Was Jesus crucified on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday?

[Adstar]

"High Sabbaths" were weekly Sabbaths (Saturdays) that occurred during a festival week.

The 1st and 7th days of festival weeks were also sabbaths, but they were lesser sabbaths. The reason is that the Law allowed certain work to be done on these festival sabbaths, the work that was necessary to prepare the feast for that day (Exodus 12:16). So these sabbaths were less strict, ergo they were "lesser" or "smaller" sabbaths.

However, the law was much more strict about the weekly Sabbath law, that no work of any kind could be done, not even to prepare the feast on a feast day, thus it was a "High Sabbath" because the Sabbath commandment superseded (was higher than) the festival commandments. So on the Preparation (Friday) of a festival week, enough food had to be prepared for 2 days and the people had to rest from all work on the weekly Sabbath.

In Christ,
Pilgrimer

The day after Passover is 1st Day of Unleavened Bread which is a High Sabbath not a normal weekly;y sabbath.. There where 7 days of unleavened bread and the first and last days where both High Sabbaths.. So there where two sabbaths during the week of the execution of the LORD Jesus Christ.. One started on Wednesday sunset and ended on Thursday sunset and the second started on Friday sunset and ended on Saturday sunset..

 

[EarnestQ]

This post is to get this thread back on my subscribed threads list.

 

[Pilgrimer]

This is incorrect. Jesus was crucified on Wednesday, the 14th of Nisan, in the year 30 AD. He rose again on the first day of the week (Sunday), the 18th of Nisan.

That is not possible. The Passover lambs were slain on the afternoon of Nisan 14 and eaten at the Seder that night, the beginning of Nisan 15 and the first of seven feasts when the people ate unleavened bread. According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the disciples prepared the passover (which would have been on the afternoon of Nisan 14) and that night Jesus and his disciples ate the passover (which would have been Nisan 15 and the first night of unleavened bread).

If Jesus had been crucified in the morning of Nisan 14, it would have been before the passover.

In Christ,
Pilgrimer

 

[Nehemiah6]

If Jesus had been crucified in the morning of Nisan 14, it would have been before the passover.

Nisan 14 would have started on the evening of Nisan 13 (after sunset) and lasted until the evening of Nisan 14 (until sunset). Therefore Christ and the apostles ate the Passover meal on the correct date, and Christ was crucified on the afternoon of Nisan 14 as required in order to be our Passover Lamb. Unless we stay with the Hebrew reckoning we will simply confuse ourselves.

 

[Placid]

Hi Adstar,

Quote: The day after Passover is 1st Day of Unleavened Bread which is a High Sabbath not a normal weekly sabbath. There where 7 days of unleavened bread and the first and last days where both High Sabbaths.. So there where two sabbaths during the week of the execution of the LORD Jesus Christ. One started on Wednesday sunset and ended on Thursday sunset and the second started on Friday sunset and ended on Saturday sunset.

I agree with you that the 14th of Nisan was Wednesday When Jesus was crucified.

However Pilgrimer makes this argument about the Passover:

Quote: The Passover lambs were slain on the afternoon of Nisan 14 and eaten at the Seder that night, the beginning of Nisan 15 and the first of seven feasts when the people ate unleavened bread. According to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the disciples prepared the passover (which would have been on the afternoon of Nisan 14) and that night Jesus and his disciples ate the passover (which would have been Nisan 15 and the first night of unleavened bread).
If Jesus had been crucified in the morning of Nisan 14, it would have been before the passover.

--- If we look at the Scripture in John, after they took Jesus to the trials, which lasted all night, they brought Jesus to Pilate’s court and it says in John 18:28 “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. 29 Pilate then went out to them.

Notice that the Jews who were accusing Jesus came early in the morning, and they would not go into the Gentile court, ‘lest they should be defiled,’ and not able to eat the Passover that evening. --- So if the Passover was prepared and eaten on the 14th, then that was the day of the crucifixion, So Jesus, the Passover lamb was put to death on the Wednesday. --- It was the Preparation day for that High Sabbath which was the first day of the Feast of unleavened bread. Is that not right?

This makes it necessary for the disciples to have prepared the meal, called the Last Supper on Tuesday the 13th. --- It says in Luke 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

Three things to consider: First, it was necessary for Jesus to have this meal with the apostles before He was arrested and His suffering began.

Secondly, Jesus was not subject to Jewish laws, nor could He be put to death, and then eat the Passover afterwards.

Thirdly, Since the next day started at sundown, the Tuesday evening would have turned into Wednesday at 6:00 so if they had the last Supper after that hour, they would be eating in on the 14th, Passover day.

Now let’s look at another convincing Scripture from Matthew 27:62 On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation (Thursday), the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, 63 saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”

65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

So Wednesday was the Passover, and also the Preparation day for the high Sabbath, and Thursday was the Sabbath. So if we count the days from Wednesday sundown to Saturday sundown, we have three days.

--- And it continues in Matthew 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.

--- The guards were still there but they fainted at the sight, then later ran into the city verse 11.

The angel didn’t have to roll the stone away to let Jesus out, He was already gone, --- but to let the women in to see that He was gone.

--- And the amazing thing to me is that all the Jews who came to Jerusalem for the Passover, would still be there till after Jesus rose from the dead, so they would have the full story to tell to their people when they returned home.

 

[JaumeJ]

When any man is able to say with certainty which eve of which Sabbath Christ was taken down from the Cross(previous to the actual nightfall of course), and which day of the week He celebrated the seder with the disciples, then, and only then will anyone be able to count the three days and the three nights from our Lord's crucifixion.

Even scholars may jump in on this, but keep all that scholasticity behind you.......

Until the questions posed here in this post may be answered truly, no one truly knows. The RCC has made sure of this.

 

[Pilgrimer]

Nisan 14 would have started on the evening of Nisan 13 (after sunset) and lasted until the evening of Nisan 14 (until sunset). Therefore Christ and the apostles ate the Passover meal on the correct date, and Christ was crucified on the afternoon of Nisan 14 as required in order to be our Passover Lamb. Unless we stay with the Hebrew reckoning we will simply confuse ourselves.

Again, that's not correct. New Testament observance of Passover according to Josephus and according to the Talmudic Tractate Pesachim, were sacrificed on the afternoon of Nisan 14 between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00 and the Passover was eaten that night, the beginning of Nisan 15. Contemporary Jewish (Hebrew calendar reckoning) observance of the Passover Seder (which date hasn't changed since 2nd Temple times) is on the beginning of Nisan 15.


In Christ,
Pilgrimer

 

[Pilgrimer]

--- If we look at the Scripture in John, after they took Jesus to the trials, which lasted all night, they brought Jesus to Pilate’s court and it says in John 18:28 “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. 29 Pilate then went out to them.

Notice that the Jews who were accusing Jesus came early in the morning, and they would not go into the Gentile court, ‘lest they should be defiled,’ and not able to eat the Passover that evening.

Do a study on Levitical defilement. If a man entered a heathen house and was thereby defiled in the morning, he would be defiled for the rest of the day. However, he could take a ritual bath at sunset, and with the beginning of the new day his defilement would end. So think about it.

All meals were eaten before dark, so they were eaten at the end of the day. However, not the Passover Seder. This Paschal feast was eaten "in the night" (after sunset and thus the beginning of Nisan 15) in observance of the night in which the Jews ate the Passover standing up with their loins girded and their belongings packed up ready to leave and not even taking time to let their bread rise, ergo they ate unleavened bread in remembrance). So if the Jewish elders were worried about being defiled on the morning of Nisan 14, it would not have prevented them from eating the Paschal supper that night which was the beginning of the next day, their defilement would have passed.

However, if they became defiled on the morning of Nisan 15, it would have prevented them from eating the 2nd feast of Passover later that day (before sunset and therefore at the end of the day) as their defilement would not have passed yet.

So if the Passover was prepared and eaten on the 14th ...

It wasn't. The Passover (the lambs and the 1st chagigah which was voluntary) was sacrificed, offered, and prepared on the afternoon of Nisan 14. This is when Jesus sent the disciples into the city to make these preparations, on a Thursday afternoon.

... then that was the day of the crucifixion

Not accurate. The disciples, along with the rest of the nation, took their lambs and offerings to the Temple and sacrificed them and then prepared them on the afternoon of Nisan 14. Then that night the whole nation together sat down after sunset (in the night and the beginning of Nisan 15) and ate the Paschal supper, the first of 7 feasts. Jesus and his disciples ate the Paschal supper along with the whole people.

Later that night Jesus was arrested and on the morning of Nisan 15 was crucified and died at 3:00 in the afternoon. That day was Friday, the preparation.

It was the Preparation day for that High Sabbath which was the first day of the Feast of unleavened bread. Is that not right?

No. There was no "preparation day" for festival sabbaths as the law allowed the work necessary for the preparation of the feasts to be made on those days, nor is the day before a feast ever called "the preparation" but is always called "the eve" of. The only day of preparation on the Jewish calendar is every Friday when preparations have to be made for 2 days, even if it's a feast day, as the Shabbat commandments cannot be violated, not even on a feast day. Thus it is a "High" day (the Sabbath commandments are higher or rule over the festival commandments).

This makes it necessary for the disciples to have prepared the meal, called the Last Supper on Tuesday the 13th.

But if it is wrong, and it is, then it's not necessary to try to make the Passover meal be eaten the day before the Passover is even sacrificed.

Jesus was not subject to Jewish laws

Yes he was. Jesus was born a Jew, circumcised on the 8th day according to the law, presented and redeemed on the 40th day according to the law, and his entire life was obedient to the law, never having once broken even a jot of tittle of God's Law.

In fact, Jesus' perfect obedience to the Law is what made him a perfect lamb, without spot or blemish, and therefore an acceptable sacrifice.

In Christ,
Pilgrimer

 

[Placid]

Hi Pilgrimer,

Just to recap a few things,
It says in Luke 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;

After the supper, which would have been after sunset, so, the beginning of the 14th of Nisan, Judas went out and went to the Pharisees. --- Jesus stayed and taught the 11 for a while, then they made their way to the Garden where He was arrested, perhaps about midnight. Jesus suffered agony in His prayer, and after He was arrested, he was taken to Caiaphas, the high priest. --- He was abused verbally if not physically, and early in the morning, perhaps about 8:00, if that was when Pilate would be there. --- This is where it said:
John 18:28 “Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. 29 Pilate then went out to them.
--- So they were planning on eating the Passover meal that evening, after their crime.

The various trials took place with more suffering for Jesus, --- Then they took Jesus to be crucified perhaps late morning. He was on the cross during the hours of darkness from 'the sixth hour to the ninth hour' Luke 23:44.

Quote: according to Josephus and according to the Talmudic Tractate Pesachim, were sacrificed on the afternoon of Nisan 14 between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00 and the Passover was eaten that night.

--- That is exactly right. --- And Jesus died after 3:00, on Wednesday the 14, so between the hours of 2o and 5:00. Is that not right? --- And the three days in the tomb would start at sunset Wednesday night Is that not right?
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had the time before sunset to put Jesus' body in the tomb.

The Pharisee would eat their Passover meal according to their custom, but the disciples, who had their meal with Jesus the night before, would be keeping a low profile, lest they be arrested as well.

The three days and three nights would be from Wednesday sunset to Saturday sunset, --- and Jesus rose early on Sunday, the first day of the week. Is that not right?
--- However, I have no problem with others who have calculated it differently.

 

[john832]

John832 hasn’t been on here since 9/17/2017.

For good reason, note the quality of the exegesis that is currently extant.