CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS AFTER, NOT DURING
PASSOVER FESTIVALă

 

Aristeo Canlas Fernando, Peace Crusader

 

 

BACKGROUND

This webpage is a revision of an earlier webpage published in November 2002 wherein I asserted that the revealed crucifixion date of August 17, 1 BC by the Holy Spirit was a Friday.  After a year of not being able to prove that the crucifixion day was a Friday and having come across the Perpetual Jewish/Civil Calendar Conversion by Alan D Corre, and the Yet Another Calendar Converter by Timothy James Forsythe, I came to accept that the date was a Thursday.  The revealed crucifixion date though is still correct but the date was not a Friday but a Thursday.  This is presented in “Crucifixion Date of Jesus Revealed and Proven” at http://www.geocities.com/peacecrusader888/jesuscrucify1.htm.  The summary of dates determined from this revision of day are as follows:

 

Proleptic Gregorian date

Day of week

Jewish date

(Until sunset of Gregorian date)

Remarks

August 17, 1 BC

Thursday

Av 30, 3760 AM

Crucifixion of Jesus; Preparation Day for the high day and the Saturday Sabbath

August 18, 1 BC

Friday

Elul 1, 3760 AM

New Moon Festival, a high day

August 19, 1 BC

Saturday

Elul 2, 3760 AM

Saturday Sabbath

August 20, 1 BC

Sunday

Elul 3, 3760 AM

 

August 21, 1 BC

Monday

Elul 4, 3760 AM

Discovery of empty sepulcher

 

PASSOVER FESTIVAL

Passover, Pesach in Hebrew, is the celebration of the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora in a festival commemorating the divine deliverance or freeing of the children of Israel from their oppression and enslavement in Egypt after 430 years.  Moses led the escape to freedom to go to the “Promised Land” often referred to as the Exodus.

 

The Pharaoh finally agreed to let the Jewish people leave after God sent the Ten Plagues to Egypt.  In the last plague, God killed every first-born, both Egyptians and their animals, but passed over the Hebrew homes (Exodus 12:23-27).

 

These days, the festival is held on the 14th to the 21st of Jewish month of Nisan, sometime in April. It was about this time when exodus happened during the 13th century BC.  That’s more than 3,000 years ago!

 

Also these days, Nisan is designated as the first month of the religious year following the biblical custom, while Tishri, the first month of the civil year.  I would like to emphasize at this point that the religious calendar did not use to start in Nisan.  It was just numbered 1 to 12 and it was a purely lunar calendar of 354 days per year.  This will be discussed in detail at http://www.geocities.com/peacecursader888/twocalendars.htm.

 

The Passover Festival lasts for eight days, during which no bread, cakes or similar foodstuffs may be eaten.  Unleavened bread, called matzoth or matzah, is substituted for these.

 

 On the first night of the Passover, special celebrations by a ceremonial meal called the Seder, are held in Jewish homes.  Families gather together for a festival meal, which is preceded by recounting the story of the exodus from Egypt.

 

JESUS AND THE PASSOVER FESTIVAL

Many people had believed in Jesus because of the miracles He had been performing (John 11:45).  The chief priests and Pharisees became aware of what Jesus was doing and became concerned.  So they formed a council and plotted to kill Jesus (John 11:46-53).

 

Herewith are other verses from the Holy Bible (King James Version) about the conspiracy to arrest and kill Jesus:

Matthew 26:3-5 – “The assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.  But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.”

Mark 14:1-2 – “After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.  But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.”

Luke 22:1-2 – “Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.  And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him, for they feared the people.”

 

Jesus knew He would be handed over to be crucified, so He said to His disciples:

Matthew 26:2 – “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.”

 

The disciples of Jesus in their gospel recounted the first day of the Passover.

 

CALENDARS TO ILLUSTRATE EVENTS

Table 1 illustrates the relationship of the Jewish calendars and the proleptic Gregorian calendar around the time of the Passover Festival when Jesus was crucified.

 

During the time of Jesus, the Jews were using two calendars: a named-months civil lunisolar calendar and a numbered-months religious lunar calendar.

 

For civil usage, the Jews used the lunisolar calendar to bring the lunar months in their proper season.  This is done by intercalating a thirteenth month of 30 days in the third, sixth, eighth, eleventh, fourteenth, seventeenth and nineteenth year of a nineteen-year cycle.

 

The religious lunar calendar, on the other hand, has a lunar year of 354 days and months numbered 1 to 12.  In Table 1, under the religious Jewish calendar, roman numeral indicates the month number.

 

The Passover Festival, one of three pilgrim festivals commanded by God to the Israelites, was celebrated from the 14th to the 21st of the first month of the lunar year.  This is where the lunar calendar is used—for the celebration of Passover, which was not season-related, or season-dependent.  It just marked the number of lunar years from their departure from Egypt.

 

Since the lunar year is eleven days shorter than the solar year, the first month wandered through the seasons.  This is similar to the Muslim calendar wherein the month of Ramadan, for example, could be in any seasons of the year.  When Jesus was crucified, the first month of the lunar year was in the month of Av. 

 

Table 1.  The dates in the Jewish civil (year 3760 AM) and religious calendars and in the proleptic Gregorian calendar in year 1 BC.

 

Date in Jewish Calendars

Date in proleptic Gregorian Calendar

(1 BC)

Day of

Week

Remarks

Civil

(3760 AM)

Religious

Av 1

I - 1

July 19

Wednesday

Start of religious year

Av 2

I - 2

July 20

Thursday

 

Av 3

I - 3

July 21

Friday

 

Av 4

I - 4

July 22

Saturday

Saturday Sabbath

Av 5

I - 5

July 23

Sunday

 

Av 6

I - 6

July 24

Monday

 

Av 7

I - 7

July 25

Tuesday

 

Av 8

I - 8

July 26

Wednesday

 

Av 9

I - 9

July 27

Thursday

 

Av 10

I - 10

July 28

Friday

 

Av 11

I - 11

July 29

Saturday

Saturday Sabbath

Av 12

I - 12

July 30

Sunday

 

Av 13

I - 13

July 31

Monday

 

Av 14

I - 14

August 1

Tuesday

Start of Passover

Av 15

I - 15

August 2

Wednesday

Passover

Av 16

I - 16

August 3

Thursday

Passover

Av 17

I - 17

August 4

Friday

Passover

Av 18

I - 18

August 5

Saturday

Passover, Saturday Sabbath

Av 19

I - 19

August 6

Sunday

Passover

Av 20

I - 20

August 7

Monday

Passover

Av 21

I - 21

August 8

Tuesday

End of Passover

Av 22

I - 22

August 9

Wednesday

 

Av 23

I - 23

August 10

Thursday

 

Av 24

I - 24

August 11

Friday

 

Av 25

I - 25

August 12

Saturday

Saturday Sabbath

Av 26

I - 26

August 13

Sunday

 

Av 27

I - 27

August 14

Monday

 

Av 28

I - 28

August 15

Tuesday

 

Av 29

I - 29

August 16

Wednesday

 

Av 30

I - 30

August 17

Thursday

Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried

Elul 1

II - 1

August 18

Friday

Jesus in the sepulcher; New Moon Festival, a high day

Elul 2

II - 2

August 19

Saturday

Jesus in the sepulcher; Saturday Sabbath

Elul 3

II - 3

August 20

Sunday

Jesus in the sepulcher; resurrection of Jesus – between sunset and midnight of August 20

Elul 4

II - 4

August 21

Monday

Resurrection of Jesus between sunset and midnight of Elul 4; discovery of empty sepulcher at early daytime

 

From Table 1, the first day of the Passover was on Av 14, 3760 AM, a Tuesday.  The following days are Av 15, Wednesday; Av 16, Thursday; and Av 17, Friday.   Av 18 is the only Saturday during that Passover.  If Jesus was crucified on a Friday, the eve of the Saturday Sabbath, would all events from His arrest on Tuesday around the middle of nighttime to His crucifixion be completed within 72 hours?  In addition, is that Saturday Sabbath a high day?  It was not.  Av 14 and Av 21 are the high days during that Passover.  Those are the days when they would have abstained from business and work during the Passover aside from the Saturday Sabbath.

 

In addition, would the Pharisees and the chief priests perform the execution of Jesus during the festival?  As cited above, the conspirators were afraid of the people who would have rioted if they did so.

 

The generally accepted belief is that Jesus was crucified during the Passover Festival.  However, as shown in the website cited in the first paragraph (jesuscrucify1.htm), the crucifixion happened on Av 30, 3760 AM.  Since His crucifixion was on the 30th of the month of Av and the festival had ended on the 21st of Av, it clearly indicates that the crucifixion happened after the festival.

 

File passover1.htm last updated:  September 10, 2003

 

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