crucify Christ (John 19:13-16).[14]

The crucifixion of Nisan 33 AD took place at the half of the last week of Daniel’s prophecy of weeks (Dan 9:27, Tishri 29 AD-Tishri 36 AD). Christ brought an end to the sacrifices prescribed by the Law (Dan 9:27).

Christ rose from the death on the first day of the week (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19), on Sunday 5 April 33 AD.[15] The three days from the crucifixion until the resurrection (Matt 12:40; 26:61; 27:40, 63; Mark 8:31; 14:48; 15:29; John 2:19-20) are an inclusive reckoning for the period Friday-Sunday. It was the third day after the crucifixion (Matt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:64; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 13:32; 18:33; 24:7, 21, 46; Acts 10:40; 1 Cor 15:4).

 


[1] Gos. Pet. 5-6; b. Sanh. 43a; A.C.E., Passion.

[2] A.C.E., Passion, 19, 29, 30: “On the 19th of February 1822 she was again warned that she would suffer on the last Friday of March, and not on Good Friday”; 31.

[3] A.C.E., Mary, 145. A.C.E., Visionen Juli 1820, 34 n. 2: “Als das Kind am Kreuze hing, sagte es zu mir: ‘Dieses habe ich gelitten schon von meiner Empfängnis an bis in mein 34. Jahr, da es äußerlich vollendet war.’ Der Herr starb, da Er 33 Jahre und 3 Monate alt war”; A.C.E., Visionen August 1820, 312: “[Christus] starb in seinem dreiunddreißigsten Jahr und drei Monate.”

[4] Cf. Christ visited the Holy Kings 32 years after His birth (A.C.E., Mary, 228), in the autumn before the crucifixion.

[5] A.C.E., Passion, 282.

[6] Phlegon of Tralles F16(14-15) in FGH 2.2:1165.

[7] Africanus F93 in GCS NF 15:278 vv.14-15; Origen, Cels. 2.33.

[8] Eusebius, Chron. Ol. 202,4 in GCS 20:213; Jerome, Chron. Ol. 202,4 in GCS 47:174; John Philoponus, Opif. 2.21; Chronicon paschale Ol. 202,4 in CSHB 10:412 vv.9-15, 417 vv.10-14; Chronicon miscellaneum ad annum Domini 724 pertinens in CSCO 5:87 vv.28-30; Chronicon pseudo-Dionysianum AM 2049 in CSCO 121:73 vv.37-38, 74 v.1.

[9] Thallos F1(8) in FGH 2.2:1157 vv.15-16. On this solar eclipse, see Mahieu 2012: 479-480.

[10] Cyril of Alexandria, Comm. Joel. 2.31.

[11] Humphreys and Waddington 1992: 344-345; Mahieu 2012: 479.

[13] Smallwood 1976: 165. Following Sejanus’s execution (on 18 October 31 AD), Tiberius forbade ill-treatment of the Jews (Philo, Legat. 161) and persecuted Sejanus’s partisans (Tacitus, Ann. 5.8-9, 11; 6.14, 19).

[14] Mahieu 2012: 480-481.

[15] A.C.E., Visionen Februar 1821, 108: “Der Auferstehungstag Jesu, wie Er aufgestanden, und nicht wie ihn die Kirche feiert, fällt dieses Jahr auf Josephstag (1. April).”