“Being a Christian is not just about following commandments: it is about letting Christ take possession of our lives and transform them.” @pontifex, 10 April 2013
“If we act like children of God, knowing that he loves us, our lives will be made new, filled with serenity and joy.” @pontifex, 10 April 2013
“Let us not forget: if we are to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, our lives must bear witness to what we preach.” @pontifex, 14 April 2013
“Worshipping God means learning to be with him, stripping away our hidden idols and placing him at the centre of our lives.” @pontifex, 14 April 2013
We know from other sources when he served as governor of Judea–A.D. 26 to A.D. 36–so we can narrow down the range by several years.
But how are we going to get it down to a specific day and year?
Clue #3: After “the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius Caesar”
The Gospel of Luke tells us when the ministry of John the Baptist began:
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . . the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness [Luke 3:1-2].
This picks out a specific year: A.D. 29.
Since all four gospels depict the ministry of Christ beginning after that of John the Baptist had begun (Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1), this means that we can shave a few more years off our range.
The death of Christ had to be in a range of seven years: between A.D. 29 and 36.
We know that it was a Friday because it is referred to as “the day of preparation”–that is, the day on which Jews made the preparations they needed for the Sabbath, since they could not do any work on that day. Thus thus cooked food in advance and made other necessary preparations.
The Jewish Encyclopedia states:
Friday, as the forerunner of Shabbat, is called “‘Ereb Shabbat” (The Eve of Sabbath). The term “‘ereb” admits of two meanings: “evening” and “admixture” (Ex. xii. 38); and “‘Ereb Shabbat” accordingly denotes the day on the evening of which Sabbath begins, or the day on which food is prepared for both the current and the following days, which latter is Sabbath.
The idea of preparation is expressed by the Greek name paraskeué, given by Josephus (“Ant.” xvi. 6, § 2) to that day (compare Mark xv. 42; Luke xxiii. 54; Matt. xxvii. 62; John xix. 42). In Yer. Pesaḥim iv. 1 the day is called “Yoma da-‘Arubta” (Day of Preparation) [Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v., “Calendar”].
That eliminates six of the days of the week, but there were still quite a few Fridays between A.D. 29 and 36.
Here we encounter a momentary complication, because Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe the Last Supper on Holy Thursday as a Passover meal (Matthew 26:19, Mark 14:14, Luke 22:15). That would suggest that Good Friday was the day after Passover.
However, when describing the morning of Good Friday, John indicates that the Jewish authorities had not yet eaten the Passover meal:
Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium [i.e., Pilate’s palace]. It was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover. So Pilate went out to them [John 18:28-29a].
That suggests that the Passover would have begun on sundown Friday.
There are a number of ways of resolving this. For example, some have suggested that Jesus and his disciples used a different calendar than the Jewish authorities, and we know that there were different calendars in use in first century Judaism.
It’s also possible that Jesus just advanced the date of the Passover celebration for him and his disciples. I mean, they were already convinced he was the Messiah and the Son of God. If he says, “We’re celebrating Passover today,” and it’s a day earlier than most people, they’d just go with that. (Note that he made other modifications to the ceremony, such as instituting the Eucharist in the midst of it.)
And there are other solutions.
However, regardless of what Jesus’ movement did, we can look to John’s statement about the Jesus’ captors as an indication of what the Jewish authorities or the mainstream Jewish practice was: They were celebrating a Passover beginning on what we would call Friday evening.
That lets us narrow down the range of possible dates to just a few. Here is a complete list of the days between A.D. 29 and 36 on whose evenings Passover began:
Monday, April 18, A.D. 29
Friday, April 7, A.D. 30
Tuesday, March 27, A.D. 31
Monday, April 14, A.D. 32
Friday, April 3, A.D. 33
Wednesday, March 24, A.D. 34
Tuesday, April 12, A.D. 35
Saturday, March 31, A.D. 36
As you can see, we have just two candidates left: Jesus was either crucified on April 7 of A.D. 30 or April 3 of A.D. 33.
Which was it?
The traditional date is that of A.D. 33. You will find quite a number of people today advocating the A.D. 30 date.
Do the gospels let us decide between the two?
Clue #6: John’s Three Passovers
The Gospel of John records three different Passovers during the ministry of Jesus:
Passover #1: This is recorded in John 2:13, near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.
Passover #2: This is recorded in John 6:4, in the middle of Jesus’ ministry.
Passover #3: This is recorded in John 11:55 (and frequently mentioned afterwards), at the end of Jesus’ ministry.
That means that the ministry of Jesus had to span something over two years. A fuller treatment would reveal that it spanned about three and a half years, but even if we assume it began immediately before Passover #1, the addition of two more Passovers shows that it lasted more than two years at a bare minimum.
That means the A.D. 30 date is out.
There is not enough time between the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar–A.D. 29–and the next year’s Passover to accomodate a ministry of at least two years.
The numbers don’t add up.
As a result, the traditional date of Jesus’ death–Friday, April 3, A.D. 33–must be regarded as the correct one.
Recently, Pope Francis washed the feet of several young people, including young women. He did this in the wake of Pope Benedict's resignation. Here are two interesting discussions of Pope Francis's actions and a look at recent popes who thought about resigning but didn't do so in the end.
It has been widely reported that, when he was still the cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, the future Pope Francis washed the feet of women during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.
Now he has done so as pope.
Did he break the Church’s law?
What does this event mean, and how can we understand what he was trying to do?
This special, extra episode of the Jimmy Akin Podcast contains two conversations I recently had on these subjects on Al Kresta’s and Drew Mariani’s radio shows.
I thought they were very interesting, productive discussions, and so I thought I’d share them with you.
Use the player or links below to listen!
(Or, if you’re reading by email CLICK HERE to go to the original post and listen.)
“Being with Jesus demands that we go out from ourselves, and from living a tired and habitual faith” @pontifex, 27 March 2013
“To experience Holy Week is to enter more and more into God’s logic of love and self-giving” @pontifex, 27 March 2013
“Support your priests with your love and prayers, that they may always be shepherds after Christ’s heart” @pontifex, 28 March 2013
“Accept the risen Jesus into your life. Even if you have been far away, take a small step towards him: he awaits you with open arms.” @pontifex, 31 March 2013
“God loves us. We must not be afraid to love him. The faith is professed with the lips and with the heart, through words and through love.” @pontifex, 4 April 2013
“How beautiful is the gaze with which Jesus regards us – how full of tenderness! Let us never lose trust in the patience and mercy of God.” @pontifex, 7 April 2013
The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce the birth of Christ. Here are 8 things to know and share about the event and how we celebrate it.
This Monday we’re going to be celebrating the solemnity of the Annunciation.
This day celebrates the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to announce of the birth of Christ.
What’s going on and why is this day important?
Here are 8 things you need to know.
1. What does the word “Annunciation” mean?
It’s derived from the same root as the word “announce.” Gabriel is announcing the birth of Christ in advance.
“Annunciation” is simply an old-fashioned way of saying “announcement.”
Although we are most familiar with this term being applied to the announcement of Christ’s birth, it can be applied in other ways also.
For example, in his book Jesus of Nazareth 3: The Infancy Narratives, Benedict XVI has sections on both “The annunciation of the birth of John” and “The annunciation to Mary,” because John the Baptist’s birth was also announced in advance.
2. When is the Annunciation normally celebrated and why does it sometimes move?
Normally the Solemnity of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25th.
This date is used because it is nine months before Christmas (December 25th), and it is assumed that Jesus spent the normal nine months in the womb.
However, March 25th sometimes falls during Holy Week, and the days of Holy Week have a higher liturgical rank than this solemnity (weekdays of Holy Week have rank I:2, while this solemnity has a rank of I:3; see here for the Table of Liturgical Days by their ranks).
Still, the Annunciation is an important solemnity, and so it doesn’t just vanish from the calendar. Instead, as the rubrics in the Roman Missal note:
Whenever this Solemnity occurs during Holy Week, it is transferred to the Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter.
It is thus celebrated on the first available day after Holy Week and the Octave of Easter (which ends on the Second Sunday of Easter).
3. How does this story parallel the birth of John the Baptist?
What is Divine Mercy Sunday and why are so many people moved by it? Here are 9 things you need to know.
We’re almost up to Divine Mercy Sunday.
It’s a recent addition to the Church’s calendar, and it has links to both private revelation and the Bible.
Millions of people look forward to and are profoundly moved by this day.
What is it, and why is it so important to them?
Here are 9 things you need to know.
1. What is Divine Mercy Sunday?
Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter. It is based on the private revelations of St. Faustina Kowalska, which recommended a particular devotion to the Divine Mercy.
It also has links to the Bible and the readings of this day.
To learn more about St. Faustina, you can CLICK HERE.
2. When was it made part of the Church’s calendar?
In 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized St. Faustina and, during the ceremony, he declared:
4. It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called “Divine Mercy Sunday”.
In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings [Homily, April 30, 2000].
3. If this is based on private revelation, why is it on the Church’s calendar?
Long-time Vatican expert's new book contains a fascinating look at the recent popes who almost resigned but didn't. You'll be surprised how many there are!
Benedict XVI’s resignation may have been the first papal resignation in hundreds of years, but it didn’t come completely out of the blue.
He’d already indicated that he had been thinking about the subject of resignation.
What is less well known is that other recent popes had been thinking about it, too.
A lot of recent popes.
Here’s the story . . .
An Increasingly Heavy Cross
For some time, I had been aware that several recent popes, including Pius XII, Paul VI, and John Paul II had thought about resignation–or even made contingency plans for it.
But recently I was reading Andrea Tornielli’s fascinating new book Francis: Pope of a New World, and he includes a passage discussing the thoughts and plans of recent popes regarding resignation.
He reports:
The topic of resignation came to light again in the past century.
Advances in medicine have considerably extended life, and from Pius IX on, the job itself of the successor of Peter has been burdened with responsibilities and functions to the point of making it more and more difficult to carry out for a person who is not fully in possession of physical and intellectual strength.
He then lists the particular popes and what is known about their thoughts on resignation . . .
2. Was Jesus’ Resurrection a real, historical event or something else?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains:
639 The mystery of Christ’s resurrection is a real event, with manifestations that were historically verified, as the New Testament bears witness.
In about A.D. 56 St. Paul could already write to the Corinthians:
“I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. . .”
The Apostle speaks here of the living tradition of the Resurrection which he had learned after his conversion at the gates of Damascus.
On Holy Saturday the earth waits in stillness for the Resurrection of the Lord. Here are 12 things you need to know about it.
Every time we say the creed, we note that Jesus “descended into hell.”
This day–Holy Saturday–is the day that commemorates this event.
What happened on this day, and how do we celebrate it?
Here are 12 things you need to know.
1. What happened on the first Holy Saturday?
Here on earth, Jesus’ disciples mourned his death and, since it was a sabbath day, they rested.
Luke notes that the women returned home “and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56).
At the tomb, the guards that had been stationed there kept watch over the place to make sure that the disciples did not steal Jesus’ body.
Meanwhile . . .
2. What happened to Jesus while he was dead?
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
633 Scripture calls the abode of the dead, to which the dead Christ went down, “hell” – Sheol in Hebrew or Hades in Greek – because those who are there are deprived of the vision of God.
Such is the case for all the dead, whether evil or righteous, while they await the Redeemer: which does not mean that their lot is identical, as Jesus shows through the parable of the poor man Lazarus who was received into “Abraham’s bosom”:
“It is precisely these holy souls, who awaited their Saviour in Abraham’s bosom, whom Christ the Lord delivered when he descended into hell.”
Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.
634 “The gospel was preached even to the dead.” The descent into hell brings the Gospel message of salvation to complete fulfillment.
This is the last phase of Jesus’ messianic mission, a phase which is condensed in time but vast in its real significance: the spread of Christ’s redemptive work to all men of all times and all places, for all who are saved have been made sharers in the redemption.
, and he includes a passage discussing the thoughts and plans of recent popes regarding resignation.
