Did John Contradict Mark on the Day Jesus Died? | Useful Charts Response

In this video, I respond to Matt Baker of Useful Charts who argues that the Gospel of John contradicts the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) on the day of Jesus' crucifixion. Baker claims that while the Synoptics portray Jesus as being crucified on the first day of Passover, John places the crucifixion on the day before Passover.

I examine Baker's argument and evaluate the evidence from the Gospels to see whether John really contradicts the Synoptics or not. I also explore the historical and supposed theological significance of the different dates proposed by the Gospels.

Join us as I delve into this fascinating topic and shed light on an age-old debate. Whether you're a scholar, a believer, or just curious about the Bible, this video will provide you with food for thought.

00:00 Did Jesus exist?
03:09 When did Jesus begin his ministry?
10:34 The Gospel writers cared about facts
15:34 How many women and angels?
17:49 Do Mark and John contradict about the day did Jesus died?
29:24 Is the story of Barabbas dubious?
33:01 Conclusions

I'm grateful for Dr. Lydia McGrew's input on the section of Barabbas.

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[UsefulCharts]

Sorry I'm late to comment but in case anyone wants to dig into it further, what I said about Barabbas mostly came from this source:

Bond, H. (2013). Dating the Death of Jesus: Memory and the Religious Imagination. New
Testament Studies, 59(04), 461-475

[glang]

Currently at 20:06 and I just realized that Jesus, who is described as God's firstborn, died on Passover like the firstborns of Egypt.
Just a nugget of intertextuality I wanted to share.

Edit: grammar

[lyongreene]

Wow this is A+ content. I'm really impressed. When I first watched Baker's video I just took evrrything he said for granted without really considering the theological issues it posed. I can't thank you enough for making scholarly information like this available in a condensed format. I definitely haven't devoted as much time to this topic. Thank you as well for making your points sound and easy to follow. Really seems like Baker's pesach debacle is a big ol' nothing burger.

Have you considered tackling the Olivet Discourse?

[michaelsowerby]

The fact that they don't treat the Koran this way shows that they value their lives more than truth.

[Rawkabilly]

I'm sure someone has said this already but the statement about the passover being a "high day" I believe refers to it being an additional sabbath. If passover fell in a Saturday then the passover sabbath and regular sabbath were celebrated together. If say the passover fell on a Friday, you would have two sabbath that week hence the term "high day" to distinguish it from the standard sabbath.

For those interested, the Law is found in Leviticus 23:4–8 (ESV): These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover. 6 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. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. 8 But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

[AFFLCTED]

Thank you for responding to that video. May God bless you!

[sabhishek]

Amazing video once again Erik. God Bless you.

[rhuttner]

A guy tried to cite a Wikipedia article, that was obviously biased, that supposedly proved that the gospels are unreliable. Goes to show how far their arguments go.

[protochris]

Excellent analysis of John's gospel. Baker provides excellent charts and overview in his presentation, but sadly, at times he resorts to shoddy scholarship in order to give a backhand to Christianity.

[superaguila]

The useful charts guy claims to he a Jewish believer, yet he calls Moses a myth and considers him fiction… the guy is confusing himself.

[lyongreene]

I see you prefer the early (31 AD) date for Jesus' crucifixion, but have you considered the earthquake that happened in the region around 33 AD as shown by the geological record?

[rampartranger]

There are not “52 sabbaths” in a year. There are also a few “Great Sabbaths” which do not necessarily fall on Saturdays. They occur at “high holidays”, one of which is the First Day of Passover. The “day of Preparation for the Passover, ” which, believe me (Through marriage, I have tons of Jewish and Israeli relatives, mostly Mizrachi/Sephardic) can can occur on any day of the week, depending on the year, then as now, and involves EXTRA preparation relative to a weekly Sabbath, because of special ingredients and housecleaning and disposing of all “chametz, ” (leaven, i.e., every single crumb in the house). Also, “THIS” Passover may not refer to the moment, for example, you may go visit your cousin in Minnesota for Christmas and arrive on the 23rd of December and exclaim “…I really have looked forward to spending THIS Christmas with you!” Possibly Jesus was referring to the season, INCLUDING THE greatest possible holiday of all time, RESURRECTION, rather than the Passover Seder meal. After all it WOULD NOT BE THE “LAST Supper” WITH THEM. So to me, I have to consider the crucifixion May well have occurred on a Thursday Preparation Day which also aligns with “3 days and 3 nights” in the tomb.

[shlamallama]

I haven't watched this but anyone who wants to know more about this should read the chapter The Date of The Last Supper in Dr. Brant Pitre's work "Jesus and the Last Supper"

[hglundahl]

29:21 John not mentioning the dispute could be bc he was the host (as Jean Colson argued).

[euanthompson]

I have never understood skeptics thinking Jesus died on 2 different dates, nor Christian's arguing there are 2 calanders. If you would be ritually pure by the evening meal then it can't be that they are worried about, it has to be a different meal. This is a case of not reading the whole Bible and just sort of assuming you know what is going on when you clearly don't. It is something I have come to expect from most skeptics and I am really heartbroken about.

[jochemschaab]

I don't think John 2:20 says the conversation took place after 46 years, it just says it took 46 years to build. The verb tense is an aorist, so that seems to suggest the construction was already finished by the time of speaking

[AndyZach]

The days before annual holy days are also called the day of preparation. The Passover is an 8 day Festival, starting on the 14th, which is the date of the first lamb's sacrifice in Egypt. The 15th was the date they left Egypt. The seven days of Unleavened bread go from the 15th to 21st. Day of Preparation is before the First Day of Unleavened Bread which is a Sabbath.

[johnv]

Needs to be a year where the 2 sabbaths line up for Jesus 3 days. Which I think is 31ad or 33.. I can't remember for sure.

[TheNintenBits]

This might be one of my favorite videos of yours!

In regards to John's account of the crucifixion, how do you understand the messianic fulfillment of Ps 34:20? It feels taken wildly out of context, or not very prophetic. Even as typology it's kinda odd

[hglundahl]

25:02 It's not a question of "two different calendars" it is a question of one calendar depending on when the newmoon of Nisan is observed.

There was not any preset calendar determining in advance how many days the previous Adar or second Adar had.

In France a few years ago, perhaps about ten years ago, Muslims in the West of the country and Muslims in the East of the country disagreed on what day Ramadan began, because Ramadan still works like any Jewish month, including Nisan, did then.

Caesaraea Philippi is further West than Jerusalem, so Our Lord can have observed the New moon one evening earlier than the Temple did.

This would by the way, along with how I found it in Nestle Aland, add up to John the Gospeller having been in Jerusalem, as a Cohen, rather than in Galilee, which is the thesis of Jean Colson.