- Birth of Jesus - 5 B.C.
- Baptism - 26 A.D.
~~~
In all likelihood, this is going to be another drop in the ocean of opinions about the exact date of Jesus' crucifixion and the timing of the Passion week, but I felt it would be worth recording my own investigations on the matter. Many sites take a whole lot of positions based on a simple reading of one text here or there, or the application of preconceived notions or oddly constructed notions (luni-solar Sabbath among them...) to try and reconcile all the facts. I will, as much as possible, use the bible as the authority to interpret itself. We begin with the first Passover.
---
Exodus 12:1 - 20 (NKJV)
12 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ²“This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. ⁴And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. ⁶Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. ⁷And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. ⁸Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. ⁹Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. ¹⁰You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.
¹²‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. ¹³Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
¹⁴‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. ¹⁵Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat—that only may be prepared by you. ¹⁷So you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an everlasting ordinance. ¹⁸In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹For seven days no leaven shall be found in your houses, since whoever eats what is leavened, that same person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a stranger or a native of the land. ²⁰You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”
---
From this passage I would like to take out a number of points:
- v.3 On the 10th of the first month, every man, according to his household, takes a lamb.
- v.6 The lamb is killed at twilight on the 14th of that month
- If one reckons the day from twilight to twilight, it would mean that the lamb would die at the end of the 14th, just as the 15th was beginning.
- v.11 That very night the Lord swept through Egypt, so they had to eat it in haste.
- This would be the night of the 15th day of the 1st month.
- v. 14-20 Description of the feast of Unleavened bread, which goes, specifically according to verse 18, from the close of the 14th till the 21st at twilight, because by the 21st evening, this period ends.
- During this period, there is to be absolutely no leaven, which is yeast, in the house.
- In addition, the first and seventh days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, or the 15th and 21st of the month, were to be holy convocations, during which no one may do customary work
The Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th and last till the 21st. The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread pretty much go together. Jesus was the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, Agnus Dei, and we shall see how that is fulfilled with precision. Next, let us move into Leviticus for the feast days.
---
Leviticus 23: 1-21 (NKJV)
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.
The Sabbath
³‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
⁴‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. ⁵On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. ⁶And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ⁷On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. ⁸But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’”
The Feast of Firstfruits
⁹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹²And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. ¹⁴You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks
¹⁵‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. ²⁰The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
---
Once again, several points must be highlighted about the Spring feasts:
- v. 1 The Lord claims all the feast days as day of holy convocations.
- v.3 The weekly Sabbath of the Lord is on the 7th day of the week, and it is also described as a holy convocation, a day for no work.
- v. 5 - 8 This has to be interpreted in light of what we understood from Exodus 12.
- The 15th is the feast of unleavened bread because on that night, one eats unleavened bread together with the roasted passover lamb.
- The period of unleavened bread however, again begins with a holy day on the 15th and ends with a holy day on the 21st. Since the 15th in particular is also called the Feast of Unleavened bread and based on verse 1, the 15th is also an especially holy day. I will call the 15th and 21st the Sabbaths of Unleavened Bread.
- v. 9-12 The Feast of Firstfruits is not linked to a specific day on the calendar, rather it is observed on the first first day of the week after the harvest comes in.
- v. 15-16 The Feast of Weeks is linked with the Feast of Firstfruits
- Once again this means that it is not linked with a particular day on the calendar, but with the timing of the harvest.
- It is on the 50th day counting the Feast of Firstfruits as Day 1.
- This day is also described with the words holy convocation, and the Israelites were told not to do customary work on it. Thus I will call this the Sabbath of Weeks.
With the workings of the calendar established, we can now move into interpreting the timing of the Passion week. I will use Mark's account because it is generally regarded as chronological along with Luke, and Mark actually gives us more time specific details than Luke does.
---
Mark 14 (NKJV)
14 After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. ²But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”
³And being in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, as He sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly oil of spikenard. Then she broke the flask and poured it on His head. ⁴But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? ⁵For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply.
⁶But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. ⁷For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. ⁸She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. ⁹Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
¹⁰Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them. ¹¹And when they heard it, they were glad, and promised to give him money. So he sought how he might conveniently betray Him.
¹²Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”
¹³And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. ¹⁴Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹⁵Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”
¹⁶So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover.
¹⁷In the evening He came with the twelve. ¹⁸Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
¹⁹And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”
²⁰He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. ²¹The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”
²²And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
²³Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. ²⁵Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
²⁶And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
---
Do feel free to corroborate the description in Mark with the relevant ones in Matthew 26 and Luke 22. We see here overall, that Jesus is observing the festivals of the Lord as prescribed in the Law.
- v. 12 The first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover Lamb, can only be the 14th, according to the descriptions in the Torah.
- v. 12-14 It would thus be logical then, for the disciples to ask Jesus where He intended to eat the Passover. The location would have been kept for the entire duration of the seven days perhaps.
- v. 17 They arrive to the upper room and there they eat the unleavened bread, as described by Exodus 12:18. The passover lamb has not yet been sacrificed. Thus there is only bread and wine.
Thus we can see that the Last Supper is in fact, the first unleavened meal of the seven days, and would have taken place on the 14th of the first month, in the evening. It would also have been the first Sabbath of Unleavened Bread, and on this day, only work that was done in preparation for the 15th would be allowed. Then, if we trace the developments of the rest of the day over the next few chapters, we find that Jesus' betrayal, arrest, trials and crucifixion all happen over the course of the 14th in an extremely rushed manner. Jesus then dies on the 14th, just as the passover lambs do.
---
Mark 15:21 - 16:2 (NKJV)
²¹Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. ²²And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. ²³Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it. ²⁴And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.
²⁵Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him. ²⁶And the inscription of His accusation was written above:
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
²⁷With Him they also crucified two robbers, one on His right and the other on His left. ²⁸So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors.”
²⁹And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, ³⁰save Yourself, and come down from the cross!”
³¹Likewise the chief priests also, mocking among themselves with the scribes, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. ³²Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.”
Even those who were crucified with Him reviled Him.
³³Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
³⁵Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
³⁷And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.
³⁸Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. ³⁹So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
⁴⁰There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, ⁴¹who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
⁴²Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁴⁴Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. ⁴⁵So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. ⁴⁶Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. ⁴⁷And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.
16 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. ²Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
---
Once again, I'm going to try and pull out some key points to help us make sense of this.
- v. 25: Jesus is crucified at the 3rd hour
- v. 33: Darkness comes over the land at the 6th hour
- v. 33-39: Jesus dies at the 9th hour
- v. 42: The evening, which I shall hazard is twilight, comes, and Jesus is buried at about this time, before the second Sabbath of the Unleavened bread begins on the 15th. The 14th is referred to as the Day of Preparation, and it is on this day that work to prepare for the feast of the 15th is still allowed. In a way, Jesus' crucifixion and death, is passover preparation.
- v. 47: The Marys observe where Jesus is buried.
- v.1: The Sabbath here refers to the Sabbath of the 15th. Thus, the women may have come on the evening of the 16th to anoint Jesus' body.
- v.2: This refers to the first day of the week with respect to the seven day weekly cycle. So only in the day do we see that Jesus is risen.
Now I'll make a couple more points and then show you how I believe it fits together.
---
Matthew 12
³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” ³⁹But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. ⁴⁰For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
Jesus speaks of 3 days and 3 nights. If we are to take His words literally, then we ought to count three of each between the crucifixion and the resurrection. Given that Jesus dies about the end of the day on the 14th, this is how we ought to count. 15th: First night, first day. 16th: Second night, second day. 17th: Third night, third day. He would then be raised on the 18th, in the evening. Then he would have been seen on the 18th in the day.
This places the 18th as the first day of the week (Sat-Sun), and if we work backwards, the day of the 17th would be a Fri-Sat, 16th a Thur-Fri, 15th a Wed-Thur and 14th a Tues-Wed.
1 Corinthians 15
²⁰But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. ²³But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
This is the last passage that needs to be connected, that Christ is the firstfruits of those who are alseep as well as the Passover Lamb. We've already seen how the firstfruits is observed on the first day of the week, in relation to the harvest. I would submit that this is fulfilled precisely in the same way as the Passover symbolism was, and that the 18th would have been the feast of firstfruits.
Thus, we see that over this week of important festivals, there would in fact have been a succession of holy days.
14th: First day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Day of preparation for the 15th
15th: Second day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Day of the Passover Meal
17th: Fourth day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Weekly Sabbath of the Lord
1 Corinthians 15
²⁰But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²²For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. ²³But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.
This is the last passage that needs to be connected, that Christ is the firstfruits of those who are alseep as well as the Passover Lamb. We've already seen how the firstfruits is observed on the first day of the week, in relation to the harvest. I would submit that this is fulfilled precisely in the same way as the Passover symbolism was, and that the 18th would have been the feast of firstfruits.
Thus, we see that over this week of important festivals, there would in fact have been a succession of holy days.
14th: First day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Day of preparation for the 15th
15th: Second day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Day of the Passover Meal
17th: Fourth day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Weekly Sabbath of the Lord
18th: Fifth day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, Feast of Firstfruits.
20th: Seventh day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, End of the unleavened period.
Jesus would have fulfilled each of these in their full prophetic meanings when He came at his first coming, if we adopt the proper biblical chronology of events.
The last check is to see if this aligns with the prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks, which is numbered from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
Daniel 9
²⁴“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
²⁵“Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
²⁶“And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
²⁷Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”
The understanding of the decree in question is the decree mentioned in Ezra 7, which I will leave you to investigate. It is issued by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. Counting a year for a day, 7+62 weeks brings us to 69*7=483, and that turns out to be 27 A.D. Verse 27, often interpreted as being about the antichrist, is in fact about the Messiah. The antichrist power attempts to take away the daily sacrifices, but only the Messiah ends them by perfecting the sacrificial system. The end of sacrifices and offerings comes in the middle of the last of the 70 weeks, which is in 31 A.D.
If we look at the calendar for spring 31 A.D, it shows us precisely the predicted alignment of the weekly cycle with the festivals, in accordance with what we spent the first section of this post working through. The 14th of the first month falls on a Tues-Wed. That served for me as sufficient confirmation of the accuracy of the dating of Jesus' crucifixion in this manner, as it harmonises two different sets of prophetic meanings.
With that in mind, this is the final hypothesis of the Passion week. It does include some details I haven't demonstrated here, but that I have also worked through:
9th Abib (19-20 April 31)
20th: Seventh day of unleavened bread, holy convocation, End of the unleavened period.
Jesus would have fulfilled each of these in their full prophetic meanings when He came at his first coming, if we adopt the proper biblical chronology of events.
The last check is to see if this aligns with the prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks, which is numbered from the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.
Daniel 9
²⁴“Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
²⁵“Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.
²⁶“And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.
²⁷Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.”
The understanding of the decree in question is the decree mentioned in Ezra 7, which I will leave you to investigate. It is issued by Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. Counting a year for a day, 7+62 weeks brings us to 69*7=483, and that turns out to be 27 A.D. Verse 27, often interpreted as being about the antichrist, is in fact about the Messiah. The antichrist power attempts to take away the daily sacrifices, but only the Messiah ends them by perfecting the sacrificial system. The end of sacrifices and offerings comes in the middle of the last of the 70 weeks, which is in 31 A.D.
If we look at the calendar for spring 31 A.D, it shows us precisely the predicted alignment of the weekly cycle with the festivals, in accordance with what we spent the first section of this post working through. The 14th of the first month falls on a Tues-Wed. That served for me as sufficient confirmation of the accuracy of the dating of Jesus' crucifixion in this manner, as it harmonises two different sets of prophetic meanings.
With that in mind, this is the final hypothesis of the Passion week. It does include some details I haven't demonstrated here, but that I have also worked through:
9th Abib (19-20 April 31)
- Friday Morning:
- Jesus Arrives in Bethany for the final Passover (John 12:1)
- Saturday Morning:
- Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, John 12:9-19)
- Jesus Mourns over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44)
- Saturday Evening
- Jesus returns to Bethany with the 12 (Mark 11:11)
- Sunday Morning
- Cursing of the Fig Tree (Matthew 21:18-19, Mark 11:12-14)
- Cleansing of the Temple (Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-48)
- Jesus Heals in the Temple (Matthew 21:14-16)
- Sunday Evening
- When evening comes, He went out of the city (Matthew 21:17, Mark 11:19)
- Monday Morning
- Disciples see the Fig Tree (Matthew 21:20-22, Mark 11:20-26)
- Jesus debates with the Jewish Leaders
- Jesus’ Authority is Challenged, Who sent John the Baptist? (Matthew 21:23-27, Mark 11:27-33, Luke 20:1-8)
- Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)
- Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers (Matthew 21:33-46, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-19)
- Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14)
- Taxes to Caesar? (Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26)
- Sadducees ask about the Resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33, Mark 12:18-27, Luke 20:27-40)
- The Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34)
- Jesus asks about Psalm 110 (Matthew 22:41-46, Mark 12:35-37, Luke 20:41-44)
- Warning about the Scribes (Matthew 23:1-12, Mark 12:38-40, Luke 20:45-47)
- Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-36)
- Jesus Laments about Jerusalem (Matthew 23:37-39)
- The Widow’s Offering (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4)
- Destruction of the Temple Predicted (Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2, Luke 21:5-6)
- Olivet Discourse
- Signs of the Times (Matthew 24:3-14, Mark 13:3-13, Luke 21:7-19)
- The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15-26, Mark 13:14-23, Luke 21:20-24)
- Coming of the Son (Matthew 24:27-31, Mark 13:24-27, Luke 21:25-28)
- The Parable of the Fig Tree (Mathew 24:32-35, Mark 13:28-31, Luke 21:29-33)
- Warning to be Alert (Matthew 24:36-44, Mark 13:32-37, Luke 21:34-38)
- The Faithful and Wicked Servant (Matthew 24:45-51)
- Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13)
- Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
- The Judgement of the Son of Man (Matthew 25:31-46)
- Monday Evening
- The chief priests and scribes conspire to put Jesus to death (Matthew 26:1-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:1-2)
- Jesus is anointed by Mary and Judas disdains her (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:2-8)
- Judas agrees to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:3-6)
- Tuesday Morning
- Disciples look for a place to have the Passover (Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:12-16, Luke 22:7-13)
- Tuesday Evening:
- The First Day of Unleavened Bread
- The Last Supper (Matthew 26:20, Mark 14:17)
- Jesus washes His disciples’ feet (John 13:1-17)
- Prediction of the Betrayal (Matthew 26:21-25, Mark 14:18-21, John 13:18-21)
- The Bread and the Wine (Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-23)
- The Disciples Argue about who is Greatest (Luke 22:24-30)
- Jesus identifies his betrayer (John 13:22-30)
- Love one another (John 13:31-35)
- Peter asks where Jesus is going (John 13:36-14:4)
- Thomas asks about the way (John 14:5-7)
- Philip asks Jesus to show then the Father (John 14:8-21)
- Judas asks Jesus about the exclusive manifestation (John 14:22-31)
- Up to the Roof:
- The True Vine (John 15:1-8)
- Perfect Love (John 15:9-17)
- Coming Persecution (John 15:18-16:4)
- The Helper (John 16:5-16)
- The Disciples puzzle over Jesus’ meaning (John16:17-33)
- The High Priestly Prayer (John 17)
- Departure to the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30, Mark 14:26, John 18:1)
- Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial a Second Time (Matthew 26:31-35, Mark 14:27-31, Luke 22:31-34)
- Jesus’ subtle warning (Luke 22:35-38)
- The Garden of Gethsemane
- Prayer (Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46)
- Betrayal and Arrest (Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-52, Luke 22:47-53, John 18:2-11)
- The Night Trial of the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:57-66, Mark 14:53-65, John 18:12-14, 19-24)
- Denials of Peter (Matthew 26: 69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, John 18:15-18, 25-27)
- Jesus Mocked and Beaten (Matthew 26:67-68, Luke 22:63-65)
- Wednesday Morning:
- Mock Trial of the Sanhedrin (Luke 22:66-71)
- Trials before Pilate (Matthew 27:1-2, 11-14, Mark 15:1-5, Luke 23:1-5, John 18: 28-38)
- Suicide of Judas (Matthew 27:3-10)
- Trial before Herod (Luke 23:6-12)
- Release of Barabbas (Matthew 27:15-26, Mark 15:6-15, Luke 23:13-25, John 18: 39-40)
- Mocking and Torture (Matthew 27:27-31, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:1-4)
- Pilate’s Pressurised Decision (John 19:5-15)
- Crucifixion (Matthew 27: 32-44, Mark 15:21-32, Luke 23:26-38, John 19:16-27)
- Dialogue with the Two Criminals (Luke 23:39-43)
- Death (Matthew 27: 45-56, Mark 15:33-41, Luke 23:44-49, John 19:28-30)
- Burial (Matthew 27:57-61, Mark 15:42-47, Luke 23:50-55, John 19:31-42)
- Wednesday Evening:
- Passover Meal, Feast of Unleavened Bread.
- First Evening in the Tomb
- Thursday Morning:
- First Morning in the Tomb
- Pilate sets a guard over the tomb (Matthew 27:62-66)
- Thursday Evening:
- Third Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Second Evening in the Tomb,
- Day of Preparation for the Weekly Sabbath
- Marys and Salome anoint Jesus’ body with spices (Mark 16:1, Luke 23:56)
- Friday Morning: Second Morning in the Tomb
- Friday Evening:
- Weekly Sabbath, Fourth Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread
- Third Evening in the Tomb, Weekly Sabbath
- Saturday Morning: Third Morning in the Tomb
- Saturday Evening:
- Resurrection of Jesus, First Day or the Week,
- Fifth Day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
- Also the Feast of Firstfruits
- Sunday Morning:
- The Marys see the empty tomb (Matthew 28:1-8, Mark 16:2-8, Luke 24:1-11, John 20:1-2)
- Mary Magdalene sees the resurrected Jesus (Mark 16:9-11, Luke 24:10, John 20:11-18)
- The Women see Jesus (Matthew 28:9-10)
- Peter sees the Empty Tomb (Luke 24:12, John 20:3-10)
- Jesus appears to two disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Mark 16:12-13, Luke 24:13-35)
- Jesus appears to the central disciples (Mark 16:14, Luke 24:36-43, John 20:19-23)
All this structure is still working and hypothetical, but as of today, it is the most consistent understanding that I have of what transpired that dramatic week.
