In 'John 2:20' the Jews tell Jesus during his first year of ministry that the temple has been under construction for 46 years.
The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” -- John 2:20The historian Josephus in his Antiquities tells us that construction began in the 18th year of Herod the Great, 734–735AUC. (AUC = "ab urbe condita" a Latin phrase meaning "from the founding of the City" (Rome), 0AUC = 753 BC).
And now Herod, in the eighteenth year of his reign, and after the acts already mentioned, undertook a very great work; that is to build of himself the temple of God -- Josephus ANT XV.11.1So the year construction began is 734 more than 0 in AUC, or 734 less than 753BC which counts in the other direction.
753BC-734AUC=19BC.
Herod began his rule proper in 37BC after conquering Jerusalem according to ANT.XIV.16.4: This destruction befel the city of Jerusalem when Marcus Agrippa and Caninius Gallus were consuls of Rome; on the hundred eighty and fifth olympiad; on the third month; on the solemnity of the fast.
That is worked out by clever people converting the Olympiad calendar into our BC/AD system, and using clues from Josephus and Moses Chorenensis.
So 37BC+18years=19BC.
We have a match!
46 years later, is 781 or 782AUC which is (accounting for the fact that there is no year 0) 28 or 29AD. Josephus also says construction was completed in 64AD but that's irrelevant for what we're doing here.
Luke's Gospel (3:1) tells us that John the Baptist's ministry began in the 15th year of Tiberius' reign. Tiberius' reign began in 12AD. (Officially it began in 14AD, but before that Tiberius was co-princeps with Augustus, sharing equal power). So add 15 and you get 27AD. The discussion in 'John 2:20' takes place at Passover a year after John the Baptist began his ministry, which takes us to 28AD.
So as the discussion in John is multiply attested to have taken place in 28AD, and that it was in the first year of Jesus' three year mission, we can say: year 1 - 28AD, year 2 - 29AD, year 3 and crucifixion/resurrection - 30AD.
We can also take the word of a couple of early church historians to support this year for our date.
Eusebius in his 'Church History Book 3, Chapter 7, Section 9' tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem was held back 40 years after the passion of Christ. Jerusalem was destroyed in 70AD, so simple maths is 70-40=30AD.
Jerome in his book on 'Illustrious Men' also takes 30AD as the date. He says Paul went to Rome in the second year of Nero i.e. 55AD, and he also quotes it as being 25 years after the passion.
Similarly Jerome says that John the Apostle died 68 years after the passion, while Eusebius (H.E. 3.23.4) says John passed in the time of Trajan. Trajan came to power in 98AD, so the dates match.
So we are in 30AD.
We can narrow it down to the day too.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us that the crucifixion was on Preparation Day.
Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate -- Matthew 27:62Preparation Days were usually Fridays. Sabbath's are usually Saturdays.
And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath -- Mark 15:42
It was the day of Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning. -- Luke 23:54
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” -- John 19:14
So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. -- John 19:42
Some confusion comes in when we allow for the fact that there are also High Sabbaths, which mark special events in the calendar and might not necessarily be a Saturday, but simply whatever date the event falls on.
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. -- John 19:31So John tells us that this particular Sabbath was a High Day which could place it on any day of the week. He previously told us that it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. Passover is a week long event which begins on Nisan 15th.
In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. -- Exodus 12:18
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. -- Leviticus 23:6-7
On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord's Passover, and on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. -- Numbers 28:16-17This looks slightly confusing, as to whether Passover begins on the 14th or 15th. But you will notice that the verses refer to the evening of 14th i.e. the beginning of the 15th.
So if the Preparation Day was for the Passover, we can safely say it was on Nisan 14th. But if John in '19:14' meant something more like, "this was the Preparation Day that fell during Passover" our date range is Nisan 15th to Nisan 22nd. Both the first and last days of Passover are treated as High Sabbaths, so we have a choice of either the 15th or 22nd. But as 'John 19:31' tells us that the bodies had to come down before the High Sabbath, we can shift the Preparation Day to the 14th or 21st.
So now we have 14th which is a Preparation Day for the Passover Sabbath, or the 21st which is a Preparation Day during the Passover.
and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. -- Exodus 12:6Part of the Old Testament instruction about Passover was that the Jews slaughter their lambs for the feast on the 14th. It's just as though the 14th is a preparation day for the Passover.
Also, as we know that an enormous part of the Old Testament is foreshadowing to Jesus, it might seem very reasonable that the Lamb of God, was slaughtered on this day too.
The 14th date makes more sense than the 21st in light of other details too. In 'Luke 22:15' Jesus said he has been eager to share the Passover meal with his friends. Given the 21st date, he would have had almost a week to do so, while the 14th is the earliest possible time for him to do it. From 'John 12:1,12-13' we find that Jesus arrived in Jerusalem five days before Passover began, and the events seem to lead up to the beginning of Passover. They don't show any sign of Passover beginning and almost coming to an end.
Nisan 14th seems to certainly be the correct date for the crucifixion.
'Matthew 28:1' tells us that Mary visited the tomb on the day after Sabbath, the first day of the week. 'Mark 16:2', 'Luke 24:1' and 'John 20:1' agree on the first day of the week.
Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. -- Matthew 28:1We know Sabbath is Saturday and the first day of the week is Sunday. So the discovery of the empty tomb was a Sunday.
And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. -- Mark 16:2
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices which they had prepared. -- Luke 24:1
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. -- John 20:1
None of the Gospels make any distinction between the first day of Passover and the usual Saturday Sabbath. In fact each talks of Jesus being laid to in his tomb the day before Sabbath, Luke mentions that the women rested on the Sabbath day, and then the narrative immediately goes to the day after Sabbath, which was the first day of the week.
It seemed that Passover fell on a Sabbath day this year. Passover always begins on Nisan 15, and we have seen that the crucifixion was Nisan 14.
Nisan 14 was on a Friday in 30AD.
Now this might seem a little confusing to those thinking that Jesus was supposed to be buried for three days. However, the more accurate way of putting it was that Jesus would be raised on 'the third day'. First century Jews did not necessarily count a 24 hour period as a day. Any portion of a day would be enough when using a phrase like 'three days later'. So if Jesus died late on Friday, remained in the tomb all day Saturday, and rose early on Sunday, that would be the third day:
Day 1: Friday
Day 2: Saturday
Day 3: Sunday
It is odd to our modern minds that they would count like that, but one thing you often have to remember is that this culture is separated from us by about 2,000 years.
So our Biblical clues lead us to the conclusion that:
The crucifixion and death of Jesus was on Friday, Nisan 14th, 30AD.
The discovery of his empty tomb and his first resurrection appearances were on Sunday, Nisan 16th, 30AD.
