A Detailed and Dated Timeline of the Life and Ministry of Jesus Christ
ABSTRACT: This chronology uses a framework of signs in the heavens to help date the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Passover/Exodus event forms a typology for Jesus life.[1] It continues to sequence and date precisely the events of Jesus life.
Understanding the phrase, on the second-first Sabbath (Luke 6:1 Douay) revealed that Jesus public ministry was two years in duration. It also showed that Jesus did many Passover-related actions and teachings at times and places other than at Passover in Jerusalem. Instead, He did them around Passover in the second month and around the solar Passover. Much as Dr. Jaubert proposed the solar Passover as the date for the Last Supper.
The gospel of Matthew was determined to be in sequential chronological order. These insights helped link the vast majority of Jesus ministry to the few weeks of these Passover events. It was further revealed that a few similar events occurred a month before Passover in the month of Adar. The events order, strengthen, and force the dates of Jesus actions and teaching. The Exodus and the first Passover form the plot for Jesus life. Accurately chronicling Jesus entire ministry gives a clearer picture and more insight into Jesus and Gods plan, work, and ways. This Passover order and structure can aid one to remember the details and order of the events of Jesus ministry.
Copyright 2013, 2021 Bruce Alan Killian; updated Dec 08, 2021 A.D. email bakillian at earthlink.net
To index file: www.scripturescholar.com/ChronologyJesus.htm or .pdf
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This document uses Julian dates throughout; the Julian calendar was the official Roman calendar. To convert to Gregorian calendar dates, subtract two days from the day of the month, e.g., Monday 8 January A.D. 31 Julian becomes Monday 6 January A.D. 31 Gregorian. Jewish official lunar-solar calendar dates are given in curly brackets {day-month}.
Some points dating Jesus life, particularly from astronomical phenomena, were done in other documents. Those articles, particularly the Venus Star Of Bethlehem, The King Extends His Golden Scepter to Esther, and The Ladder to HeavenThe Lamb of God, should be reviewed. This document refers the reader to those and other earlier articles where specific important chronological dates were discussed, such as the Star of Bethlehem or the dating of the Levitical priestly courses. This document is an expanded and significant revision of the authors article Jesus Two Year Ministry, initially done in 2000. This document isnt exhaustive; gospel details are omitted to limit length. Enough details are presented to provide a framework for most events.
Two pictures in the heavens framed Jesus birth. The first was the sign that brought the magi to Jerusalem. That picture was the Lion of the tribe of Judah receiving the scepter of world rule marked by the rising of His star. His star connected to a second picture they saw in Bethlehem, a slain male lamb (Matthew 2:1-13). His star connected to a third picture in the heavens seen by Jesus first disciples at the start of His ministry. That picture was the crossdepicted as the ladder from earth to heaven (Sunday 4 March A.D. 31). Jesus alluded to this when He told His disciples they would see angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man (John 1:51). Jesus words linked to angels ascending and descending Jacobs ladder on the house of God (Genesis 28:12).
At Jesus death, the sun was darkened for three hours, and the full moon was blood red and black as it rose that evening (Acts 2:20). At Jesus Resurrection, His star connected to another sign, a picture of two fish. If one includes the timing of the priestly course of Zechariah and the Roman census record of Jesus birth and a few additional passages of Scripture, then one can conclude, Jesus was conceived at midnight on Passover 1 B.C. (Wisdom 18:13-15). He fled to Egypt on Passover A.D. 1 and died on Passover A.D. 33. He lived 33 years from conception until death.
Jesus had recently turned thirty years old when John baptized Him in A.D. 31. Jesus public ministry started a few months later on Passover, and He had two years to complete His ministry. The Passover story events form the plot[2] for the stories in Jesus ministry. Jesus was the reason for the Passover; Jesus fulfilled the Passover (Matthew 5:17; 1 Corinthians 5:7). The Passover was structured to form the framework for Jesus life and ministry. The Passover story is the type, and Jesus life and ministry is the antitype.
Practically every event of Jesus life and ministry recorded in the gospels was tied to the Passover (Pesach). Passover events include: the annunciation, visitation, birth, shepherds, presentation, magi, flight to Egypt, slaying boys, baptism, announcement by John the Baptist, wedding at Cana, all Passover visits to Jerusalem, His disciples baptism ministry, the woman at the well, all Capernaum ministries: the call of the apostles, catching two boatloads of fish, driving out unclean spirits, the Sermon on the Mount, cleansing of the leper, night and early morning prayer, forgiving sins of paralytic, raising Jairus daughter, calming the sea, driving out demons; destroying swine, Pharisees opposition, John the Baptists death, each healing of the multitudes, the blind see, raising of the son of the widow of Nain, the feeding of the five thousand, prayer on the mountain, walking on the stormy sea, the Bread of Life sermon and the rejection of its message, feeding of the four thousand, You are the Christ, Transfiguration, ministry in Perea, raising of Lazarus, cleansing Temple (twice), anointing at Bethany, triumphal entry, teaching in Temple, questions, Last Supper, agony in the garden, betrayal, various trials and beatings, scourging, crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, etc. All of these links will be explained. The complete picture requires all four gospels to paint.
The genesis of this Passover linkage came with the recognition that key events in Jesus life were unexpectedly directly tied to the time of a Passover and to the events that occurred at the Exodus and first Passover. The Star of Bethlehem led the magi to arrive at the Holy Familys home early Passover evening 27 March A.D. 1.[3] The Scripture further reveals that Jesus was conceived at midnight on Passover,[4] 7 April 1 B.C.,[5] Jesus public ministry began (John 2:13) and ended in Jerusalem on Passover.
Annie Jaubert demonstrated that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper on the solar Passover three days before the official lunar-solar Passover.[6] While most dont recognize sufficient evidence of Jesus celebrating the solar Passover in the gospels, this article should enlighten.
Jesus Capernaum ministry started just before Passover in the second month, as revealed when the picking and eating of grain on the second-first Sabbath is properly understood. The second-first Sabbath was the first Sabbath following Passover in the second month, which occurred just after the middle of the second month. Therefore, Jesus ministry in Capernaum started just before the Passover in the second month and continued until the end of the week of unleavened bread following that Passover.[7] I will demonstrate this shortly.
Jesus fulfilled the Passover in a far more profound way than just, He was the Lamb of God and died when the Passover lambs were slain. His life and ministry indicate the purpose of many of the elements of the Passover story. Usually, at each Passover event in His life, Jesus cleansed leaven from His house, and questions were asked. He kept a watch in the night, commenced a journey over water, and many other Passover-linked events occurred.
The lamb or kid (called the Passover) was slain between the evenings of the fourteenth day of the first month. They ate it that evening, which coincided with the start of the fifteenth day of the month. A day has two evenings in the Bible, one at noon and the second at sunset (Exodus 12:6; 16:12 in Hebrew). They slew the Passover about 3 PM and ate it that night.
Passover can refer to the fifteenth day of the month, and it can refer to the whole period from the eve of Passover to the end of the feast of unleavened bread. To be more precise, Nisan 14 was the eve of Passover, and Nisan 15 was the day of Passover. On the eve of Passover, the Jews cleansed all leaven from their house. The day started at sunset. If the solar Passover was kept, the eve was always a Tuesday. The Passover was Wednesday but started on Tuesday at sunset. Each day of the year always falls on the same day of the week in the solar calendar.
God commanded that each Israelite family tell the story of the events of Passover each year. At Passover, there was a meal known as the Seder, an ordered meal at which the story was told. This regular retelling of the Passover meant that Israel knew well the details of the Passover. Jesus fulfilled the details of the Passover. The Passover story was the framework or plot of the pattern of events in Jesus life. A purpose of the Passover was to create the pattern into which Jesus life would fit.
But what are some of the details of the Passover? A male lamb or kid, less than one-year-old, was chosen to sacrifice for ones house. They cleansed all leaven from their house and put the blood of the Passover on the doorposts and lintel. The Passover lamb was roasted whole over a fire. One celebrated the Passover by eating the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. One ate the Seder dressed, shod, and prepared to leave on a journey. They always asked questions, and always, the Passover story was retold. Israel bowed and worshipped God.
Before the original Passover, Moses asked Pharaoh to allow Israel to go for a three-day journey to offer sacrifice. The sacrifice might be abhorrent to the Egyptians. Each Israelite asked for and received items of wealth from the Egyptians. The Israelites burned up any Passover lamb remains in the morning. Every Israelite was healthy and able to travel. During the watch, Israel left Passover night on a journey. One had to keep a vigil or watch on Passover night. The Israelites ate unleavened bread for seven days.
God led Israel out and saved them with an outstretched arm. During those seven days, Israel crossed out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. He destroyed the Egyptian army. Then God tested Israel by having them thirst for three days before they encountered the bitter waters of Marah. God made that water sweet with a tree. The plagues dont seem to be part of the details that Jesus fulfilled.[8]
Many additional details flesh out the plot that will be highlighted where appropriate. The Bible sometimes uses words with multiple meanings to say more with fewer words. Thus God can often hide details in the stories that He wants His saints to search out.
The official Jewish way of calculating when to celebrate Passover used the sun, moon, and the day of the week. The official Passover in any particular year could vary by one day depending on the day of the week on which the third day of the first month landed. The first day of the month could be postponed according to the rule of Adu. The first full moon was after the vernal equinox, but the month began at the new moon before the equinox. They postponed the first day of Nisan if the first day was a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday to avoid the inconvenience of having two Sabbath days in a row. Now the 14th day of Nisan always fell on the full moon next after the vernal Equinox; and the month began at the new moon before, not at the true conjunction, but at the first appearance of the new moon; for the Jews referred all the time of the silent moon, as they phrased it, that is, of the moons disappearing, to the old moon; and because the first appearance might usually be about 18 h after the true conjunction, they, therefore, began their month from the sixth hour at evening, that is, at sunset, next after the eighteenth hour from the conjunction. And this rule they called Jah, designing by the letters and the number 18. [9]
What follows here is a list of events that were to occur in connection with the celebration of the Passover. Many types (or shadows) of Jesus and His sacrifice from the Old Testament also have strong Passover linkages: the lamb, blood on doorposts, leaven removal, eating unleavened bread, bitter herbs, vigil, journey, asking for gold, everyone able to travel, etc.[10]
Remove Leaven From House: A series of examples can best show this. On the eve of Passover, the Israelites were to cleanse (remove) all the leaven from their houses. Scripture in this phrase uses two words with multiple meanings: leaven and house. The word house can refer to the place one lives, the family from which one was descended, and it can refer to the Temple as Gods House. Leaven can refer to yeast (chametz) or bread that had risen. Leaven can also refer to sin (1 Corinthians 5:8), uncleanness, which is sin, teaching that leads to sin (Matthew 16:12), and hypocrisy (Luke 12:1).
Jesus didnt have a house per se, The son of man has no place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20), so before Passover, when He cleansed His house, He cleansed His family Israel, from the uncleanness of sin. This cleansing was to be done before Passover. If, while traveling, Jesus encountered leaven during the week of unleavened bread, He cleansed it directly. His Fathers House was the Temple, so when He was in Jerusalem before Passover, He cleansed His fathers House of leaven by driving out the moneychangers, merchants, etc.
Cleansing from sin takes several formscleansing a leper or casting out an unclean spirit, etc., because leprosy is uncleanness, and uncleanness is a sin. It can take the form of raising the dead because a dead body is unclean. It can also take the form of baptism, forgiving sin, revealing hypocrisy, or correcting errors that are or lead to sin. For example, Is it right to divorce your wife for any reason? Jesus gave the reason it was wrong; it was the sin of breaking a covenant. In extreme cases, the unleavened portion can be left behind by moving away, e.g., Israel left Egypt at the Exodus.
Early in Jesus life, rather than cleansing the leaven from His house, He and His house (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) left Israel when the Holy Family fled to Egypt. If we find Jesus cleansing leaven from His house, a Passover was neigh. The only time Jesus publically answered questions or taught without using parables was at those times because clarity was necessary when cleaning out sin.
At the Passover (and in fact for all Temple sacrifices), unleavened (bread, flour, or grain) was to be used, and nothing containing leaven or yeast could be used. Two sacrifices, one for the Pentecost (Leviticus 23:17) and the other for the Todah (Leviticus 7:12-13), were the exceptions. Still, the bread didnt go into the Temple. The New Testament explained that leaven represented the inclination to sin. Paul and Jesus link leaven to sin:
1 Corinthians 5:6-9 Your boasting is not good. Dont you know that a little yeast [that is leaven] works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeastas you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
Matthew 16:5-12 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 Be careful, Jesus said to them. Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 7They discussed this among themselves and said, It is because we didnt bring any bread. 8Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Dont you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11How is it you dont understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 12Then they understood that He was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Choose a Passover Lamb: Before Passover, each household chose a lamb (Exodus 12:3-5). God the Father chose Jesus as the Lamb for His house. The Father revealed His choice through the magi to King Herod the Great when the star indicated His coming. Peter identified Jesus as the Christ because Christ was Gods Lamb. When the two blind men in Jericho called Jesus the Son of David, He was identified as the Christ, the one to be sacrificed, and the Christ was the one who would give sight to the blind. At His triumphal entry, the people selected Jesus as their sacrificial Lamb.
Sacred Assembly: At Passover, there was a sacred assembly on the first day (Exodus 12:16). During Jesus ministry, He regularly convoked sacred assemblies. Still, careful observation concludes that these assemblies (often called the crowds) occurred on the eve of Passover, which was when the Passover was slain and may have continued into the Passover.
Eat the Passover Feast: Passover starts after sunset. Israel celebrated the feast by eating the Passover lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8) and telling what God had done for them. When Jesus fed the five thousand, He kept this feast, the same with feeding the four thousand and the Last Supper. It seems that Jesus only served a meal when He celebrated this feast on a solar Passover. The Lamb was missing at these feasts except the Last Supper unless one recognized that Jesus was the Lamb.
Keep Watch or Vigil: On the night of Passover after the feast, each Israelite was to keep vigil or watch (Exodus 12:42). Jesus kept watch while He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper. Jesus kept a Passover vigil on every recorded night He prayed (except the Transfiguration). Jesus kept many vigils, and most werent in Jerusalem. How can they all be on Passover night?
Jesus kept not only the official (lunar-solar) Passover in the first month; He also kept the alternate Passover in the second month (Pesach Sheni). Further, Jesus kept the Passover according to the official lunar-solar calendar of the chief priests (the Sadducees); and He also kept the Passover according to the solar calendar.
There were usually four Passovers per year. When one observes that Jesus kept a vigil, one finds that He had just celebrated a Passover. Jesus sometimes expanded those weeklong Passover feasts to include the following week as a second week of Passover, e.g., Hezekiahs Passover (2 Chronicles 30:23). I will note this when it occurs in this article.
Bow and Worship: Israel bowed and worshiped God when the angel passed over (Exodus 12:27). At these events, beings bowed and worshipped Jesus. We find the magi worshipped Jesus, and demoniacs fell on their knees before Jesus. We also find the disciples prostrated to Jesus, the Syrophoenician woman knelt before Jesus, etc.
Immediate Journey: Israel was ready to leave on a journey (Exodus 12:11). In every Passover event where travel was allowed (not prohibited by law), e.g., not on a Sabbath or in Jerusalem on Passover, Jesus, and company left on an immediate journey. Examples include Mary, who left in haste when told of Elizabeth, the Holy Family fled to Egypt. Often the travel announcement was as simple as Jesus said, Let us go somewhere else. Jesus said, Let us cross over to the other side (Gadara); they got in the boat and went to Magadan; they went on from there, etc. Sometimes, Jesus walked on the stormy sea or calmed a stormy sea.
Death and Burial: While journeying during the Passover, all Israel was baptized in the Red Sea (1 Corinthians 10:1-2). Baptism represents death and burial (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12). Jesus was in the water in Marys womb at conception. Jesus, at birth, was wrapped like a corpse and laid in a tomblike cave. Jesus was under the threat of death when His family fled from King Herod. The wine from the wedding in Cana was made in stone jars. Those jars were used for sprinkling (baptizing) to cleanse from the uncleanness of death. Jesus disciples baptized the Galilean Jews when they returned from Passover in Jerusalem. While crossing the Sea of Galilee, waves washed the boat baptizing the disciples while Jesus slept both symbols of death. At the Transfiguration, they were baptized by the cloud.
Jesus was imprisoned underground after He was transferred to Roman control. So He was both buried in jail after His arrest and buried in a tomb after His death. When the paralytic was lowered through the roof before Jesus, and He said, Your sins are forgiven, that was symbolic of baptism. The four thousand forded the Jordan River following Jesus to the wilderness of the Decapolis, where they were fed. Jesus was buried when He was placed in the tomb. All the death experiences except John the Baptists death were Todah experiences, life after death.[11] The Afikomens breaking, wrapping, and hiding during the Seder is also a death and burial event.[12]
Outstretched Arm: When God redeemed Israel from slavery at the Exodus, He did so with an outstretched hand or arm with the meaning of a mighty arm or a display of miraculous power (Exodus 6:6). Mary sang of Gods mighty arm in the Magnificat. Jesus displayed His power when He rebuked the wind and the waves. Jesus displayed His mighty arm when He reached to rescue Peter from drowning and when He used His hands to heal the blind or touch to cleanse the leper. His power was displayed when His hand broke bread for five thousand men or four thousand. Also, when He raised the Eucharist at the Last Supper and redeemed humanity with outstretched arms on the cross. Peter displayed a strong arm when he pulled in 153 fish by himself.
Ask Questions: on the night of Passover, someone, usually a child, was to ask questions (Exodus 13:14). For example: What was the meaning of this event? There were one or more questions at every Exodus event. How will this be, Mary asked the angel, since I do not know man? (Luke 1:34) Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? (Matthew 2:2) Didnt you know I must be about my fathers business? (Luke 2:49) Where are you staying? (John 1:38) Dear woman, what is this between you and me? (John 2:4) Do you not say, Four months more and then the harvest? (John 4:35) He replied, You of little faith, why are you so afraid? (Matthew 8:26) And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? (Matthew 12:27) She went out and said to her mother, What shall I ask for? The head of John the Baptist (Mark 6:24). How many loaves do you have? (Mark 6:38) Who do you say I am? (Matthew 16:15) Where have you laid him? (John 11:34) Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? (Matthew 26:40) Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? (Matthew 20:22) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46) Havent you any fish? (John 21:5) Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? (Acts 1:6)
Unexpected Wealth: At the Exodus Passover, the Israelites, at Gods command, asked the Egyptians for items of value, and they received them (Exodus 11:2; 12:35-36). During Jesus ministry at these Passovers, God gave a sudden influx of unexpected wealth. For example, gold, incense, myrrh; or one hundred and fifty gallons of fine wine; or the keys to the kingdom of heaven; or two boatloads of fish; or one-hundred and fifty-three large fish; or up to half my kingdom, or bread and fish in the wilderness for five thousand men or for four thousand men; or at the last supper the Eucharist, or at the cross redemption of the whole world. Even at age twelve, Jesus gave wealth when He shared His wisdom because wisdom is more valuable than rubies (Proverbs 8:11).
Bitter Herbs: How do bitter herbs relate to Jesus ministry?At The Passover, Israel was commanded to eat bitter herbs (Exodus 12:8). In the Exodus account, God gave an example; they went three days without water then came to the bitter water of Marah. So eating bitter herbs can mean experiencing a bitter event. So at each Passover event, there was a bitter experience. Some bitter experiences were being pregnant three months before living with Joseph and the death of the boys of Bethlehem with weeping and wailing. Jesus parents were anxious while He, a boy, was missing. A wedding with no wine (it was probably vinegar). The arrest of John the Baptist was a bitter event. All were about to drown in the storm. The crowd mocked Jesus. They heard the news of John the Baptists death. They were annoyed by a loud, persistently pestering Canaanite woman. Jesus said, He must suffer. Get behind me, Satan; Son of Man was to be betrayed; Judas betrayed Jesus. Jesus tasted wine mixed with gall. Jesus died. Peter was grieved.
Everyone Healthy and Able to Travel: At the Exodus, about two million people walked out of Egypt, everyone was healthy, and there was no feeble one among them (Psalm 105:37). It was only during a Passover event that Jesus healed everyone. When one reads the gospels, it is easy to get the impression that Jesus usually healed everyone. Examples of this health, the Holy Family able to flee; disciples always able to travel; Jesus healed all the sick (Matthew 8:16); Jesus healed all their sick (Matthew 14:14, 36); Great crowd and Jesus healed their sick (Matthew 15:30). He healed the boy; His disciples could not heal (Matthew 17:18). There were large crowds, and Jesus healed them there (Matthew 19:2). Blind and lame came to Him and were healed (Matthew 21:14).
Physical Deprivation: At the Exodus, Israel went three days without water (Exodus 15:22-23). Jesus disciples were hungry enough to pick and eat grain on the Sabbath. They repeatedly went without food on those occasions. Jesus also said, His disciples must pick up and carry their cross. Jesus, at the feeding of the four thousand, was concerned that they would faint during their return because of a lack of food. So commonly, during the Passover events, one finds that Jesus and His disciples go through a period of physical deprivation, and Jesus suffered more than His disciples did.
Unfulfilled Details: Scripture doesnt record that Jesus fulfilled every detail at every Passover; some details are fulfilled only once or a few times. For example, twice a priest accepted Jesus as a sacrifice by laying hands on His head, at His presentation in the Temple, and conviction for blasphemy in the Sanhedrin chambers. When was the Blood of the Lamb placed on the doorposts and lintel of Jesus house? The remains of the Lamb were burned-up. The sprinkling of the blood of the Lamb around the sides of the altar each occurred only once. I will cover these details in the chronological sections where Jesus met and fulfilled these requirements.
Old/New Testament Events: Connections to the Passover events and timing werent limited to Jesus ministry. Similar coincidences occur in the life of Noah, Abraham, Lot, Isaac, Jacob/Israel, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, Saul, David, Absalom, Elisha, Peter, etc.[13] A chart was made showing how these plotlines in the gospels almost invariably show up at each Passover event.[14] The Passover events were much more prevalent and complete in the life of Jesus. The Passover events in the Old Testament paint the picture and reveal insights about Jesus Passover ministry. For instance, Isaac, the only beloved son, carried the wood of his own sacrifice up the hill of Moriah, and he came back again. The Old Testament Events are the type, and Jesus is the antitype.
Since the early days of the Church, there have been discussions and investigations trying to determine the length of Jesus ministry. The proposed lengths have varied from one to ten or more years. It is common to believe Jesus ministry was three years and two to six months in length. This article attempts to prove that Jesus public ministry was two years in length. It was preceded by a month and followed by an additional six weeks, where He ministered privately to disciples.
The discovery that Jesus public ministry was limited to two years started with an insight into the word second-first. On a second-first (deuteroproto) Sabbath, while Jesus passed through grain fields, His disciples began to pick heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels (Luke 6:1). Interpreters dont understand the meaning of the second-first (deuteroprwtw) Sabbath. Modern translations have dropped second-first because they havent understood it.[15] It doesnt mean the second Sabbath after the first (KJV); otherwise, it would merely say the second Sabbath.
Sabbaths were only numbered from the Sabbath following Passover until Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-21). It required counting the seven complete weeks, starting with the day after the Sabbath following Passover.[16] This second-first refers to the first Sabbath following a Passover celebrated in the second month. If one counted Sabbaths following the second Passover, referring to the following Sabbath as the second-first would be natural. That was an abbreviation for the second Passover first Sabbath.
A second Passover was celebrated by those who were unclean or traveling at Passover in the first month (Numbers 9:10-11, 2 Chronicles 30:2, 15). The first Sabbath following the second Passover was the second-first Sabbath. The day after the Sabbath following Passover was called First Fruits and was the day counting the Omer commenced. The Omer ritual, waving a sheaf of the barley harvest before the altar, was required before eating the new grain harvest. Pentecost occurs on the day following the seventh Sabbath following the Omer. There is a second season-related factor in this verse, the disciples picking and eating grain. Eating new grain wasnt legal until after the Omer, and picking grain was indicative of the spring grain harvests from just after Passover until the harvest was completed a month or so after Pentecost.[17] Luke 6:1 is a crucial verse for understanding the length of Jesus public ministry.[18]
The consensus of scholars is that the most viable option for the length of Jesus public ministry was three years and a few months.[19] The synoptic gospels only require Jesus public ministry to be about one year long, but they imply a two-year ministry.[20]
Johns gospel gives a framework for extending His ministry. He directly mentioned three Passovers (2:13, 6:4, and 13:1), but most believe additional details, including an unnamed feast of the Jews (John 5:1), indicate an additional Passover. The three stated Passovers of Johns gospel make two years the minimum duration of Jesus public ministry. Between the first two of these Passovers, an additional Passover was inserted to bring the total length of His ministry to three years. Besides the internal evidence for the duration of Jesus ministry, it is necessary to fit that ministry into the historical setting. If Jesus was born in 5 B.C. or early 4 B.C., started His public ministry when He was thirty, and died in A.D. 30 or was born in early 1 B.C. and died in A.D. 33, then stretching His ministry to three years to fit that period may be justified.
Jesus public ministry didnt start at His baptism. Nothing in the gospels requires more than three months from Jesus baptism until His first Passover. Jesus public ministry began at Passover. For one month before that Passover, six disciples of John the Baptist accompanied Jesus for a time.
The principle argument for adding a fourth Passover to Jesus ministry follows this line of reasoning. After His first Passover (John 2:13) and before His third Passover (John 6:4), Jesus said, yet four months and then the harvest (John 4:35). This statement was said to occur in January/February shortly before Passover because the harvest was April/May. A feast of the Jews was at hand follows this statement (John 5:1).[21] This feast is either assumed a Passover or one of the feasts later in the year; whichever feast is chosen, another year had passed.
The argument is extended with Luke 6:1 (Matthew 12:1; Mark 2:23), which occurred earlier than the feeding of the five thousand mentioned in all four gospels and occurred when Passover was near (John 6:4). Because it mentioned eating of the harvest, it must have occurred during the previous harvest season. On the other hand the Passover season of John 2:13 is too early for the incident of the disciples plucking grain for John 2:13 occurred shortly after He had been baptized and had started his ministry.[22]
If Jesus public ministry were three years long, much of the first year of that ministry would be in Judea. Many call the first year of His ministry, His Judean ministry. There is a problem with this. Peter told us that Jesus ministry began in Galilee after the baptism of John (Acts 10:37).
Those who argued for a two-year ministry typically transpose John chapters 5 and 6. This argument is weak because there is no textual evidence for this transposition.[23] What does transposing these chapters do for a two-year ministry; it eliminates a feast after January that must be placed before Passover. Suppose the event in Luke 6:1 occurred the previous spring and four months until the harvest statement occurred in the same spring. In that case, there is no problem fitting in this feast, and there is no reason to transpose these chapters.
Jesus talked to His disciples while the people of Sychar came out of the city toward them. He said, Do you not say, Four months more and then the harvest? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are white [ripe] for harvest (John 4:35).[24] There are two ways that the preceding passage can be interpreted. When Jesus referred to the harvest, was He referring to only men, or was He referring to both men and ripe fields? The first way allows an additional Passover; the second doesnt.
There are items in Jesus statement that can be interpreted more than one way. When Jesus referred to the harvest as four months away, the longer ministry assumes He referred to the wheat harvest. In the same verse, Jesus says, look the grain is ripe for harvest. The Gezer calendar refers to two different periods as the harvest. The first is in April/May, the second in August/September.[25] If Jesus referred to the latter harvest, this would place that event in the spring during the two months following Passover. Both the wheat harvest and the harvest in August and September were referred to as the harvest.
If Jesus statement referred to the August/September harvest, there is no need to add a Passover. Jesus stated the fields were ripe for harvest; if He referred to the grain, this event happened around the grain harvest in the two months following Passover in the spring. Some argue Jesus referred to a spiritual harvest, the harvest of men. Hendriksen says Jesus was referring to the Samaritans (which was true). Still, He also referred to the grain fieldsdouble entendre. A harvest of men doesnt mean the grain wasnt ripe.
The Scripture commonly has multiple meanings tied together in the same passage (particularly in the gospel of John). Hendriksen says, In the mind of Jesus there is a close relationship between the physical and the spiritual harvest.[26] If there was ripe grain at Sychar at that time, no additional Passover is required. During the return to Galilee from a Passover in Jerusalem, it occurred during the spring harvest. A final argument, the Samarians werent harvested by Jesus; they were prepared for the harvest; the harvest was done by Deacon Philip (Acts 8:12).
The feast of Tabernacles in early October celebrated the end of the harvest. Four months before a harvest starting in early August would be early April. God timed that appointment to have the physical and spiritual harvests coincide.
Another verse bears on the season in which this event occurred. Immediately following Jesus visit to Sychar, After the two days he left for Galilee. When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there (John 4:43, 45 NIV). When Jesus came into Galilee, He was welcomed because of what He had done at the Passover.
Were the people remembering an event ten months earlier or a week or two earlier? The natural understanding is they remembered a recent event, not one nearly a year earlier. A short time would only be so if Jesus baptism ministry were relatively brief. If Jesus and His disciples had spent six months at the Jordan River baptizing, it wouldnt refer to a yearly Passover feast as recent past.
The unnamed feast in John 5:1 is often proposed to be a Passover. John referred to the feast of Passover ten times. Why, in one case, did he refer to it as a feast of the Jews? The correct view is that the unnamed feast was the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost. It fits naturally in the chronology of Jesus ministry. The gospels never mention the feast of Pentecost. John did mention both the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of Dedication. During the unnamed feast of the Jews, Jesus healed an invalid resting in the colonnades (John 5:2). An invalid seeking healing would be unlikely to be resting in the colonnades during the winter, as it would be too cold.[27] After Pentecost, it would be much more reasonable to wait there in late May.
Now we come back to the deciding passage, Luke 6:1. In this passage, Jesus disciples were criticized for harvesting grain on the Sabbath, not eating it before the allowed day. This Sabbath occurred after the First Fruits offering and before the grain harvest was completed. If it occurred during the spring, then Jesus visit to Sychar could be in the spring as well.
As long as Jesus visit to Sychar didnt occur during the winter, there is no need for the unnamed feast to require an additional year. Since Jesus met the woman at the well in the spring, any feasts except Passover wouldnt require additional time to pass. So a two-year ministry is reasonable.
Another reason to extend Jesus ministry is many believe that Jesus ministry was precisely half of the seven years described in Daniel 9:26-27. The Bible doesnt state this. Second, if Jesus ministry were three and a half years, the next three and a half years would immediately follow; there is no evidence that it did.
A strong argument against the three-year view is Jesus first year of ministry is almost entirely missing in the synoptic gospels. Jesus disciples met and followed Him but waited nearly a year before recording His ministry's day-by-day, week-by-week events. The most memorable events would follow their first encounter with Jesus.
They would remember best the first observed miracles and unique teachings of that remarkable man. In Mark, an early nine months of Jesus ministry disappears between verses 1:13 and 14, in Matthew between 4:11 and 12, and in Luke between 4:13 and 14. Jesus was baptized, led into the wilderness in these gospels, returned after forty days, then disappeared for about nine months.
The announcement in Nazareth of the Jubilee was the next event and is usually placed in October (Luke 4:16-21). John filled in that period with a wedding feast at Cana, a Passover feast in Jerusalem, and a trip to the Jordan River to baptize. This last event is assumed to fill about six months (John 3:22-4:3). Suppose the undiscussed six months of Jesus ministry started with Passover. In that case, the only following event was baptizing at the Jordan. There was no mention of what Jesus taught or did during this period. If Jesus spent six months with His disciples baptizing at the Jordan River, why only one verse (John 3:22)?
Peter, who was with Jesus at that time, said Jesus ministry began in Galilee (Acts 10:37). John then tells us, Jesus went up to Sychar and spent two days talking to the woman at the well and the people of Sychar. John spent a chapter discussing the two-day visit to Sychar, but only one verse discussing the baptism ministry. Could the baptism ministry have been short because it only dealt with pilgrims returning to Galilee from Passover, lasting only a few days? The answer is yes. The visit to Sychar was followed by a feast of the Jews (John 5:1). Generally, that feast is either taken to be the following Passover, or more often, the Feast of Tabernacles in October, where Jesus healed a man invalid for thirty-eight years. The following passage has Jesus in Galilee with Passover near (John 6:4), an entire year.
The visit to Sychar gives evidence of a two-year ministry. Because the second-first Sabbath occurred about a month after the first Passover of Jesus public ministry, there is no reason to stretch the events of the early part of Jesus ministry. Jesus announcement of the year of the Lords favor was three weeks earlier on a Sabbath and the first day of the second month. So the unnamed feast of the Jews fits in naturally with the feast of Weeks (Pentecost or Shavuot), a feast never mentioned in the gospels. See the calendar starting on page 83 for a day-by-day sequence of events.
Some assume a three-year ministry better fits the correct historical period. They add a year to Jesus ministry confident Jesus was born in 4 B.C., was thirty years old when He began to minister and died in A.D. 30. The Bible doesnt state the length of Jesus ministry.
A strong argument can be made that the eclipse of 4 B.C. is less likely than the eclipse of 29 December 1 B.C. to be the eclipse that preceded King Herod the Greats death. Herod died after an eclipse of the moon, and Jesus was born before Herod died.
The eclipse that occurred on 13 March 4 B.C. was a minor partial eclipse only visible from two to four AM. Only a small number of people noticed that eclipse, and Josephus would be unlikely to record it because he only recorded one eclipse, this one.
There was a partial eclipse in which more than half the moon was obscured, visible for two hours from when the moon rose about twenty minutes after sunset on 29 December 1 B.C. Since Herod died after a lunar eclipse, which occurred a month or more before the Passover, that eclipse more closely fits the data regarding the time of the birth of Jesus.[28] The eclipses visibility started at the horizon. When the moon is at the horizon, its color is redshifted due to extinction, making its redness dramatic.
The length of Jesus public ministry appears to be two years, rather than the standard figure of three years, for the following reasons. Kenneth Doig shows that a two-year ministry was supported from the earliest days of Christianity by the Church Fathers.[29] The number of Passovers celebrated during His ministry fixes the length of His ministry. Three Passovers occurred during His ministry (John 2:13; 6:4; 13:1), not four, as is commonly understood. The gospels specifically state only three Passovers, and John mentions them all. The public ministry of Jesus was just two years in length. The Passovers mark the beginning, middle, and end of Jesus public ministry[30] . They are a Sabbath year and Jubilee year pair.[31]
Near His Birth: Many seek the star of Bethlehem to identify when Jesus was born and started His ministry. The assumed time of Jesus birth often limits the search. The only explanation for the Star of Bethlehem that fits all the criteria[32] was 24 August 2 B.C.; the magi saw the Bright Morning Star rise with the sun. That happened shortly before dawn, marking a scepter formed by three other wandering stars in the constellation of Leo (the Lion), fulfilling the prophecies given by Jacob in Genesis 49:9-10[33] and Balaam in Numbers 24:17. The sign started 20 August 2 B.C., with the picture of the lion with a rulers staff between his legs.
On the day His star rose, the rulers staff shortened into a scepter. The scepter shall not depart from Jacob, nor a lawgivers staff from between his feet until he comes to whom it belongs. The Lion of the tribe of Judah had received His scepter, and that scepter had ascended out of Jacob. The Lion of the tribe of Judah with His scepter is one of the great messianic prophecies. The magi watched that star throughout the day, and it set in the late afternoon in the direction of Jerusalem.
Over the next four days, there was another series of signs in the sky depicting the story of Esther. Esther is the Persian name for Venus. This series of signs depicted the same golden scepter now extended to Esther.[34]
The magi came 1.6 years later, just before Passover A.D. 1, to worship the newborn King of the Jews who would rule the whole world. [35] The magi came to Jerusalem to Herods palace because they assumed the newborn King would be a new arrival in the kings palace. The Jewish elders directed the magi to Bethlehem, where the promised King would be born. So King Herod sent the Magi to Bethlehem, and they went. They didnt need a star to guide them to Bethlehem.
The magi saw His star as it rose in Bethlehem, pointing to a picture of the slain lamb. The magi watched the star as it rose in the east and went before them throughout the day. After sunset, it waited as they followed it up the hills to the west until it disappeared behind Jesus house as they arrived on His doorstep at twilight, just as Passover started. That happened before King Herod the Great died.
Josephus records that King Herod died shortly after an eclipse of the moon. The only eclipse of the moon the people were likely to see mentioned by Josephus was 29 December 1 B.C., just after sunset.[36] The eclipse was significant because it shortly followed the winter solstice, and it was on the horizon, so the moon was red. Jesus was born at midnight on the winter solstice, the darkest time of the year. This eclipse was the closest a lunar eclipse could approach the winter solstice and still not have moonlight at midnight on the solstice; it set shortly before midnight. We know the eclipsed moon was visible because Josephus, who lived in Israel, recorded it as a sign seen by the people. The red moon occurred during the eight days between when Jesus was born and when He was named.
So the sun was darkened, and the moon turned to blood at the time of Jesus birth.[37] A similar event, a darkened sun, and a red moon happened at Jesus death, as noted by Peter (Acts 2:20). Peter quotes Joel regarding the sun being darkened, and Joel calls it a day of clouds and gloom. The cloudy winter solstice was particularly dark at midnight when Jesus was born. To those living in darkness, a light had dawned (Isaiah 9:2)
At the start of His Ministry: There was another significant sign in the heavens to signal the start of Jesus ministry on 4 March A.D. 31. This sign linked the proclamation by John the Baptist that Jesus was the Lamb of God with Jacobs ladder. The sign announced Jesus as the Lamb of God and the Ladder to heaven. The vertical beam of the cross was the ladder. The slain Lamb hung on the cross, in the sky. The straight highway was proclaimed by John the Baptist (Mark 1:7) (Isaiah 40:3). The cross was the ladder or way to heaven, and Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. It is hard to imagine a sign in heaven presenting Jesus gospel and His Passover purpose more clearly.[38]
At His Death and Resurrection: Finally, on the day Jesus was crucified, and the sun was darkened for three hours, and that evening there was a lunar eclipse/blood moon on Friday, April 3, A.D. 33, the day Jesus died. St. Peter referred to this (and the three hours the sun was dark on that day) in his speech on Pentecost. He said, The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord (Acts 2:20).[39] The moon rose eclipsed at the horizon (so red) just after sundown.[40]
At the Resurrection, two days later, the Star of Bethlehem again rose and marked a picture of fish. The exact meaning of this is unknown; it may refer to the Church because a fish was one of the earliest signs of the Church. So four signs in the heavens marked His birth, and four signs in the heavens marked His ministry, death, and resurrection. Every time in each of these signs when Venus, the Bright Morning Star, appeared, it was accompanied by the other morning star Mercury.[41]
The lunar-solar calendar is the standard and official religious calendar of the Jews today as it was in Jesus day. A lunar-solar calendar has the moon control the length of the month, and the sun controls the length of the year. The number of months per year is either twelve or thirteen. A lunar-solar calendar was initially assumed when generating this chronology of Jesus ministry. As the study continued, problems with that assumption were found. The most explicit problem was there were two Passovers celebrated during the week Jesus was crucified.
Jesus celebrated Passover at the Last Supper, according to the synoptic writers. He died on the eve of the Passover, according to the Apostle John. Frequently, the proper solution to a theological problem is both, where two or more seemingly contradictory pictures are presented, e.g., virgin mother. God is a master at revealing conundrums that appear to be irreconcilable.
A careful study of Jesus ministry reveals that for all of the Passover feasts, Jesus followed both the solar and the lunar-solar calendar. Annie Jaubert[42] proposed this solution to dating the Last Supper.
She discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls followed a solar calendar. The number of days per year was divisible by seven in the solar calendar and was usually 364. The year started on Wednesday, and the significant feast days were on Wednesday. The dating was based on several things, most notably, the fourth day of creation. The year started on Wednesday (actually Tuesday evening). The greater and lesser lights and the stars were made on the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-18). Before the sun and the moon existed, days and years, as we know them, couldnt exist. Genesis doesnt have the moon control the length of the month.[43]
The Essenes followed what they firmly believed was the correct sacred calendar. It divided the year into four seasons, where each season was divided into three months, the first two months were thirty days each, and the third month was thirty-one days. Each season was divisible into an even number of weeks.
Sometimes these two calendars aligned, but usually, they diverged. We see this most clearly when Jesus celebrated Passover on Tuesday evening for the Last Supper by the solar calendar. He died on Friday, Passover eve, by the lunar-solar calendar as specified by the chief priests in the Temple. Jesus appeared to celebrate Passover by both calendars but celebrated the official Passover by the official calendar. That way, Jesus could both celebrate the Passover Seder meal and be crucified on Passover eve.
I discovered years after doing this chronology, but before the solar connection was made, most days Jesus celebrated feasts were Wednesdays.[44] If one knows the date of one solar Passover, the date of solar Passovers in nearby years is a matter of subtracting one day per subsequent year or two days per leap year. In the second month, the Passovers (solar and lunar-solar) follow Passover in the first month by thirty days.
The following table gives dates that may be calculated or from earlier papers
|
August 20-23, 2 B.C. |
Wed |
Picture Scepter/Rulers staff forms in Leo |
|
|
August 24, 2 B.C. |
Sun |
Venus marks picture of a scepter in Leo |
|
|
August 28, 2 B.C. |
Thu |
The king extends his golden scepter to Esther |
|
|
November 2-9, 2 B.C. |
Sat |
Zechariah ministers in the Temple |
|
|
April 7, 1 B.C. |
Wed |
Jesus conceivedPassover midnight |
Nisan 15 |
|
~August 26, 1 B.C. |
Fri |
John the Baptist born |
|
|
December 25, 1 B.C. |
Sun |
Jesus bornWinter solstice |
Tevet 10 |
|
January 1, A.D. 1 |
Sun |
Jesus circumcised |
Tevet 17 |
|
February 2, A.D. 1 |
Thu |
Presentation in the Temple |
Shevat 20 |
|
March 23, A.D. 1 |
Thu |
Magi visit Herod in Jerusalem |
Nisan 10 |
|
March 27, A.D. 1 |
Mon |
Magi see the Star of Bethlehem Passover eve |
Nisan 14 |
|
April 15, A.D. 13 |
Sat |
Passover when Jesus was 12 years old |
Nisan 15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 8, A.D. 30 |
Sat |
Passover |
Nisan 15 |
|
~August 26, A.D. 30 |
|
John the Baptist thirty years old |
|
|
September 16-23, 30 |
Sat |
John ministered as a priest in the Temple |
Tishri 1-7 |
|
Sept 30-Oct 6, 30 |
Sat |
Tabernacles, John ministered as priest |
Tishri 15-21 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
January 8, A.D. 31 |
Mon |
Jesus baptism by John |
Tevet 23 |
|
March 3-10, A.D. 31 |
Sat |
John ministered as a priest in the Temple |
Adar 18-25 |
|
March 4, A.D. 31 |
Sun |
PictureCrossLadder to HeavenLamb |
Adar 19 |
|
March 29, A.D.31 |
Thu |
Official Passover (lunar-solar) |
Nisan 15 |
|
April 4, A.D. 31 |
Wed |
Solar Passover |
Nisan 21 |
|
April 29, A.D. 31 |
Sun |
Passover in the 2nd month (deferred one day) |
Iyar 15 |
|
May 4, A.D. 31 |
Fri |
Solar Passover in the second month |
Iyar 21 |
|
May 20, A.D. 31 |
Sun |
Pentecost |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 2, A.D. 32 |
Wed |
Solar Passover |
Nisan 3 |
|
April 13, A.D. 32 |
Sun |
Official Passover |
Nisan 15 |
|
May 2, A.D. 32 |
Fri |
Solar Passover the second month |
Iyar 3 |
|
May 14, A.D. 32 |
Wed |
Passover in the second month |
Iyar 15 |
|
October 9, A.D. 32 |
Thu |
Tabernacles |
Tishri 15 |
|
December 17, A.D. 32 |
Wed |
Dedication/Hanukah |
Kislev 25 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
April 1, A.D.33 |
Wed |
Solar Passover |
Nisan 11 |
|
April 4, A.D. 33 |
Sat |
Official Passover eclipsed Moon |
Nisan 15 |
|
April 5, A.D. 33 |
Sun |
First FruitsJesus Resurrection |
Nisan 16 |
|
May 1, A.D. 33 |
Fri |
Solar Passover the second month |
Iyar 11 |
|
May 4, A.D. 33 |
Mon |
Passover in the second month |
Nisan 15 |
|
May 24, A.D. 33 |
Sun |
Pentecost |
|
1. Some believe the announcement of the acceptable year of the Lord, announced by Jesus, referred to the start of a Jubilee year, which must occur in the fall (Tishri 10, c. October 1). Here it is proposed Jesus announced a Sabbath rest year immediately preceding a Jubilee rest year. The start of the seventh Sabbath year preceded the Jubilee year by six months. Slaves were released in the Sabbath year (Deuteronomy 15:12-13). On a Sabbath, Jesus said, This day this is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21). Jesus announced a dual message, a time to celebrate the Sabbath-Jubilee year pair, and freedom from slavery to sin.
2. While the Jubilee was to be announced in the fall, the Sabbath year started in the spring. A Sabbath years rest always preceded the jubilee years rest by six months. Jesus was calling attention to a calendar problem. He made this announcement on the first day of the second monthbut had the calendar been set correctly, it should have been the first month of the year. There should have been an additional month inserted before Nisan to prevent the feast of Tabernacles from occurring too early. The feast of Tabernacles starts on Tishri 15. In the year A.D. 31, Tishri 15 occurred on September 22. That was three days before the Autumnal Equinox marks the beginning of fall. The feast fell too early. This is especially important because the Jubilee year started in Tishri.[45]
3. Some believe the interpretation of the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6) requires a four-year ministry for Jesus.[46] The Bible doesnt require this interpretation, but Jesus does minister in parts of four years, the very end of one year, two full years, and the very beginning of the fourth. Fig trees show their fruit when they leaf in the spring, so the lack of fruit was evident at the beginning of the fourth year. Before the first Passover and after the third and last Passover, the ministry was private, not public. The Jews usually counted any part of a year as the whole of the year. Jesus private and public ministry was four years with a Jewish year count.
4. John the Baptists ministry was to be the forerunner. If his ministry continued for long after the start of Jesus ministry, the people would be confused. Also, many people halfway through Jesus ministry thought Jesus was John the Baptist returned from the dead. They would hold this position if Jesus and John ministered side-by-side for six months at the Jordan River.
1. The Apostles memory for the sequence of events of Jesus ministry would be the sharpest at the beginning and end of their time with Jesus and for unusual events. The disciples would, for instance, remember the first healing of a particular type better than the tenth healing.
2. Jesus purpose was to establish His Church. The sooner He announced the Kingdom and chose His apostles, the more time He had to train them. The sooner they were trained, the sooner the Church could be established.
3. Events that sufficiently mirror a Passover signal a Passover event.
4. Matthew was the synoptic writer who recorded the sequence of events correctly. Mark and Luke werent present at the events recorded and arent always in chronological order.
5. Jesus final Passover from the synoptic gospel authors viewpoint was the solar Passover (and the Last Supper). Jesus final Passover from the Apostle Johns viewpoint was the official lunar-solar Passover immediately following the crucifixion.
6. John was deliberate in giving the Passover day from a contrasting viewpoint.
1. Jesus and His disciples kept the Old Covenant law, so they attended the three weeklong festivals each year: Passover, Pentecost, and Booths.[47] Jesus and the disciples didnt travel a significant distance on the Sabbath.
2. Jesus and disciples could travel about twenty-five miles (40km) per day, and family caravans move about twenty miles/day (32km).
3. The apostles memories of events were also heightened by travel, especially foreign travel.
4. John the Baptist and Jesus didnt start ministering until each had turned thirty years of age.
5. The term Jesus was about thirty years old means He was almost exactly thirty, but His baptism didnt occur on His birthday.
6. John had ministered for somewhere between his four and six months when Jesus, now thirty years old, came to him to be baptized in January A.D. 31 (Luke 1:26, 36).
7. John, a priest, needed to be ordained when he turned thirty at the start of his ministry. And he had several weeks of duty in the Temple shortly after that.
8. If nothing in the text separates events, the events are likely near in time. (The standard rule used by most seems to be spread out events to fill the available time).
9. Passover was celebrated on two different calendars (lunar-solar and solar). It could be celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first or the second month of the year.
10. The gospel of John gives hours of the day from the Roman viewpoint, where the hours were counted from midnight and noon.
11. The synoptic gospels give hours by Jewish usage; hours were counted from dawn and sunset.
12. The data from the gospels can be reconciled and must be reconciled to determine what happened and when. Nothing is irrelevant, and nothing contradicts when properly understood.
13. Signs in the heavens that tie into the Scriptures are essential chronological witnesses.
14. When Jesus was meeting the Passover requirements, it was because He was celebrating a Passover.
15. Today, the weather, vegetation, climate, winds, etc., remain approximately the same as they did in Jesus day.
It is challenging to research the meaning of the word deuteroproto because few attempt to define its meaning. Archibald Robertson says, It is undoubtedly spurious, and If it were genuine we should not know what it means.[48]
The United Bible Society committee majority proposed a scribe added the word first; another added the word second, canceling out the word first. A third scribe misunderstood and combined the words into second-first and inserted it into the text,[49] a convoluted explanation.
Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker said, Occurs no where else, word of doubtful meaning. Even ancient interpreters understandably could make nothing of it.[50]
Joseph Thayer is unusual in defining this word, seem to be, the second of the first Sabbaths after the feast of Passover.[51] He makes some sense because the Israelites were to start a new count of weeks on the day following the first Sabbath following Passover.
A better understanding is how the command to count the weeks was done.[52] Each week was counted; its called counting the Omer (Leviticus 23:15-16; Deuteronomy 16:9-10). One wouldnt usually count the weeks following the second month Passover. Still, if one did, the count started on the second-first Sabbath.
Harold Hoehner said, using this passage to add a Passover is dubious for not only is the textual reading highly questionable, but also even if one accepts the reading, there are many different interpretations as to its meaning and so one cannot say that it pinpoints the occasion of the second Passover. To hold a view that is based on a questionable interpretation which in turn is built upon a questionable textual reading is immediately suspect.[53] Hoehner objected to using this passage to add a Passover. We use it to avoid adding a Passover.
David Brown says, Second Sabbath after the firstan obscure expression, occurring here only, generally understood to mean, the first Sabbath after the second day of unleavened bread. The reasons cannot be stated here, nor is the opinion itself quite free from difficulty.[54]
No one was found that defined deuteroproto Sabbath, the second-first Sabbath, as the first Sabbath following Passover in the second month. That event can be properly placed in Jesus ministry by defining this meaning. The events surrounding the Passover in the second month can be properly chronicled. This word was a key to understanding that Jesus ministry was linked to the Passover in the second month.
This date is significant to dating Jesus Capernaum ministry and limiting His public ministry to two years. They didnt reject second-first because of poor manuscript support or because the translators didnt understand the word, but because they didnt understand what it meant. Second-first is a good word, and it should be restored in future translations.
Most chronographers record that Augustus Caesar died on 19 August A.D. 14 (normally A.U.C. 767). Tiberius Caesar came to the throne in September A.D. 14. The problem with this is, two historians record Augustus died shortly after a total eclipse of the sun was observed.[55] There was no total eclipse of the sun visible anywhere over the Roman Empire between 1 January A.D. 1 and 15 February A.D. 17.[56] So 15 February A.D. 17 is the most reasonable choice for the eclipse before Augustus death.
This is three years later than Augustus death is usually placed. So the date for Augustus death would be 19 August A.D. 17. John the Baptist turned thirty just before the fourteenth anniversary of the death of Tiberius Caesar. His ministry started in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Luke 3:1-2, In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar the word of God came to John, son of Zechariah in the desert. The fifteenth year would start 1 October A.D. 30 and end 30 September A.D. 31.[57] Johns ministry started at the beginning of Tiberius fifteenth year after John turned thirty years old.
Second, the Jordan Valley is like a furnace in August and September (but better than going in frigid water in January as Jesus did). Third, John needed to be ordained a priest. He then had to minister as a priest in mid and late September. The October start date would be consistent with people coming for baptism after the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth) and after completion of the harvest because abundant harvests preceded Sabbath/Jubilee years.
This later date for the death of Augustus answers the problems associated with the date of the death of King Herod the Great. King Herod didnt die until after Passover A.D. 1. Most ancient chronologists tied the dating of Jesus birth to a particular year in Augustus reign. If Augustus died three years later than commonly assumed, then Jesus birth on 25 December 1 B.C. conforms to the date given by historians of 3-2 B.C.[58]
This change would shift all A.U.C. dates relative to A.D. and B.C. dates near the birth of Jesus. This means that Jesus birth in December 1 B.C. (A.U.C. 749) properly aligns with the ancient dates for Jesus birth. Ancient Christian chronologists place Jesus birth between 4 B.C. and 1 A.D. However, nearly all place His birth in 3/2 B.C.,[59] so the 4 B.C. lunar eclipse doesnt fit.
After Johns service in the Temple was completed, he started to baptize in the Jordan River.[60] Johns ministry didnt span a Tabernacles pilgrimage from Galilee. Had it spanned a Tabernacles pilgrimage, Jesus would already have had an opportunity to be baptized by John as He journeyed to or from Jerusalem if He passed down the Jordan. Jesus may have journeyed through Samaria, the shorter and better weather route. That was unlikely. For the three Jewish pilgrim feasts: Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles, all faithful Jewish men went to Jerusalem.
John the Baptist, being a priest, would have been ministering in Jerusalem during the three pilgrim festivals. Jesus was thirty when John baptized Him. Jesus baptism was the one instance where a priest washed Him, a necessary part of His priestly ordination.[61] The duration between the start of Johns ministry and the destruction of the Temple in August A.D. 70 (Tisha BAv) is very close to forty years. The transition and phasing out of the Old Covenant. The author of Hebrews spoke of that Covenant as decaying, waxing old and ready to vanish away (Hebrews 8:13).
During the forty years of wandering, the water from the rock followed shortly after Passover in the second month. Likely during that week (Exodus 17:6), God provided flesh and bread for the first time (quail and manna Exodus 16). Joshua defeated the Amalekites giving exciting context while Moses prayed with outstretched arms (Exodus 17:11-12). This appears to have been on a solar Passover. Jesus (the Greek form of Joshua) provided water from His side after He prayed with outstretched arms and defeated our enemies (sin, Satan, and death) on the cross on Passover eve.
After Miriam[62] died, a bitter experience (Numbers 20:1, 11). God a second time provided water from the rock occurred during the first month (Numbers 10:1, 8-11) (so probably Passover or solar Passover, because Passover wasnt celebrated after the second year of the wilderness wanderings. This story immediately follows the water of cleansing (Numbers 19 red heifer). The stone jars at the wedding of Cana were used to hold the water of cleansing. There are many links. This was the day that Moses struck the rock twice and, as a result, wasnt allowed to enter the Promised Land, a bitter experience. Water, bread, and meat for two million people in the wilderness treasures.
The author is convinced Matthew was the synoptic gospel author who correctly sequenced the events of Jesus ministry. Matthew was the only synoptic gospel writer present at most of the events recorded.[63] He was a scribe and could record events as they happened. His occupation, a tax collector required accuracy. Matthew was a member of the crowds before his apostolic call. Matthew has about twice the number of time/sequence references as Mark does.
Luke has few time sequence references, but he was precise when giving one. Luke didnt tend to link events; instead, he says, it came to pass. In many of the passages disputed, Matthew was the only synoptic writer who gave a specific time sequence reference. Therefore, in the sequence of events recorded in the synoptic gospels, Matthew has primacy in determining the order of events when there is a disagreement.
Many noting that Matthews gospel was thematically arranged argue he is non-chronological.[64] It was logical for Jesus to discourse on discrete topics and minister in support of His teachings. Matthews primacy extends even when Mark and Luke agree with the order against Matthew because Luke, to some extent, based his order on Marks gospel.
Luke said he gave an ordered account, but he didnt say the order was chronological. Because Luke collected his information from multiple first-hand sources, he probably often didnt know the exact order of all events.
There is no case where Matthew gave a sequence reference that cannot be reconciled with Mark and Luke. The author agrees with the Augustinian hypothesis for the sequence of synoptic development. Matthew wrote his gospel first, then Mark wrote using Matthews gospel and Peters preaching, then Luke wrote, and he used both Matthew and Marks gospels.[65] Eusebius, quoting Papias, who wrote c. A.D. 140 stated that Mark, Peters interpreter, accurately wrote everything he remembered, though not in order.[66]
The date for the conception of John the Baptist c. 30 November 2 B.C. was determined first by determining the potential dates for the priestly course of Abijah (Luke 1:5) to which Zechariah belonged. I estimate John was born c. August 12, 1 B.C.[67] , then use that information to close in on the date matching the Roman census records for the date of Jesus birth. There are two primary references for the dating of the priestly courses, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus. The Dead Sea scrolls include a detailed seven-year calendar[68] that lists the order and ascension of each course of priests to service. The rotation doesnt restart each year but is continuous.
The priestly calendar from the Dead Sea scrolls started in 42 B.C and listed the moon phases and priestly courses for seven years. Those match to the date Josephus gives for the destruction of the Temple in A.D. 70[69] and the first priestly course Jehoiarib (1 Chronicles 24:7) that took office at that time.[70] So one can determine when John the Baptist and his father Zechariah served as priests in the Temple. Each course served for one week about twice per year, twenty-four weeks apart and rotating about one month earlier each year. The priestly service started and ended at noon on the Sabbath.
The priestly courses can be used to determine the times that Zechariah served and the possible times of the conception and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus.[71] In the article Dionysius Exiguus Got It Right, I concluded that the earliest date of Jesus birth was about 25 December 1 B.C. This date corresponds well with the research into the census records brought to Rome by Titus after the destruction of Jerusalem[72] of the time of Jesus birth as determined by the Roman emperors and Popes. It also corresponds well to a lunar eclipse that preceded the death of King Herod the Great.[73]
In any of the years Jesus could be born, December 25 was the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. Typologically this makes good sense as Jesus coming into the world as the Light of the World. The world was darkest when He came, and later in Roman history, the solstice became known as the birthday of the invincible sun. The darkest period was midnight on the solstice, precisely the moment the Light of the World chose to come into the world.
Since Jesus was born on Sunday 25 December 1 B.C.,[74] He was circumcised and named on Sunday 1 January A.D. 1. Our Anno Domini (A.D.) dating system is correct. The B.C. system was also correct, except that today we probably would have had Jesus born in year zero, but there was no year zero. Dionysius Exiguus only dated forward in time, so he wasnt responsible for eliminating the year zero because that occurred with the introduction of the B.C. system long after his death.
The reader is encouraged to start paying attention to Passover events, such as cleaning leaven, an unexpected treasure, a meal, keeping vigil, everyone being able to travel, a journey often three days, worship, burial, etc.
The first Passover event was the conception of Jesus. Jesus ministry of removing leaven reached back to Marys conception because Jesus, the most holy one, required a holy vessel to bear Him.[75] It was necessary, He remained holy rather than being defiled by Mary at His conception or birth (Luke 1:35; Leviticus 12:2).
As Jesus mother, Mary was the first to receive the Eucharistic feast, the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mary experienced bitterness because Gabriel's greeting greatly troubled her.
The book of Wisdom reveals the time of Jesus conception. When the night was half gone [midnight], the word leaped from heaven to earth (Wisdom 18:13-15). The context of this passage was Passover and the Exodus from Egypt. When Jesus was conceived, He emptied Himself (Philippians 2:7); He gave Himself as the treasure to His mother (who became queen mother)[76] and to us. Mary kept the official watch of the lunar-solar and solar Passover when visited by Gabriel and continued to keep that watch in her journey.
Mary was healthy enough to leave that night (Passover occurs on the full moon[77]) and travel in haste. Mary also left in haste on a three-day (about seventy miles (113km)) journey from Nazareth to a city in the hill country of Judah.[78] Joseph was in Jerusalem as required by the Law for the Passover.
On the night of Passover, at His conception, Jesus started on a three-day journey to the womb[79] of Mary.
John was probably baptized by Jesus in the womb when the two first encountered {17-1} as a final cleansing of leaven from Elizabeth and Zechariahs home. She arrived at their home on Friday afternoon. One can discern that because John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mothers womb (Luke 1:15).
The Canticle of Mary (Magnificat) relates her worship of God and mentions Gods mighty arm to save. Mary kept the watch and continued to keep it as she left in haste that night on a journey to Judah. The sacred assembly was the Holy Spirit espousing Mary. Because Jesus was in the womb, He was buried in water. In all the Passover events studied, this was the only one where the official and solar Passover occurred on the same day.
Jesus burial in this event was His time in the water of the womb. The affliction was the setting aside of His deity and the shame of motherhood before Mary married Joseph. The question, How will this be, since I do not know man? The todah psalm was the Magnificat (Luke 4: 46-55).
In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment when Quirinius was governor of Syria (Luke 2:1-2). Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem because of this decree. Many doubt this decree occurred because of the timing. Quirinius governed Syria in 6 A.D. If we look back to the time of Jesus birth, Ceasar assigned Quirinius to train the governor of Syria in 1 B.C.
Augustus sent Gaius Caesar, his grandson and intended successor, to administer Syria as the Legate (that is, a military governor). Gaius left Rome on 29 January 1 B.C. Gaius mission was to visit the eastern provinces and learn something about government. Tacitus mentions Augustus ordered Quirinius to be Gaius rector, his tutor. Quirinius had previously been Legate of Galatia and Cilicia (territories near Syria). So in 1 B.C., Quirinius was training Gaius to be Legate of Syria. Especially near the beginning of the training, Quirinius would be governing. Gaius died in 3 A.D. after a battle with the Parthians.[80]
Quirinius trained Gaius to rule the entire region, so in one sense, both ruled. It could be that Quirinius stayed in Syria while Gaius roamed Syria and Armenia. Luke is Scripture; Mary was his source, and she lived through the events. He mentions the first census, so he knew of the one done in 6 A.D. This insight allows us to reconcile the death of Herod in early 1 A.D. and the Census of Quirinius in late 1 B.C.
The inn was full, probably because the holy family arrived late in the day.[81] Because they didnt stay at the inn, they could remain unnoticed. Jesus wasnt born on Passover, so the links to Passover events are different and unique. Jesus was born while shepherds kept watch in the fields (Luke 2:8). Shepherds kept watch so the newborn lambs wouldnt be trampled in the sheep pens, where the sheep spent most nights throughout the year. Newborn lambs were born from mid-December through the end of February. In Jesus day, Bethlehem was within the six-mile radius around Jerusalem, where all Temple sacrifices originated.[82] The shepherds in Bethlehem were Levites tasked with raising and inspecting animals sacrificed in the Temple. Sacrifices were needed daily year-round. The shepherds remained in the vicinity of Bethlehem through cold and rain.[83]
On the day Jesus was born, Mary wrapped Him in swaddling clothes.[84] Like a stillborn baby wrapped in a shroud as a sign to indicate He was born to be buried. He was a sacrifice needing inspection. Levitical shepherds inspected Him and certified He was without defect. He was probably found in a cave shrouded like a baby wrapped for burial, laid out in a tomb after dying at birth. Jesus, like Moses, remained hidden for three months (Exodus 2:2-3).
After the shepherds inspected Jesus by lamplight, the Holy Family slipped into obscurity. The shepherds werent able to recognize Mary or Joseph later. The shepherds proclaimed the birth of Jesus, but Mary and Joseph didnt proclaim or announce the birth of their most special son. Almost no one knew who Jesus was or where He lived. Because of King Herods wicked reputation, one can assume Mary and Joseph knew there were risks to their sons life. So after the shepherds left, Mary and Joseph packed up and moved so they could stay hidden. The shepherds announced what they saw. Because they provided lambs for the daily sacrifices, their message would reach the Temple in Jerusalem, probably that day, so King Herod would soon hear the shepherds story.
The Lamb of God was born when and where lambs were born, destined to be sacrificed in the Temple. He was inspected like a lamb by the proper authorities. His body was wrapped as a dead body, and He appeared to be laid in a tomb.
Jesus was circumcised when He was eight days old on Sunday 1 January A.D. 1, by his parents. Jewish boys were named when they were circumcised, so Jesus was named on the first day of the millennium. God ordered our calendar. The Roman calendar underwent repeated changes from 45 B.C. The calendar precisely aligns for the birth of Jesus to all ones. The first day of the week, the first day of the month, the first month, and the first day of the year, and later it would be the first day of the millennium and our current calendar.
Jews counted inclusively, seven and a half days after He was born. Since this date is a Roman date, the Roman hour is appropriate, and the first hour would be noon Roman time, a reasonable time to be circumcised.
Joseph, as a carpenter, was a builder, so he almost undoubtedly built or rebuilt a house for his family to live in, probably starting in a tent at that site. Since he was a descendant of Boaz and Boaz had a threshing floor on his property, Josephs property probably included a nearby ridge. Three months later, they lived in a house when the magi visited. The house was on a ridge separated from the other buildings of Bethlehem, so hiding a baby was somewhat more possible.
In 45 B.C., Julius Caesar revised the calendar to replace a calendar based on the moon. He changed the start of the year from March to January and initially had a leap year every three years. By 9 B.C., it was realized that the frequency of the leap year was too high, so they stopped having leap years until 8 A.D., at which time the leap years started every four years. By coincidence, what was to become year on started on Sunday, and the leap years were divisible by four into the current year.
The year one wasnt proposed until after the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. and didnt become official anywhere until Charlemagne made it official in his kingdom (c. 800 A.D.). After the adjustment by Pope Gregory the Great on 24 February 1582 A.D., the calendar gradually became the official calendar of the world because it was accurate. God organized the world's calendar to recognize the day Jesus was named Sunday, January 1, A.D., so 1/1/1/1.
The Law required every firstborn son to be redeemed (Numbers 18:15). A payment of five shekels was to be made when a firstborn male was one month old (Numbers 18:16). On Monday, 24 January A.D. 1, Joseph paid the cost to redeem our Redeemer. This payment may have been done ten days later at the time Jesus was presented at the Temple.
The presentation of Jesus in the Temple wasnt a Passover event. Still, all sacrificial offerings, including Passover lambs, needed to be presented at the gate of the Temple and accepted by a priest by laying hands on its head. The lamb/kid needed to be presented with an accompanying unleavened bread and wine offering (Numbers 15:1-12). The lamb needed to be at least eight days old and not yet one year old.[85] Jesus was presented in the Temple when He was forty days old (Luke 2:22), so He met those requirements.
One can discern that Simeon was a priest because he blessed the Holy Family (Luke 2:34), and blessing was a priestly function (Numbers 6:23). The offering the law prescribed for a womans purification Leviticus 12:2, 6) wasnt necessary because Jesus was holy before and after birth (Luke 1:35). So of necessity, was Mary at Jesus conception and birth. Any uncleanness in Mary, including giving birth in the same manner as all other women, would have defiled Jesus because standard delivery made one unclean (Leviticus 12:2-4).[86] Since Mary wasnt unclean due to delivering Jesus, the required purification offering covered the requirements for Jesus as the Passover Lamb offering.
One can discern that the magi hadnt yet visited the Holy Family because Joseph brought the offering allowed for the poor (Leviticus 12:8), so he didnt have any gold yet. Firstborn males before the incident of the golden calf were priests.
There is a reliable indication of the number of witnesses (two or three) here because this event always occurs on the second day of the second month. There were two witnesses Simeon and Anna, who represent the priesthood and the prophets.
The Magi arrived in Jerusalem and announced the star of a newborn king of the Jews, the messiah. God had selected a spotless Lamb for His family. The magi announced the sign in the heavens indicating the Christ (the Lion of the tribe of Judah with His ruler's staff or scepter between His feet Genesis 49:9-10) had come. It was on the day Israel selected their Passover lambs. This announcement could only be on the tenth of Nissan (Exodus 12:3). This day the Bright Morning Star (Venus) reached its darkest point, immediately between the earth and the sun. So as the sun, at the winter solstice, was darkest when He was born, the Bright Morning Star was at its darkest when the magi announced His presence.
Through the chief priests and scribes, Scripture directed the magi to Bethlehem, where they went to search for the king. When the magi reached Bethlehem, no one they talked to could lead them to Jesus. The shepherds didnt know, and they had already gone to Jerusalem by Thursday 23 March A.D. 1 to sell lambs for and celebrate the Passover. The people of Bethlehem heard the shepherds report, but not finding anyone, assumed they lied. Even if not, the baby was gone. The magi understood they had arrived too late, so their journey failed. The only consolation they had was the star that had led them from the east.
Four days later, Tuesday 27 March A.D. 1 {14-1}, the magi saw the star of Bethlehem as it rose at dawn with the sun on the eve of Passover. They continued to watch that star leading the sun throughout the day as the day-star (2 Peter 1:19); they watched/followed it all day.[87] They probably started near the inn where they stayed. Their location to watch the star was planned by God to allow them to view the star move west to the house where Jesus lived and disappeared behind the house of the Holy Family. The star in the evening led them up the road to the ridge to the house where Jesus lived. The magi followed the star to the house where Jesus and Mary were and worshipped Jesus. The star waited because it was alone in the evening sky. The motion of the magi up the ridge canceled the downward motion of the star in the west. Hence, it remained at a constant place just above the house of the holy family. They brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh, enriching the Holy Family.[88]
Because of the time of the visit, Joseph was in Jerusalem, with the assembly celebrating the Passover Seder {15-1}. During the Passover watch, Joseph was informed by an angel that he needed to take his family and flee to Egypt, and he immediately did so. In their flight, the Holy Family kept the Passover watch.
Herods assumption of two years focused on the time of the heliacal rise of the star,[89] which occurred 1.6 years earlier. The magi probably mentioned two passages that guided them, Genesis 49:9-10 and Numbers 24:17; this latter verse said that the king would crush the heads of Sheth. That was another name for Edom, and Herod was an Idumean or Edomite. He attempted to kill Jesus to protect his dynasty. King Herod expanded the 1.6 years to two years for certainty. The threat of death was real because the boys in Bethlehem died. Rather than removing all the leaven from Israel, the Holy Family left behind the leavened dough that was Israel. The death of the boys of Bethlehem with the weeping and wailing along with leaving their homeland were bitter experiences.
All were sufficiently healthy to flee on a long journey that night. Gods strong arm was shown in that He created a sign in the heavens at the foundation of the world, able to convince the magi to journey from the east. He also spoiled King Herods plot to kill the newborn king.
Because it was Passover, the moon was full all night, so they could travel at night. Because Joseph now had money (from the magi), they went southwest to the Mediterranean coast. At the port city of Ascalon (forty miles (65km)) {17-1}, they embarked on a ship bound for Egypt. They sailed to Egypt, crossing the water on the third day to safety, and by the next day, Friday, March 31, A.D. 1 {18-1} escaped to Egypt. Ships were headed to Egypt at that time to take grain to Rome.
If all on land, their journey was two hundred miles (320 km) across the desert and one hundred miles (160 km) of that in Herods territory, most of which was open country. That would be hard on a three-month-old child, and they would be more likely to be caught by Herods mounted troops or chariots. Once in Egypt, they would be safe from Herod because Egypt was the breadbasket of Rome, so it was kept under direct Roman control. A todah event, the imminent threat of death, was averted.
Josephus, a Jewish priest, general, and historian, wrote c. 90 A.D. recorded a lunar eclipse interpreted as a sign. It occurred shortly before the death of King Herod the great about ninety years earlier.[90] This eclipse is key to dating Herods death. The correct eclipse was 29 December 1 B.C. The lunar eclipses of 15 March 4 B.C. and 10 January 1 B.C were only visible in the middle of the night when few would see them. Their significance as a sign or omen would be slight.
The standard theory of the lunar eclipse before King Herod died came from Whistons translation of Josephus. He specified the eclipse on March 13, 4 B.C., a date Kepler calculated before the moon's position was accurately known. From the star of Bethlehem, we learn Herod slew the babes of Bethlehem on Passover. Therefore, King Herod didnt die before Passover that year.
One can celebrate Passover a month later if one is unclean or traveling (Numbers 9:10-13). In Herod's last months, God afflicted him with unclean sores, so he deferred his Passover celebration for one month. Josephus source for this period focused on King Herod and his family rather than on the events of Israel. Herods illness meant Venus could rise on Passover. Yet, Herod would die before he celebrated Passover the same year. The wise men visited Jesus on Passover, but Herod, according to Josephus, died sometime before Passover.[91]
Herod was alive after the star of Bethlehem rose because he had the babes of Bethlehem slaughtered (Matthew 2:10-18) but died shortly after that. Therefore, Herod planned to celebrate Passover in the second month. Since Josephus is not Scripture and was not an eyewitness, he misunderstood a source for an event ninety years earlier.
The Egyptian king threatened to kill the Israelite boys because their presence threatened his dynasty. Herod murdered the boys of Bethlehem because he believed Christ threatened his legacy.
The first plague in Egypt, the Nile, turned to blood. A bloody stream flowed from the Temples altar from the quarter-million lambs sacrificed at Passover. The third plague on Egypt was lice (or gnats Exodus 8:16). King Herod had lice.[92] Many plagues didnt come on Israel, and these events happened in Israel, so they were skipped. The lice were in pockets under Herods skin like boils; when lanced lice came out, the sixth plague was boils (Exodus 9:9-11).[93]
After the eclipse, Herod fell ill; his pain was so intense he attempted to kill himself. A servant prevented him, but a loud cry was heard in Herods palace. There was a great cry in the kings palace at the Exodus (Exodus 12:30). Antipater II, the kings oldest son locked in a cell for fratricide and other wicked deeds, heard the wailing and assumed the king had died. He tried to bribe his guard to release him so he could make himself king. This act so annoyed Herod he decided to execute his son, but he needed Caesars permission to do so.
Herod sent ambassadors in haste to Rome, but they could only quickly travel when sea travel became safe, usually about mid-March. It took about a week for a fast military ship to journey between Rome and Judea. It is reasonable that the ambassadors would return at about Passover. Caesar said Herod could exile or execute his son, which gave Herod joy and buoyed his spirits.
The final plague was the death of the firstborn (Exodus 12:29). King Herod killed his oldest son Antipater II five days before he died. A few weeks later, Caesar, On hearing that the son of Herod, king of the Jews, had been slain when Herod ordered that all boys in Syria under the age of two be killed, Augustus said, Its better to be Herods pig than his son.[94] Bethlehem was in the Syrian territory. The death of Antipater II occurred when Herod issued the command to kill the boys of Bethlehem. So Antipater, Herods firstborn son, died on Passover. His death matches the death of Pharaohs firstborn on Passover. King Herod died five days (inclusive count) after his firstborn son, four days after Passover.
Four things link Herod to Passover. His firstborn son died on the same day he executed the babes of Bethlehem, linking back to the death of Pharoahs son at the Exodus. The river of blood. The plagues on his body link to the plagues in Egypt. Finally, ship travel was safe, so his ambassadors could return, and the Holy Family could flee.
Sometime later, the Holy Family returned from Egypt. Joseph was told when to return, and there was a revolution following Herods death. So for a time, it was not safe. Therefore, the Holy Family probably arrived near Jerusalem in time to celebrate Tabernacles. After the Tabernacles, they settled in Nazareth because of the continued danger to Jesus from Herods son Archelaus if they lived in Judea.
Galileans traveled to Jerusalem in a caravan going around Samaria using a road along the eastern bank of the Jordan River. Then near Jericho, they crossed and made the ascent to Jerusalem, and they returned by the same route. It probably took the caravan about five days to go to Jerusalem and five days to return to the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus shared a treasure of wisdom because wisdom is more precious than rubies (Proverbs 8:11). Jesus did the things of His (heavenly) Father, so Jesus cleaned leaven out of the leaders understanding of Law (Luke 2:46-47). All the typical Passover requirements were fulfilled by keeping the Passover (Saturday 15 April A.D. 13). The bitter herbs were the sorrow, which Mary and Joseph experienced. Mary and Joseph journeyed in haste when they realized that Jesus was missing. Jesus showed His mighty arm when He taught and amazed the teachers when He was only twelve.[95] Mary and Joseph probably found Jesus early in the morning of the third day, when they came to the Temple to pray. On their return to Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph crossed the Jordan River.
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Jesus Could Read and Write Employment of Joseph and Jesus |
Marys relative, Elizabeth (Luke 1:36), was of the house of Aaron, so she was of a priestly family (Luke 1:5). Elizabeth was probably Marys mothers sister. The priestly families were trained to read and write. Marys mother taught her how to read and write, and she, in turn, taught Jesus. Marys sister, Salome, taught her sons James and John to read and write. It also means that Marys mother married someone of the tribe of David. So that Mary and, in turn, Jesus would be a descendant of the house of David. Moses said that the king was to make His own copy of the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Jesus was the king of Israel, so He had to make His copy. Therefore He needed to be able to read and write. Therefore, one of the things Jesus was occupied with was making His copy of the Scriptures. The king was to keep the Scriptures with him all the time. Probably after writing them out, Jesus did this by memorizing them. At the time of King Herod the Greats death, Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee, revolted against Roman rule and was destroyed. Over the following decades, Sepphoris was rebuilt into the jewel of Galilee. Sepphoris was about five miles (8km) north of Nazareth. It is likely, first, Joseph and later Jesus were employed in the construction of that city. That reconstruction was probably a reason Joseph resettled in Nazareth. Buildings were mainly stone, except for the roof structure and the door and frame. We can be discerned Jesus as a carpenter, made doorways. With a ten-mile hike each day, Jesus had many opportunities to observe the fields, shepherds, soldiers, etc., that were the content of His parables. To do business with the gentiles, Jesus had to become proficient in speaking Greek. Because Sepphoris was the capital of a Roman government, Jesus probably learned to speak some Latin. Many Romans were bilingual, Latin, and Greek. Galilee at that time had a population of about two million people, and about twenty-five percent of those were Jewish. That is why it was called Galilee of the gentiles (Matthew 4:15). Nazareth was a small town on the side of a hill with between two hundred and fifty and four hundred people. |
A Brief Description of Passover
The eve of Passover and the feast of unleavened bread occur on the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan/Abib). On that day, Israel removed all leaven. The Passover banquet called the Seder was celebrated that evening at the start of the fifteenth day. On the fourteenth day of the second month, there was a second Passover for those who couldnt celebrate Passover in the first month. Passover included the time from the eve of Passover until the end of the feast, which included the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread.
At the Passover, the LORD commanded the Israelites to do a series of things:
Moses pled with Pharaoh to allow them to take a three-day journey into the wilderness and offer sacrifice.
The sacrifice they would offer might be abhorrent to the Egyptians.
Each household selected a year-old male lamb or kid without defect on the tenth of Abib.
They received treasure, gold, silver, and clothes.
They removed all leaven from their houses.
They celebrated the Passover in a state of ritual purity.
They slew their lamb between the evenings (in the afternoon) on the fourteenth day.
In Egypt, they put the lambs blood on their houses doorposts and top posts.
In Jesus day, they poured the blood on the ground at the base of the altar of sacrifice.
The lamb was hung on a cross-shaped stick framework and skinned.[96]
The lamb was roasted whole without breaking its bones.
They ate the lamb together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
They ate it in haste, ready to leave on a journeystaff in hand, sandals on feet, and loins girt.
They kept a vigil or watch after they had eaten the sacrificial feast.
They left that night on a journey.
After journeying three more days without water, they came to the bitter waters of Marah that God made sweet.
At the Passover, everyone (about two million people) was healthy and able to travel by foot.
They were all baptized in the Red Sea crossing.
They all ate unleavened bread for the seven days of the feast.
They held a sacred assembly on the first and last days of the feast.
They did no work except to prepare the food.
Any part of the lamb left until morning was burned up.
When your children asked what it meant, they said this is what God did for me.
At that time, the people bowed down and worshipped.
Males must be circumcised to eat the Passover.
This observance was like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead. So the Jews were very familiar with the details of the feast.
The LORD brought you out with a mighty hand.
On the third day, God sacrificed Pharaoh and the Egyptian army, which was undoubtedly abhorrent to the Egyptians.[97]
As we have already begun to see, the chronology of Jesus ministry, as recorded in the gospels, was profoundly linked to Passover events.[98] As defined in this article, a Passover event went from selecting the Passover lamb until the week of unleavened bread concluded. Jesus fulfilled the Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7-9), but it shows up clearly in His ministry if one knows what to look for. A Passover has a series of events like cleaning out leaven, asking questions, keeping a vigil, a treasure, everyone healthy, and a sudden journey.
The Passover was celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month. It may alternatively be celebrated on the fifteenth day of the second month under certain conditions. Further, it appears that Jesus kept not only the official lunar-solar Passover, but He also kept the Passover by the solar calendar as well. Combining these means, Jesus sometimes kept up to four Passover events per year.
Following the Exodus before the Passover in the second month was instituted, manna and quail were first given to Israel. During the Passover week in the second month, God gave Israel flesh and bread to eat for the first time. That was quail and manna after the fifteenth day of the second month (Exodus 16:1, 8). This will be important when Jesus feeds the five thousand and then four thousand on Passovers. They also, at this time, received water from the rock for the first time and defeated the Amalekites (Exodus 16-17). Those appear to have occurred on the solar Passover. All Passover meals mentioned in the gospels occur on the solar Passover. The Passover events during the Old Testament point to Passover events during Jesus ministry.
On occasion, the Passover feast lasted two weeks, much as Hezekiah kept the second month Passover for two weeks (2 Chronicles 30:13, 23). The signs of Passover will be illustrated following each day in the next section. The solar and a lunar-solar Passover were usually separate events. It is observed that most recorded incidents during Jesus ministry were linked to Passover.
It hasnt been shown from the Old Testament, but the gospels had Passover events that happened one month before Passover. This will be shown shortly at the wedding of Cana. These events one month before Passover are called Adar Passovers because that is the name of the last month of the Jewish calendar. Add to this about one extended Passover per year with an additional week. The number of Passover events per year was about six.
A companion document a chronological harmony of the gospels that I generated as part of this study, see Gospel Harmony Douay.[99]
This period wasnt a Passover event. About Sunday, 7 January A.D. 31 (Julian calendar), Jesus left Nazareth for a forty to fifty-mile (64-80km) trip to the Jordan River to be baptized. John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River at Anon,[100] about twenty to forty miles (32-64km) south of the Sea of Galilee.
The next day John the Baptist announced the presence among the people of the Messiah (John 1:26). After sunset Monday {24-10}, Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River[101] on 8 January A.D. 31 on the Julian calendar, 6 January A.D. 31 on the Gregorian calendar, and Tevet 24 on the Jewish lunar-solar calendar. Jesus baptism was on the eighth day following His circumcision, thirty years later.
Jesus was likely baptized in the evening because of the travel distance from Nazareth; the Bible says, the heavens were opened, probably indicating stars were seen. There may have been a sign in the sky that John saw. A forty-day fast starting as the day started in the evening makes sense. Did Jesus wait in a line of penitents to be baptized?
At that time, Jesus was already thirty years old (because He was meeting the Aaronic priesthood requirements for washing before ordination)[102] because thirty was the age of ordination. John washed Jesus not to cleanse from sin but to initiate His ordination.
That day Jesus started a forty-day fast (Mark 1:9-12). The fast lasted forty-six days because it was illegal to fast on a feast day, and all Sabbath days were feast days.[103] I assumed Jesus fast ended on a Sabbath (so the last days of His fast would be the most difficult). That would put the longest possible period of continuous fasting at the end of the fasting period.[104] Josephus interpreted the reading of the Law during the feast of Tabernacles as specifically prohibiting fasting on feast days.[105] No fasting was done on the Sabbath (Judith, viii, 6) on the contrary; the choicest meals were served to which friends were invited.[106]
During the period of His fast, Jesus was in the wilderness of Judah. Jesus may have been in the area west of the Dead Sea, and if He wandered, it might have included the area down to the Negev. Jesus may have ended the forty days at Mt Sinai. The only other Biblically recorded forty-day fasts, Moses and Elijah, both ended at Mt. Sinai. Mt Sinai is also called Horeb (Deuteronomy 9:8-9, 1 Kings 19:8).[107] Moses and Elijah were also tested during their fasts. Because of the distance, it was more likely that Jesus fasted in the area of Judea beyond the Jordan. It could be that Jesus stayed on Mt. Nebo/Pisgah because that mountain was where Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant. It was called a holy mountain.[108]
God made some unusual provisions for Moses and Elijahs fasts. Moses went without water, and an angel fed Elijah special bread and water. This mountain was where Moses died, and Elijah was on when the fiery chariot took him.[109] Jesus had to be ordained to be legally able to offer sacrifice. By the law, Jesus couldnt offer any sacrifice because He wasnt a Levitical priest (but neither was Moses, and he did). Davids sons were priests (but not Levites) (2 Samuel 8:18), and Jesus was a son of David and a priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4). So it appears that Jesus was a priest and could, after ordination, offer sacrifice.
Jesus rested from His fast on the Sabbath {11-12}, then made a journey back to John the Baptist and arrived on the third day, the feast of Purim. This day was the fiftieth since Jesus baptism, like a jubilee day for the start of His ministry. It was a Passover event one month before the regular time.
Jesus arrived near John at the Jordan, and John the Baptist pointed Him out as the Lamb of God (John 1:29). Jesus was visible in the distance. It seems likely that Jesus six earliest disciples used Purim as the reason to take time off from work and to journey three days into the wilderness to John to be baptized.[110] John baptized Jesus first disciples, probably on Tuesday, the third day (Purim) {14-12}. They were cleansed from the leaven of sin and received the treasure of spiritual birth. Baptism symbolically portrays death and burial.
The gospel of John gives the day-by-day detail of this period (John 1:19-51). The Pharisees challenged John the Baptist and rejected his message and teaching. John called them a brood of vipers, a bitter event (because the disciples learned their religious leaders were evil). The next day {15-12} the second day of Purim, John announced and identified Jesus as the Lamb of God. It was probably in the evening and across the river because no one went to Jesus right away.
Jesus was Gods Passover Lamb, the one Lamb for God the Fathers entire household (to be eaten and whose Blood would protect from the destroyer). Purim was a day for feasting. (That day we will see in the next section was the Passover in a Passover event one month before the official Passover (referred to as the Adar Passover event)).
The following day {16-12}, about 10 AM,[111] John the Baptist again identified Jesus as the Lamb of God and so encouraged Andrew and John bar Zebedee to follow Jesus (Thursday 1 March A.D. 31) (John 1:35-39). After spending some hours with Jesus, they found their brothers Simon and James, who also followed Jesus. These men first followed Jesus on the resurrection day of a Passover event. Later Jesus would choose His apostles during a Passover event. That day Jesus gave Simon the new name Peter {16-12} (John 1:40-41).[112] The Apostle John was told to come and see when he first met Jesus. At Jesus resurrection, he saw and believed (John 20:8).
John the Baptist sent John and Andrew to Jesus when he needed to leave. John the Baptist needed to leave then because on Saturday, 3 March A.D. 31, he ministered as a priest in the Temple for eight days. He was in the course of Abijah; by Thursday morning, he had to journey the fifty or so miles (80km) to Jerusalem. See Dionysius Exiguus[113] for the details of the dating of the priestly courses. Because John departed, Johns disciples had more reason to accompany Jesus. It is likely that while he ministered at the Temple a few months later at Passover, John called attention to the scandal of Herod the tetrarch and Herodias adulterous union. The crowds protected John from Herod at Passover when he confronted the couples adultery.
On the following day, the Sabbath {18-12}, Jesus and His disciples prepared to make their way back to Galilee. However, in the crowds, Jesus located at least two more disciples Nathaniel[114] of Cana and Philip of Bethsaida. Jesus told Nathanael they all would see the heavens opened and angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This prophecy was fulfilled the following day (John 1:51). The day Jesus made that prophecy was the eve of the Adar solar Passover. So Jesus called attention to the sign on the day the sign pointed to. According to the solar calendar, Dr. Jaubert observed that most journeys in the Bible began on a Sunday or Wednesday and ended on a Friday. Wednesday was always an important day.[115]
Following Purim, Jews read the Shabbat Parah passage. It covers the water of cleansing with the ashes of the red heifer (Numbers 19). This reading reminded the people to be cleansed before going up to Jerusalem for Passover. In just a couple of days, Jesus would change water in stone vessels used to hold the cleansing water into wine, also called the frothy blood of the grape.
The seven left Sunday morning on a two-day journey to Cana in Galilee, climbing out of the Jordan valley. They couldnt see the sign forming the evening before because they were in a valley (someone in the Grand Canyon cant see the horizon). This sign happened on the evening immediately following the solar Passover, thirty-one days before the regular solar Passover.[116] I call this type of Passover event an Adar Passover event.
God provided a sign in the heavens to link the Lamb of God to the cross as a highway, ladder, or stairway to heaven.[117] Just after sunset, there was a sign in the heavens to mark the start of Jesus ministry. Early Sunday evening 4 March A.D. 31 {19-12}, all five visible planets formed a ladder in the west, reaching from the earth to the center of the sky and marking the constellation of the Lamb (Aries). The visible planets are brighter than the stars. The Lamb in the sky was looking at the ladder/cross. That partially confirmed Jesus statement (John 1:51). See Lamb of God. This sign also formed a cross with planets forming the vertical beam and a horizontal cloud showing the cross and the Lamb as the ladder or way to heaven.[118]
The ladder links back to Jacobs dream, where he saw angels ascending and descending on the House of God (Genesis 28:11-22). The angels Jesus refers to are probably meteorites streaking up and down the ladder that looked like far away angels appearing as streaks of light to ascend and descend the ladder. An angel probably did minister to Jesus while He prayed much as an angel ministered to Him during His fast and would minister to Him in the garden of Gethsemane. Since Jesus called His Body the Temple (John 2:19) and the Temple was the House of God, the story matches because the ladder reached from the House of God (Jesus) to heaven.
It was about fifty miles (80km) from the Jordan River uphill to the city of Cana; it is assumed this trip took about two days. So Jesus and His disciples arrived about Monday evening just as the wedding started. Why did Jesus start at Cana? Jesus first two signs recounted miracles that occurred at Cana. This town must have been full of people of faith, able to empower and launch Jesus early ministry.
This Passover event didnt occur at a Passover time (wrong month). This event overlapped the following solar Passover, two weeklong events starting a month early at Purim as the feast day from the time the disciples journey to visit John and be baptized and ending at the end of the wedding feast. It is only at the wedding in Cana that we learn how those events were Passover events.
John the Baptist said he saw the Spirit remain on Jesus, so He is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and is the Son of God. John called Jesus the Lamb of God, and Jesus was silhouetted against the sky where Aries would soon appear.
Nathaniel, under a fig tree, watched this scene. Jesus saw Nathaniel under a fig tree see something that later caused him to believe. Jesus said you will see greater things than this. His this means Nathaniel saw something (maybe great), and Jesus saw him see it. He saw Venus glow on Jesus.
Under a fig tree, John the Baptist and Nathaniel watched Jesus approach with the glow of Venus on His head. Now Nathaniel realizes Jesus saw him at the same time. John the Baptist never saw Jesus in the dark again. The light on Jesus prompted Nathaniel to say, you are the Son of God (John had said this sign revealed the King of Israel, which was the Christ because the other disciples said they had found the Christ).
There was a watch because Jesus said to Nathanael, I saw you under the fig tree. However, Nathanael seemed to overreact, because he said, You are the King of Israel, you are the Son of God (an act of worship)this makes it seem that Jesus saw Nathanael during a night watch when he didnt think he could be observed (John 1:48-51). @It appears that Nathanael and Jesus both kept a watch at night, so Jesus was able to observe Nathanael when Nathanael believed he couldnt be seen, so in the darkness of night under the fig tree, the place Nathanael kept his vigil. Most of these disciples found Jesus at that time. Later Jesus will come back and call them.
On the third day {20-12}, Monday evening (we would say the day after tomorrow), they arrived in Cana of Galilee and went to a wedding feast. However, there is a second way to look at this third day. The traditional Jewish wedding started on Tuesday (Monday evening), the third day of the week. They did this because, on the third day of creation, God said, It is good twice (Genesis 1:10-12). So Tuesday was considered a day of double blessing. The Jews referred to most days by number rather than by name; the exceptions were Friday, the day of preparation, and Saturday, the Sabbath.
Here the third day refers to both the day after tomorrow and Tuesday. The traditional Jewish wedding lasted one week (Genesis 29:27-28). The changing of water into wine occurred near the beginning of the wedding week because Jesus created much wine; therefore, there must have been a need. The wine at the wedding hit a snag, a bitter event. Second, the wedding guests hadnt yet switched to poorer wine. Why would there be a need for about a hundred and fifty gallons of wine? Probably the wine planned for the feast turned to vinegar. This assumption is strengthened because the steward tasted the wine to verify quality.
The wedding at Cana (John 2:1-2:11) continued as part of the solar Adar Passover event a month early out of its proper time Passover event. At the wedding, the Blessed Mother asked Jesus to deal with a problem, a lack of wine. Jesus answered, Woman, what is that to Me and to you? My hour has not yet come. It appears that at His hour, He could deal with that problem. In Johns gospel, Jesus refers to His hour, and it always is linked to a Passover event, so it is proposed here that Jesus hour is the hour of the start of Passover. While it is understood that John recognized that pattern, he didnt emphasize it. Instead, John presented the facts and let his reader interpret them, much as Jesus told parables and the hearers were to interpret to understand. This explains how He could have two My hours during His final week. Jesus could provide a feast at the hour of Passover.
It appears the Blessed Mothers request changed this event from a typical week to an Adar Passover event. And that happened after the fact and included two partially overlapped weeklong Passover events. Jesus changed water to wine on the correct day of the week and likely at the right time (the evening). It was probably after one day of drinking, so the good wine was gone, but before the last six days of the wedding, so the need for a large amount of wine. When one looks over the events of the last and following week, a Passover theme is evident. They cleansed leaven, went on a journey, arrived on the third day, and received a treasure. Jesus was afflicted for forty days. The disciples were afflicted as they practiced what John preached, repentance/penance, so each chose some form of affliction.
There was a treasure, one hundred and fifty gallons of fine wine (John 2:6). The disciples made a three-day journey to get to John, and they made a journey to get to Cana for the wedding (John 2:1). For both journeys, they had to cross the Jordan River to get to and from John. Gods strong arm was revealed because there was a sign in heaven a ladder, cross, slain Lamb, and angels ascending and descending (the straight highway) on Jesus the Temple of God. The wine was made from water in the stone jars used to hold the water of cleansing from the sin of death (Numbers 19). The first weeks meal was the feast of Purim the second weeks meal was the wedding feast with the best wine on Tuesday evening.
Jesus changed water into wine at the request of His mother, making this entire period two Passover events that were out of the proper time sequence. Because these events were in the last month of the year (Adar, Veadar, or Adar II), they have been designated Adar Passover events. Jesus could do anything, but He limited Himself to act when faith was evident.
The water Jesus changed into wine was flowing or living water because cleansing water came from flowing water. That water was for cleansing the worst of uncleanness that of death. Therefore, the wine cleansed those at the wedding of their sin. Without making the recipients unclean, before they were made clean as the water of cleansing always did.[119] One can tell the water now wine was holy rather than unclean. It was consumed rather than sprinkled as holy consumables were. This wine wasnt most holy like the Eucharistic wine because that came with the Last Supper.
Jesus then journeyed to Capernaum for a few days. He and His family joined a caravan of pilgrims and journeyed to Jerusalem for the official Passover (John 2:12-13). It is assumed the term the Passover was near meant that it was time to journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. The journey to Jerusalem was usually in the company of a caravan of slow-moving travelers. After arriving in Jerusalem before Passover, Jesus cleansed the Temple for the first time (John 2:14-22). Because the Temple was His Fathers House and He had no place to lay His head, the Temple was His House, so He cleansed the leaven from His House as was required for Passover. His act was a direct challenge to the religious leaders who profited from that business and put Jesus on their corrupt side from the start. Passover marked the actual start of Jesus public ministry. During Passover, Jesus did His first public miracles, we arent given details, but many were healed. He conversed with Nicodemus, who came by nightalready association with Jesus was frowned upon (John 3:1-21).
During Christs public ministry, this first-year official lunar-solar Passover was followed six days later by the solar Passover. The official Passover was celebrated on Wednesday evening, the solar Passover on the following Tuesday evening.
Nicodemus came on Tuesday evening (on the last evening, he could expect Jesus to be in Jerusalem) at the start of the solar Passover. Jesus alluding to His crucifixion, said just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (John 3:14-15). Nicodemus visited two calendar years before the crucifixion. It also occurred two solar years before the Last Supper. Jesus said we must be born of waterlikely a reference to both physical birth and baptism to enter the kingdom of heaven. He also said we must be born of the Spirit. Jesus wasnt teaching in parables, but He wasnt clear enough to be easily understood by Israels teacher.
The solar Passovers week events started with Jesus cleansing Nicodemus understanding of the necessity of baptism by water and by the Spirit (John 3:10-21). The cleansing also included baptizing the Galilean pilgrims returning from Passover along with Jesus visit to the town of Sychar and the healing of a noblemans son. This Passover event connects five unrelated incidents. Jesus talk with Nicodemus, the disciples baptizing in the Jordan; the arrest of John the Baptist; Jesus conversed with the woman at the well, and He healed the noblemans son at a distance.
After the official Passover and the week of Unleavened Bread, Jesus and His disciples journeyed to the Jordan River and baptized {22-1} the Galilean pilgrims. Their journey could have occurred after sunset on Wednesday to maximize their opportunity. Jesus disciples baptized the crowds returning to Galilee from Passoverhere they cleansed the leaven of sin out of the people John hadnt baptized. It was a convenient time for the people because they needed to ford the Jordan River near Jericho and then pass along the eastern bank of the Jordan River on their return to Galilee.[120] If you are already wet and a prophet said to be baptized, many would go ahead and get baptized; timing can be significant.
Shortly after this, John the Baptist was arrested. He had made accusations at Jerusalem during his ministry as a priest in the Temple at the Passover. (All priests served at the Temple during the pilgrim feasts). He accused Herod Antipas of adultery with Herodias (his brother Philips wife). He wasnt immediately arrested because of fear of what the crowds would have done. When the feast ended, and the crowd dispersed back to their homes, the chance of a riot diminished, John was promptly arrested (at the Jordan River in tetrarch Herods territory). His arrest occurred as soon as possible, so sometime midday Thursday.
There was no considerable time between Jesus temptation and the arrest of John the Baptist. The synoptic gospels make these sequential events (Matthew 4:11-12; Mark 1:13-14; Luke 4:13-14). Most chronologies of Jesus ministry have the ministry of John the Baptist continuing in parallel with Jesus ministry for at least six months. They are wrong; Luke says, As John was completing his work, he said: 'Who do you think I am? I am not that one. No, but He is coming after me, whose sandals I am not worthy to untie (Acts 13:25). John the Baptists work was nearly complete before Jesus was baptized; therefore, John the Baptists ministry didnt extend much beyond Jesus return from fasting.
Most chronologists have Johns ministry extend at least into the following year. Most assign John about six months from the start of his ministry until Jesus baptism. Therefore, his ministry couldnt extend more than a few more months and still be nearly complete. The arrest of John the Baptist was a bitter experience.
As soon as Jesus heard of Johns arrest, He and His disciples returned from the Jordan to Galilee by an unusual route that passed through Samaria and stopped in Sychar, a Samaritan town.[121] Jesus took a more strenuous route but avoided Herods territory. Herod couldnt arrest Jesus in Samaria because it wasnt his territory.
Late in the afternoon, after a thirty-mile (48 km) journey, they arrived at Jacobs well, where Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman. During the ensuing conversation, Jesus revealed that He was able to provide the Water of Life. He said this in a Passover context in the solar Passover week following the official week of Passover celebration. John told us it was the sixth hour; He doesnt mean she came at noon to avoid meeting others; instead, it was about the time of the change from one day to the next that is sunset. About 6 PM was the hour when women went out to draw water. This well was outside of town; it wasnt a convenient location.
Jesus spoke with that woman two solar years before the crucifixion. While there, Jesus spent two days (Saturday and Sunday) talking to the town's people.[122] The grain in the fields was ready to harvest (John 4:35);[123] therefore, it was still spring. Jesus made believers of these people, He sowed the gospel, but He didnt reap the harvest of the Samaritans.
Here Jesus promised the treasure of Living Water, which would no longer need to be drawn from the well (so Gods strong arm). The people accepted Jesus as the Christ (the Lamb was chosen). The assembly in Sychar was a sacred assembly. Jesus completed His journey to Galilee on the third day (after staying there two days). Jesus talked about true worshippers (but no worship was explicitly mentioned).
It was the end of the solar Passover week. Jesus went to Cana, and His disciples went to Capernaum to return to fishing. A disciple[124] in Capernaum announced that Jesus was in Cana. So shortly before He was due to head back to Nazareth to read the Scriptures in the synagogue on the Sabbath, a royal official,[125] with a sick son back in Capernaum, caught up to Jesus in Cana seventeen miles (27km) away. As a royal official, he probably traveled by chariot.
Because this was Jesus hour, He didnt accompany the official back to Capernaum as requested, so Jesus acted on the request. About 7 PM (nightfall), Jesus told the official his son was healed.[126] He also had a divine appointment in Nazareth in the other direction a few days later on the Sabbath. His servants met the official the next day while he was on the way back to Capernaum. At least one of Jesus disciples accompanied the servant (or soon followed) and brought the news of that remote healing. That disciple continued to Nazareth, so the news of that healing reached Nazareth in a timely fashion by the following Sabbath.
Johns gospel called this healing the second sign Jesus performed (the first was turning water into wine five weeks earlier in the same town). Both signs happened the same day of the week during a solar Passover week. This event occurs at least six months later in the chronology of those who propose a three-year ministry. It appears Tuesday evening was the hour when many of Jesus' signs occurred.
When He arrived in Galilee, the people remembered the miracles He had recently done in Jerusalem at the Passover (John 4:45). This comment doesnt fit with the three-year ministry because that places Jesus return to Galilee in the fall long after Jesus Passover miracles. Although His disciples accompanied Jesus, they were anxious to get back to fishing or other work by that time. This separation allowed Jesus to say later; you have not chosen Me, I have chosen you, because these disciples had initially followed Jesus by their own choice.
This visit wasnt a Passover event. Jesus went west from Cana to Nazareth about ten miles (16km) to the southwest. Nazareth and Cana were separated by Sepphoris, Galilee's capital and largest city. On the following day, a Sabbath, the first day of the second month (Iyar), Jesus announced that the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ) was present. He also proclaimed a year of the Lords favor (Luke 4:16-30).[127] That day also fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel 9:25 until the anointed onethe ruler comes.
This announcement didnt occur on Palm Sunday as many suppose[128] because the anointed ruler came two years earlier. The people of His hometown rejected Jesus and attempted to kill Him. Therefore, Jesus left Nazareth and moved to Capernaum. Several details come together to fix this date. It had to be a month, starting on a Sabbath. Finally, a disciple knew of the link to the second Passover, as evidenced by the mention of the second-first Sabbath. The start of the Sabbath year should have been delayed for one month until this day. Jesus announced the day the Sabbath year started. Starting six months later, the Jubilee year would be aligned to follow, the start of autumn. The full moon preceded the fall equinox.
On that day, Jesus read the Haftorah[129] or last reading for the fifth Sabbath of the Shmita[130] cycle (Sabbath year, first Sabbath of the second month Iyar). The last portion of that reading was the first few verses of Isaiah 61.[131] The exact portion that Luke 4:16-21 records that Jesus read as was His custom. On that day, He said this passage was fulfilled. He announced the Messiah had come and was present in that synagogue.[132]
This reading has been eliminated from the modern Torah cycle readings. This reading was done on a three and a half year cycle, and it was completed twice in a Sabbath year cycle. Jesus was driven from His home, at least partly, so He didnt have a home. Only in the Septuagint would Gods Anointed give the blind sight. This reading is important because it was a way Jesus was recognized as the Anointed One the Christ (Isaiah 61:2 Septuagint).
Jesus took nearly two weeks to move from Nazareth to Capernaum.[133] To follow the Bible references, see Chronological Harmony.[134] During those weeks, Jesus acquired followers from as far away as Jerusalem, Judea, Decapolis, and beyond the Jordan. It would typically take more than a week for a traveler to journey that far and return (Matthew 4:25). It appears that Jesus arrived in Capernaum just before the beginning of the Passover in the second month. Jesus public ministry, as recorded in the gospels, started at this time.
The passage from Matthew 4:13 to 12:8 occurred in the span of only nine days (Friday 27 April to Saturday 5 May A.D. 31). If the gospel of Matthew is in sequential order and Luke 6:1 was the first Sabbath following Passover in the second month. Most chronographers spread the events of those days over much of a year. The events of that period had a fixed beginning (when Jesus moved to Capernaum) and end because Luke identified the final day of that sequence as the second-first Sabbath (c.f. Luke 6:1 with Matthew 12:1). That means that the sequence in this passage started just before the second Passover. This connection gives additional meaning to the events of this period. Matthew didnt recognize this, or he would have hinted at it in his gospel.
The synoptic gospels give a lot of detail on Jesus teaching and activities during His first week after moving to Capernaum. It was when Jesus public ministry started. It is also when farmers would probably be finished with the barley harvest and waiting for the wheat to ripen around Pentecost. Most people were farmers at this time. Even slaves had plots of land to farm to provide food for themselves. Therefore, many had a chance to seek out Jesus. Jesus called four disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, and John, probably on Friday {14-2} immediately after they caught two boatloads of fish (Luke 5:1-11). The fish were the treasure of this Passover event. The crowds flocked to Capernaum to see this great prophet as the Sabbath neared. Many also partook of the abundant catch.
The following morning, a Sabbath {15-2}, Jesus arrived early at the synagogue in Capernaum, where He taught and drove out an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23). Soon a large crowd collected (too many to fit in the synagogue). So Jesus left and went north up on a nearby hillside, sat down, and taught the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:29) (probably in Aramaic). He spoke with authority, not like the scribes because He repeatedly used the phrase, you have heard it said, but I tell you.[135]
Jesus then came down off the hill (Matthew 8:1) and headed back toward Capernaum, where He gave the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17-7:1). (He probably taught that sermon in Greek because three-quarters of the population of Galilee was gentile).
Jesus continued back to town, but before Jesus entered Capernaum, He cleansed a leper (Matthew 8:2-4). As Jesus entered Capernaum, He healed a centurions slave (Matthew 8:5-13). Jesus then went to Simon Peters house (where He always stayed while in Capernaum) and healed Simons mother-in-law, who fed them (Matthew 8:14-15). This meal was to be Jesus last for about three days.
The first days of Jesus in Capernaum link to Passover because they occurred around the Passover in the second month. The period was framed between the start of the second month and the Sabbath following the second month Passover the second-first Sabbath. Before Passover, each Israelite was required to remove all leaven (chametz, yeast) from their house. Jesus cleansed leaven (representing sin) from His housethe house of Israel in several different ways. He called the people to repent, many did repent, and He forgave their sins. He corrected the error-ridden teaching of the Sadducees and Pharisees in the Sermons on the Mount and the Plain.[136] The necessity to remove leaven is why Jesus spoke clearly and not in parables on that occasion. He further cleansed Israel of unclean spirits and the uncleanness of leprosy, which represented sin. He led Israel from the heresy of believing that all gentiles (e.g., Romans) were unclean.
The miraculous catch of fish met the requirement that at the first Passover, Israel was enriched (Exodus 3:22; 11:2; 12:35).[137] There was a sacred assembly (Exodus 12:16), which happened at the Sermon on the Mount. Why did His disciples have to plead with Jesus to heal Simons mother-in-law? (Luke 4:38) Jesus didnt heal everyone except at His hour, soon to arrive. They needed to eat before the crowds arrived.
It appears that Jesus deferred the start of the second Passover one day to this day so that He wouldnt be doing unnecessary healing on the Sabbath and so He could travel. The start of Passover was regularly officially delayed one day. When the Sabbath ended, they traveled home and returned with their sick to Jesus.
As the Sabbath ended and Passover in the second month started Saturday evening:
Jesus cast out many demons and healed all who were sick.[138]
The demons wanted to identify Jesus as the Christ, but He wouldnt allow them to speak (Luke 4:41).
Jesus healed all the people (similar to the Exodus, there was no feeble Israelite Psalm 105:37), so all were healthy.
The following morning, Jesus went and prayed a great while before day (Mark 1:35-38). Jesus kept the vigil or watch of Passover. On Passover, all Israelites were required to keep a watch or vigil (Exodus 12:42). Jesus got up very early (at midnight, or soon after everyone else had gone to sleep), The watch was required to be kept whether or not one was able to celebrate the Passover, but it wasnt required to be kept twice, but Jesus did. The frequent nights Jesus spent in prayer were linked to the ordinary Passover and the Passover in the second month.
In the morning, He tried to set off to other towns in the area, but the crowds cornered Him (by following Peter), so He sat in a boat taught them in parables until evening. Then Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat to the region of Gadara at the far side (southern end).
Jesus spoke to the people in parables (clarity wasnt critical because He had cleaned out the leaven). Just before the end of the day of Passover, Jesus left the crowds behind and suddenly departed by boat on a journey to Gadara. Every Passover, Jesus left on a journey, often during the night over water.
The Passover links here are profound. On Passover, one must be ready to leave on a journey (Exodus 12:11) immediately. On the original Passover, all Israelites left on a journey. When evening had come, Jesus left the crowd (Mark 4:36).
During the journey across the Sea of Galilee at night to Gadara, Jesus fell asleep (because He kept watch the previous night). A sudden storm came up, and waves washed over the boat. The disciples were terrified. The waves, symbolic of death, baptized all. Only here are we told that Jesus was asleep, which Jesus links to death.[139] Jesus asleep in the boat at sea links to Jesus dead in the tomb after His death on Passover.[140] Jesus was awakened, and He miraculously calmed the storm showing the strong arm of the Lord. Because of the sudden storm and Jesus miraculously calming the storm, this sea crossing was a miraculous sea crossing similar to Israel crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 14). All Israel was baptized) (symbolic of death) into Moses at the Red Sea crossing (1 Corinthians 10:2). The disciples experienced a todah event; their lives were in peril but spared.
On the other side, in the region of Gadara, Jesus encountered two demoniacs, and He cast out of them a legion of unclean spirits (Mark 5:2) into a herd of pigs.[141] The two naked men came from the tombs, another symbol of death. Jesus defeated an enemy army, a legion of six thousand demons. He drowned them in the sea, much as the Egyptian army of six hundred chariots were drowned in the Red Sea.
Gadara was about five miles (8km) from the coast of the Sea of Galilee, so it took some time for the city's people to reach Jesus. As the Egyptians pled with Israel to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:33), the people of Gadara pled with Jesus and his disciples to leave their region. Therefore, Jesus and His disciples got back into their boats and returned to Capernaum (Matthew 8:18-9:1).
They returned (under cover of darkness) to Capernaum, where they ate and slept (Mark 2:1; Matthew 8:18-9:1). On the journey from the Red Sea, all of Israel went without a new source of water for three days. It also appears that Jesus and company fasted throughout this journey because they received no hospitality. So here, Jesus and the disciples go without food until the third day, a period of affliction. Why did they go without food? Jesus told them when they went on a missionary trip to take no food or money. They were dependent on the people to whom they ministered. But one never knows when a fast will be necessary to cast out an unclean spirit or a legion of them (Mark 9:29). Cleansing the demoniacs by eliminating unclean spirits and clearing out two thousand pigs are both acts of clearing leaven from His house, Israel. Gadara was in the region of Gilead (Havvoth-Jair / Manasseh), a portion of Israel beyond the river.
The crowds who waited for Jesus in the morning surround Peters house. Jesus forgave the sin of a paralytic lowered through the roof and then healed him, allowing him to stand and walk. Pharisees, some from Jerusalem, had arrived on the scene and got front row seating because the people esteemed them. Because of the opposition by the Pharisees, Jesus promptly left by boat and went to the nearby city of Bethsaida[142] three miles (5km) east.
When He arrived, He asked Matthew, who was sitting at his customs booth,[143] to follow Him, and Matthew, in turn, invited Jesus to eat lunch at his house. There Jesus dined with publicans and sinners. Afterward, several groups questioned Jesus in quick succession, including the Pharisees, who must have followed on foot. During the question and answer session, Jairus arrived and requested that Jesus heal/raise his daughter. Jesus went with him and, on the way, encountered a woman with a twelve-year flow of blood. He healed her, and then He raised Jairus twelve-year-old daughter.
That was the third day of Passover, the day the Resurrection occurred, and the day Israel safely reached the far shore of the Red Sea. The crowds had waited for Jesus to return. A paralytic who needed four men to carry him probably couldnt travel the seventy miles (110 km) to John the Baptist to be baptized and have his sins forgiven.[144] Forgiven of his sin and healed symbolized the Resurrection from the spiritual death that occurs in baptism.
Because Jesus called Matthew to be a disciple, he experienced a resurrection from a tax collector (outcast sinner) to a chosen one. While at Matthews for lunch, Jesus, as a doctor of souls, restored publicans and sinners to a relationship with God, another type of resurrection. Before the days end, Jesus talked about the church as patching old cloth (Judaism) with new cloth (Christianity) or new wine requiring new wineskins, etc. The Church started the day of Jesus resurrection. Jesus restored reproductive life to a young woman who couldnt bear children because she was always unclean.
Jesus raised Jairus daughter probably late in the afternoon, a girl who died before she could bear children. Both were very much resurrection events, fruitful life after death. All the resurrections events were also leaven cleansing and todah events. Matthew probably lived in Bethsaida and Jairus in Chorazin. Probably at this time, the parables from Luke 15 and 16 were delivered (the lost sheep, the prodigal son, Lazarus, and the rich man).
On Passover, God required Israel to eat bitter herbs, here understood with an expanded meaning to endure a bitter or unpleasant event, e.g., slavery in Egypt and the bitter waters of Marah (Exodus 15:23), which occurred at the end of the week of unleavened bread following the original Passover. Jesus endured several bitter events during the week; the crowd at Jairus house mocked Him. The Pharisees hindered Jesus ministry accusing Him of casting out demons by the prince of demons. The Pharisee's ire was raised when He forgave the sin of a paralytic. They were further incensed when He ate with publicans and sinners. The Pharisees were highly respected by the people and were used to being deferred to. They turned the people from Jesus when they accused Him of doing His mighty miracles by the power of the prince of demons.
It appears that the influence of the Pharisees overcame the miracles Jesus did, and the local populace, in general, rejected Jesus and His disciples. As the Passover week in the second month ended, Jesus and His disciples experienced the bitterness of rejection in Bethsaida and Chorazin, where Jesus had raised the dead, healed the blind, and reconciled sinners to God, etc. so they received no hospitality. Hence, they had to fend for themselves for food. So they lacked food for a second time the same week (but they didnt fast on the one day Israel fasted, which caused controversy). After the Passover was the start of the harvest, but Jesus got no harvest because no harvest was allowed during the Sabbath year. The two years that Jesus ministered were a Sabbath year and Jubilee year that appeared to disallow a great harvest until after Jesus resurrection.
The next Sabbath was the second-first Sabbath five weeks after the weekly Sabbath following Passover. Here we skip to Saturday to conclude one Passover event before starting another. Since the disciples picked and ate grain, it was ripe but not harvested. If that grain was barley, it was an indication that the Jews celebrated Nisan too early. If the wheat was ripe, Pentecost was near, and it was only about three weeks later.
Can we interpret that Jesus announced the acceptable year of the Lord only three weeks earlier as a signal? Was He calling attention to the Jews being off by one month on when to start the year? Could the dating of the events of Jesus ministry be off because the wrong month was celebrated? We find this point in Jesus' ministry by finding a month the Sabbath fell on the first day of the month Iyar (second month) A.D. 31. Jesus announced the Sabbath year on the first day, also a Sabbath. A similar circumstance occurs in A.D. 28 for those who see the year A.D. 30 as the year of the crucifixion.
If this were the Jubilee year being announced, this day must be the tenth of Tishri (the seventh month, about October). Jesus would then have to leave for Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkoth or Booths), not for Capernaum (there is no alternate date for keeping Tabernacles). The first day of the year would be very proper for announcing the Sabbath year. Jesus didnt eat the grain on the second-first Sabbath with His disciples because He followed a higher law. Gods plan for when the grain should first be eaten was the next day. Second, the grain was ripe four weeks after the harvest was allowed to start, but it would still be too early for the wheat harvest.
With a proper understanding of the second-first Sabbath, there is no reason to place this event nearly a year later. Jesus announced that He was the Messiah three weeks earlier in Nazareth. He chose those who would accompany Him and designated them apostles, the previous day. The Sabbath following Passover was the day the people could start to reap their harvest (if it wasnt a year of rest). They couldnt travel to the next town because travel was restricted on the Sabbath day to a distance of about eight-tenths of a mile (1.3km).
Lets recap of the week of unleavened bread following the second Passover, looking for clues as to what Jesus ate at that time. Peters mother-in-law fed a group of disciples and guests (Peter, mother-in-law, Andrew, Jesus, James, and John), so possibly they ate the last of the leavened bread just before the start of Passover. Further, because she had been sick, the Sabbath, and three guests, there was probably no bread leftover, so their supply was cleaned out. They baked bread daily because it didnt keep well (but there were lots of fish from the recent catch of two boatloads of fish).
Passover started, and Jesus ministered, but the crowds were so great that no one could workno opportunity to prepare more bread. At night, everyone went to sleep except Jesus, who quietly went off to pray. Early in the morning, Peter and the crowd came looking for Jesus and found Him. He didnt return home but started for the next village, the crowds cornered Him, so He taught from a boat at the seashore.
Late afternoonJesus said, lets cross over to the other side, so they didnt return home. (Jesus later instructions were dont take anything with you on your missionary trips). Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee without food; they received no hospitality in Gadara and left there and returned to Capernaum at night without getting any other food until that point. If they ate anything, it is unleavened because they are tired and hungry.
In the morning, crowds again prevented movement; no one could prepare food. Jesus forgave the paralytic and left again on a missionary journey without supplies. Jesus never stayed where Pharisees were attacking Him. After He called Matthewthey were hungry and so were invited to lunch, and they had a feast, so rather than bread, they ate meat, fish, fruit, wine, etc. There was the possibility that Matthews house was cleared of leaven while the guests were forgiven. Immediately following the meal, Jesus was quizzed about why His disciples werent fasting. While He replied, Jairus asked Jesus to heal/raise his daughter. It appears that they didnt receive hospitality from Bethsaida (except Matthew) or Chorazin despite the miracles He did, like raising the dead, curing two blind men, and driving out demons.
The Pharisees influence caused Jesus and company to be rejected, and they had to fend for themselves. So on the Sabbath, a day one wasnt supposed to fast, His disciples were eating grain directly from the fields with only minimal preparation, so certainly unleavened. It appears that Jesus passed the entire week mainly fasting and never apparently eating any unleavened bread.
The solar Passover occurred five days after the official lunar-solar Passover. Here Jesus kept the solar Passover in the second month.
This event overlaps the previous event by two days. Jesus spent the whole night praying and then selected His twelve apostles (Luke 6:1-5). Jesus kept the Passover watch all night. This second solar Passover event lasted two weeks. After Jesus selected His apostles, He taught the parable of the sower. This parable spoke on how one could have treasure in heaven.
The special meal of that solar Passover event was eating grain directly in the field. Jesus compared the event to David and his companions eating the bread of the presence. Jesus was alluding to His newly chosen apostles being priests. Was the grain they were eating being consecrated by Jesus? Plain grain was always unleavened.
A week later, on the following Sabbath (12 May A.D. 31) {25-2}, Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. Some of the Pharisees, jealous of Jesus, designated healing as work and sought to kill Jesus as a lawbreaker. The Pharisees sat in Moses seat, so one was obliged to do what they said (Matthew 23:2), but Jesus was the new Moses (a higher authority) (Deuteronomy 18:15). The Pharisees were angered because Jesus was again breaking the Sabbath. But there was little they could do when the work involved only the words, Stretch out your hand. Jesus was revealing His mighty arm.
Although Jesus had only been ministering publicly for a little over a month, He had already made enemies who wanted to kill Him. Jesus chose His disciplesnot sometime after a year of ministry, but about a month after He first publicly appeared at Passover. Rather than argue, Jesus fled from those Pharisees. Still, the Pharisees sought to destroy Him. The crowds followed, and Jesus healed all (Matthew 12:15), but with the command not to make Jesus knownself-denial (Matthew 12:16).
Jesus healed a blind, dumb demoniac (Matthew 12:22), something no prophet had ever done. So the people asked the question, Is this not the Son of David (Matthew 12:23)? The Pharisees take their attack up a notch and accuse Jesus of using the prince of demons. He casts out by Beelzebub (Matthew 12:24). Jesus constantly contended with hard hearts, much as Moses contended with Pharaohs hard heart. That blasphemy convinced many. Jesus remained to clean leaven from this blasphemous concept (Matthew 12:25-33). Their blasphemy was a bitter experience, and Jesus called them a generation of vipers (Matthew 12:34).
There was no treasure event here, but Jesus talked about good bringing out good treasureevil bringing out evil treasure (Matthew 12:35). Jesus predicted His death and resurrection, the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:40). For as Jonah was dead in the great fish, so Jesus was dead in the heart of the earth. So Jesus would be buried, then not buried, implying something unusual.
Jesus mother and brethren[145] come to the Sea of Galilee to find Jesus. His mother and brethren arrived and asked to see Him (Matthew 12:46). Jesus appeared to ignore them. He had appointments to keep in Nain and Jerusalem. On that same day, He taught the Parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1). The order of the events in Mark gives real-life examples of how the sower and seed parable show up in real life.[146]
The Scripture strongly hints that Jesus stepfather Joseph was near death. That was what prompted Mary and Jesus brethren who left Nazareth Sunday morning to come to Capernaum and seek out Jesus. The reason Jesus didnt speak to them was that the Father instructed Him not to because Joseph had to die before Jesus would have a clear title as King of Israel. Joseph had to die when both Mary and Jesus were away from Joseph. Far enough away that he would be buried before they returned so that they wouldnt come in contact with him, or he would have been raised from the dead to preserve their holiness. He had to be in the tomb before either Jesus or Mary returned to Nazareth.
While His father Joseph lived, the title king of Israel rightly belonged to him. We know Joseph was dead at the crucifixion because Jesus gave His mother Mary to His first cousin, the apostle John. He wouldnt have done that while Joseph lived or if Mary had other children. Because Jesus lived and worked with Joseph, he couldnt die while Jesus was at home or under the law. Josephs dead body would have defiled Jesus holiness (Numbers 19:14). It would have defiled Mary as well.
Therefore, after Jesus had moved out and Joseph had a chance to rejoice in the ministry of Jesus, then Joseph got sick. While Mary sought out Jesus to help him, Joseph died. We understand that it was the Fathers will for Joseph to die because we know that Mary always did the Fathers will. Here she wanted to ask Jesus to do something that wasnt the Fathers will. Jesus reply indicated that it wasnt, For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:50).
Before either Mary or Jesus returned to Nazareth, Joseph was buried (Jews buried their dead on the same day they died). Because it would take Mary most of a day to return from the Sea of Galilee, he probably died on Sunday 13 May A.D. 31. The same day Mary tried unsuccessfully to speak to Jesus.[147] If Joseph died at home, Mary didnt reenter her home until it had been cleansed with the water of cleansing (Numbers 19). Mary understood it was the Fathers will for Joseph to die at this time because she didnt continue to try to talk to Jesus.
There is another hint Joseph died after the start of Jesus public ministry. When Jesus started His ministry in Galilee in His hometown, the people referred to Him as Josephs son (Luke 4:22). Later, when He came back to His hometown, they say where did he get these might works. Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?" (Matthew 13:55-56). In the first, Joseph is named, so he was still alive; later, His mother and brethren are named, indicating Joseph has passed.
Then Jesus left for Jerusalem for Pentecost. He passed through Nain on the waythe next day. After Pentecost, Jesus did return to Nazareth in an apparent response to His mother and brethren's unspoken request. Jesus was giving a witness to the believers of Nazareth. His family had appealed to Him, and Nain was nearby, and on a route, someone from Nazareth to Jerusalem might take. Raising the dead in their presence would considerably strengthen their faith in Him.
The following morning Monday, Jesus left Capernaum for Pentecost in Jerusalem accompanied by the crowds. The route was over the hill country.
Early on the second day of travel with pilgrims to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks after about thirty miles (48km)), Jesus raised the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17). Three links to resurrection. It was the third day of the week, the Jewish calendar's third day of the third month. Jesus was thirty years old, and He raised three people during His ministry.
Jesus raised Lazarus in similar circumstances, according to the Roman calendar. If one were to speculate on the time, it was the third hour, 9 AM. Raising Lazarus was a todah event. The large crowd brought this healing report and spread it all over Judea. They were in Galilee and headed to Judea. The pilgrims didnt take the Jordan Valley because of the almost unbearably hot climate at this time of year.[148]
This wasnt a Passover event. The unidentified feast of the Jews of John 5:1-47, often identified as an additional Passover, was the feast of Pentecost (also called Weeks or Shavuot). Pentecost was never identified in the gospels (it appears in Acts). However, all other suggested major feasts are identified in the gospels by name.
While Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast, He was questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist. When John the Baptist publicly identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, his ministry was over (John 5:33-35), except a few disciples sought him out in prison. Pointing out Jesus as the Lamb of God was saying to follow Him. He didnt continue to baptize at the Jordan River for another six months. He was put into prison and beheaded a month before the following Passover. John the Baptists ministry ended a few weeks after Jesus finished His forty-day fast. Nearly a year later, when Jesus asked His disciples at Caesarea Philippi, who do the people say I am? Their reply was, some say you are John the Baptistthis statement makes it clear the people didnt see the ministries of John and Jesus as occurring side by side (Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19). Tetrarch Herod thought that Jesus was John, raised from the dead (Mark 6:14-16). Herod wasnt paying attention to the revival in his territory.
Here is a weak Passover event; it should be Passover in the second month. Still, the official Passover started a month early, so this event is officially beyond the limit but technically within the limit of Passover. Jesus, near the end of the feast of Pentecost, on the Sabbath (26 May A.D. 31) {14-3}, healed a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Why did Jesus not heal everyone waiting at the pool of Bethzatha? It wasnt His hour! The Jews were now openly out to kill Jesus. From that point on, Jesus couldnt enter Judea publicly without risking His life. Jesus spent little time in Judea because of that threat. When He went into Judea, it was usually brief and in secret.
We were told Jesus wasnt able to do many miracles there (implying He did do some). He preached in the Synagogue, but His message wasnt received. This town took its religion seriously. They wanted the old wine of Judaism, not the new wine of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus offered. They were too steeped in Judaism to accept Jesus fulfilling their Scriptures, leading directly to Christianity. The people of Nazareth no longer tried to kill Jesus. If He didnt come to save His father, they possibly thought, what good is He to us? There was no mention of casting out demons in Nazareth, so demons didnt dwell near Jesus before His public ministry.
Here starts a nine-month gap describing Jesus ministry in all four gospels. Jesus did private teaching of His apostles and closest disciples. During this period, He trained His apostles and then sent them out two by two to minister to the towns of Israel. The joy the disciples expressed when they rejoined Jesus was an indication that this was their most fruitful mission trip to this point. Jesus and His apostles were spread out, a time of divided ministry. The disciples had the authority to cast out demons, heal every disease, and raise the dead. There was less need for people to seek out Jesus, especially since He only taught in parables. It was unlikely that the apostles taught exclusively in parables.
Because the apostles preached repentance, they cleansed the towns before Jesus arrived. It was likely; the teaching was much the same but to smaller groups. Since this period isnt well documented in the gospels, this indicates that Jesus ministry was primarily hidden and, therefore, primarily a ministry to His closest disciples throughout much of the year. Other reasons for less documentation, the weather limited the crowd size; most people tended their crops. The novelty was wearing off. The most disabled were healed, so no nearby believers had severe health issues. The Pharisees convinced some Jesus was evil. Since Jesus left suddenly so often, they stopped actively seeking Him. When the people did catch up to Jesus and hear Him, He regularly got up and left, often in a boat so that they couldnt follow.
The Death of John the Baptist (Adar Passover 15 Adar II, Sunday 16 March A.D. 32)
The death of John the Baptist was an Adar Passover event.
Herods birthday party was supper, a formal meal customarily taken in the evening. The treasure of this event was Johns head, valued at half a kingdom.
The bitter herbs of this event was the great distress that Herod felt (Mark 6:26).
The dinner party was the opposite of a sacred assembly.
Haste was evident. Salome immediately went to Herodias, who immediately answered, and Salome immediately went back to Herod, who immediately sent an executioner. The executioner probably traveled at night (Mark 6:27) to get to John.
The burial event of this event was John the Baptists body buried by his disciples.
Herod supposed there was a todah event so that John was raised, but he wasnt raised.
John experienced affliction because he was in prison.
John (righteous and holy (Mark 6:20)) was the unleavened portion removed from Herods thoroughly leavened household.
The question of this event, Salome asked Herodias, What shall I ask for?
The soldier journeyed from Galilee to the Dead Sea fortress prison Machaerus.
The journey would cross the Jordan River because Machaerus[149] was on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. Herod had two palaces in Galilee, one in Sepphoris and the other in Tiberias, About a four-day journey from Tiberius to Machaerus each way. It was about a five-day journey from Sepphoris to Machaerus each way. So the trip would take about nine days (shorter if by chariot or horseback).
Offering selected was the friend of the bridegroom, John the Baptist.
These events all happened one month before the Passover.
Moses died just over one month before the Passover, thirty days before Israel entered the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 34:8).
About two weeks later, at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of April, Jesus and His disciples regrouped in Capernaum, at which time Jesus went into the wilderness and fed the five thousand men. The assumption is that Jesus told His apostles to gather in Capernaum at the beginning of the year at the new moon of Nisan.
These four events are linked in that they refer to a short series of various Passover events in the first month of the year. The Passover sequence allows these events to be dated. The feeding of the five thousand occurred on the solar Passover. The feeding of the four thousand occurred one week later in the second week of the solar Passover. Jesus was transfigured during the official lunar-solar Passover week. The events in Transjordan Judea occurred during the solar Passover in the second month. Jesus then journeyed to Jerusalem for the official lunar-solar Passover in the second month. I will parse out these events in the following sections.
The Church Hidden in the Gospels: Jesus continued to expand His teaching about the Church (the kingdom) on these occasions. This links the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel (Exodus 12:7). The Kahal (assembly) was often translated ecclesia (church) in the Septuagint. Before the conclusion, I will link many references to the Church.
In A.D. 32, the solar Passover occurred twelve days before the official lunar-solar Passover. This event stands closest to the day of the year and to the time of the Last Supper. The feeding of the five thousand occurred precisely one solar year before the Last Supper. The disciples, after ministering, now gathered to journey to Jerusalem for the celebration of Passover. It is likely the apostles and the people thought that the liberation of Israel from Rome was at hand, and Jesus would establish an earthly kingdom.
The Passover event started as Jesus disciples returned and told the miracles done through them. They raised the dead, cleansed lepers, drove out evil spirits, etc., so Jesus disciples helped cleanse the leaven from Jesus house. On the day they gathered, Jesus learned of John the Baptists death as news circulating through the crowd, a bitter experience. This may have been their third day of travel, depending on where they came from in Galilee. The crowds gathered in anticipation of traveling to Jerusalem for Passover.
Because of the sad news of the execution of John the Baptist (Matthew 10:1, 8), Jesus attempted to go off and be alone with His disciples.
First, they went to the wilderness of Bethsaida, fording the Jordan River to escape the crowds.
The crowds who followed were all washed in the Jordan.
Then they got into Peters boat. They crossed the Sea of Galilee to the wilderness on the southwestern shore near Tiberius (and called the Sea of Tiberius). But still, the crowds followed and preceded Jesus to His destination, but it was late in the day by now.
So Jesus healed all the sick (Matthew 14:14), so everyone was healthy as at the first Passover.
Passover was at hand (John 6:4). This phrase has two senses; the solar Passover would start at sundown. It was also time to leave for Jerusalem for the official Passover.
The Solar Passover always began Tuesday evening. Jesus asked the Apostle Philip to give them bread (Philip was cost-conscious), and he said two hundred denarii[150] would not give each a little (John 6:7). So the creation of the bread in the wilderness was a treasure, something of great value.
The five thousand were a sacred assembly; one might anticipate a great harvest of people.
That bread appears to have been unleavened because leavened barley bread was hard, and pieces wouldnt keep well, so there would be little need to collect twelve baskets of stale bread. Pieces of unleavened bread remain edible.
Then Jesus had the crowds separate into groups (so they could be easily counted) (Matthew 14:19).[151] Then, Jesus had the people recline[152] as required on Passover.[153] Each group was able to share and discuss things as a group.
Then He multiplied the bread and fishthe creation of wealth in the bread and fish must be over one thousand denarii because each had their fill with bread and fish (Matthew 14:21).
It is interesting that if we find Jesus serving a meal, it is always on the solar Passover.
Jesus sent the disciples off on a journey by boat back to Capernaum[154]although their destination ends at Gennesaret (Matthew 14:24).[155]
It was the second day of the lunar month, so there was very little moonlight, so when night fell, everyone went to sleep.
Then Jesus went up on the mountain, prayed, and kept the Passover vigil (Matthew 14:23).
In the fourth watch of the night before the approach of dawn, Jesus made a miraculous journey walking on the stormy sea.[156]
Peter also walked on the sea (Matthew 14:26, 29), and all the disciples suddenly arrived at their new destination, the plain of Gennesaret.
When they landed, crowds quickly gathered, so morning had broken, and all who touched the fringe of Jesus garment were healed (Matthew 14:26).
These were probably also pilgrims gathering for the trip to Jerusalem.
Jesus further cleansed people of the Pharisees corrupt teaching about the oral law and unclean hands (Matthew 15:20), but He did it in parables. It wasnt the eve of Passover.
The Bread of Life Discourse
Since Jesus and His disciples spent a night and day awake, they slept that night. The next morning, the day after Passover, the third day, Jesus traveled a few miles to Capernaum and finally arrived at their destination (on the third day). There Jesus discoursed on the Bread of Life in the synagogue (John 6:25-71). In that message, Jesus made assertions that were abhorrent to many of those listening to Him. Jesus told His disciples, you must eat My Body and drink My Blood. It harkens back to Moses statement to Pharaoh, Israels sacrifices would be abhorrent. If the Egyptians heard about them, they would stone the Israelites (Exodus 8:26). This message was rejected by most of Jesus disciples (John 6:66), a bitter experience.
Secondly, this speech occurred halfway through a Jubilee year. During a Jubilee year, produce could be collected in the fields and eaten, but it couldnt be harvested into ones barns. As these disciples were a type of harvest, Jesus could gather disciples, a few at a time, but couldnt reap a harvest. The Jubilee year ended, and the first allowed day for harvest, the First Fruits, was the day following the Sabbath after Passover, Easter the day of the Resurrection. It appears that this event happened on the third day of Passover, so there is also a Todah or resurrection theme. Since Jesus Body and Blood are necessary for life, Jesus was telegraphing what would occur as the Last Supper and the crucifixion. See the section on the Resurrection for more details on this. A journey, healing everyone, a feast, a treasure, a watch, a bitter event, a shocking sacrifice, a harvest not yet permitted, and another journey and the promised source of life all combine to make this a Passover event.
Jesus turned the crowds away from following Him by telling them they must eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. Many in the crowds refused this teaching and turned away, and even the apostles had difficulty with this teaching. Jesus gave that talk to His disciples, but not the Pharisees. By going to Jerusalem to the second Passover six weeks later, Jesus reduced His risk of losing His life a year early. The second Passover was Wednesday, and He had only a short period to wait in Jerusalem before the feast of Pentecost.
Other events appear to be abhorrent sacrifices; for instance, at the Exodus, the death of the firstborn, the death of Pharaoh, and his charioteers; after the magi, the death of the boys in Bethlehem. Likely, the death of the Galileans, that Pilate mixed their blood with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1). Other abhorrent sacrifices include the death of John the Baptist just before this, and finally, the death of the only Son of God on the cross, the most abhorrent of all sacrifices.
The faithful Jews at that time left for Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. They had to arrive early in Jerusalem to be purified on the third and seventh day to celebrate the Passover and purchase their lambs five days before the feast. The Pharisees bound (as in bind and loose) heavy burdens hard to bear, like arriving so early for Passover to be cleansed so that the celebration took an additional week (unless one lived near Jerusalem).
Jesus didnt go to Jerusalem; He went in a different direction. Jesus spent the rest of Thursday and Friday on His journey to Tyre (Matthew 15:21-28). They arrived late Friday afternoon and left on Sunday morning. Probably on Sunday morning (the solar Passover day of First Fruits), Jesus healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman. The report of that healing quickly spread and caused those gentiles in need of healing or spiritually inclined to seek and follow Jesus. That vocal pestering woman meant everyone knew who and where Jesus was (much as Paul and Silas were pestered in Philippi Acts 16:17). Jesus wanted to rest, but the humble faith exhibited by that woman directly led to extending the solar Passover a second week. A crowd of gentiles was prepared for harvest (but not harvested).
Moses told Pharaoh, Israel needed to go on a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifice. This event stands in the closest relationship to the resurrection. On the Sunday following the first Sabbath following the solar Passover, it would be the day of the First Fruits, like the resurrection that will follow one year later.
Recap Eating Unleavened Bread during the Week of Feeding Five Thousand
The gospels dont say the bread Jesus multiplied for the five thousand was unleavened. However, the symbolism would seem to require that the bread be unleavened.
It could be that the faith displayed by the Syrophoenician woman empowered Jesus ministry and caused Him to extend the Passover a second week. More likely, Jesus had a divine appointment with that woman to prepare more than four thousand souls for the kingdom. That woman discovered and hounded Jesus on the Sabbath, separating the two Passover events. Jesus left Galilee while the faithful Israelites went to Jerusalem for Passover. Jesus ministered to seekers, not to everyone. He wasnt interested in ministering to Jews who didnt faithfully keep the Passover.
Jesus spent most of the next three days returning the way He came. He first journeyed north from Tyre to Sidon, then to the southeast, into the wilderness of the Decapolis, over fifty miles (80 km). To get there, all would have to ford the Jordan River at Bethsaida and be baptized (at least washed). Jesus took a three-day journey into the wilderness, as Moses attempted to do, to worship God. One can tell the day of the week the event occurred because they traveled for three days and had a three-day return journey, so He fed them on Tuesday evening.
Here there appears to be a small problem, two solar Passover week events back to back. The solution was that the Passover week was extended a second week, much as all the people agreed to extend the Passover in the days of Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:23). While the previous crowd was Jews, this one was composed mainly of gentiles (they glorified the God of Israel Matthew 15:31). This crowd had followed Jesus and grown in size since they left Tyre. Some of the people had followed Jesus for three days into the wilderness. By that time, most observant Galilean Jews would be on the journey to Jerusalem for the official lunar-solar Passover. Persistence is one aspect of faith. Jesus developed their faith by making them follow Him on a long journey to be healed.
On Tuesday afternoon, Jesus healed the crowds (Matthew 15:29-39).
Jesus then fed the crowds because some had a long journey to return (fifty miles (80 km) back).
The value of the food was implied because of the value of the food for the five thousand.
Jesus promptly left the crowds on a new journey crossing the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 15:39).
Jesus was always preparing crowds to believe but would leave without closing the deal. The harvest couldnt yet be reaped.
Because this event was similar to the feeding of the five thousand and near it in time, the recorded accounts were abbreviated, leaving out some Passover link details.
The four thousand in the wilderness were a sacred assembly.
Jesus and the apostles kept watch as they crossed the Sea of Galilee at night after the feast.
Interestingly, any uncircumcised male couldnt celebrate the Passover, and no foreigner could partake of it (Exodus 12:43, 48). A significant part of those who celebrated the Passover in 2 Chronicles 30:18 hadnt been sanctified. Hezekiah prayed that the LORD would show mercy on those not sanctified. Many non-Israelites accompanied Israel at the Exodus, a mixed multitude without number (Exodus 12:38). Jesus demonstrated to His disciples that the kingdom He talked about would go beyond the Torah's limits.
To get to the wilderness of the Decapolis, they would have had to ford the Jordan River near Bethsaida. They were baptized at that time, maybe not with the correct formula, but certainly a washing. If all Israel was baptized crossing the Red Sea dry-shod, then those gentiles were more so crossing the Jordan wet shod at flood stage. This event informed Peter how to deal with Cornelius and company (Acts 11) and the necessity to be circumcised and keep the Law (Acts 15).
The next day Jesus encountered Pharisees, who wanted a sign (Matthew 16:1-12).[157] There was always an official opponent, who hardened their hearts, hindered and embittered Jesus ministry at these times. Like Pharaoh hardened his heart, he hindered and embittered Moses ministry in Egypt.
The apostles didnt take the bread from the feeding of the four thousand with them. They discussed having no bread (Matthew 16:7), so that bread probably went with the crowds returning to Tyre and Sidon. Maybe the bread was leavened. Each of the seven baskets was large enough for a person to fit inside. These baskets are different from those used after feeding the five thousand. They belonged to the gentiles, so Jesus provided food for their return journey.
A blind man was healed (Mark 8:22-26). Healing the blind was a sign the Messiah would do, so these healings should have been a sign to the Pharisees (Isaiah 42:7, 62:21-2 Septuagint). Still, they didnt soften their hearts and realize that. Because of the opposition of the Pharisees, Jesus continued on His journey. They got back in the boat and crossed the Sea that time to Bethsaida, where they journeyed by foot up the Jordan River to Caesarea Philippi. This Passover motif where Jesus did something extraordinary and then promptly left the crowds behind must have frustrated many. Jesus kept everyone wanting more; no one got bored.
Caesarea Philippi was a town about twenty-five miles (40km) north of the Sea of Galilee up the Jordan River valley near the base of Mount Hermon. They probably arrived on Thursday evening. Alone with the crowds gone, Jesus finally got a few days of rest.
Jesus chose that site specifically for what He would say to Peter here. Here was the most prominent rock formation in the area, and it contained what was believed to be an entrance to Hades. Jesus was on the Passover praying alone (presumably He kept a watch), then He asked His disciples, Who do the people say the Son of man is? The question was asked Sunday night or Monday morning on the official Passover. The week started with Jesus question in Caesarea Philippi and ended with the Transfiguration. I give additional documentation on this period of Jesus ministry in The Time and Place of the Transfiguration.[158]
Jesus skipped going to Jerusalem mid-ministry for the official Passover. Instead, He went to Caesarea Philippi, where Saint Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah, and Jesus started to talk about His death. The get behind Me Satan statement cleansed leaven from Peters understanding of what Christ was to do. Jesus didnt go to Jerusalem because He would die a year early. For a day-by-day review of the events of this period and why the Transfiguration occurred on Mount Nebo/Pisgah, see Easter Transfiguration.[159]
Jesus and His disciples kept watch there on the mountain because the disciples were heavy with sleep on the mount of Transfiguration. That watch would be on an incorrect day for the watch of Passover. The treasure was the keys to the kingdom of heaven. The offering was selected when Peter said, you are the Christ (revealed by the Father), so the Fathers selection. Jesus established Peter as His prime minister (over His house) (Isaiah 22:22). A cleansing also happened when Jesus said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. The assembly was Jesus and His disciples. The journey seems to be two, three-day journeys, back-to-back to get to Mt. Nebo. The bitter event was from that time; Jesus began to announce that He must suffer. It was also announced that anyone who would follow Jesus must pick up his cross. Their ministry was filled with self-denial and affliction.
After six (or about eight days) later, Jesus was Transfigured.[160] He journeyed one hundred and five miles (170km) south to Mt. Nebo. There He was transfigured on the official day of First Fruits, which we would call Easter Sunday, the day after the Sabbath following Passover. Peter, James, and John[161] were baptized in the cloud on the mountain. Those disciples worshipped when they fell on their faces in awe.
They encountered the Galilean pilgrims returning from Passover in Jerusalem when they descended. There was a hint the quartet afflicted themselves. After Jesus came down from the mountain of Transfiguration, He was told of an evil spirit. The disciples left behind couldnt cast it out. Jesus said when casting out the demon, this kind can come out only with prayer and fasting, indicating that He had fasted and prayed.[162] Why? The evil spirit was a deaf-mute, so he didnt hear their words. At the Passover, one was required to make a journey to the presence of God.[163] Since the ark and the Shekinah were the evidence of the presence of God at the Temple, a second reason Jesus journeyed to that mountain was to meet that requirement to visit the presence or face of God. That was the mountain where Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant six hundred years earlier, and the cloud was the evidence of the Shekinah (2 Maccabees 2). They accompanied the pilgrims back to Galilee. The witnessing apostles were afflicted because they couldnt talk about what they had seen. It kept their pride in check.
Jesus was informed about Galileans, slain with their sacrifices (Luke 13:1-5). The only convenient time for Galileans to be in Jerusalem was for the pilgrimage feasts. Since this was the only feast that Jesus didnt attend, this would be the most likely time for this announcement to occur.
This event cannot be precisely dated, but it was sandwiched between these events showing Jesus returned to Capernaum. It was placed immediately before Jesus left for Transjordan Judea. This event indicates most of Jesus disciples were teenagers halfway through Jesus ministry because they werent required to pay the census tax (Matthew 17:22-27). All men twenty years old and up must pay the census tax (who were counted, priests werent counted) (Exodus 30:12). One could argue they had paid the tax or werent present when the collector arrived. But being less than twenty years old would go with the disciples not being married because the typical age for Jews to marry was eighteen years of age.[164] The apostles, except for Peter, were unmarried teenagers. Peter caught the first fish, and it had a four-drachma (one shekel) coin in its mouth, a miracle. They miraculously acquired money, a treasure that links to the following week.
Passover in the second Month (Wed May 13 to Tue May 21 A.D. 32)
The account of this Passover event was more abbreviated.
It would be about a three-day journey from Capernaum to Trans-Jordan Judea (Perea). That area would be mostly wilderness. It would also be about a three-day journey from Perea to Jerusalem.
Jesus went there for the Passover in the second month, which they must attend since they missed the first Passover because they were traveling.
The great multitudes[165] constituted a sacred assembly (Matthew 19:2; Mark 10:1).
The treasure gained was the ability to pay their taxes and deferred wealth. Jesus promised His disciplesYou will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and to those who gave up things for the sake of the kingdom would receive a hundredfold return (Matthew 19:28-29). There was an increasing emphasis on spiritual rather than material treasure.
Jesus cleansed the leaven from the crowd answering the question, is it lawful to divorce for any reason? (Matthew 19:3).
There was no evidence of a meal.
There was bitterness in this event when Jesus announced the Son of Man was to be betrayed; this filled the disciples with grief (Matthew 17:23). Pestering Pharisees tried to get Jesus to say something to get Herod to arrest Him as Herod had imprisoned John the Baptist. This region was under Herod Antipas jurisdiction, and he is the one who arrested John the Baptist near this place.
They went from there on a journey (Matthew 19:15)because Jesus couldnt stay long because He needed to be in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover in the second month. So He left and secretly journeyed to Jerusalem and celebrated Passover in the second month.
There was no mention of Jesus keeping a watch, but to escape the crowd, a journey leaving at night would be reasonable.
This is the weakest of the Passover events links, but it still follows the sequence. It was a time the gospel writers were recording fewer details about Jesus and His ministry.
The gospels dont describe this event, but it was necessary to keep the Law. Jesus went to Jerusalem secretly to celebrate Passover, so the chief priests and the Pharisees didnt know of His presence because they were out to kill Him. All regular Passover events kept as part of completing the Passover. After this week, Jesus returned to Galilee and then sent out the seventy (-two) disciples. During the summer, most people tended their crops.
This isnt a Passover event, and the time is only approximate. During this season, Jesus ministered from town to town in Galilee; He didnt enter Judea (John 7:1). This lasted many months, but probably rarely or never, having the seventy-two disciples gathered simultaneously. The locations probably include Galilee, Samaria, Perea, and Judea. A reference Luke 10:1-17.
This isnt a Passover event. Five months later, the weeklong feast of Tabernacles was at hand (John 7:3). Jesus brethren tried to convince Jesus to stop hiding in Galilee (because they were expecting a different kind of Messiah). Jesus stayed behind in Galilee while the others went to Jerusalem. Jesus did go but only after staying in Galilee for Yom HaKippurim. It isnt apparent why Jesus left late for Jerusalem. Jesus could legitimately not go to the feasts because preserving His life was a higher law than keeping the festivals. Jesus said, for Me, the right time has not yet come (John 7:8).[166] Secondly, this was the start of the Jubilee year. This feast celebrated the harvest (Deuteronomy 16:13), but there could be no harvest during the Jubilee year, so there is no reason for a harvest feast.
The events of John 7:4 to 10:21 occurred at the Feast of Tabernacles. All the events around the healing of the man born blind occurred within a few days. This passage occurred in the context of the feast of Tabernacles, closing the Jubilee year. Jesus didnt go up to the feast at the usual time but went later in the middle of the feast (John 7:14). At that time, He had recently miraculously healed a man on the Sabbath (John 7:21-23). In John 9:1-10:21, in a follow-up visit to the man born blind, there is a description of the entire story that started on the Sabbath a few days earlier.
When the feast was over from the viewpoint of the priests, Jesus remained. The last and greatest day of the feast was a Wednesday. Jesus that night observed a Sabbath rest. He journeyed only to the Mount of Olives within a Sabbath days walk of Jerusalem. The next morning, rather than returning home, He was back in the Temple teaching (John 7:37; 8:1-2). It doesnt appear that Jesus was celebrating this feast by the solar calendar.[167] This was likely the feast where Jesus visited Lazarus, Mary, and Martha (Luke 10:38-42).
This wasnt a Passover event. Two months later, John 10:22 to 10:39, the Feast of Dedication of the Temple, is an eight-day feast starting on Kislev 25. This feast was instituted in the context of the completion of the cleansing of the Temple recorded in 2 Maccabees 10. The Jewish people (c. 164 B.C.) voted to celebrate this feast for eight days each year in the same way the other pilgrim feasts were celebrated.[168] It isnt clear when during the feast that the incident occurred. It was probably at the end because Jesus escaped and went to where John the Baptist had ministered. Jesus may have been near this location but a day closer to Jerusalem when the message of Lazarus death reached Him. Because He waited two days and arrived on the fourth day, this was likely about the correct distance from Perea near Jericho to Bethany. This feast today is called Chanukah (Hanukkah).
Two months later, this was an Adar Passover event one month before Passion Week. There are few hints about when Lazarus was raised from the dead (John 11:1-56). This event happened between the Feast of Dedication and the journey to Jerusalem for the Passover. The event wasnt too long before the Passover, but it wasnt directly linked to that event, and it was after the end of December. From previous experience, it was assigned one month before the Passover. The month before the solar Passover was the more reasonable date. With those assumptions, one can discern that Lazarus died on a Friday, and the word reached Jesus on Sunday. He left for Bethany Tuesday morning.
It appears Lazarus was raised in similar circumstances to the son of the widow of Nain, but according to the Roman calendar. The year was A.D. 33. Jesus raised three people during His ministry. Here Lazarus was raised on the third day of the week, in the third month of the year, on the third day of the month, and one might speculate at the third-hour Roman time so 3 PM. An Adar Passover event, much like the wedding feast at Cana. The announcement of Lazarus sickness unto death occurred on Sunday, one solar month (thirty-one days), before the Last Supper. Lazarus was raised on the third day (the fourth day after Lazarus died). This assumes that it took about one day to get to Jesus and about one day for Jesus to get to Bethany. The bitter event was the death of Lazarus. The Todah event was the raising of Lazarus. Three, the number of days between when Jesus heard about Lazarus and when Jesus raised Lazarus. This event, and the date of Jesus circumcision, and presentation in the Temple, strongly supports the Julian calendar and the transition away from the Jewish calendar.
The family probably was a priestly family (Lazarus is Greek for Eleazar, the name of the second High Priest). Priests couldnt own land (except home and garden), so they needed another occupation like a perfumer. Perfumers made the holy anointing oil (Exodus 30:23-38). The only reason someone would have so much nard (a pint) (Mark 14:5) was because they made it for a living. Because Lazarus had died and was raised, the chief priests were hostile to his family (and wanted to kill him). Therefore, they could conclude the uncleanness of death tainted the oil and refused to buy it.
The blend was a special formula restricted for use only for sacred anointing. The only normal legitimate use of that oil was for service in the Temple, like anointing priests at ordination or Temple articles for sacred service. The only place they could sell it was to the chief priests. It couldnt be sold for another purpose (Numbers 19:14-15; Exodus 30:33-34). So Mary, at the Holy Spirits prompting and likely of her brother Lazarus, anointed Jesus with the proper oil for priestly ordination and sanctifying the Temple.[169] They knew He was the Christ, who better to anoint with the sacred oil than the Anointed Onemade by the family who made the Temple anointing oil.
We are told the nard was in an alabaster box. Alabaster was stone, and a closed stone vessel would have prevented both the vessel and oil from becoming unclean. The value of the nard was about a year's wage, and it was the treasure item for this event. Mary fell at Jesus feet when she came to Him, so an instance of bowing and worship (John 11:32). Martha said, you are the Christ, identifying Jesus as the Lamb to be slain (John 11:27). Jesus cleansed the leaven of a dead body, the most severe uncleanness, by raising Lazarus. Jesus probably came from beyond the Jordan, so there was a water crossing.
When Jesus and His apostles left Bethany, they spent the next three weeks hiding at Ephraim (John 11:54), a town north of Bethel in Judea.
About ten days before His crucifixion, Jesus and company joined a caravan of Galilean pilgrims, just north of Jericho, headed to Jerusalem for Passover. Galilean pilgrims needed to arrive early for Passover to be cleansed on the third and seventh day with the water of cleansing (Numbers 19).
On the way, Salome, the mother of Zebedees sons (and the sister of His mother Mary) asked Jesus to allow James and John to sit on His right and left when He came into His kingdom.[170]
Thursday evening 26 March A.D. 33, He stayed with Zacchaeus in Jericho, and in the morning, He healed two blind men.
In Jesus final week, the solar Passover started on Tuesday evening, and the official Passover started the following Friday evening. Even though the two Passover weeks overlapped, Jesus was selected at the Passover Lamb twice, each time five days before the respective Passover. The first time occurred when the two blind men in Jericho identified Jesus as the Son of David. The second selection occurred at the triumphal entry, at which time the crowds identified Jesus as the Son of David. Many were sprinkled with the water of cleansing at that time, but that never included Jesus because it always made one unclean before it cleansed (Numbers 19). They also needed to acquire their Passover lambs for the Last Supper.
Mount of Olives Friday Night (27-28 March A.D. 33)
Jesus and the apostles spent the night on the Mount of Olives at the garden of Gethsemane so that they were within a Sabbath days journey of Jerusalem for the next day. It was likely at that time (or late Saturday afternoon); Jesus gave the Olivet discourse to His apostles. All Jerusalem was cleaned up for the Passover, so the Temple looked as good as it could look.
Jesus Anointed at Bethany Saturday Night (28 March A.D. 33)
This event fulfills a part of the requirement for the Passover, the one offering the sacrifice to God must be a priest. The washing and anointing of Jesus was the start of a weeklong (Saturday to Friday) High Priestly ordination process. So Jesus was a priest when He offered Himself the sacrifice on the cross and in the tomb. See Jesus was Anointed High Priest[171]
Jesus Triumphal Entry Sunday Afternoon (29 March A.D. 33) {10-1}
In the last week of Jesus life, He was twice chosen or revealed as Gods choice for the Passover Lamb for His family. Jesus was the Christ, the Christ was the king, but the Christ was also the Passover sacrifice. By choosing Jesus as their King, the people were also choosing Jesus as their Christ and Passover. The synoptic authors place this event as soon as Jesus got to Jerusalem, consistent with Jesus the Lamb and the Last Supper as Passover. John correctly placed the event here and consistent with Church history. Jesus arrived at the Temple in the evening; this was the tenth of Nisan, the official day to choose one's families Passover lamb.
Jesus Cleansed the Temple Monday (30 March A.D. 33)
Monday, Jesus cleansed His Fathers house (the Temple) when He drove the oxen, sheep, pigeons, and moneychangers out. That was a busy day at the Temple because every family needed to come and select a lamb that they would keep for the Passover to be celebrated Friday evening. Pigeons would be for the purification of poor women who had given birth. The pilgrims had first to exchange their money because they couldnt use the Roman currency to make purchases in the Temple.
Jesus answered Questions (Tuesday 31 March A.D. 33) {11-1}
This was the eve of the solar Passover (the Last Supper). Jesus was busy cleaning out all possible leaven from His house before the coming Passover that would start at sunset that day. Jesus answers those challenging questions, questions that are the toughest His opponents could muster. Jesus only answered in parables on this occasion when He was rebuking an authority. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? Which commandment is the first of all? Jesus then asked a question of His own to clarify that Christ was the Son of David. How can they say that the Christ is David's son? The answer to this question was given by Jesus in (Revelation 22:16), the same verse where Jesus identifies the Bright Morning Star (the Star of Bethlehem) with Himself. A final removal of leaven, Jesus said, Do as the Pharisees say, not as they do. When some Greeks requested to meet Jesus, He said that His hour had come; it was time to celebrate the Passover. At that hour, God thundered from heaven, for the third time, God audibly identified Jesus as His Son. Then a poor widow came and deposited two mites, all she had, in the Temple treasury.
In a well-argued book, Annie Jaubert proposed that the Last Supper occurred on Tuesday evening rather than the following Thursday evening.[172] The Essenes community was careful to follow what they believed to be the actual Biblical calendar. They kept a solar calendar where Passover always occurred on a Wednesday. The Last Supper would be held on Tuesday evening.
A chief advantage of her proposal is that two inquisitions and six trials of Jesus (some with many witnesses), didnt have to be shoehorned into the three hours between 3 AM and 6 AM. Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, and all members of the Sanhedrin dont have to stay up through night rushing to convict Jesus and breaking their law regarding when a capital conviction could take place. It doesnt mean that the solar Passover was the only correct Passover; rather, both were correct Passover dates.
Most exegetes reject Dr. Jauberts proposal.[173] Some argue that there is no evidence that anyone in the New Testament followed a solar calendar. The evidence of this article answers that objection by showing that Jesus had a pattern of celebrating both the solar and lunar-solar Passovers during His public ministry. He seemed to have had special meals only on the solar events and kept the official Passovers on the official dates.
The cleansing of leaven events here were cleansing the Temple and answering all the tough questions of the Pharisees, Sadducees, etc. The blind men in Jericho revealed Him as the Son of David and so Gods choice. The only journey He made was across the Kidron valley to the Mount of Olives. The farthest journey one was allowed to make at that time. He was worshipped when the arresting cohort fell to the ground.
He kept the watch of Passover on the Mount of Olives. He did the first sprinkling of His blood on the four sides of the altar when He shed great drops of blood on the Mount of Olives,[174] to the east of the altar. With outstretched arms, He consecrated the Eucharist. His death was revealed when His Body was presented separately from His Blood in a chalice and when the bread, His Body was broken at the Last Supper. Sacrifices were slain in the Temple by removing their blood, capturing it in an open vessel (bowl/cup).
Unleavened bread
It was the week of unleavened bread, so after the Last Supper, no Jew would eat unleavened bread during the feast of unleavened bread. Neither Annas, Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, nor Pilate gave Jesus any food or water. One giving Jesus a cup of cold water will not lose his reward. If Jesus was given any food, then He was given leavened bread, which He couldnt eat. Since Jesus had said eat what is set before you, it is unlikely that He was served anything.
The Afikomen, the Eucharist, was the last food one ate at the Passover. After that, one was only allowed to drink. At the Seder, Jesus didnt drink the fourth cup until He received it on the cross. Also, Jesus said, after He was taken (so in the garden), His disciples would fast (about Matthew 9:15), so they did. This seems to be another example where everyone involved fasted for the period between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.[175] Jesus left the Last Supper about midnight and went to the Mount of Olives. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane from about twenty minutes after midnight until about 3:20 AM. About 3:30 AM, He was arrested and taken to Annas Palace for His initial interrogation and beating.
On this night, the 90% full moon shown from sunset until about 3:30 AM. Jesus said at the time of His arrest, this is your hourwhen darkness reigns (Luke 22:53), since the sun (the greater light to rule the day and the moon the lesser light to rule the night (Genesis 1:16). When neither the sun nor the moon was visible, would be the time that darkness reigns. Since Jesus slipped away from those trying to arrest or kill Him so many times, they had decided to apprehend Him by stealth (Matthew 26:4). They approached with a cohort (600 men), and they waited for the cover of complete darkness after the moon set before making their final approach in an attempt to catch Jesus by surprise.
Questioned by Annas and then by Caiaphas (Wed-1 April A.D. 33) {13-1}
Jesus trial started about 4 AM Wednesday when He was brought first into Annas palace (John 18:13). During that trial, He was beaten about His head. So Jesus blood was sprinkled, and it anointed His right ear, thumb, and big toe. After an hour, Jesus was transferred, probably across the courtyard to Caiaphas palace (John 18:24), where Jesus second inquisition commenced. It was during this period that Peter denied Jesus three times. About an hour between Peters second and third denial (Luke 22:59).
Two Sanhedrin trials, (Wed-Thu 1-2 April A.D. 33) {13-1}
At daybreak, the assembly of the elders of the people gathered together, both chief priests and scribes. And they led him away to their council (Luke 22:66). About 5 AM or first light Wednesday, Jesus was transferred to the Sanhedrin Chambers (Chamber of Hewn Stone) in the wall of the courtyard of the priests, so in the Temple. The Sanhedrin brought many witnesses (Matthew 26:59-60) but couldnt get sufficient agreement to get a conviction.
A capital case tried by the Sanhedrin had to be held during the day on two successive days, and a conviction had to occur on the second day.[176] The Sanhedrin met this requirement when they tried Jesus on Wednesday and convicted Him at dawn on Thursday. Jesus was convicted of blasphemy. The law required that all who heard the blasphemy place their hands on the accuseds head. "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him were to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly was to stone him (Leviticus 24:14). He was accepted at the gate of the Temple when the chief priests laid their hands on His head to accept a sacrificial offering. This indicated that they witnessed His blasphemy[177] after He was convicted by the Sanhedrin Thursday at dawn.
The First Trial before Pilate and Trial before Herod (6:30 AM Thu 2 April A.D. 33)
Jesus was then promptly transferred into the custody of the Roman Procurator Pontius Pilate.[178] That was the start of the three days and three nights that Jesus said He would be in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:40-41). So we can surmise that much of the time, Jesus was held in an underground cell when He wasnt being accused before Pilate. When Pilate learned He was a Galilean, he sent Jesus to Herod because Galilee was Herods territory. Herod was conveniently in Jerusalem at that time.
After Jesus was transferred to the tetrarch Herod Antipas, He was questioned extensively but refused to answer (Luke 23:6-12). Herod liked to listen to John the Baptist and had wanted to meet Jesus. One could infer that Herod would have incarcerated Jesus for an extended period to listen to Him. Since Herod thought Jesus was John raised from the dead, and since he wasnt happy about executing John, it is easy to see why he wouldnt wish to try John (Jesus) again. Because Jesus didnt speak, He was eventually returned to Pilate, and His trial continued. So Jesus fulfilled the passage as a lamb before his shearers is silent (Isaiah 53:7).
The Second Trial before Pilate (Jesus or Barabbas) (Thursday 2 April A.D. 33)
Jesus was tried before Pilate a second time (Luke 23:11-21); during that time, Pilate gave the Jews a choice between Jesus and Barabbas. Barabbas was taken, so he was the scapegoat, so Jesus blood was chosen to be the goat whose blood was taken into the Temple. Goats represent sinners. The one who released the scapegoat was afterward to wash, and so them Pilate washed his hands. Two times the atonement rite happened during the first month, when Aaron, his sons, and the Tabernacle in the wilderness were consecrated.[179] Jesus was in the process of being consecrated and consecrating the Temple in heaven (Hebrews 9:24).
After that trial, Jesus was scourged, crowned with thorns, and mocked.
Third and Final Trial before Pilate Dawn (5 AM Friday 3 April A.D. 33) {14-1}
About first light (5 AM), Jesus trial reconvened. Pilate condemned Jesus at the sixth-hour Roman time at dawn, 6 AM (John 19:14). But in the final phase of the trial, Pilate, who didnt want to execute Jesus, had just turned over the crucifixion of Jesus to the chief priests.
While Pilate would be ready and crucify Jesus, the chief priests werent. The chief priests were delayed while the Temple carpenter manufactured a cross for Jesus. Jesus was nailed to the cross rather than tied; the carpenter had nails but no rope. It took time, so Jesus journey to Golgotha was delayed about an hour. The Temple would have lots of wood available, but most of it cut for easy handling as firewood.
For those who believe that Pilate condemned Jesus at noon (John 19:14 the sixth hour) and then crucified at 9 AM (Mark 15:25 the third hour), one must understand that even words used by the same author can have a different meaning. The Bible doesnt restrict the author from presenting day or time differently from another Biblical author. In a large city with the sun visible, one couldnt confuse the time by more than three hours because the sun indicated the hour, and the time was announced every three hours by a horn.
It also means there is no need to push the hour of the crucifixion to noon.[180] That would prevent Jesus from fulfilling the morning and evening sacrifices, which were sacrificed at about 9 AM and 3 PM (Numbers 24:3-4). Jesus crucifixion occurred when the morning sacrifice was offered. He died when the evening sacrifice was offered to enable Him to fulfill these offerings.
Some believe Jesus crucifixion was earlier than Friday. Matthew 12:40-41 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Jesus changed hands from the chief priests to the Romans after His conviction for blasphemy. For much of His time, He was in Pilates prison, almost certainly underground, so in the heart of the earth. Jonah was sometimes asleep in the ships hold and later dead in the great fish. Jesus sometimes slept in an underground prison and later dead in the tomb. Three days in the heart of the earth and three nights in the correct order from Thursday at dawn until Sunday dawn.
In all four gospels, the day of Jesus crucifixion was called the day of preparation. The Jews referred to Friday as the day of preparation. On Sunday afternoon, the disciples on the road to Emmaus said it was the third day since these events (Luke 24:21). Because the Jews counted days (and years) inclusively, that must refer to Friday.
It appears that Jesus kept a vigil while on the cross. He kept the watch of Passover on the cross (part of the reason God made the night come early on that day).
He was afflicted for three days; and went without consuming any fluid until He said, I thirst, just before He died.
He made a three-day journey into Hades (counting inclusively using Roman days).
Jesus was healthy; they didnt take His life. He gave it.
He was identified as Gods choice at the triumphal entry on the tenth of Nisan.
He was worshipped at the resurrection when the women clasped His feet.
There was water from His side.
Practically every part of this day was bitter, but the wine mixed with gall was a specific bitter event.
He prayed and redeemed the world with outstretched arms on the cross, revealing His might.[181]
Jesus blood was placed on the doorposts and lintel of His House. His cross formerly was a worn Temple doorway.[182]
Passover lambs were placed on two sticks shaped like a cross[183] and then were skinned before roasting. Jesus skin was removed when He was scourged; also, His clothes were removed.
As the Scriptures required of the Passover lamb, not one bone of His was broken.
There was a sacred assembly at the cross, with many chief priests present.
The earthquake indicates Gods presence.
The crucifixion was the prime Passover cleansing, done at the correct time.
The cord that bound Him, red with His blood, helped support His cross.
The sign of the darkness at noon also occurred on the evening of Passover when one recalled that there were two evenings; the first started at noon.
The hyssop branch (sponge on a stick) didnt appear to put His blood on the doorposts, but Jesus body was a Temple, and Jesus mouth was a door to eternal life. I am the door of the sheep. My the sheep hear Me John 10:7-8).[184]
There was a long list of red things at the crucifixion. The wood of the cross was cedar, a red wood. There was a clay pot, wine, and a sponge; all three were reddish items. There was a Roman guard of four soldiers dressed in red. Jesus had been scourged, so He was covered with blood. Jesus had been cloaked in scarlet after He was scourged, threads from that had adhered to His skin. There was a hyssop branch; hyssop has red flowers (but not in the spring). The clearing smoke reddened the sky at sundown.[185] Shortly after that, the moon rose eclipsed and blood red.
The power of Moses prayer against the Amalekites was enhanced when he prayed with outstretched arms. Moses had Aaron and Hur to support his arms. Nails supported Jesus arms on the cross. The power of Esthers prayer was enhanced when she and her maids fasted from food and water until the third day, Jesus fasted from food and water until the third day. His disciples fasted at least from food during this period. God also hears the cry of the poor, and Jesus had no possessions, not even clothes, because those belonged to His executioners. The power of the Israelites prayer was enhanced when they cried out to God in their misery. Jesus prayers were enhanced when He cried out to God, even though very difficult on the cross. Jesus' power was maximized at His hour, so the Father heard His prayer. When Moses lifted up the seraph serpent on a pole in the wilderness, all who looked on it were healed. Jesus was lifted up that we might be healed of our sin and have a restored relationship with God.
Why did Gods Son have to die? Jesus was the person who made the covenant with Moses on Sinai. By His death, the covenants He established (e.g., the Mosaic covenant) like a marriage covenant were annulled when one spouse died. Jesus took Satans tool binding Israel and broke it. By annulling the Old covenant, the New Covenant could be established.
Why did God put the sign in the heavens of the sun being darkened for three hours? Jesus referred to Himself as the bridegroom (Matthew 9:15), and the Church is His bride (Ephesians 5:25). The sun is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion (Psalm 19:5). At a Jewish wedding, the bride and groom consummated the marriage during the wedding. While the sun was hidden, the bridegroom was in His chamber. When the marriage was consummated, Jesus announced that fact and died. The crucifixion was the hour when Jesus paid the price for His bride. Jesus completed everything to establish the New Covenant, which included marriage to His bride. In heaven, marriage is different from marriage on earth, but it still is a covenant, and it still involves the exchange of persons. The sun was darkened to indicate that the marriage of the Lamb and His Church was being consummated.
This was a great sign in the heavens with a great purpose. Psalm 19 was written to the chief musician (Psalm 19:1). Since the morning star sang together at the foundation of the world (Job 38:4-7), the orchestration of the signs is a work that God as the Chief Musician directs. God was orchestrating the sign indicating the consummation of the marriage of His only beloved Son. This again matches the exodus where God led His bride, Israel, to the wilderness (Jeremiah 2:2). At each great sign in the sun, God gave a great victory. Three days of darkness before the Exodus, Joshuas long day, and Hezekiahs going back of the shadow of the sun.
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Changing sacrifice required one to be nailed to a beam |
Jesus fulfilled the Temple sacrifices, but if one fulfilled the sacrifice so that it is no longer required, one changed it. Darius decreed five centuries earlier when he was involved in reestablishing the sacrifices in the Temple that if anyone changed those sacrifices that a beam was to be pulled from his house, and he was to be lifted up and nailed to that beam. Ezra 6:11 Furthermore, I decree that if anyone changes this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house, and he is to be lifted up and nailed to it. And for this crime, his house is to be made a pile of rubble. Because Jesus fulfilled and annulled the sacrificial laws, He changed the Temple sacrifice. So He incurred Darius penalty. His house was the Temple. A beam from a doorway was pulled from His house. His house was pulled down and made into a heap of rubble in August A.D. 70 after a siege by general Titus. His house was also Israel; they continued as a people but were pulled down as a nation. The Romans made the Temple into a heap of rubble after it burned down on Tisha BAv (Ninth of Av or Ab) because they pulled up the foundation stones to get the gold that melted from the Temple into its foundation. |
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The Cross a Doorway |
The cross came from a temple doorway; it was a doorway. The blood of the Passover lamb was to be placed on the two side doorposts and the top post of a doorway to ones house (Exodus 12:7, 22-23). In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, behold I stand at the doorway and knock. The cross as a doorway isnt complete without Jesus the door. He was able to stand while nailed to the cross and knock on the doorway, inviting us to enter. The cross is the doorway to heaven, and Jesus is the door. Jesus, as a carpenter and doorway builder, carried a cross daily throughout His adult life. Isaiah was standing at a threshold of a doorway in heaven when his sins were purged (Isaiah 6:4, 7). From Jesus side, flowed water, from the doorway of the Temple will flow water (Ezekiel 47:1). |
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Cord to Hold Cross |
The proper altar of sacrifice couldnt have any cutting tool used (Exodus 20:24-25). Jesus cross was placed on that altar, but since no cutting tool could be used on it, they couldnt cut a hole in the rock for Jesus cross to rest in so that it was supported; therefore, Jesus cross was supported in another way, a heap of rocks wouldnt be stable. It is practically sure that there was at least one line attached to the top of Jesus cross to help raise and lower the cross. If the same cord were used to lead Jesus, His blood would color it. So Jesus cross was held in place with stay lines like a flagpole. Lines were attached to the cross, and those lines were used to help raise and steady the cross. Those lines were staked into the ground to hold the cross in place. The lines made it easier for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus to lower the cross to remove Jesus body. Rahab let Joshuas spies down from a window in the citys wall marked with a scarlet cord (Joshua 2:18-21). That window was used as a door and marked with a scarlet cord a link to Jesus cross. At Jericho, a scarlet cord in the doorway marked safety while everyone else, including animals, died. |
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Enthroned between Cherubim |
Jesus cross came from a Temple doorway. Like all the Temple, It would have had carved pictures of Cherubim. Therefore, when Jesus was enthroned on the cross, He also was between the cherubim. Since Jesus mother, Mary, was the ark of the covenant,[186] and she stood at the foot of the cross, and Jesus covered with blood, was above the ark of the covenant, between the Cherubim. That should remind one of the mercy seat and the atonement sacrifice. Jesus cross had a seat because the two thieves were seated next to Jesus when He entered His kingdom (Matthew 20:20-23). |
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The Engraved Gold Plate |
When the High Priest ministered, he was to have a gold plate engraved holy to YHWH above his head. Pilate marked Jesus crime on a beeswax-filled wooden framed writing tablet that was hung above Jesus head, which said Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. It was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Gold can refer to the metal gold or golden color.[187] When one writes in wax, one engraves the wax, so the sign above Jesus head announcing His crime appears to meet the requirement of the golden plate above the High Priests head. Suppose the Hebrew translation was Jesus of Nazareth and[1]King of the Jews. The first letters of each of the four words would be YHWH, so much as Jesus sentence is commonly abbreviated INRI, the Latin for His sentence. Hebrew is often written without the vowels, and YHWH is the name of the LORD without vowels. Jesus wasnt just holy to the LORD; He was the LORD. Jesus was the High Priest and sacrificial atonement goat on the cross. |
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The Cross as the Tree of Life |
If one eats the fruit of the Tree of Life, one will live forever (Genesis 3:22). The cross is called a tree (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus cross was the Tree of Life, and Jesus is the Branch and the Fruit. John 3:12-16 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. The Snake was lifted up on a wooden polea tree. Jesus was lifted up on a crossa tree. Acts 10:39c They killed him by hanging him on a tree. Fruit hangs from a treeso Jesus is the fruit on the tree of the cross. Jesus explained in John 6:53-54, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. So to eat from the Tree of Life, one was eating Jesus because only His flesh and blood could provide life. Now Jesus didnt say one must only believe in Him to gain eternal life, but one must eat and drink Him. So His body and blood is the fruit of the tree of life. We dont need to wait to eat the fruit of the tree of life. It is available at Mass every day, and it has been available since the first century. Eating the fruit of the Tree of Life doesnt mean that one will not die; it means that even if he does die, he will live. |
Jesus was Entombed (Late Friday Afternoon 3 April A.D. 33)
He died; He didnt just swoon. His side was pierced with a spear, a blow that would have killed Him had He not already been dead. Afterward, He was washed, spiced, wrapped, tied, and entombed. When the moon rose at the horizon just after sunset at the start of Passover, it was already eclipsed. It was blood red partially because it was close to the horizon and partially because of the smoke that earlier darkened the sky. According to Jewish burial rules, anything with a mans blood on it was buried with him because His life was in the blood. Because the cross had Jesus blood on it, His cross was entombed with Him. His body was placed on the wood of the cross, which was piled neatly under Him to conserve space. Many reject the crucifix in favor of a cross because Jesus has risen. The only cross was either being carried by Jesus, nailed to Jesus, or buried in pieces arranged beneath Jesus in the tomb. The cross didnt exist apart from Jesus. Jesus called His crucifixion His glorification; a crucifix reveals His glory.
Jesus Tomb was Guarded (Saturday Morning 4 April A.D. 33)
When the chief priests requested that Pilate place a guard on Jesus tomb, Pilate said, You have a guard. The guard they had was the Temple guard. The guard placed at Jesus tomb was a Temple guard composed of Levites.
In the Apostles Creed, we profess that on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead according to the Scriptures, so Jesus was resurrected on the third day. Where do the Scriptures say that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day? It would be nice if Isaiah 53:13 said after he was cut off, he would rise from the dead on the third day, but there is no such passage. It was because Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice, one can deduce that the Scriptures teach He would rise on the third day. Sacrifices werent only slain, they were roasted, eaten, and the remains burned up. This is difficult because it was a mystery, deliberately hidden in the Old Testament, or the rulers of that age would never have crucified Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:8).
How does Jesus being a sacrifice relate to Him being raised on the third day? Jesus told His disciples not to talk of the Transfiguration until He was raised from this dead. They discussed what it meant to be raised from the deadnote it doesnt mean come back to life, although that is how we think of this event. In Hebrew, a sacrifice could be offered as an holah, which means to go up (as in smoke). In English, this is typically translated holocaust or whole burnt offering. In Greek, the word for resurrection is anastasia, which also means getting up from lying down. Jesus probably spoke in Aramaic, so the word was halah with a meaning similar to the Hebrew, hence the disciples' confusion. Therefore, we always speak of Jesus as rising from the dead, not being resuscitated, or returning to life.
Why does it have to occur on the third day? Here are some instances: Isaac was offered on the third day and received his life. The great fish regurgitated Jonah on the third day after he had been dead in the belly of the fish. Each sacrifice has its own rules on how the sacrifice was to be consumed. He rose as the smoke of the offering of His own body. He made himself a new body with His wounds still visible so we could recognize Him, but immortal and much less limited than His previous body. He offered His body for the justification of the whole world. He was resurrected on the third day. It was the third day rather than the second day because one wasnt permitted to kindle a fire on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:3).
The remains of all sacrifices were to be burned on the following morning or the second day. His body was burned up as required of the Passover lambs remains (Exodus 12:10). Jesus wasnt entombed for three days and three nights because any sacrifice became corrupt on the third day, and Jesus body didnt become corrupt (Acts 2:27). When His body was burned up, He rose. When John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire, the burning up/transformation of our bodies likely was what he was referring to.
It is believed the Resurrection occurred when Venus rose in the East, which is about 5:20 AM. His cross was consumed with His Body at His Resurrection as the wood of the sacrifice. Jesus work wasnt completed when He died on the cross. Jesus died for our sins, but He rose for our justification (Romans 4:25). It was both dawn and dark because it was overcast.
The Temple guards kept watch. First, the earthquake started (indicating the presence of God), and an angel rolled away the stone from the entrance to the tomb so the guards could observe the Resurrection. Second, fire from God came down and consumed Jesus body and the wood of the cross.[188] It didnt consume His linen grave clothes (the Shroud of Turin). These were also His initial priestly garments (seamless linen robe, sash, and turban) for entering heavens Temple. The linen vestments of Nadab and Abihu werent consumed by the holy fire when their bodies were consumed (Leviticus 10:1-10). The smoke of His sacrifice rose as a sweet aroma to the Father. Then Jesus, in the twinkling of an eye, got an incorruptible body. His new body still had the marks of His crucifixion so He could be identified.
Of the day of First Fruits, Scripture says, this day is to be most solemn and most holy, do no servile work, and be an everlasting ordinance (Leviticus 23:21). The Law anticipated Jesus Resurrection. Psalm 110 links the Son of David to the priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek. Jesus was a priest as He was required to offer Himself to God as a sacrifice. Jesus, as a priest, was also linked to Venus, the daystar. From the womb, before the day-star, I have begotten thee. The LORD has sworn thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:3-4 Douay).
That day was near or at the first normal visibility of Venus as it rose, the Bright Morning Star. [189] It rose in the constellation of Pisces or fish. There is an important continuous link to fish throughout Jesus public ministry. What is the meaning of fish? Let them grow as fish increase (Gen 48:16; Ezekiel 47:9). If the church was so crucial to Gods plan, why dont we see it mentioned in the Old Testament? Because the church was a mystery so not revealed until Paul (Romans 16:25),[190] the Church was hidden in the Old Testament.
Generating the exact order and sequence of all the overlapping events of this first Easter morning and a list of each visitor to His tomb is a complex task. The author hasnt yet worked out every detail.
On the first day of the week, Sunday afternoon, Jesus journeyed to Emmaus with two disciples (one was Cleopas, His father Josephs younger brother). They mention at that time that it had been three days since all these things happened, referring to Jesus death. Since Jews counted inclusively, this was three days from Friday afternoon.
Since these disciples werent apostles and they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread, they had been at the only place where that breaking bread had previously occurred, the Last Supper five days earlier. Since these men were there (and the other disciple was a man and not Cleopas wife),[191] more people were present at the Last Supper than just the apostles. We were also told it was a large room, something unnecessary if only thirteen were present. A possible limit is forty if one lamb could feed between ten and twenty, and Jesus sent Peter and John, each of whom could slay a lamb in the Temple.[192]
The list of likely attendees would include Jesus mother and His brethren (James Joses, Simon and Jude, and their sisters). James and Johns father Zebedee and mother Salome, the women of their company like Mary Magdalene, Joseph called Barsabas, Matthias, His host Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, etc. Some of the topics Jesus might have shared with the two disciples may be found in these articles Jesus Our Passover and Jesus was Anointed High Priest.
Jesus Met Peter (5 PM Sunday 5 April A.D. 33)
While the two disciples journeyed back to Jerusalem, Jesus met with Peter. When the two disciples arrived, they knew where the apostles hid and were admitted to the group. They had also been informed of all the events that happened early that morning.
Jesus Met with His Apostles except for Thomas (7 PM Sunday 5 April A.D. 33)
Sunday evening, He met ten apostles and completed their ordination (seven days from a late Tuesday afternoon foot washing when He started their ordination).
It appears that Jesus didnt have wine at the Eucharist celebrated at Emmaus, but here, Jesus asked for food and received broiled fish (Luke 24:42). The initial thought was He was demonstrating that He had a physical body and wasnt a spirit. We have seen many Eucharistic events where fish were used rather than wine. Could fish, a creature who lives in water and dies in the air, indicate death that the Eucharist portrays. It could be (an inferior?) substitute for the wine which becomes Blood and shows death because the Body is separated from the Blood? Fish also died when in blood when the Nile was changed to blood. Could it be that the fish represents Jesus as ichthys (Jesus Christ God Son Savior)? Fish in the scripture have a solid link to rapid multiplication. There are abundant fish in the river of Life (Ezekiel 47:9). The other thought is that wine was always present, but its presence went unmentioned.
Jesus Meets with His Apostles, including Thomas (c. 7 PM Sunday 12 April A.D. 33)
Eight days later, inclusive, ends on the following Sunday. Earlier this day, nearly everyone headed back to Galilee. Why a second meeting after the resurrection? Two or three is the number of witnesses. Jesus gave the apostles a second opportunity to witness the Resurrection as a group. That was important because they were to be witnesses of the Resurrection.
Jesus sanctifying the heavenly Temple (c. Sunday 5 April to Sunday 12 April A.D. 33)
Jesus told His brethren to precede Him back to Galilee. When nearly all the pilgrims departed for home, why did the apostles stay behind? What was Jesus doing during this period? Why wasnt He continuously with His apostles and disciples? It is most probable that Jesus spent the week sanctifying the Temple in heaven that had been defiled when Satan fell.
This day was another solar Passover and another meal. Peter and company fishing (John 21), but they kept a watch all night because they fished without success. Jesus told them to cast their net over the other side. They received a sudden and unexpected treasure of 153 large fish. When John identified Jesus as the man on the shore asking if they had caught anything, Peter attempted to walk on the sea but instead was baptized/buried. Peter had his leaven cleansed; he got washed. He was cleansed from his threefold betrayal of our Lord by a threefold questioning.
He was confirmed Peter in his leadership position (the first pope) because Jesus gave him the care and feeding of all His flock. Peters strong arm was displayed. At Jesus command, he (climbed up into the boat/the church) pulled in the net full of fish by himself the other six couldnt pull in together. Jesus fed them bread and fish. On nearly all solar Passovers of Jesus ministry, He served a special meal.
This fishing expedition may have been motivated by, dare we say, three days without food because all their stores and money had run out? The Sea of Tiberius is the bay of the Sea of Galilee near the city of Tiberius. It was near or at the place where Jesus fed the five thousand. Only John refers to the different areas of the Sea of Galilee by more specific names.
The Great Commission (Sunday, May 3, A.D. 33) {14-2} Day after the Second-first Sabbath
The date is an educated guess. It followed the encounter on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius and before they returned to Jerusalem for the Ascension. They met on a hill in Galilee. (Matthew 28:19-20). The apostles would almost immediately have to leave on the journey back to Jerusalem for the Ascension. But they made a side trip to a mountain in Galilee (Matthew 28:16). He met with His apostles and probably the about five hundred disciples (1 Corinthians 15:6), including Jesus brethren. There Jesus commissioned them to make disciples of all nations. At that time, they all bowed and worshiped Him.
The timing of the Ascension is related to the second Passover. The solar Passover in the second month was extended a second week, as had been done in Hezekiahs Passover (2 Chronicles 30:26). By both calendars, it was always thirty days between the fifteenth of the first month and the fifteenth of the second month. So Jesus departed from the earth as soon as the second week of solar Passover in the second month was completed, that was Thursday evening. So Jesus Ascension occurred at sundown, immediately following the end of the second week of the solar Passover in the second month. Therefore, from conception to death, resurrection, and ascension, all of Jesus life was linked to the Passover. Jesus would be back in heaven before the day was complete.
Jesus return will be in a Passover season. This return originally referred to Jesus return from the dead at His resurrection. Only His mother was there to witness that event. His return will be in the same manner as He left, but we are told to keep watch for His return because we dont know the day or the hour. Even if one knew the year of Jesus return, one still doesnt know which Passover Jesus will return on, so His return will be unexpected by most. There are six Passover events and Holy Thursday, making seven different periods each year Jesus could return to earth.
Jesus didnt say, Lo, I am with you always, and then immediately broke His promise. He is present in His Church in the form of the Eucharist.
Ten days later was Pentecost, a pilgrimage festival, the second of four first fruit celebrations, the first fruits of the wheat harvest. Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost had fully come. This day the Holy Spirit descended on the one hundred and twenty disciples. After Peter preached, three thousand disciples were baptized. There were men from every country under heaven (to spread the gospel as quickly as possible).
During Peters sermon, he mentions the pouring out of the Spirit and the signs of the sun turning dark and the moon to blood (Acts 2:18-20) as events they had witnessed. This confirms this date as shortly after the lunar eclipse in A.D. 33. It also shows that the pilgrims from distant lands came for Passover and stayed until Pentecost. It appears that God chose this time for the start of the Church because the wheat harvest represented the better grain (than the barley harvest that occurred right after Passover). It could also be that many Jews that came from out of the country came and celebrated Passover in the second month to shorten their stay in Jerusalem.
In these stories that follow the plot of Passover, there are many other important themes. One of the more important is the revelation of the Church, which is the Family of God, The Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven. The Exodus was the event that formed Israel into a cohesive groupa nation-a kingdom of Godthe Passover was their shared story. It was when God freed them from slavery. Each section advances our knowledge and understanding of the Church.
I combine many Church events here rather than putting a little in each event. Israel, called in Hebrew kahal, or assembly (Exodus 12:6), is often translated ecclesia in the Septuagint, usually translated church in English.
At the annunciation, Mary became the Queen Mother of the Church and the first to receive the Body of Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, a great treasure. The Church seems to be the way to collect future treasure. Many confuse wages and rewards, all will get their wages, and not all will get rewards.
The Church is the bride of Christ.
The magi reveal the King of the Kingdom (Matthew 2:2), the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
Jesus was Gods choice for the Lamb for His entire household; He redeemed His family.
Jesus was subject to His parents (Luke 2:51).
Jesus would provide wine at His hour. But those used to the old wine didnt want the new wine, and the new wine would destroy the container that held the old wine.
Peter[193]the first popeKeys to the kingdom that was control over what was to be binding on Christians (Matthew 16:19).
Nicodemusborn anothen meaning both born again and born from above, both necessary to see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3).
In Sychar, worship not here or in Jerusalembut true worshippers worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23). The Church isnt limited to a location. That was important because a single meeting location is impractical for a worldwide Church.
In Capernaum, blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, etc., not will be the kingdom.
The Catholic Church is Kingdom; we havent been waiting two thousand years for it to arrive. Jesus promised it, and He established the Kingdom before He left.
Peters bark (or boat) [represents the Church], a place of ministry, authoritative teaching (like the seat of Moses), and safety (Matthew 8:23 John 21:3). One sitting in the boat teaching represents the Churches teaching authority.
Roman centurion, a gentile (but not a pagan), was an honored member of the kingdom of heaven, etc. Heirs (chief priests, Pharisees, etc.) are thrown out (Matthew 8:11-12), so the church isnt national but international. Being a member of a particular nation is no guarantee of membership.
The four thousand gentile men glorified the God of Israel; they celebrated Passover uncircumcised, signifying that the Church could encompass that group.
Jesus said to Peter, upon this rock, I will build my Church; the king revealed (Matthew 16:18).
Jesus is the foundation, but so are the apostles starting with Peter. The Church needs eunuchs for the kingdom (Matthew 19:3). This statement informed the apostles on an area of affliction/self-denial they would be celibate.
The Church needs men who are holy and can deal with holy things. This was just as the Levitical priests were celibate when they ministered in the Temple. The Levitical priests were under a similar restriction; during the two weeks per year, they ministered in the Temple.
It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23). Why because a rich man is surrounded by the cares of this world, which frequently chokes off fruitfulness. Jesus promised conflict and division, but conflict can make one bitter or better.
Jesus wants the church to be better as a result of the conflict. The church revealed that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (children). Children know they are dependent; they know they cant make it independently.
Last Supper, the Eucharist instituted the Passover of the Kingdom that is the church.
Crucifixion allowed and founded the church.
Seven disciples together in Peters bark (John 21:2)
Jesus gave Peter the responsibility to shepherd, feed, and care for all His sheep and lambs.
Jesus gave the great commission to make all the nations into the kingdom of God.
Interestingly, the Churches calendar is solar, except as related to Easter, which directly affects the timing of Lent and the Easter season.
At Jesus command, the Church can accomplish great things without damaging their ability to accomplish more great things (because their nets didnt tear).
The ministry of Jesus, especially the Last Supper, crucifixion, and resurrection, is the Churchs shared story.
As the Exodus freed Israel from slavery, the resurrection freed Gods Family from slavery to sin.
Jesus entire ministry gives the Church the significant ministry of cleansing the House of God of leaven, cleansing the Church from sin.
God, who controls the number and length of months and weeks, picked certain days of the week and month according to His own purposes. This is an indication that dates of events may be important. Some thoughts, Jesus was born Sunday (1) 12/25/1 B.C.; One the number of unity, twelve the number of rule, and five squared of the number of grace. God rules by grace. Circumcised on Sunday 1/1/1; so unity, unity, unity, unity. Two the number of witnesses, Jesus was presented in the Temple on 2/2, and there were two witnesses to that act. As we have seen, the number three is solidly related to the Resurrection, the third day of the week, the third day of the third month. Jesus Resurrection was on the third day, and Lazarus was raised on the third day after Jesus heard about his illness. The third day after a solar Passover link to weddings (wedding at Cana, the woman at the well, and Jesus as the bridegroom on the cross). The number four means worldwide (four corners of the earth, four winds of heaven, etc.)[194] or catholic. Jesus death and Resurrection were centered on Passover Saturday, the fourth day of the fourth month, inviting the sense that that sacrifice was the covenant for the whole world.
It appears that the first two signs of Johns gospel happen on Tuesday evening during a Passover event. John only identified two signs the reader is left to interpret, which other events are signs. The first sign was changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana. The second sign was the remote healing of the noble mans son in Capernaum from Cana. The reason John didnt list all of these signs wasnt stated. Maybe he left it as an exercise to us. Probably it was that the other evangelists had adequately detailed them.
The working hypothesis is that Jesus performed signs at His hour. His hour is interpreted as being the evening of Passover. So signs in the gospel of John point to the new Passover events instituted by Jesus, culminating at the Eucharist. A second insight was all of these events were strongly tied to life. The water turned to wine was in the stone jars for purification, particularly from the impurity of death. Also, a wedding was a prelude to a new life (babies). Jesus told the nobleman, Your son will live.
The rest of the signs (not all from Johns gospel) are raising the son of the widow of Nain. The feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand. Both of the feeding miracles Jesus provides physical nourishment, extending physical life and prefiguring the fruit of the Tree of Life. The raising of Lazarus and, finally, the institution of the Eucharist.
The Scripture commanded not to drink the blood of an animal because life was in the blood. In Jesus case, there is a command that we must drink the Blood. The reason is similar but different because divine life is in the Blood. If one looks at the purpose of signs in Johns gospel, they were to show Jesus is the Christ and through believing we may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).
1. Solar and Official Passoverthe annunciation, conception, journey to Judea, and Marys visit to Elizabeth.
2. Official Passoverthe magi in Jerusalem and Bethlehem and then Jesus flight into Egypt.
3. Official Passovervisit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve.
4. Year A.D. 31 Adar lunar-solar Passoverthe baptism of Jesus apostles and Jesus identified as the Lamb of God and the first disciples join Jesus.
5. Adar solar PassoverTheir journey to Cana, the cross-ladder-highway-Lamb heavenly sign, the wedding, and Jesus changed water into wine.
6. Official Passover first of Jesus ministrycleansing the Temple and Jesus first public miracles
7. Solar PassoverJesus meets Nicodemus, baptism of Galilean pilgrims, the arrest of John the Baptist, the woman at the well, and the healing of the noblemans son.
8. Passover in the second monthJesus called apostles, preached the Sermon on the Mount and Plain. Jesus calmed a storm on the sea, drove legion into the sea. He forgave a paralytic, raised the daughter of Jairus, and gave sight to two blind men, and his men ate grain in a field on the Sabbath.
9. Second solar Passover Jesus calls His apostles, preaches parables, and raises the son of the widow of Nain.
10. Passover in the proper second monthweak Jesus during Pentecost and His return to Nazareth.
11. Year A.D. 32 Adar lunar-solar PassoverJohn the Baptist was martyred
12. Solar Passover Jesus learned of Johns death, fed 5000, walked on the sea, preached the Bread of Life sermon, and then journeyed to Tyre.
13. In the second week of the solar Passover, Jesus healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman, journeyed to the wilderness of the Decapolis, fed 4000 gentiles, and fled, ending up in Caesarea Philippi.
14. Official Passover, Peter identified Jesus as the Christ, and Jesus journeyed to the mountain and was transfigured.
15. Second solar Passover, Peter catches a fish with a four-drachma coin. Jesus journeyed to Perea, where He ministered.
16. Official second Passover Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.
17. Year A.D. 33 Adar solar Passover Jesus raises Lazarus
18. Solar Passover Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples.
19. Official Passover Jesus crucified and Resurrected, Emmaus walk and apostle ordination
20. Second solar PassoverJesus meets His disciples on the shore of the sea of Tiberius, the great commission, and the ascension (Two weeks long)
21. The second official Passoverno obvious evidence of celebration.
The life and ministry of Jesus were centered and focused on fulfilling the Passover. Jesus fulfilled every detail of the requirements for the Passover lamb, born when and where the lambs were born. He was correctly presented and accepted as a lamb at the Temple gates by a priest. He died in Jerusalem when the lambs were being sacrificed, etc. The signs in the heavens signaled the time of Jesus birth, ministry, death, and Resurrection. They did more than that; they identified Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who received the scepter of rule. They identified Him individually as the Lamb to be slain.[195] They identified the cross as the ladder to heaven and Jesus as the one opening the way on the evening of the solar Passover (a month early). Jesus not only kept the official Passover feasts, But He also kept the alternate Passover feasts both before and after the Passover, by both the official calendar and solar calendar. The way Jesus kept these feasts signaled that the purpose of the Exodus/Passover was to provide the framework that was the plot for the various stories of Jesus life and ministry. Jesus fulfilled the Passover by being the reason for the Passover. The elements of the Passover plot, when used, easily make a good story. So when Jesus kept the Passover requirements, it was a Passover so we can date those events.
The problem, the only viable years for a Friday crucifixion on the eve of the Passover were A.D. 30 and 33. If Jesus ministry was three years long, then the date for John the Baptist's ministry fits very well. He began to baptize about six months before he baptized Jesus in the fall of A.D. 29. The problem is we now have good evidence Jesus public ministry was only two years. Either this makes the ministry of John at least a year and a half, or it places the fifteenth year of Tiberius ending not before mid-August A.D. 30. One more piece of evidence is that Augustus died later than A.D. 14.
The second-first Sabbath, when properly understood, correctly placed in time Jesus ministry in and around Capernaum. Many of the large crowds encountered by Jesus were pilgrims gathering for and going to Jerusalem for a festival or returning to Galilee. From the earliest days of the Church, the two-year ministry has been proposed. Israelites were commanded to count the Sabbaths from the wave offering until the feast of Weeks. Passover could be celebrated in the second month under certain conditions. If one were counting from this second Passover, one would count the first Sabbath following the second Passover as the second-first Sabbath. This concept has escaped all chronologists of the ministry of Jesus, so they have missed this point.
The early weeks of Jesus' ministry come into focus when adequately understood. Jesus was active in ministry from the time of His first public appearance. He promptly chose His apostles. He was constantly on the run for His life. The evangelists record many details of Jesus first few months. In the three-year ministry, we are left with very few details of Jesus entire first year of ministry, and all those details are all from the gospel of John. Even if the interpretation of the second-first Sabbath is rejected, the logic of events happening as presented here is far more compelling than the standard three-year ministry. Luke 6:1 ties Jesus ministry in Capernaum to the Passover in the second month of Jesus first year of ministry.
What have we learned? We have strongly supported the view that Matthew was the chronological synoptic gospel. The two years of Jesus ministry were a Sabbath yearJubilee year pair, indicating what? All of Israel should have followed Jesus for two years. He wasnt seeking a harvest of His own at that time. He consistently left the crowds behind after only one or two days of ministry.
He prepared His disciples to reap the harvest; He didnt reap; He tended the crop. First Fruits/Easter was the start of a new epoch of harvest because there was no harvest of believers during the two previous years the entirety of Jesus public ministry. This doesnt exclude gathering the occasional disciple in the field. There were four First Fruits celebrations per year. The second First Fruits celebration was at Pentecost; it was when the harvest of men started.
We also learn that the events of His days led Jesus. When He was hungry, a ministry requiring fasting may be necessary to cast out unclean spirits. When Jesus was grieved and wanted time alone, but the crowds pursued Him, He allowed Himself to be stretched, and He ministered. His suffering empowered His ministry. We are told He learned obedience by what He suffered, that wasnt just during His passion, but also throughout His life. We have also concluded the solar Passover was very much a part of Jesus ministry. The Last Supper was a Passover and was on Tuesday evening. Jesus was crucified on Friday, the eve of the official Passoverboth were Passovers.
The raising of the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus emphasizes the number three in the Resurrection. They also witness to both the official Jewish and Roman calendars. The raising of the widows son happened while Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.
The timing of Jesus action, notably when He celebrated feasts associated with Passover, supported both a solar calendar and a lunar-solar calendar, but there were differences. The Dead Sea scrolls indicate the Essenes kept a solar calendar where the principal feasts started Wednesday. The statement by John that Jesus was the Lamb of God occurred on a Wednesday (Tuesday evening). The feeding of the five thousand coincided with the day of the solar Passover. It occurred one year before the Last Supper, on Tuesday evening. The feeding of the four thousand occurred on the following Tuesday evening, and that feast was celebrated with the gentiles. Jesus officially celebrated the official Passover in Jerusalem.
One unexpected observation was a series of Passover events one month before Passover, similar to the Passover in the second month. There were Passover events in the last month (the twelfth or thirteenth month) of the year herein called Adar Passover events. The Blessed Mothers request to deal with the lack of wine seems to institute an additional Passover event because it carried on in each of the two subsequent years.
Only on the solar Passover did Jesus ministered to the gentiles (Sychar, Tyre, and Sidon). Only on the solar Passover did Jesus serve special meals, never at any other time. Jesus did keep the official Passover when possible on the official Passover. Once on the official Passover in the second month because He traveled on the official Passover.
Many heavenly signs tied to Jesus were recorded or alluded to in the gospels. The star of Bethlehem was many linked signs pointing to Passover. Four signs occurred on the eve of or on the Passover. Jesus was to be a sign that was to be contradicted. The sign of Jesus was the Passover fulfillment. The religious leaders of Jesus day constantly contradicted Him. A hard heart can ignore all these signs and links. Two signs marking His birth and death include the sun and two signs the moon. The sun plays a part in all the signs. All signs with Venus, the Bright Morning Star, also had the other morning star (Mercury) present. The sun was darkened, and the moon turned to blood at Jesus birth and His death. And five signs have to do with the bright morning Star. Two of the signs are the Bright Morning Star with the fixed stars and three of the Bright Morning Star with the wandering Stars (two of these signs occurred in the evening).
The magi saw the Lion of the tribe of Judah receive a rulers staff between his feet and a scepter and His star as dictated to whom the scepter belonged. The golden scepter was then extended to Esther. At midnight on December 25, 1 B.C., Jesus was born on the darkest day and time of the year. On December 29, 1 B.C., four days later, the blood moon rose eclipsed at the horizon, and Josephus records it as a sign. It was Jesus due date. On the eighth day, 1 January A.D. 1, Jesus was circumcised, named, and shortly after that presented and accepted at the Temple as a Lamb for sacrifice. The magi came to visit his house on Passover 27 March A.D. 1.
On January 8, A.D. 31, Jesus was baptized. On March 4, A.D. 31, in the evening, there was a great sign in heaven, pointing to the person and work of Jesus. For two years, Jesus ministered, but the record we have received of His ministry is tied to the times of Passover. On 3 April A.D. 33, Jesus died on a cross as our Passover Lamb. That day the sun was darkened, and that evening, the moon was as blood. That sign pointed to fish representing the kingdom He established, the Catholic Church. That same Church continues to be the current manifestation of that Kingdom to this day because He didnt leave it, and the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it.
Everything written about Me must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). Maybe we should celebrate the Seder on the solar Passover to increase our understanding of and connection to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The fulfillment annulled the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant.
All Dates are Julian
The calendar changed in 45 B.C. It took 50 years to stabilize; 4 A.D. wasnt a leap year, so the days of the week are one day later Sunday vs. Saturday than they are by standard Julian calculation.
Month 4 April 1 B.C.
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
4 |
Wednesday |
5 |
Thursday |
6 |
Friday |
7 |
Saturday |
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Solar Passover |
1 |
Nisan 9 |
2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
Nisan 14 |
7 |
Passover Conception |
8 |
Wisdom 18:13-15 |
9 |
greet Elizabeth |
10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
Luke 1:26-39 |
15 |
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16 |
Luke 1:39-55 |
17 |
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18 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
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24 |
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25 |
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26 |
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27 |
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28 |
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29 |
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30 |
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31 |
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GAP IN CALENDAR
Month 12 December 1 B.C.
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Sunday |
2 |
Monday |
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Tuesday |
4 |
Wednesday |
5 |
Thursday |
6 |
Friday |
7 |
Saturday |
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1 |
Kislev 16 |
2 |
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3 |
Hanukkah |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
Kislev 25 Dedication |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
Kislev 30 |
16 |
‚ Tevet 1 |
17 |
8th & Last Day |
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18 |
Winter Solstice |
19 |
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20 |
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21 |
Journey Luke 2:4-5 |
22 |
Lunar eclipse |
23 |
Arrive Bethlehem |
24 |
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25 |
Jesus Born Luke 2:6-20 |
26 |
{10/10} |
27 |
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28 |
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29 |
Tevet 14 Blood Moon |
30 |
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31 |
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Month 1 January A.D. 1
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1 |
Sunday |
2 |
Monday |
3 |
Tuesday |
4 |
Wednesday |
5 |
Thursday |
6 |
Friday |
7 |
Saturday |
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1 |
Jesus Named/ Circumcised |
2 |
Luke 2:21 Tevet 17 |
3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
1/1/1/1 |
9 |
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10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
Tevet 29 |
14 |
‚Shevat 1 |
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15 |
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16 |
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17 |
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18 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
Num 18:15-16
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24 |
Jesus redeemed |
25 |
Luke 2:22 |
26 |
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27 |
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28 |
Shevat 15 |
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29 |
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30 |
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31 |
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Month 2 February A.D. 1
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
5 |
Thursday |
6 |
Friday |
7 |
Saturday |
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1 |
Shevat 19 |
2 |
Presentation in Temple |
3 |
Luke 2:22-38 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
Always 2/2 and {11/20} |
10 |
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11 |
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12 |
Shevat 29 |
13 |
‚Adar 1 |
14 |
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15 |
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16 |
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17 |
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18 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
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25 |
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26 |
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27 |
Adar 15 |
28 |
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Month 3 March A.D. 1
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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Adar 17 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
Adar 29 |
14‚ |
Abib/Nisan 1 |
15 |
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16 |
Lamb of God selection revealed |
17 |
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18 |
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19 |
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20 |
Nisan 7
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21 |
Magi follow star |
22 |
Matt 2:1-8 |
23 |
Magi at Herods palace |
24 |
Nisan 11 |
25 |
Nisan 12 |
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26 |
Nisan 13 Jesus in house |
27 |
Magi see star Matt 2:9-12 |
28 |
Passover Matt 2:13-18 |
29 |
Flight to Egypt |
30 |
unleavened bread 3 |
31 |
unleavened bread 4 Nisan 18 |
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John the Baptists ministry started in August or September A.D. 30 and lasted about 7 months to prepare the people for Jesus.
January A.D. 31 Julian calendar dates. To convert to Gregorian, subtract two days Monday, Jan 8 becomes Jan 6
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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Short days less distance traveled |
1 |
Jesus ~age 30 Luke 3:21-23 |
2 |
Tevet 17 |
3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
From Nazareth travel 50 miles |
8 |
Jesus Baptism Mark 1:9-11 |
9 |
Fast day 1 Mark 1:12-13 |
10 |
Fast day 2 |
11 |
Fast day 3 |
12 |
temptations Luke 4:2 |
13 |
Tevet 28* |
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14‚ |
Fast day 5 Tevet 29 |
15 |
Fast day 6 Shevat 1 |
16 |
Fast day 7 |
17 |
Fast day 8 |
18 |
Fast day 9 |
19 |
Fast day 10 |
20 |
Shevat 6 |
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21 |
Fast day 11 |
22 |
Fast day 12 |
23 |
Fast day 13 |
24 |
Fast day 14 |
25 |
Fast day 15 |
26 |
Fast day 16 |
27 |
Shevat 13 |
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28 |
Fast day 17 |
29 |
Fast day 18 |
30 |
Fast day 19 |
31 |
Fast day 20 |
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*Sabbaths were feast days Lev 23:2-3, fasting wasnt permitted on feast days Neh 8:9-10 see Josephus for interpretation.
February A.D. 31 Assumes Bethany beyond the Jordan where John baptized was ~20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee.
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
Fast day 21 |
2 |
Fast day 22 |
3 |
Shevat 20 |
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4 |
Fast day 23 |
5 |
Fast day 24 |
6 |
Fast day 25 |
7 |
Fast day 26 |
8 |
Fast day 27 |
9 |
Fast day 28 |
10 |
Shevat 27 |
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11 |
Fast day 29 Shevat 28 |
12‚ |
Fast day 30 Shevat 29 |
13 |
Fast day 31 Shevat 30 |
14 |
Fast day 32 Adar 1 |
15 |
Fast day 33 Adar 2 |
16 |
Fast day 34 Luke 4:2-13 |
17 |
Adar 4 |
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18 |
Fast day 35 |
19 |
Fast day 36 |
20 |
Fast day 37 |
21 |
Adar 8 |
22 |
Fast day 39 |
23 |
Temptation |
24 |
Angels |
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25 |
Disciples travel to John |
26 |
disciples baptized |
27 |
Purim Est 10:13 John 1:19-28 |
28 |
Lamb of God John 1:29-34 |
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Purim day 2 |
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Mark 1:13 Mat 4:2-10 |
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refresh Jesus Mat 4:11 |
March A.D. 31 #Matthew, Mark & Lukes gospels skip from the Temptation to Johns arrest about April 5.
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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Jesus back to John |
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travel 40 miles |
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1st Sign Cana |
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Adar 15 |
1 |
1st Disciples John 1:35-39 |
2 |
Disciple Peter John 1:40-2 |
3 * |
More disciples John 1:43-51 |
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4 |
LambofGod.htm |
5 |
Wedding John 2:1-2 |
6˜ |
Water to wine John 2:3-11 |
7 |
Adar 22 |
8 |
wedding 3 Adar 23 |
9 |
wedding 4 Adar 24 |
10 |
wedding 5 Adar 25 |
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11 |
Adar solar Passover |
12 |
wedding 7 Adar 27 |
13 |
travel 18 mi. John 2:12 |
14‚ |
Capernaum Adar 29 |
15 |
postponed Nisan 1 new years day |
16 |
Nisan 2 |
17 |
Nisan 3 |
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18 |
To Jerusalem John 2:13 |
19 |
Nisan 5 |
20 |
travel 100 miles
Nisan 6 |
21 |
Nisan 7 |
22 |
Nisan 8 |
23 |
Vernal Equinox Nisan 9 |
24 |
Nisan 10 |
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25 |
Temple Cleansed |
26 |
John 2:14-22 |
27 |
Nisan 13 |
28 |
public miracles John 2:23-25 |
29 |
Passover Nisan 15 |
30 |
Unleavened 2 Nisan 16 |
31 |
Unleavened 3 Nisan 17 |
April A.D. 31 *John the Baptist served as a priest in his course, from March 3 through March 10, 31.
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
Omer 1 |
2 |
Unleavened 5 Nisan 19 |
3 |
Nicodemus John 3:1-21 |
4 |
Solar Passover Nisan 21 |
5 |
Baptizing John 3:22-4:2 |
6˜ |
John arrested Woman at well |
7 |
John 4:3 Sychar |
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8 |
Sychar John 4:4-43 Nisan 25 |
9 |
Passover recent Galilee John 4:45 Luke 4:14-15 |
10 |
7 PM Cana John 4:46-54 2nd Sign |
11 |
Luke 4:23 John 4:46 |
12‚ |
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13 |
Mark 1:14 Matt 4:12 Nisan 30 |
14 |
Nazareth # Luke 4:16-30 Iyar 1 |
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15 |
travel & preach Mark 1:14-15 |
16 |
Iyar 3 |
17 |
Iyar 4 |
18 |
Disciples go fishing? |
19 |
Iyar 6 |
20 |
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21 |
Year of the Lords favor |
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22 |
Luke 4:42-43 Mark 1:35-39 Omer 4 |
23 |
Jesus sleeps Calms Storm |
24 |
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25 |
Iyar 12 |
26 |
Luke 5:1-11 |
27 |
1st Disciples Matt 4:18-22 Mark 1:16-20 |
28 |
Capernaum# Sermon on Mount Matt 5:1-8:17 |
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29 |
2nd Passover |
30 |
Gadarene demoniac |
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Matt 9:1-8 |
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Mark 2:13-22 |
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Mk 2:23-28 |
# Mark 1:21-34; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 4:31-41; Luke 5:12-16; Luke 6:1-9
May A.D. 31 #Jesus announces the Sabbath/Jubilee year pair See Leviticus 25:4, 8-9, 21-22.
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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At night returns to Capernaum
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1 |
Luke 5:17-26 Mark 2:1-12 |
2 |
heals Paralytic calls Matthew
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3 |
raise Jairus daughter Mark 3:13-19 |
4 |
2nd Solar Pasch 12 Apostles Luke 6:12-7:10 |
5 |
Grain in fields 2nd 1st Sabbath Luke 6:1-5 |
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6 |
Omer 6 Luke 8:5-15 |
7 |
Iyar 24 |
8 |
Luke 7:11-16 soon afterwards |
9 |
Luke 5:27-39 Matt 9:1-8 |
10 |
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11 |
Matt 12:9-15 Mark 3:1-6 |
12 ‚ |
Withered hand Luke 6:6-11 |
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13 |
Parable Sower Matt 12:15-13:51 |
14 |
Joseph died |
15 |
Widow of Nain Sivan 3 {3-3} |
16 |
travel 65 miles News in Judea Luke 7:17 |
17 |
Johns disciples Luke 7:18-35 Many cured |
18 |
Sivan 6 |
19 |
Sivan 7 |
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20 |
Feast of Weeks John 5:1 |
21 |
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22 |
Sivan 10 |
23 |
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24 |
Jesus' feet washed Luke 7:36-50 |
25 |
Johns ministry over John 5:33-35 |
26 |
heals invalid John 5:2-47 |
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27 |
Sivan 15 |
28 |
Sivan 16 |
29 |
Sivan 17 |
30 |
Sivan 18 |
31 |
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An interlude between Pentecost 31 and Passover 32
Mark 6:7-11; Matt 10:1-42; Luke 9:1 8 spans from June 31 to Feb 32 went from town to town and then sent the twelve out.
June A.D. 31
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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Sivan 19 |
1 |
Nazareth Matt 13:54-58 |
2 |
Nazareth Mark 6:1-6 |
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3 |
From town to |
4 |
town Luke 8:1 |
5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
‚ |
11 |
Sivan 30 |
12 |
Tammuz 1 |
13 |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 |
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17 |
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18 |
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19 |
8 |
20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
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24 |
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25 |
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26 |
15 |
27 |
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28 |
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29 |
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30 |
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July A.D. 31
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
22 |
4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
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10 |
‚ Tammuz 29 |
11 |
Ab 1 |
12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 |
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17 |
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18 |
Ab 8 |
19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
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24 |
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25 |
Ab 15 |
26 |
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27 |
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28 |
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29 |
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30 |
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31 |
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August A.D. 31
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
Ab 22 |
2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
Ab 29 |
9 |
‚ Ab 30 |
10 |
Elul 1 |
11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 |
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17 |
8 |
18 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
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23 |
Elul 14 |
24 |
15 |
25 |
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26 |
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27 |
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28 |
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29 |
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30 |
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31 |
22 |
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September A.D. 31
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
‚ Elul 29 |
8 |
Tishri 1 |
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9 |
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10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
Jerusalem |
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16 |
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17 |
Yom Kippur Tishri 10 |
18 |
Jubilee Year
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
Tabernacles Tishri 15 |
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23 |
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24 |
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25 |
Autumnal |
26 |
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27 |
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28 |
Tishri 21 |
29 |
Tishri 22 |
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30 |
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equinox |
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October A.D. 31
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
‚ Tishri 30 |
8 |
Bul 1 |
9 |
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10 |
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11 |
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12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
Bul 8 |
16 |
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17 |
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18 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
Bul 15 |
23 |
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24 |
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25 |
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26 |
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27 |
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28 |
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29 |
Bul 22 |
30 |
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31 |
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GAP IN CALENDAR (nothing recorded known to happen during this period)
March A.D. 32 Ve Adar or Adar II (an intercalary month)
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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February 29 |
1 |
Adar 29 |
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2‚ |
Adar II 1 |
3 |
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4 |
Adar II 3 |
5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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8 |
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9 |
Adar II 8 Adar Passover |
10 |
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11 |
Herods party? |
12 |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 |
Death John the Baptist |
17 |
Adar II 16 |
18 |
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19 |
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20 |
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21 |
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22 |
Vernal Equinox |
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23 |
Matt 14:1-12; Luke 9:7-9 Mark 6:14-29 |
24 |
report John dead |
25 |
Adar II 24 |
26 |
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27 |
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28 |
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29 |
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30 |
Green grass Mark 6:39 |
31‚ |
John 6:4 Nisan 1 Passover Near |
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Mat 14:21; Mark 6:1; Luke 9:10 |
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John has a big gap before John 6:1 from May A.D. 31 until April A.D. 32 emphasizing the Eucharist in John 6.
April A.D. 32
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Sunday |
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Monday |
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Tuesday |
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Wednesday |
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Thursday |
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Friday |
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Saturday |
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1 |
5000* Fed all four gospels |
2 |
Solar Passover Walks on Water |
3 |
Bread of Life John 6:22-71 |
4˜ |
Near Tyre Mark 7:24-30 |
5 |
Nisan 6 |
|
6 |
travel 50 miles |
7 |
Mark 7:31-37 Mark 8:1-9 Matt 15:29-39 |
8 |
4000 Gentiles w/ Jesus 3 days |
9 |
Dalmanutha Mark 8:10-21 or 2nd week Pasch |
10 |
Bethsaida Mark 8: 22-26
|
11˜ |
Matt 15:21-28 |
12 |
Nisan 13 |
|
13 |
Caesarea Philippi Matt 16:13-28 |
14 |
Passover Mark 8:31-33 |
15 |
travel 100 miles
|
16 |
Matt 15:39-16:12 |
17 |
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18 |
Climbing Mt. Nebo |
19 |
Nisan 20 |
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20 |
21 |
Large crowd Luke 9:37 |
22 |
Nisan 30 |
23 |
travel in secret Mark 9:31 |
24 |
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25 |
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26 |
Nisan 27 |
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27 |