What Year/Date was Jesus Crucified?

Over the centuries there has been much debate over the year and date of Jesus’s crucifixion. Many Christians celebrate Easter Sunday as the Resurrection of Jesus and Good Friday as his Crucifixion. It is not disputed that Jesus rose on a Sunday morning, but what is disputed is the day (Friday) and year of his Crucifixion. Many of Our Christian beliefs originated from the early Church and a Good Friday crucifixion is one of them. But is this a fact? To answer this, we should return to the facts concerning the Hebrew feast of Passover. After all, this is what the sacrificial Lamb of God is truthfully about.
When the Israelites exited Egypt, the final judgment plague God inflicted on Pharoh and the Egyptians, was the taking of their first-born sons in death. The Israelite’s first-born sons were protected, by applying lamb’s blood over their doorways and staying inside their homes. The Angel of Death passed through Egypt, and all those who had the blood of the Lamb over their doorways were passed over (the origination of the Jewish “Passover” term). This first Passover in Egypt, and the slaughtering of the lambs required for the blood to be placed over the doorways, was symbolic of an event that would occur almost 1500 years later, when Jesus, “the Lamb of God” would be sacrificed on the cross, for the remission of mankind’s sin, if we choose to accept Jesus’s redemptive powers. The crucifixion of Christ also established a new covenant between those who accepted his sacrifice and God, called the covenant of Grace. Our acceptance of God’s sacrifice washes away all our transgressions via the innocent blood shed by Jesus Christ.
During the days after the Exodus, God prescribed to Moses his requirement that the Israelites adhere to 7 religious feasts each year. These are recorded by Moses in the book of Leviticus Chapter 23. We will not review all prescribed feasts here but will focus only on the first one, “The Feast of Passover and unleavened bread” found in Leviticus 23: 4-7.

4 “‘These are the LORD’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: 5 The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month (Nissan). 6 On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. 7 On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. (NIV, emphasis mine).

Here it is defined, Passover begins, at twilight, of the 14th day, of the 1st month (called Nissan), of the Jewish Religious Calendar. A Jewish new day begins at twilight, around 6 pm, But by Western calendars, the day would have begun 18 hours earlier at midnight, to include the Passover in the early evening period. In other words, the western day period of Passover would have started with the slaughtering of the lambs during daylight and concluded with the Passover meal in the early evening. The feast of unleavened bread would have continued after the Passover evening meal and throughout the next day.
The Jewish calendar of months was based on the cycle of the moons, and each month began on the new moon. Nissan, being the first month, began on the new moon of what is referred to as the Spring Solstice, and the Passover meal would have begun in the early evening of the 14th of Nissan. The lambs would have been slaughtered and prepared during the daylight of Jewish Nissan 13th. Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb, would have been hung on the Cross and perished at 3 pm, of Nissan 13th. He was hastily wrapped for burial and put in the tomb before twilight, beginning of Nissan 14th. Jesus indicated that as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and 3 nights, so he would also be in the grave 3 whole nights and 3 whole days, conquering death, before he resurrected himself at the beginning of the 4th night (Saturday evening presumably). This is found in Matthew chapter 12: 39-40.

39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 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. (NIV, emphasis mine). From the Concordance the Greek word ‘day’ ‘hermera’ (#2250) means, from Sunrise to Sunset. This will be important momentarily.

With the above information, we can set traditional theories aside, and apply real Astronomical knowledge, with the aid of modern computers, of the moon cycle over the history of time. We can determine when the Month of Nissan began, and more importantly the 14th of Nissan during the approximate time of Jesus’s Crucifixion. This will provide a truthful conclusion based on science, and not traditional assumptions, designed to fit a preconceived conclusion. Previous generations lacked this scientific knowledge, and we should make use of the new tools we have at our disposal. We will use the published Astronomical historical data of the USNO (United States Naval Observatory) to determine when the month of Nissan and the 14th, occurred during  Jesus’s Ministry period. Traditional beliefs generally set Jesus’s Crucifixion between the years of AD 26 and AD 34, based on various premises. Below is a link to USNO copied astronomical Nissan date Information for this 9-year period. Traditionally most theologians believe Jesus’s crucifixion occurred in AD 32, followed by AD 31 as the next most probable historical alternative. These are believed to be the most accurate dates of historical possibility. A small minority believe the crucifixion occurred outside of the years AD 31 or AD 32.

https://blogs.bible.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Passover-dates-26-34-A.pdf

This USNO table indicates the following days in which Nissan 14th begins the evening of the Passover meal, followed by a no-work Sabbath day, of the “Feast of Unleavened Bread”. Other dates like the 1st of Nissan are also provided, but we will keep things simple and only focus on the Nissan 14th dates. Here is a simplified Table.

Year 14th of Nissan (begins at about 6 pm)
AD 26 Sunday, April 21st
AD 27 Friday, April 11th
AD 28 Wednesday, April 28th
AD 29 Monday, April 18th
AD 30 Friday, April 7th
AD 31 Wednesday, April 25th
AD 32 Monday, April 14th
AD 33 Sunday, May 3rd
AD 34 Thursday, April 22nd

I have attached a Jewish calendar link below, which validates the consistency of the Nissan dates. The first link is set to the year AD 31 and coincides with the USNO data. In the second link, the date is set for our present year of 2024 and provides the Nissan 14th Passover date as the early evening of April 22, 2024. This is the exact date/time that Israel will celebrate the Passover meal this year.

http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=31 and http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=2024

Today most Christians celebrate the Passion of Christ as an Easter Holiday, with the prevalent belief of a Crucifixion on Friday (Good Friday) and the Resurrection on the following Sunday Morning (Easter Morning). This Easter weekend rarely coincides with the Hebrew Calendar of Passover, which ignores God’s intent of the “Lamb of God’. This came about in the early days of the Church when Rome officially accepted Christianity in AD 323. To inspire the Roman citizens to embrace this new religion, the Romans established the Easter (crucifixion) Holiday to coincide with an existing pagan holiday celebration to the Goddess of fertility named ‘Eostre’ on the Spring Solstice. This is where the fertility symbology of the Easter bunny and eggs was derived over the centuries. The early Roman Catholic church arrived at a Friday Crucifixion by partial counting days (any partial day counted as a whole day). But, there is an immediate problem with this partial concept. While they could contrive 3 partial days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday), a Friday crucifixion only provides for 2 nights, Friday and Saturday nights. There is no other, 3rd night, possibility, and this concept is inconsistent with the Scriptures. Tradition is difficult to overcome, but many scholars are reluctantly accepting, that the math just doesn’t work. A few have attempted to cover this 3rd night, by adopting a Thursday crucifixion, to include a third night. But in doing so, it also adds a 4th day if one is to remain consistent with the partial theory. According to our table above there was only one possible year that Thursday occurred, and it was AD 34, on the very fringes of possibility. Some readers may still wish to hold to the partial theory. If so, you may wish to read the following link as to why the partial theory does hold scriptural merit. Interestingly the theological scholar still holds to the partial theory, via adding the third day of Thursday. Tradition is difficult to let go of, but Layton Talbert does provide a sound basis as to why partial days are not scripturally accurate.

Three Days and Three Nights, or Not?

The simple truth is Jesus said 3 days and 3 nights, and he meant it in the fullness of its sense. Anything else is mankind’s attempt to force fit scriptures into what we preconceive and are led to believe. With a Wednesday crucifixion, scriptures hold together perfectly, so why do we need to look any further?  Jesus died at 3 pm and was buried at sunset. Jesus said he would be in the “heart of the earth” (buried) for 3 nights and 3 days. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are the 3 nights, and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday are the 3 days. Jesus walked out of the tomb sometime after sunset on Sat night. Scripture does not tell us exactly when to provide any contradiction to this. It could have been 7 pm on Saturday night, or later. But, Jesus probably resurrected himself after sunset on Saturday. Scriptures provide no details after sunset until the next sunrise when Mary Magdalene came upon the tomb.  The reason for the origination of the Roman Catholic Church, Friday crucifixion belief, is the woman could not buy burial spices the following day due to it being a Sabbath day.  The non-Jewish Romans failed to appreciate that the following day after Passover evening, is the non-work Sabbath day of unleavened bread. Many often think Jewish Sabbaths are only on Saturdays. But any religious non-work holiday is considered a Sabbath, and the Day of Unleavened Bread was the scriptural referenced Sabbath day. The earliest the women could have bought and prepared the spices was Friday, and the following day (Saturday) was another Sabbath day. It made no difference though, as the tomb was sealed, and the soldiers guarding it would not have allowed it to be unsealed until they received authority from their commanders. No matter what the desires of the women were.

We are left with a Wednesday Crucifixion, and only AD 31 and AD 28, fit the Nissan 14th scriptural requirement of the Passover. AD 31 is the 2nd most accepted year based on other historical timeline factors. Jesus began his priestly ministry 2-1/2 years (per scriptures) earlier than his Crucifixion, and scriptures require an age of 30 to begin priestly duties. So, an early AD 28 crucifixion would have required a birth date of 6 BC, earlier than other historical facts would support.
We are all entitled to our own beliefs in this regard, and this is not meant to change what you choose to believe. But we should keep an open mind to other possibilities, and it does serve a purpose for us to understand the date of his crucifixion. In my first two newsletters last year, I explained about God’s calendar (if you haven’t read them, please do). I explained that God’s calendar is broken into three 2000-year increments (total of 6,000 years) followed by the 1,000-year millennium (equals 7,000 and equates to 7 days of creation). I also explained how the 2,000 years were separated by God’s covenants, first with the Israelites and second, a new covenant offered to all of mankind (Gentiles as well as Israelites). With the Passover date of Wednesday, April 25th (crucifixion on April 24th) of AD31, the age of Grace will have reached, a period of 2,000 years in the coming year 2031.
I want to wish everyone a blessed celebration of new beginnings this season, for he has risen. Glory to God in the highest, and goodwill to mankind.
Maranatha, Gerry S. Sager