Was Jesus crucified in 32 AD or 33 AD? It’s important to know because much of the timeline of eschatology is tied to the date of Jesus’ death. Most Bible scholars believe Jesus died on Friday April 3rd in the year 33AD. However, there are a significant number of historians who believe Jesus died one year earlier in 32 AD. Let’s examine the evidence and see where it leads us. Lets start with the evidence for 33 AD since I’m a believer in this date. Historical records show Jesus died during the priesthood of Caiaphas who served as high priest from 18 AD to 36 AD. According to the Bible and Roman records Pontius Pilate was the governor of Judea who had Jesus crucified and he served from 26 AD to 36 AD. Scripture also says the ministry of Jesus was after the 15th year of the rule of the Roman emperor Tiberius Caesar which would be 29 AD.
We’ve narrowed the dates of Jesus’ crucifixion to between 29 AD and 36 AD. Scripture says Jesus was crucified on a Friday morning at 9:00 AM and he died at precisely 3:00 PM with Passover officially starting at sundown Friday, the same day he was crucified. Jewish festivals are based on lunar cycles so the actual start date for festivals varies from year to year. Between the years 29 AD and 36 AD Passover started on a Friday only in 30 AD and 33 AD. 30 AD for the date of Jesus’ death is out because if Jesus started his ministry after 29 AD and it lasted 3 1/2 years then that pushes the date of Jesus’ crucifixion well past 30 AD and even past 32 AD. The only possible date for Jesus’ crucifixion is 33 AD.
What other evidence do we have? Scripture says there was darkness for three hours after Jesus died and there was a great earthquake. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) maintains a database of historic earthquakes. From 1 AD to 50 AD only one significant earthquake occurred in Israel and it happened in 33 AD according to five sources. On April 3, 33, five planets aligned to form what looked like Jesus on the cross which occurs once every 333 years. The prophet Joel foretold that when Christ died there would be three hours of darkness and there would be a blood moon. It just so happened that on the day Jesus died there was a partial lunar eclipse that lasted three hours and because it was low on the horizon it made the moon appear red.
What’s also amazing is the prominence of the number 3 in regards to the death of Jesus. The number 3 means completeness, but to a lesser degree than 7. Jesus prayed 3 times in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was placed on the cross at the 3rd hour and died at 3 PM. There was 3 hours of darkness. Jesus was in the earth 3 days and 3 nights. Jesus died on April 3, 33 at age 33. The planetary alignment that day occurs every 333 years. The lunar eclipse lasted 333 minutes and the was 66 (33 X 2) degrees on the horizon. God is precise in everything He does and numbers are significant in God’s economy.
Witnessing for Christ