Dr. Couch, on what day was Christ crucified?
ANSWER: No one has been able to question the dating of Dr. Harold Hoehner in his classic book THE CHRONOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST (Zondervan). Dr. Hoehner shared with me that when he finished the book, he shared his research with a group of scholars from Cambridge University. They could offer no criticism because his work was flawless with the best research available.
He wrote that after the Lord was tried by the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod Antipas, and Pilate again, (Matt. 27:1-30; Mark 15:1-19; Luke 22:66-23:25), Jesus was then led to the cross and crucified at 9:00 a.m. And died at 3:00 p.m. And was buried later that day (John 19:16-42). He was the Paschal Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) who died at the time when the Israelites were sacrificing their own lambs.
He died on Friday, Nisan 14, at 3:00 p.m. One must now determine which year between the extremes of A.D. 26 and A.D. 36 is the most plausible as the year of His crucifixion. There have been several studies in this, and their conclusions are that the only possible times Nisan 14 fell on Friday were in the years of A.D. 27, 30, 33, and 36. Of these A.D. 27 is the least likely astronomically. In that year it is probable that Nisan 14 fell on Thursday rather than Friday. The year of A.D. 30 has also been debated, but it is reasonably certain that Nisan 14 was a Friday that year.
In conclusion, then, the calculations of astronomers would limit the probable years of Christ's crucifixion on Friday, Nisan 14, to the years 30, 33, and 36, with A.D. 27 as an unlikely possibility.
You need to purchase the book mentioned above because it is the best ever written on the subject, but also, it is the best work on Daniel's Seventy Weeks as well.
Thanks for asking.
--Dr. Mal Couch(2/12)
ANSWER: No one has been able to question the dating of Dr. Harold Hoehner in his classic book THE CHRONOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST (Zondervan). Dr. Hoehner shared with me that when he finished the book, he shared his research with a group of scholars from Cambridge University. They could offer no criticism because his work was flawless with the best research available.
He wrote that after the Lord was tried by the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod Antipas, and Pilate again, (Matt. 27:1-30; Mark 15:1-19; Luke 22:66-23:25), Jesus was then led to the cross and crucified at 9:00 a.m. And died at 3:00 p.m. And was buried later that day (John 19:16-42). He was the Paschal Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7) who died at the time when the Israelites were sacrificing their own lambs.
He died on Friday, Nisan 14, at 3:00 p.m. One must now determine which year between the extremes of A.D. 26 and A.D. 36 is the most plausible as the year of His crucifixion. There have been several studies in this, and their conclusions are that the only possible times Nisan 14 fell on Friday were in the years of A.D. 27, 30, 33, and 36. Of these A.D. 27 is the least likely astronomically. In that year it is probable that Nisan 14 fell on Thursday rather than Friday. The year of A.D. 30 has also been debated, but it is reasonably certain that Nisan 14 was a Friday that year.
In conclusion, then, the calculations of astronomers would limit the probable years of Christ's crucifixion on Friday, Nisan 14, to the years 30, 33, and 36, with A.D. 27 as an unlikely possibility.
You need to purchase the book mentioned above because it is the best ever written on the subject, but also, it is the best work on Daniel's Seventy Weeks as well.
Thanks for asking.
--Dr. Mal Couch(2/12)
