The Day and Time of Jesus' Death

The Gospel of Mark vs. the Gospel of John

The Account in Mark 14-15

See Mark 15:33-42 below***
Jesus Dies at 3:00 P.M. in the afternoon
Friday, the Day of Preparation before the Sabbath,
Friday that Year was also the Day of Passover, so
Thursday was the Day of Preparation for the Passover.
Jesus' Death according to Mark 15:33-47

On Thursday afternoon,
Day of Preparation of the Passover,
the Day before the Day of Passover,
which began at Sundown according to the Hebrew Calendar,
Jesus' Disciples Prepared the Passover Meal.

14:12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread,
when the Passover lamb is sacrificed,
his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and make
the preparations for you to eat the Passover?"
14:13 So he sent two of his disciples . . .
14:16 So the disciples set out and went to the city . . .
and they prepared the Passover meal.

On the Evening of the Same Day,
Still Thursday according to our Calendar,
but the Beginning of the Day of Passover,
Friday, according to the Hebrew Calendar,
Jesus Institutes the Eucharist at the Last Supper,
A Passover Meal, Using Unleavened Bread.

14:17 When it was evening, he came with the twelve.
14:18 And when they had taken their places and were eating . . .
14:22 While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread,
and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them,
and said, "Take; this is my body."
14:23 Then he took a cup,
and after giving thanks he gave it to them,
and all of them drank from it.
14:24 He said to them,
"This is my blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many . . .

Later that Same Evening,
Still Thursday according to our Calender,
but Now Friday, Passover Day
according to the Hebrew Calendar,
after the Passover Meal,
Jesus and the Apostles Go to the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus is Arrested, Taken to the
Sanhedrin, Tried, and Found Guilty.

14:26 When they had sung the hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives . . .
14:32 They went to a place called Gethsemane . . .
14:43 Immediately, while he was still speaking,
Judas, one of the twelve, arrived;
and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs,
from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders . . .
14:53 They took Jesus to the high priest;
and all the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes were assembled . . .
14:55 Now the chief priests and the whole council
were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death . . . 
14:63 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said,
"Why do we still need witnesses?
14:64 You have heard his blasphemy! What is your decision?"
All of them condemned him as deserving death.

The Next Morning, now Friday
according to Both Our Calendar
and the Hebrew Calendar,
Still the Day of Passover,
High Priests Send Jesus to Pontius Pilate to be Executed.

15:1 As soon as it was morning,
the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council.
They bound Jesus, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.
15:2 Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
He answered him, "You say so."
15:3 Then the chief priests accused him of many things.
15:4 Pilate asked him again, "Have you no answer?
See how many charges they bring against you."
15:5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed . . .

That Same Friday Morning,
Still the Day of Passover,
Jesus is Crucified at 9:00 A.M. (third hour)

15:15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas for them;
and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified . . .
15:22 Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha
(which means the place of a skull).
15:23 And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.
15:24 And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them,
casting lots to decide what each should take.
15:25 It was the Third Hour when they crucified him.

***(return) Jesus is on the cross that Friday
from 9:00 A.M. (third hour) until 3:00 P.M. (ninth hour),
Jesus dies at 3:00 P.M.; Joseph of Arimathea buries him.

15:33 Now when the sixth hour had come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated,
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” . . .
15:37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last . . .
15:42 Now when evening had come,
because it was the Preparation Day,
that is, the day before the Sabbath . . .

Jesus' Death according to Mark 15:33-47

The Account in John 11-19

On Saturday, Six Days before the Passover,
Jesus is in Bethany.
(But does John's math add up? See 19:31, 42 below)

11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near,
and many went up from the country to Jerusalem
before the Passover to purify themselves.
11:56 They were looking for Jesus and
were asking one another as they stood in the temple,
"What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?"
11:57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders
that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know,
so that they might arrest him.
12:1 Six days before the Passover
Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus,
whom he had raised from the dead.

The Next Day, Palm Sunday(?), Jesus Enters Jerusalem.

12:12 The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival
heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
12:13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord--the King of Israel!"
12:14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it; as it is written:
12:15 "Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion.
Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!"

On an Unspecified Evening before the Passover,
but Probably Thursday (See 19:31, 42 below),
Jesus has his Last Supper with his Disciples.
He Washes their Feet, but does NOT Institute the Eucharist.
Instead he Identifies Judas Iscariot as his Betrayor
by Handing him Bread dipped in a Dish of Wine.
This is the Equivalent of the Institution of the Eucharist
in the Gospel of John.

13:1 Now before the festival of the Passover,
Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
13:2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him.
And during supper
13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands,
and that he had come from God and was going to God,
13:4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.
13:5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet
and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him . . .
13:12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe,
and had returned to the table, he said to them,
"Do you know what I have done to you?" . . .
13:21 After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared,
"Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me."
13:22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking.
13:23 One of his disciples--the one whom Jesus loved--was reclining next to him;
13:24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.
13:25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
13:26 Jesus answered,
"It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread
when I have dipped it in the dish.
"So when he had dipped the piece of bread,
he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.
13:27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him.
Jesus said to him, "Do quickly what you are going to do."
13:28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.
13:29 Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him,
"Buy what we need for the festival"; or, that he should give something to the poor.
13:30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out.
And it was night.

Later that Night, (Thursday?)
after the Non-Passover Last Supper,
Jesus Goes out to the Kidron Valley, is Arrested
and is Taken First to the Priest Annas,
then to the High Priest Caiaphas.

18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words,
[Chapters 14-17 Four Chapters of Words,
but NO Institution of the Eucharist]
he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered . . .
18:3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers
together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees,
and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons . . .
18:12 So the soldiers, their officer,
and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him.
18:13 First they took him to Annas,
who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year . . .
18:24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest . . .

The Next Morning, Friday,
Jesus is Taken from Caiaphas to Pontius Pilate.
Still before the Day of Passover (Saturday) (See Mark 15:42 above),
which would Begin that Evening
according to the Hebrew Calendar.
The Priests Still had not eaten the Passover Meal.

18:28 Then they (the Priests)
took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters.
It was early in the morning.
They themselves did not enter the headquarters,
so as to avoid ritual defilement
and to be able to eat the Passover.

Jesus is Crucified after the Sixth Hour (Noon - See Mark 15:25 above),
on Friday, the Day of Preparation BEFORE the Passover,
which seems to be Saturday (See 19:31, 42 below).

19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover;
and it was about the sixth hour.
He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!"
19:15 They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!"
Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?"
The chief priests answered, "We have no king but the emperor."
19:16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus;
19:17 and carrying the cross by himself,
he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull,
which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
19:18 There they crucified him,
and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
19:19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross.
It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."

Jesus is Taken down from the Cross and Buried on Friday, 
Specified as the Day of Preparation, the Day before Saturday,
which seems also to be the Day of the Passover (See 19:31, 42 below).
But the Burial of Jesus is Hurried
not only because of the Coming Passover,
but also because of the Coming Sabbath Day,
which is described as "a day of great solemnity"
because it is both a Sabbath and the Passover.

19:28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished,
he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty."
19:29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there.
So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.
19:30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished."
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, (Friday)
the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the Sabbath,
especially because that Sabbath was a day of great solemnity.
So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed . . .
19:40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths,
according to the burial custom of the Jews.
19:41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified,
and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.
19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, (Friday)
and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
(return) (return2)

Mary Magdalene Discovers the Empty Tomb of Jesus
on the Day after the Sabbath, the First Day of the Week. (Sunday)

20:1 Early on the first day of the week,
while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and
saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb . . .
20:19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week,
and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

A Comparison of the Time of Jesus' Death in Mark and John

Which of the Two Gospels is Changing Historical Fact to Convey Theological "Truth?"
Or Maybe Both of them Are . . .

Does Mark Change the Last Supper into a Passover Meal
to Show that Jesus Instituted the Eucharist at the Passover Meal?

Or does John Change the Last Supper from a Passover Meal into a Regular Dinner
in order to Promote the Idea that Jesus was the "Lamb of God" (John 1:29, 36)
who was Killed at the Same Time that the Jewish Priests
were Slaughtering the Passover Lambs on the Afternoon before the Passover?

INTERESTING FACT: One of the main reasons that the Eastern and Western halves of the Orthodox Catholic Christian Church Excommunicated each other one thousand years after these events was that the Eastern Church, following the Gospel of John, was (and still is) using Leavened Bread in its holy communion, while the Western Church, following the Gospel of Mark, was (and still is) using Unleavened Bread (wafers) in its holy communion. To this Day the Two Churches are Still Not in Communion with each other. The Great Schism