Was Jesus Crucified on a Wednesday?

[thirdmaskstudio]

I love when you explain the damage we impose on the Bible by our often fallacious impositions. The ending summation, like a tick tok classroom, and the carpet from Big Lebowski, it really ties the room together. ;) Love your stuff, keep it up. <3 :)

[desmond-hawkins]

Still unanswered is why this video creator is staring at some point to the top left instead of looking into the camera lens. Dan pointedly addresses all the points he makes with his scholarly knowledge, and yet I don't think it would be enough to solve this enduring mystery.

[rickybullock]

You can't get three days and three nights from late Friday to early Sunday it's mathematically impossible

[mattmiller]

The best answer is: depends on the Gospel. The Gospels clearly have different days in which they claim Jesus died.
You can find verses that justify a Friday execution.
John's theme revolves around Jesus being the lamb of God, the Passover Seder. This would move his execution to either Wednesday or Thursday depending on if the Last Supper was a Passover meal. If it wasn't then Jesus would be executed on Wednesday (the first day of Passover). If it was, then Jesus would be executed during the day of Passover (the first day of Passover).
There's arguments on the day of preparation being the day in which he was executed since it says that in the Gospels, altho the argument for "double sabbath" is possible. Jesus was surely executed during Passover since its said that the High Priest could not enter into Pilate's Pagan house since they'd be defiled. John's gospel seems to land on Thursday I think due to this but it's arguable that the others land on Friday (with the exception of Matthew if the Jonah line is meant 3 literal and 3 literal nights). Matthew does have the resurrection seemingly take place after dawn which is unlike the others.

Each Gospel isn't in unison with the others. Matthew wants Jesus to match the Jewish Messiah and the prophecies in the OT. It's very symbolic and meant to reflect OT stories and troupes.
Idk as much about Luke and Mark.
John is centered around the theme of him being the Passover sacrificial lamb.
This rather than historicity is their focus which is the point of the video I think

[boboak]

“There are fuzzy boundaries to these ideas”

This well sums up religion in general. Individual beliefs are always exactly what they need to be at any given time as required to justify the overall belief system.

[nlyThis]

In 1Cor 15, Paul claims his Christ was raised on the third day "according to the Scriptures." Evidently, the author of Matthew couldn't find the scriptural reference to which Paul was alluding and so had to make up his own - 3 days and 3 nights.

[iechromefox]

The inclusive counting can easily be seen in the Cornelius story from the book of Acts where everything happens in 4 days but by our way of counting today between chapter 10:3 and 10:30 would only be 3 days.

Having said that, it seems Mathew 12:40 was the reason why the resurrection of Matthew only happens after the starting of sunrise. While on the other gospels, Jesus already resurrected (presumably during the night like in John 20:20) in Mathew the resurrection scene (the earthquake and the rolling stone that indicates the resurrection) was felt and heard at dawn on the first day of the week. In the other gospels Jesus was already resurrected before the dawn on Sunday.

If we recon days from sunset to sunset, in Mathew we would have Friday night (when Jesus was captured), then Friday day (Crucifixion and death), Saturday night, Saturday day, Sunday night, Sunday day). Mathew recon days from sunrise to sunrise, though.

[canwelook]

The book of Mark states Jesus was crucified at 9am (Mark 15:25) on the day of Preparation - the day before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42)
The book of John states Jesus was crucified after noon of the day of Preparation for the Passover (John 19:14)
Divinely inspired inconsistencies so that apologists can twist themselves into a pretzel to "harmonise".

[theactualbajmahal]

I always took the 'three days and three nights' as starting on the night of Holy Thursday, during the Last Supper when Judas leaves to bring back the Temple guard. Jesus is violently arrested in the garden of Gethsemane and spends that night being interrogated and accused by the Sanhedrin and three times denied by Peter. Friday he is taken to Pilate who sends him to Herod who bullies and mocks and then sends him back across the square to Pilate, where he is publicly scourged and finally crucified after the crowd chooses Barabbas for clemency over him. He dies on the cross and is entombed just before sunset. This is the first night and the first day. Sunset Friday to sunset Saturday is the second night and second day. Sunset Saturday to Sunday morning, when he appears to the women and Mary Magdalene touches him and he tells her not to because he isn't fully 'back' yet, is the third night (and a little bit of the third day). Around Sunday's sunset he appears fully to his apostles at a safehouse in the village of Emmaus. So the entire Ordeal takes place over these three full nights and three full days, because the Ordeal isn't simply about being dead.
Shortly before he reveals his identity, a disciple named Cleopas tells him - Luke 24:21 "But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done."

[riversidebatman]

You really dish out the sickest theological burns on this site.

[blueboi]

James Tabor made a pretty convincing video. Would love to hear you talk to him about it.

[FuzzyKermit]

I don't understand why people cling so hard to the Friday crucifixion. I know there's the whole "Good Friday" tradition, but what do your really want: tradition, or truth? It's silly. I would have liked to have seen your take on John 2:19-21. It says, explicitly (in the NIV), "Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.' They [the Jews, after the money changers were driven from the temple] replied, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?' But the temple he had spoken of was his body."

Just admit there's no way to cram three days into Friday to Saturday night, then move on. Not a big deal. Sunk cost fallacy in action.

[avibenavraham]

Dr. McClellan, no idea if you'll see this comment but one of the most irksome practices I see Christians do is refer to Jews and Judaism in the past tense. At 3:30 the creator says "the Jews had", or the "Jewish sabbath was" as if Judaism ended in the 1st century and Jews no longer have these things

[imagomonkei]

I'm an atheist now, but I was part of the Hebrew Roots Movement for the last few years of my religious life. It makes the most sense to me for Jesus to have been crucified on Wednesday, buried Wednesday evening (the start of the high sabbath of the first day of Chag Ha-Matzot) through Saturday evening, which would be the beginning of the first day of the week.

I no longer feel obligated to make it all make sense—but the version of events this guy put forward is still compelling to me.

Dan, do you mind explaining why this version is impossible or why it should be disregarded? That didn't seem to come through in your response video. Is there evidence which renders this interpretation invalid?

[AndrasEliassen]

Are you then saying that Jesus was lying, when He said that He would be 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb? Friday evening to sunday morning is only 1 day and 2 nights. Or 3 days and 2 nights if you stretch it to a maximum. I would assume that Jesus would have said it differently, because He knew how long He would be in the grave… thoughts?

[BradyPostma]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but since high holidays (like Passover) occasionally occur on the weekly Sabbath and occasionally don't, couldn't we narrow down what year John says Jesus was crucified to a few candidates between about 15 and 45 C.E. in which Passover and the weekly Sabbath coincided?

[nibs]

No need for inclusive counting "3 days and 3 nights" just means 3 days. It's a Hebraism describing a day based in Genesis. A day begins and ends at sunset. 3 days and 3 nights just means...3 days...any part of the 3 days.
Jesus constantly said he would arise the 3rd day. In the Emmaeus narrative, Luke records that Sunday evening was the "third day" since those things happened. The Gospels themselves never claimed it would be a Western understanding of "3 full days and 3 full nights." For them, this was never an issue. To the Jew, Jesus was in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights, even though it was from about 5pm Friday to about 4 or 5 AM Sunday morning.

[gdevelek]

This thing about the multiple sabbaths was impossible to understand.

[karatkdj]

Aren’t you invoking the assumption of univocality when you use the three days counting in Esther to show why the three days counting in Mark might not be literal?

[libbyanneshelton]

So I once had a religious instructor who is also an ancient scripture and archaeology professor. While I get that he was more obligated to fit the dogma into his explanation, the one he gave that seemed to account for the full three days was that Jesus was celebrating the Essene Passover.

Is there any support for this explanation?