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Timing of the crucifixion and resurrection

Justin Martyr said:
But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead.

For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn; and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration.

I have also seen this. I have several assumptions as to why this would be written but havent taken the time to prove it. I believe that this was either a misunderstanding based from Marks account, or a translator/scribe “helped” the author.
 
I'll need some time to digest what you've just posted, but as far as the Last Supper being the feast, I just noticed in John 13...

Jesus said to him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (Now none of those present at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas. Some thought that, because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him to buy whatever they needed for the feast, or to give something to the poor.) Judas took the piece of bread and went out immediately. (Now it was night.)
John 13:27‭-‬30 NET

Would be weird to leave the passover feast to go get groceries for the passover feast (must've forgotten the milk!). Also, confirms this meal was late enough at night to still be considered a meal on the Passover (e.g., the 14th of Nissan has just started).

None of that affects whether it was a Thursday night or a Wednesday night, though.
 
Yep. It would be odd to tell someone to hurry up and leave in the middle of an important meal to buy something for a feast that wouldn’t be happening till the next evening. Just make sure you take care of it tomorrow before the feast.

OTOH, if you were short of something for the feast you were participating in ATM . . . .

It’s interesting that Judas took the piece of bread but it doesnt say anything about him partaking of it. Hmm.
 
In a Wed. Night Passover meal/Thursday crucifixion . . . .

John 12:1. Six days before . . . . Jesus leaves Jericho and travels to Bethany to Lazarus’ house, arriving before evening on Friday. Partakes of a Shabbat meal Friday night. Then (Probably on Saturday) It’s noised that Jesus (the man who raises the dead) is at Lazarus’ house (the dead man who was raised) and everybody makes the short trek to Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, to see these men. The priests are used to being the center of attention on this day in particular, because this day is the 10th of Nissan. The day that the Lamb is chosen. Obviously the people choose the Lamb, and the priests also choose the sacrificial lamb. The next day, Sunday is the day that Christ rides in on the donkey and ends up at the House/Temple and proceeds to purge the house of leaven. (A requirement before the lamb is brought into the house for the 4 days of testing). The Lamb is tested Sunday (11th), Monday (12th), Tuesday (13th) and Wednesday (14th), then (the common lamb) killed Wednesday afternoon for the Pascha meal and partaken of in the evening (beginning of the 15th day).

The 15th Day for the non priests was typically was a day to continue the feast from the night before, but also to present their sacrifices for the sin offering, the trespass/peace offering and their burnt offering. (See Leviticus 1-7) It was also the day of Firstfruits that were to be offered to the priests. Specifically, barley, liquors and wine, and the firstborn of beasts and substitute offerings for the firstborn of man. (Ex 22:29, 34:20, Num 3, 8:17,18) These “firstfruits” belonged by right to the Levites because they were substituted for the firstborn (Numbers 3) and it was literally a Priests only Passover feast. (The common man had to wait to celebrate his Firstfruits feast til Pentecost). This is the specific Passover Feast that John 18:28 is referring to.

So with Thursday being the 15th when Christ was crucified, you have the day the lamb was to be chosen, then 4 days for testing, Christ observing the common Passover meal on the correct day (and apparently following it with a Lords Supper/Communion per Johns account) followed by his betrayal in the garden, rejection by the (priestly?) Jews before Pilate 6am, followed by the Crucifixion 9am, darkness at noon and death by 3pm. About 6 pm (which was the beginning of the following day, Friday) Matt 27:57, Mark 15:42 Now when even was come, because it was the preparation, that is the day before the sabbath” [Saturday] Joseph of Arimathea . . . . Went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus”.
So Joseph begs the body of Jesus on Thursday evening after 6pm making it the beginning of Friday, the 16th. He burys the body Thursday eve/night, the women buy the spices etc and begin doing whatever they did to process them. Unfortunately they do not finish the process by the time that the sabbath starts the following evening on the 17th, and so they have to wait to anoint the body till after the sabbath is completed, which they do early in the morning on the 18th.

You also have the account in Matthew 27:62 where the day after the preparation (not of the sabbath) the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate and requested a guard. I’m having a hard time believing that they would seek an audience with Pilate on the sabbath, though apparently they brought a man to trial on the Passover night, so ?

Nisan 15 was the day of preparation specifically because Moses instructed them to be ready to be thrust out Ex 11:1, and yet in Ex 12:39 . . . Because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared . . . 41) And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

The night that they were to prepare to leave was important, but it was the night that they left that changed the history of the world. The day in between the nights was the day that they scrambled to prepare to leave.
 
Verifyveritas76 said:
In a Wed. Night Passover meal/Thursday crucifixion . . . .

John 12:1. Six days before . . . . Jesus leaves Jericho and travels to Bethany to Lazarus’ house, arriving before evening on Friday. Partakes of a Shabbat meal Friday night. Then (Probably on Saturday) It’s noised that Jesus (the man who raises the dead) is at Lazarus’ house (the dead man who was raised) and everybody makes the short trek to Bethany, just outside Jerusalem, to see these men. The priests are used to being the center of attention on this day in particular, because this day is the 10th of Nissan. The day that the Lamb is chosen. Obviously the people choose the Lamb, and the priests also choose the sacrificial lamb. The next day, Sunday is the day that Christ rides in on the donkey and ends up at the House/Temple and proceeds to purge the house of leaven. (A requirement before the lamb is brought into the house for the 4 days of testing). The Lamb is tested Sunday (11th), Monday (12th), Tuesday (13th) and Wednesday (14th), then (the common lamb) killed Wednesday afternoon for the Pascha meal and partaken of in the evening (beginning of the 15th day).

The 15th Day for the non priests was typically was a day to continue the feast from the night before, but also to present their sacrifices for the sin offering, the trespass/peace offering and their burnt offering. (See Leviticus 1-7) It was also the day of Firstfruits that were to be offered to the priests. Specifically, barley, liquors and wine, and the firstborn of beasts and substitute offerings for the firstborn of man. (Ex 22:29, 34:20, Num 3, 8:17,18) These “firstfruits” belonged by right to the Levites because they were substituted for the firstborn (Numbers 3) and it was literally a Priests only Passover feast. (The common man had to wait to celebrate his Firstfruits feast til Pentecost). This is the specific Passover Feast that John 18:28 is referring to.

So with Thursday being the 15th when Christ was crucified, you have the day the lamb was to be chosen, then 4 days for testing, Christ observing the common Passover meal on the correct day (and apparently following it with a Lords Supper/Communion per Johns account) followed by his betrayal in the garden, rejection by the (priestly?) Jews before Pilate 6am, followed by the Crucifixion 9am, darkness at noon and death by 3pm. About 6 pm (which was the beginning of the following day, Friday) Matt 27:57, Mark 15:42 Now when even was come, because it was the preparation, that is the day before the sabbath” [Saturday] Joseph of Arimathea . . . . Went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus”.
So Joseph begs the body of Jesus on Thursday evening after 6pm making it the beginning of Friday, the 16th. He burys the body Thursday eve/night, the women buy the spices etc and begin doing whatever they did to process them. Unfortunately they do not finish the process by the time that the sabbath starts the following evening on the 17th, and so they have to wait to anoint the body till after the sabbath is completed, which they do early in the morning on the 18th.

You also have the account in Matthew 27:62 where the day after the preparation (not of the sabbath) the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate and requested a guard. I’m having a hard time believing that they would seek an audience with Pilate on the sabbath, though apparently they brought a man to trial on the Passover night, so ?

Nisan 15 was the day of preparation specifically because Moses instructed them to be ready to be thrust out Ex 11:1, and yet in Ex 12:39 . . . Because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared . . . 41) And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.

The night that they were to prepare to leave was important, but it was the night that they left that changed the history of the world. The day in between the nights was the day that they scrambled to prepare to leave.
Click to expand...
Very, very thorough. Unless I hear something better I'm going with this.
 
I was offline most of the day yesterday, but you've given me a lot to think about here. If nothing else, I have a better parameterization of the problem space. I see now there are actually two semi-independant questions in play: was Jesus crucified on the 14th or 15th of Nisan, and were there one or two full days intervening between the day he died and the day he resurrected. This leads to four possible timelines:
  • Crucified Friday the 14th, rose on Sunday the 16th
  • Crucified Thursday the 14th, rose on Sunday the 17th
  • Crucified Friday the 15th, rose on Sunday the 17th.
  • Crucified Thursday the 15th, rose on Sunday the 18th.
I favor the first, and I believe you are advocating the last. I don't have a lot of time to dig further at the moment (e.g., the full week calendar, or the various sacrifice laws you posted). But two things jump out at me. First is that the entire day of Friday the 16th, neither a Sabbath nor a Holy Day, is just spent mixing spices? That seems a bit off.

Second is calling the 15th the day of Preparation. I may have misunderstood your point, but you seem to be saying they didn't leave until the night of the 15th? I thought the 15th was the day they actually left (per Numbers 33:3). The passover meal was eaten (at the end of the 14th) while already in a state of preparation:
This is how you are to eat it – dressed to travel (i.e. your loins girded), your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.​
Exodus 12:11 NET

The angel of death came that night, at midnight, and later that night (before sunup on the 15th) Paraoh summoned Moses and expelled the Israelites. They certainly would have left ASAP, while the Egyptians were burying their dead. You don't wait until night to start a long journey. Again, I feel like I may have missed something.
 
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Here is an interesting take on the possibility that not all of the writers were on the same calendar.
If this was covered, my apologies.
 
Haven't had a chance to get very far into the video above yet, but it looks fascinating.

However, regarding the definition of "Preparation Day" (which all Gospels agree that Jesus was crucified on) I just stumbled across this quote from the Didache (IIRC, the earliest known writing from the Early Church), regarding days on which to fast:

But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week. Rather, fast on the fourth day and the Preparation.
Click to expand...

The 2nd/5th days are Monday/Thursday (when the Pharisees fasted), and the 4th/Preparation are Wednesday/Friday. This confirms that "The Preparation" was generally used to refer to the weekly Friday (as Mark states, the day before Sabbath).
 
steve said:
Here is an interesting take on the possibility that not all of the writers were on the same calendar.
If this was covered, my apologies.
Click to expand...

That's a good video, really puts a lot of things in perspective.
 
The first part of the video was pretty good (I made it a little over half way). Some of it I was familiar with and I also learned several new things like the intercalation of that calendar. That was new to me. And I can see the possiblity or probability that there were some Jews who were observing a different calendar than the majority of the Jews, specifically the sect at Qumran . . . . But . . . There were just too many logic leaps for me once he got to the Crucifixion week. I don’t see any substantial proof that Jesus was utilizing the Zadokite calendar, I don’t have the time tonight to analyze everything the way I’d like to, basically, I watched until the hypothesis was based on too many assumptions to be capable of yielding positive fruit IMO.

In regards to the idea of the preparation, that is something that each of the authors approach from a different perspective. Don’t assume that they are each using it to refer to the same thing. Each one is using that word to describe different moments in the week.

I was also doing some more studying tonight and realized that Barabas’ release on the feast day also plays an important role in proofing the chronological sequence.

I also came across another cross reference I’d forgotten about to the priests only feast in Johns account. Numbers 18:8-19 gives a great overview of the whys and wherefores of that particular, exclusively Levite, Passover/Firstfruits feast.
 
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