How the Moon pinpoints the Date of the Cross?

[Christian Gedge]

In times past, scholars realized the answer lay in finding the phases of the moon. Inquiries were made to national observatories and astronomical societies, but information had to be eked out, a question at a time. Today however, highly accurate lunar software is available to layman and specialist alike. So, it should be easy to find Passover dates in any given year, because Passover always arrived late on the 14th day of the first moon of each year.

However, here is where the problems begin:

First. How can we date the Passover of Christ’s crucifixion if we don’t know the year? What we do know is that Pilate governed Judea from AD 26 to AD 36, so it must have been somewhere in-between.

Second. Was Jesus crucified on the 14th day when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, or was it on the following day, the 15th after the meal had been eaten?

Third. Which day of the week did Jesus die? Tradition says it was Friday, but Wednesday or Thursday seems to better fit his three days and three nights in the grave?​

So, although lunar cycles are very reliable, they are not much good if we do not know the year or the day of the month. Moreover, modern calculation of ‘new moon’ isn’t the same as those observed in ancient time. Modern astronomers equate the first day of the month with the day following ‘lunar conjunction,’ that is, the middle of the dark moon period when the moon and sun are in conjunction with each other.

Originally ‘new moon’ referred to the crescent on the first night it became visible, typically one or two days after conjunction. In 1st century Judea, if the crescent moon appeared during the night, it could be seen about 18 hours after conjunction. However, if it developed during daylight hours, the observer had to wait till nightfall to see it. That might have stretched to two days. Then, when he saw the faint lunar sliver, he ran to the priest and reported his sighting. (He would have been an authorised person such as a shepherd, who got paid a few shekels for his service) Then the priest would declare the 'new moon' and the 1st day of the month would be deemed to have started at beginning of the same night that it was reported.

In the case of our modern Jewish calendar, it still uses the first visible crescent rather than lunar conjunction to start the month. However, it is no longer identified by a physical sighting. Rather, it is mathematically estimated, and offset from the conjunction. With these problems hindering a simple fixing of Jesus’ last Passover date; I have worked out a chart that shows the alternative possibilities between AD 29 and AD 34. My method was to find the lunar conjunction preceding Nisan, and then step through each hour until a likely sighting could have been made. Having determined 'new moon,' the days were then stepped through the month until Passover.

Please print out the chart for a close look. The brown cross icons are the only possible dates. Lets discuss.

 

[Christian Gedge]

 

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[SkyWriting]

"Those days" are not the same as "These days". I have never understood anniversaries.
There is no connection between one day and it's anniversary date.
If we numbered days accurately to their true nature, each day would have a unique name and each day would have a unique number. Each day that number would be larger.
It's so weird that we would try to re-enact our thoughts each year, for no actual reason.

 

[3 Resurrections]

Hi Christian,

When I read the notes in Ussher's "Annals of the World", he gives another way of pinpointing the date for the crucifixion. It involves the statement made in John 2:20 by the Jews on the first Passover after Christ's earthly ministry had begun (which ministry was approximately 3-1/2 years long). They responded to Christ by saying, "Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?" Herod had begun his massive temple renovation back in 17 BC. When this 17 BC year is considered with 46 years beyond that, and also another 3 years till Christ's Passover crucifixion, an AD 33 date for this event is the result.

Every prophetic date that intersects with this timeline convinces me that the AD 33 year is correct. However, I am prone to believe the Wednesday theory of the crucifixion date, with an actual 3 days and 3 nights in the grave, as the sign of Jonas predicted. The question would then be how to reconcile both a Wednesday crucifixion and an AD 33 year. There is also the point about that week having a regular Sabbath and also another "High Sabbath" in it, which must also be included in the discussion. Have you any thoughts on these points?

 

[Psalm 27]

better fit his three days and three nights in the grave?

He was two nights in the grave, He rose on The third day
Friday was the day of His crucifixion when He died, Saturday was The Sabbath, and Sunday morning He rose from death. John 19:28 - John 20:1
It Is Finished
John 19:28
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced
31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. 39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
The Empty Tomb
John 20:1
Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

 

[LoveGodsWord]

View attachment 311506

I think we started discussing this the other day somewhere in another thread so I will post some comments here showing why I believe your chart is not accurate and show why your chart is not supported in the scriptures.

The history of the Jewish calendar is divided into three periods—

1. the Biblical, the
   
2. Talmudic, and the
   
3. post-Talmudic.

The biblical calendar rested purely on the observation of the sun and the moon, the second on observation and reckoning, the third entirely on reckoning.

The Talmudic period did not start until late in the second century. This means the time of Christ and the old testament was clearly in the Biblical period of the Jewish calendar and its construction rested purely on the observation of the sun and the moon through visual observation. Hence the Jews used a visual sighting for the waxing crescent of the moon to determine the first day of their calendar month. Depending on how clear the day, time of year, and location determined the visibility of the the crescent moon and it's visibility varied from 1-3.5 days.

The Astronomical reckonings as we have them today that you have provided in your post uses the moon in conjunction which can be fairly accurately sighted through computation. However what cannot be determined through computation is the visual sighting of the new crescent moons which varied from 1-3.5 day variation of sighting times. What that means is that Astronomical computation of the new moon cannot determine the new moon in biblical reckoning of time. So bottom line is that no one had Astronomical reckoning for determining the times of the seasons in the old covenant or in Christs time.

The only way according to the scriptures was the sighting of the sun and the new moons which is based on the scriptures for determining the times and the seasons as shown in Genesis 1:14. Therefore if you consider what is being presented in this post your chart can literally be out from 1 to 3.5 days throughout every year you have posted. This puts a big hole in your OP's premise that your starting dates are correct. Everything else falls down from there in my view.

So bottom line, it is impossible for the crescent moon to be calculated as it varies from month to month and year to year from 1 to 3.5 days linked. An app cannot calculate it as it has to be visually seen at any particular point in time because of the 1 to 3.5 day variation. So it is impossible for any app to calculate this. You can do some more research on this to see if what I am saying is true or not. They did not have Astronomical reckoning in the old testament and the days of Jesus. In my view most research papers make the same mistake of using Astronomical reckoning of the New moon. Something that was never practiced in the days of old testament and the days of Jesus and the Apostles.

Hope this is helpful

Take Care.

 

[Christian Gedge]

When I read the notes in Ussher's "Annals of the World", he gives another way of pinpointing the date for the crucifixion.

Good verse, but to keep this thread on track let’s stay with how the moon confirms the date of the last Passover.

Every prophetic date that intersects with this timeline convinces me that the AD 33 year is correct. However, I am prone to believe the Wednesday theory of the crucifixion date

Unfortunately, you cannot have it both ways. In the year AD33 Passover began on Friday. If you believe the Wednesday theory, we would need an AD31 or AD34 year as noted in the last column of the chart.

 

[Christian Gedge]

The Astronomical reckonings as we have them today that you have provided in your post uses the moon in conjunction which can be fairly accurately sighted through computation. However what cannot be determined through computation is the visual sighting of the new crescent moons which varied from 1-3.5 day variation of sighting times.

I have shown the conjunction date in column 2, and the visual sighting date in column 3. The first day of Nisan as per Romes Julian calendar in Jesus’ time is shown in column 4.

 

[LoveGodsWord]

I have shown the conjunction date in column 2, and the visual sighting date in column 3. The first day of Nisan as per the Julian calendar in Jesus’ time is shown in column 4.

Yes I saw that CG. You did not explain how you got the crescent new moon sightings that can vary from month to month and from year to year by 1-3.5 day variation of sighting times. This cannot be worked out mathematically from pre 4th century as the Jewish calendars worked off biblical reckoning of the visual sighting on the new crescent moons. I am not aware of any historical records for these sightings from Jesus time and the old testament. A Julian calendar is also based on the sun and is not a lunar calendar. That is a different system of reckoning to what the Jews used.

 

[Christian Gedge]

This cannot be worked out mathematically from pre 4th century

I never worked it out mathematically. I painstakingly examined the lunar phases for each hour of the month of Nisan, and converted my findings to the Julian calendar.

 

[LoveGodsWord]

I never worked it out mathematically. I painstakingly examined the lunar phases for each hour of the month of Nisan, and converted my findings to the Julian calendar.

I guess I am unconvinced you would need to prove when the visual sightings of the crescent moons occurred for each month and each year you have provided in your table and there are no records that determine this that are based on the Jewish lunar biblical calendar period for Christs time and those of the old testament reckonings for the new crescent moon sightings for each month and year. According to the Jews there is a 1-3.5 day variation of sighting times of the visible crescent moon. This is not accounted for in a Julian calendar which is what you have provided.

 

[atpollard]

According to the Jews there is a 1-3.5 day variation of sighting times of the visible crescent moon. This is not accounted for in a Julian calendar which is what you have provided.

The conjunction is a fixed, knowable date. The table assumes visibility 1 day later. Poor local visibility would have pushed Passover up to 2.5 days later in each of those years. You can add 1 or 2 days to the “Passover lamb killed” date and see the results for yourself.

AD 29 = Sun - Tues
AD 30 = Thu - Sat
AD 31 = Tue - Thu
AD 32 = Mon - Wed
AD 33 = Fri - Sun
AD 34 = Tue - Thu

Most of the possibilities can be eliminated from scripture (Jesus was not crucified on a Tuesday and raised on a Friday). Beyond that, with “opinions” ranging from Wednesday to Friday already, it hardly matters for narrowing down an exact year.

I believe the evidence from scripture is clearer for a Friday Crucifixion and a Sunday resurrection. It is the cryptic “sign of Jonah” that must be reconciled, not the calendar.

I believe 3 days and nights is idiomatic, like Esther’s call to prayer, and counts part of a day as a day. The only way 72 hours works is if Jesus rose between noon and sunset (when he died and was buried). Scripture indicates a Sunday morning resurrection (pre-dawn) as they were guarding the body overnight.

 

[Acts29]

I never worked it out mathematically. I painstakingly examined the lunar phases for each hour of the month of Nisan, and converted my findings to the Julian calendar.

Your chart is from 29-34. Did you happen to calculate 26 AD? I would be interested to know if you did. Thanks.

 

[Christian Gedge]

Your chart is from 29-34. Did you happen to calculate 26 AD? I would be interested to know if you did. Thanks.

Yes, my full paper is here: