Bible-era earthquake reveals year of Jesus' crucifixion

[billym]

Bible-era earthquake reveals year of Jesus' crucifixion | Fox News

Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday April 3, 33 A.D.
The latest investigation, reported in the journal International Geology Review, focused on earthquake activity at the Dead Sea, located 13 miles from Jerusalem. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 27, mentions that an earthquake coincided with the crucifixion:


Read more: Bible-era earthquake reveals year of Jesus' crucifixion | Fox News

[mattfivefour]

Interesting, though I would want to know what other dates they had figured out before settling on 33 AD.

[spinney62]

Well if Jesus was crucified on Friday then Jesus was a liar because He said in Mat 12:40 "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So praise God His word is true and Jesus is no liar as Paul said in Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;

[Lynn]

Yeah, I don't think anybody here relies on Fox News for 'accurate' reporting regarding anything that has already been recorded by God Himself in His Word.

[JC1949]

Yeah, I don't think anybody here relies on Fox News for 'accurate' reporting regarding anything that has already been recorded by God Himself in His Word.

I remember Jesus saying that Herod was a "FOX"!!!! ah ah

[readytogo]

Well if Jesus was crucified on Friday then Jesus was a liar because He said in Mat 12:40 "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So praise God His word is true and Jesus is no liar as Paul said in Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;

The following is an excerpt from Jack Kelley with his explanation which is correct. The full article can be read at the link below.

Because in Jewish reckoning the night precedes the day, at sundown it became Friday the 15th, night one, and the special Sabbath John mentioned began (John 19:31). At sunrise it was Friday day, day two. The next sundown brought Saturday night the 16th, night two, and the regular Sabbath began. As of sunrise it was Saturday day, day three. At sundown on Saturday it became Sunday night the 17th, night three, and sometime before sunrise Jesus rose from the tomb. Three days and three nights. When the women arrived at sunrise to anoint His body, He was already gone.

Solving the Three Day Three Night Mystery | GraceThruFaith

[Cricket55]

I was just reading today the the viewers of Fox News were least informed also.

[livin_in_the_Son]

I'm with Matt 5:4, there could have been many earthquakes that year, even in the designated area....how did they choose that date?

Even with the evidence suggested, with the 'astronomical date-setting' going on....there could have been more than two earthquakes in that area...look at how many earthquakes are measured everyday....to imply only two happened in one area in 90 years is kinda hard to swallow.

[spinney62]

Uh what? Ready to go are you saying that Jesus was crucifird on Thursday? If so I agree. Because Friday was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (special Sabboth). From Friday to Sunday there are two nights. No mater how you slice it you can't get three nights from Friday to Sunday morning.

[readytogo]

Uh what? Ready to go are you saying that Jesus was crucifird on Thursday? If so I agree. Because Friday was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (special Sabboth). From Friday to Sunday there are two nights. No mater how you slice it you can't get three nights from Friday to Sunday morning.

On the Jewish calendar, days go from sundown to sundown which is very confusing to the rest of us (particularly when counting days in the grave). Passover lasted a week for the Jews in the month of Nisan with them choosing their lamb on the 10th day of Nisan. This was sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday in 32AD. The lamb would be put "on display" for a few days to show that this was their choice to be the Passover lamb although the actual sacrifice of the lamb wouldn't take place until the 14th of Nisan. The 14th of Nisan in that year was from sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday. During this time Jesus, the ultimate Passover lamb, held the Last Supper, prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, was arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified. He had to be put into the grave before sunset which began the 15th of Nisan-the Feast of Unleavened bread which as you pointed out was a special Sabbath. The 15th of Nisan was the first full day and night that Jesus spent in the grave. This was Wednesday sundown to sundown on Thurday. Day 2 in the grave (16th of Nisan) was from sundown Thursday to sundown Friday. The 17th of Nisan (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) was His third day in the grave. He was therefore in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights like He'd prophesied. Sometime during the night, which would make it the 18th of Nisan, He arose from the dead. (The sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday) was the 18th day of Nisan which was the Feast of Firstfruits, making Jesus the first-fruits of all those who die and will be resurrected to live forever.

[GlennO]

Too bad all only the "News" articles simply re-gurge the abstract of the professional geology journals. Not much meat on those bones....

[spinney62]

On the Jewish calendar, days go from sundown to sundown which is very confusing to the rest of us (particularly when counting days in the grave). Passover lasted a week for the Jews in the month of Nisan with them choosing their lamb on the 10th day of Nisan. This was sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday in 32AD. The lamb would be put "on display" for a few days to show that this was their choice to be the Passover lamb although the actual sacrifice of the lamb wouldn't take place until the 14th of Nisan. The 14th of Nisan in that year was from sundown Tuesday to sundown Wednesday. During this time Jesus, the ultimate Passover lamb, held the Last Supper, prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, was arrested, tried, convicted, and crucified. He had to be put into the grave before sunset which began the 15th of Nisan-the Feast of Unleavened bread which as you pointed out was a special Sabbath. The 15th of Nisan was the first full day and night that Jesus spent in the grave. This was Wednesday sundown to sundown on Thurday. Day 2 in the grave (16th of Nisan) was from sundown Thursday to sundown Friday. The 17th of Nisan (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) was His third day in the grave. He was therefore in the grave for 3 days and 3 nights like He'd prophesied. Sometime during the night, which would make it the 18th of Nisan, He arose from the dead. (The sundown Saturday to sundown Sunday) was the 18th day of Nisan which was the Feast of Firstfruits, making Jesus the first-fruits of all those who die and will be resurrected to live forever.

So you are saying that Jesus arose on the fourth day Sunday? Even if it was Sat night that was the start of the fourth day, my Bible says he saw no corruption and arose on the third day not the fourth. Think about it wed to sun is 4 days if Crucifiction day wed then Night/day one thurs --- night/day two fri --- night/day three sat --- night/day four sun Did He arise Sunday or not?

[twerpv]

Jesus is NOT a liar. God's ways are not man's ways. A day is like a thousand years, and a thousand...well you get the idea. Fact is the measurement of time and space is not relevant (in my opinion). It was 3 and 3, no matter how you slice it.

[mattfivefour]

This argument is getting silly. First of all, technically it is impossible to leave somewhere during a day, spend three full days and three full nights anywhere and then return on the third day. Simple math and logic indicate that three days are separated by only two nights. To spend three days and three nights somewhere would require leaving at the exact point where the first night begins and then returning at the same time at the end of the third day. This does not match scriptural accounts. Or, conversely, it would mean leaving at the point where the first day begins and returning at the same time three days later at the very end of the third night. This also does not match the scriptural accounts.

The problem is not that the scriptural accounts are wrong but that our modern day understanding of what is meant by them is wrong. In order to correctly determine what is meant in these passages of scripture, we need to understand three things. First, in ancient Hebrew thought, ANY part of a day was counted as a whole day. Second, every new day officially began at sundown the evening before. Third, expressions such as "a night and a day" simply meant that the period an individual was speaking of contained some daylight hours and some hours before daylight. With those three simple facts in mind, it is easy to understand what Christ meant by three days and three nights.

Jesus was crucified on the day of the preparation of the Passover (John 19:14,42; Matthew 27:62-63), in other words, the 24 hour period prior to the start of the 14th of Nissan. Let us presume for the sake of discussion that Jesus was crucified in 30 AD. This date accords well with the date of his birth which, from historical events, had to be between 2 and 4 BC.) The 14th of Nissan in 30 AD was a Friday. Therefore the day of preparation was Thursday. Christ died at 3 in the afternoon on the day he was crucified (Matthew 27:46-50), therefore that is considered the first day. Sundown Thursday to sundown Friday would be the second day. Sundown Friday to sundown Saturday would be the third day. The Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday but because it would have been pitch black out (there being only the first sliver of the new moon) Mary had to wait until the crack of dawn on Sunday morning to go to the tomb. But Christ had already risen before that; presumably He could have risen as early as just after sundown on Saturday evening yet because of the Sabbath restrictions on travel and work nobody on earth would have known until Mary arrived to care for his body the next morning. Clearly his rising had to have been a lot early than dawn as the Roman soldiers had departed the tomb before Mary arrived at dawn.

Now, the only other possible date for the crucifixion is 33 AD. In this year the 14th Nissan fell on the Sabbath, therefore it began at sundown on Friday. From sundown thrusday to sundown Friday was the day of preparation. Thus, Jesus would have died at 3 pm on Friday afternoon. That would have been counted as the first day. From sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday was the Sabbath day and counted as day two. Sundown Saturday began the start of the third day by Jewish reckoning. As we discussed above, Christ clearly rose sometime on that third day, but prior to the dawn when Mary arrived.

Both of those scenarios (and ONLY those scenarios) accord both with scripture and with Jewish timekeeping. So Jesus was either crucified on 13th Nissan 30 AD or 33 AD. Either way, by Jewish reckoning, He was in the grave for three days and nights (though to my way of thinking the timings of the year 30 fit more exactly than the timings of the year 33. Nonetheless, regardless of which exact year it was, we know it happened both from the Bible and from extra-Biblical accounts by secular historians of the day. In fact the life, death and resurrection of Jesus is the best attested fact in history. We have more contemporary and nearly-contemporary accounts of his existence than we do of any other ancient historical figure. Nobody doubts the existence of Alexander the Great or or Socrates, yet we have far more reliable—and, most importantly, contemporary—accounts of Christ's life than we do for those people.

In any case, let's not continue to argue about the exact day of the week when He was crucified. It does not matter. That He died for our sins and rose again three days (by ancient Jewish reckoning) later is a plain fact of history. And that in the Person of the Holy Spirit He indwells each person who has repented of their wickedness and believes He is who He says He is and did (and does) what He said He did is all the proof we need. The changes inside us as a result of His new life implanted in us at conversion, and the testimony of the Scriptures all bear further witness to His reality.