Which denominations believe that John 19 indicates that the crucifixion had the date of Nisan 14?

Which denominations believe that John 19 indicates that the crucifixion had the date of Nisan 14?

Denominations do not generally hold fixed views on such things.

All Christians are agreed our Lord rose from the dead and appeared to the disciples on the Sunday morning. The most common expression in the New Testament is that our Lord Jesus rose from the dead “on the third day”. This expression can be understood from Luke 13:32 where our Lord says “today, tomorrow and the third day”. Judging from this the day of his crucifixion was on Friday, Saturday was the second day, and he rose the third day which was Sunday. See also Leviticus 7:15-17 for precisely the same meaning for “the third day”.

Jesus rose from the dead the day after the Sabbath day, as “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinth 15:20-23). The Apostle Paul, by referring to Leviticus 23:11 where the firstfruits were brought the day after the Sabbath, he is saying Jesus rose the day after the Sabbath.

The Passover lambs were prepared on the 14th Nisan and the Passover meal was eaten in the evening which was the 15th Nisan, which was also the first day of feast of unleavened bread which lasted a week.

Confusion arises because our Lord ate the Passover meal before his crucifixion which would have been Thursday night at the latest. This causes huge confusion: how could he have eaten the Passover meal before the Passover lambs were due to be slaughtered in the Temple on the Friday afternoon? The problem is addressed by Colin Humphrey’s book “The Mystery of the Last Supper”. It has certainly changed my mind about the last week of Jesus’s earthly ministry.

There are only three Fridays between AD 28 and 35 inclusive which are either 14th or 15th Nisan: 7th April AD 30 and 3rd April AD 33 both fell on 14th Nisan and 23rd April AD 34 fell on Nisan 15th. For over sixty years Christians have relied on Richard A. Parker and Waldo Dubberstein's classic "Babylonian Chronology - 626 BC to AD 75" for the dates of the period; these specific dates have been confirmed by modern astronomy as shown by the work of Rita Gautschy on her website Jerusalem Calendar.

Friday is not contradicted as the day of his crucifixion in John 19:14 and John 19:31. In both these verses the day of the crucifixion is described as “the preparation of the Passover”. There are two possible meanings for this: either it was the day the Passover lamb was prepared, by slaying it for the Passover meal in the evening (which would be Nisan 15th); or it was the day of preparation for the weekly (Saturday) Sabbath falling within Passover week. Even today, in the Greek language the word “Parascevi” means both “preparation” and “Friday”. In either of the two cases Friday is not contradicted.

The 15th of Nisan was the first day of the feast of unleavened bread and was always a special Sabbath (Lev 23:6-7). John 19:31 says that the day after the crucifixion was a “high day” (KJV), or a “special Sabbath” (NIV). This might mean it was both a Saturday Sabbath and the first day of the week of the feast of unleavened bread. This would not be contradicted if our Lord was crucified on Friday 14th Nisan.

Friday 3rd April AD 33 was 14th Nisan. Just after sunset on that day astronomical data shows the moon came up being partially eclipsed by the earth. I’m told this would have appeared as a red moon which explains Peter’s comment in Acts 2:20 “the moon shall be turned to blood”.

Also there was darkness for three hours that day which Luke tells us “covered the earth” (Luke 23:44, KJV, NKJV and Aramaic Bible in Plain English). I expect Luke, the great historian could have chosen a word which suggested the darkness was only a local phenomena covering the land of Judaea and surrounding nations, but his investigations drew him to speak of the whole “earth”, the whole known world of the time.

This darkness is recorded in several places of ancient literature.

Amongst other testimonies of the darkness exists the account of Phlegon of Tralles, a Greek historian, born not long after the crucifixion. He wrote a history called “Olympiades” not all of which survives today. A section which does survive says

In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the sixth hour the Day was changed into Night, and the stars were seen in the heavens…

The 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad was from July AD 32 to July AD 33.

Another section of the Olympiades no longer extant is quoted by Julius Africanus, writing around AD 220. His quote the Olympiades reads:-

During the time of Tiberius Caesar an eclipse of the sun occurred during the Full Moon.

But a natural eclipse of the sun is impossible at the time of full moon because the moon is opposite the sun at this time of the month.

These are just two of the testimonies of a darkening of the sun in those days. An account of more testimonies can be found in Appendix 4 of “Daniel’s Seventy Weeks” by Pastor Derek Walker of Oxford Bible Church, UK, published 2009. This account can be read at

https://www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk/index.php/books/new-book-daniel-s-70-weeks

This testimony of Phlegon is not inconsistent with the view that the crucifixion happened in AD 33 when the Passover lambs were sacrificed on Friday 14th Nisan.

Finally if the decree to rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes I and spoken of in Ezra chapter 7 (see Ezra 7:12-13) was the one being referred to in Daniel 9:24, then the obedience to that decree by Ezra on the 1st of the 1st month of Artaxerxes's 7th year (Ezra 7:9) happened on 3rd April 458 BC (Gregorian Calendar). If our Lord was crucified in AD 33 on 3rd April (Julian Calendar) then this was Friday 1st April (Gregorian Calendar) and our Lord was resurrected on Sunday AD 33 3rd April (Gregorian Calendar), which is 490 years to the exact day according to the Solar Year and the Gregorian Calendar. (For a mere 490 years the Gregorian Calendar is exactly the same in length of days as the Solar Year.)

Friday, AD 33 3rd April (Julian) (14th Nisan), that is 1st April (Gregorian) seems to be confirmed by Daniel 9:24 and Ezra 7:9 as the day our Lord was crucified, dying during the afternoon when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered, and rising from the dead on the third day, Sunday 16th Nisan, 3rd April (Gregorian) as the firstfruits of them that slept (1 Corinthians 15:20, Leviticus 23:10-11). For more on this see the same website as above https://www.oxfordbiblechurch.co.uk/index.php/books/new-book-daniel-s-70-weeks

For the modern calculations see the free online astronomical tables of Rita Gautschy, for the dates of the first of each lunar month for the Jewish Calendar, here: http://www.gautschy.ch/~rita/archast/mond/jewcal.html

You can use the following web page to find the day of the week for any date: https://onlineconversion.com/julian_date.htm