Date of Jesus' Death
The Year of Our Salvation
There is no universally agreed-on calendar of Jewish festivals at the time of Jesus. There are conflicting rules and conflicting evidence about possible dates. This table is one man's calculation of Passover dates during the reign of Pontius Pilate (26 to 34 AD)--although I'm not sure I've read it correctly.
| AD | Date | Passover meal | Passover day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 | 20-21 April | Sat | Sun |
| 27 | 10-11 April | Thu | Fri |
| 28 | 27-28 April | Tue | Wed |
| 29 | 17-18 April | Sun | Mon |
| 30 | 6-7 April | Thu | Fri |
| 31 | 24-25 April | Tue | Wed |
| 32 | 13-14 April | Sun | Mon |
| A: 33 | 3-4 April | Fri | Sat |
| B: 33 | 2-3 May | Sat | Sun |
| 34 | 21-22 April | Wed | Thu |
John: the odd man out
Passover is dated by lunar cycles. It can fall on any day of the week. If we can rely on the tradition that Jesus died on a Friday, then John is identifying a different year from that specified in the synoptic gospels (Mt, Mk, Lk).
Pontius Pilate was procurator from 26 AD to 36 AD. That narrows things down somewhat; I think it has to be a historical fact that Jesus was crucified while Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judea.
This page gives a calculation of Passover dates from 26 AD to 34 AD. The author argues for Wednesday being the day of Passover. I'm inclined to disagree with that interpretation.
In the synoptics (Mt, Mk, Lk), Jesus dies the day AFTER Passover; in John, Jesus dies the day BEFORE passover. If our liturgical tradition has preserved the truth that Jesus died on a Friday, and if the calculations for the Passover dates given above are correct, then the synoptic year would be 27 AD or 30 AD and the Johannine year would be 33 AD.
A date of 33 AD seems nice to me--but it places a strain on Luke's estimate that Jesus was born in 4 BC, was "about 30" when He started His public ministry, that the public ministry lasted just a year or less (there is only one Passover in the synoptics), and that Jesus died the day AFTER the Passover meal. If we want to insist that Luke got the birth year right (in or before 4 BC) and that he is right about Jesus' age, then that suggests 27 AD--six years before the Johannine date.
I'm not too anxious about any of this. Our salvation comes from Jesus' priestly action of offering Himself as our Passover Lamb; we are saved by the blood of the Lamb, not by knowing what year He made this offering for us.