John 19:13-15 13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. 15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!
Mark 15:25 It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.
If both are correct, Jesus's trial was a day before his crucifixion.
Is this correct?
Far and away the easiest answer is that John's "the sixth hour" (John 19:14) is the Roman time, measuring from midnight, i.e. between 5am and 6am; and Mark's "the third hour" (Mark 15:25) is Jewish reaconing, i.e. the third hour since sunrise, between 8am and 9am.
Colin Humphreys argues cogently that the Last Supper happened on Wednesday evening, and the arrest in the early hours of Thursday morning. The first trial happened during daylight hours on Thursday, the final trial of the Jews happened Friday morning ("The Mystery of the Last Supper"), the crucifixion later on "Parascevi", which (still in modern Greek) means "Friday" and "Preparation (Day)", i.e. preparation for the Sabbath Day.
You can see my answer to "Reason for drawing water at unusual time" on Christianity Stack Exchange, where from John 4:52 I argue that the "sixth hour" of John 4:6 is most likely the Roman measurement, i.e. the sixth hour since midday, or between 5pm and 6pm.
Finally, compare different English translations before assuming an error in the Bible. Biblehub.org is very useful for comparing single verses in multiple English translations. E.g enter "biblehub.org John 19:14" in Google. Most translations say it was "the sixth hour" leaving open the question whether it was the Jewish or Roman reaconing. The NIV and Good News Bible are not with the majority here.
The last supper took place just the day of the Passover. The last supper started at about 6:00pm (our Tuesday evening) and ended around 12:00midnight (our Wednesday morning). Jn.17:1.
Judas had left during the supper to betray my Lord! Jesus got to the garden of Gethsemane and prayed till 3:00am (our Wednesday morning).
“Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.” (Jhn 13:26-30)
He was arrested around 3:00am with the kiss of deceit (still Wednesday morning) and took him to Annas first.
“Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.” (Jhn 18:12-13)
“And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled.” (Mat 26:57)
After the meeting with Annas, He was illegally judged by Pontus Pilate at about 6:00am ( Wednesday morning).
“When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.” (Mat 27:1-2)
“Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man?” (Jhn 18:28-29)
My Lord's beaten was between 3:00am and 6:00am.
“Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe. And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him.” (Mat 27:27-31)
“Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.” (Mrk 15:14-15)
Jesus carried the cross to Golgotha for three hours to be nailed at 9:00am (our Wednesday morning).
“And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.” (Mrk 15:16-20)
Jesus was nailed on the cross at 9:00am and there was darkness from 12:00 noon till 3:00pm (our Wednesday afternoon). Jesus gave up his ghost at 3:00pm and remained on the cross till 6:00pm (our Wednesday). His side was pierced between 3:00pm and 4:00pm.
The name of the man who pierced is side, according to church history is called Longinus. Longinus became born again and later became a bishop and was later martyred. Longinus
Jesus Christ was brought down from the cross and buried just before 6:00pm on our Wednesday evening because of their next day which was the High Sabbath ( still our Wednesday evening).
He was buried at this time by Joseph of Arimathea.
Jesus resurrected on Sunday morning around 3:00am after three full days. Matt. 27:50-53.
I am aware that some believe that Jesus died on Friday. I am not trying to disprove that here.
From the brief chronology I have given, It is difficult to find a space of respite for Jesus. Every event took place one after the other without a break or rest.
All Bible quotations are in KJV.
This discrepancy is well known and Ellicott comments as follows in his remarks on John 19:14 -
And about the sixth hour.—Comp. Notes on Matthew 27:45; Mark 15:25; Luke 23:44. St. John’s statement of time (twelve o’clock) seems opposed to that of St. Mark, who states that the Crucifixion took place at “the third hour” (nine o’clock); and no solution of the discrepancy is wholly satisfactory. ...
... It is better, therefore, simply to admit that there is a difficulty arising from our ignorance of the exact order of events, or, it may be, of the exact words which the Evangelists wrote.
I note that numerous solutions to this problem have been proposed but none really solves the problem. (See appendix below.)
APPENDIX - Some unsatisfactory solutions
The Pulpit Commentary lists a number of attempted solution but none really work.
[John 19:14] It was about the sixth hour. This is in manifest opposition with Mark's statement (Mark 15:25) that the Crucifixion took place at the third hour, and with all three of the synoptists, that the supernatural darkness overspread Jerusalem from the sixth to the ninth hour. This is represented as taking place after our Lord had been hanging for some time upon the cross. Some relief to this great difficulty of horology is found in the slight modification of the text from ὥρα δὲ ὡσεὶ ἕκτη of T.R. to ὥρα η΅ν ὥς ἕκτη, which may suffer the reading of Lange ("es war gegen die"), "it was going on towards the sixth hour" - the third hour, 9 a.m., was passed, and it was moving on to midday.
Westcott, in an elaborate note on John's measurement of time, endeavors to prove that he always uses the Roman system of measure from midnight to midday, instead of the Oriental method of measurement from sunrise to sunset, and that he meant by the sixth hour 6 a.m., not 12 midday. But if this is possible, the perplexity is rather increased than diminished. It is difficult to imagine that this stage of the proceedings could have been reached by six o'clock a.m., and that three hours still followed before the Lord was crucified. M'Clellan hotly espouses this interpretation, and, against Farrar, maintains that the Romans did adopt this computation, by quotations from Censorinus ('De Die Nat.,' 23.), Pithy ('Nat. Hist.,' 2:77), Aulus Gellius, and Maerobius; and he reminds his readers that John wrote in Ephesus, and proves that there was an Asiatic computation of time which corresponded with the Roman, and that there is abundant time before 6 a.m. for all that is needed to have taken place. This is the interpretation of Townson ('Discourses on the Four Gospels'), and it is espoused by Cresswell, Wieseler, Ewald, Westcott, Moulton. Coder, however, gives strong proof, on John 1:39, that the Greeks of Asia Minor were familiar with the Jewish reckoning from sunrise to sunset (see notes on John 1:39; 4:6; 11:9).
Eusebius supposed an alteration of the text of John, converting Γ = 3 into ς = 6. It is strange that no manuscripts have revealed the fact, though the third correcter of א and the supplement to D suggest this early solution of the difficulty. Eusebius was followed by Ammonius and Severus of Antioch. Beza, Bengel, and Alford with hesitation accept this conclusion. Luthardt, Farrar, and Schaff seem inclined to think that this may be the explanation, unless the ὡς be used with great latitude of meaning, and that what is really intended was that it was moving on to midday. The nine o'clock had been passed. Luthardt is dissatisfied with every explanation, not simply because it is inconsistent with the synoptic narrative, but because it is incompatible with John's own reckoning. Hengstenberg thought that the division of the day into four periods of three hours each is far older than either the Talmud or Maimonides (cf. Mark 13:35; Luke 12:38; Matthew 20:3, 4), and that the synoptic narrative reckoned by the terminus a quo, which, taken literally, would be too early for the act of crucifixion, and that John's reckoning points to the terminus ad quem, which, taken literally, would be too late. M'Clellan thinks this "outrageous!" though Andrewes, Lewin, Ellicott, and Lange practically adopt it.
Augustine says, "At the third hour (Mark) he was crucified by the tongues of the Jews, at the sixth hour (John) by the hands of the soldiers." Da Costa suggested that the sixth hour was reckoned backward from 3 p.m., the commencement of the preparation. Mark, by using the aorist, cannot have intended to convey that the whole process of crucifixion, commencing with the scourging, including the procession to Golgotha, and the last scene of all, was included in the verb. (Hesychius argued this view at length, saying that Mark refers to the verdict of Pilate, and John to the nailing to the cross.)
Short Answer: Jesus's trial was not a day before his crucifixion. How do we know? Well, all of these verses note that is was Preparation Day meaning that it would have occurred on the same day. Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42
One possibility to explain this is that one rounded up and the other rounded down time
To understand this, we first need to understand how a Jewish time works compared to a punctual Western understanding of time:
Johnny V. Miller writes,
Time notations from the time of Christ and before were very inexact, bearing little or no resemblance to the modern concept of punctuality.
Justin Taylor notes,
that “hours” were rough approximations of the sun’s position in a quadrant of the sky.
Notice that in John 19:14, where the NIV translates "about noon" is actually "about the sixth hour".
14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" (NKJV)
Using the word "about" already means that he's not being perfectly precise.
Here we see that the day was broken into parts.
When we come to passage like Mark 15:25, it is probably best to understand the expression “the third hour” not as a precise reference to 9 a.m., but as an approximate reference to midmorning—from 7:30 or 8 a.m. until 10 or 10:30 a.m.
Likewise, the “sixth hour” could refer to any time from 10:30 a.m. or 11 a.m to 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m.
Justin Taylor concludes that
If the sentencing was delivered, say, around 10:30 a.m., and two witnesses were to glance at the sun in the sky, one could round down to the “third hour” and one could round up to “about the sixth hour,” depending on other factors they might want to emphasize (for example, if John wants to highlight in particular the length of the proceedings and that the final verdict concerning the Lamb of God is not far off from the noontime slaughter of lambs for the Sabbath dinner of Passover week).
| References |
|---|
| Taylor, Justin. “What Hour Was Jesus Crucified? Resolving an Apparent Bible Contradiction.” The Gospel Coalition, Justin Ta, 18 Apr. 2019, www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/hour-jesus-crucified-resolving-apparent-bible-contradiction/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024. |
| The Bible Says. “Timeline: The Final 24 Hours of the Life of Jesus.” TheBibleSays.com, 22 Mar. 2023, www.thebiblesays.com/tough-topics/a-timeline-of-jesuss-final-24-hours/. Accessed 13 Apr. 2024. |
Answer
Jesus’ trial started, in fact, in the Passover night itself when He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and culminated later in His Crucifixion on the following day.
So, the answer to the OP question, whether the trial and crucifixion were on the same day or two consecutive days depends on the method of reckoning.
In the Egyptian/Roman reckoning these are on two days but in the Jewish reckoning these are on the same day; the Passover (night and) day.
But there is no contradiction, as usual, between John 19:14 and Mark 15:25.
Explanation
Sequence in John’s Account
“Then receiving a cohort and under-officers from among the chief priests and the Pharisees, Judas came there with torches and lamps and weapons” (John 18:3).
Obviously “torches and lamps” are used in the night.
“And the servants and officers who had made a fire of coals stood there, for it was cold. And they warmed themselves. And Peter stood with them and warmed himself” ( John 18:18).
It was a cold night indeed.
“Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the praetorium. And it was early” (John 18:28).
Please read it: it was still early hours.
Later,
“And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, Behold, your King!” (John 19:14).
It was around 6 o’ clock in the morning, according to the Egyptian/Roman reckoning (count the hours from midnight and midday). The previous events and verses showing the time to be an early 6 AM.
Sequence in Mark’s Account
“And in the evening He came with the Twelve” (Mark 14:17).
This is talking about the previous evening of the Passover day.
“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, All of you will be offended because of Me this night” (Mark 14:26-27).
After the Passover meal, they went to Gethsemane (Mark 14:32) in the night. The subsequent events all occurred in the night till morning just as John also described.
“And immediately in the morning (G4404), the chief priests with the elders and scribes and all the sanhedrin having made a council, having bound Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate” (Mark 15:1).
[Thayer defines “G4404 Proi” as “2) the fourth watch of the night, from 3 o’ clock in the morning until 6 o’ clock approximately”]
“And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him” (Mark 15:25).
It was at 9 o’ clock in the morning, according to the Jewish reckoning (count the hours from 6 am and 6 pm) that they crucified Jesus.
Conclusion
Both accounts are describing the same events and same times.
John 19:14 talks about Pilate bringing out the flogged Jesus saying “behold your King” at 6 AM.
Mark 15:25 talks about the time of the real Crucifixion at 9 AM.
Where is the contradiction? I don’t see any.
Jesus was arrested around 2:00 am Friday morning in the garden and immediately brought before Annas. He was then sent to Ciaphas around 3:30 Friday morning where Peter denied Jesus for the second and third times and immediately the rooster crowed at about dawn on Friday morning. After he was beaten, he was then sent before the Sanhedrin. Luke 22:66-71 records what transpired about 6 o'clock Friday morning. Verse 66 says it was day time. Mark 15:1 tells us it was early in the morning (Friday morning). Soon thereafter he was sent to Pilate around 7:00 AM. Afterward, Pilate sent him to Herod where Jesus was beaten again by the soldiers. He was then returned to Pilate later on Friday morning who had him flogged and condemned to death. According to John’s account it is now the sixth hour or around noon. He is then taken to the place of crucifixion and hung on the cross. Then, “At the ninth hour (between 2 and 3 PM) Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ that is, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’” Now, Jesus is dead and the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth shook, the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened. Jesus body was then prepared for burial and placed in the tomb on Friday evening before the beginning of the Sabbath. “When evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath.” Mark 15:42. Jesus was in the tomb from Friday evening until Sunday morning, the first day of the week. From Friday morning at around 2:00AM until Sunday morning.
Friday morning arrest and the first two trials – night time. ONE NIGHT
Friday morning trials before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, and Herod, and then the crucifixion and burial – day time – ONE DAY
Friday night/Saturday morning, in the tomb – night time – SECOND NIGHT Saturday in the tomb – day time – SECOND DAY
Saturday night – in the tomb – THIRD NIGHT
Sunday morning – day time, He is risen – THIRD DAY
Thursday – Passover proper. The lamb is killed, and Jesus and His disciples eat the Passover meal in the upper room. However, the passover was a week long ceebration with unleaveded bread. The passover lamb being one of several meals over the week for which the Jewsih leaders wanted to remain clean for the rest of the passover.Lev 23:8ff.
Friday – the Day of Preparation for the Sabbath. Jesus is tried and executed . The Jews continue their “Passover” celebrations with the chagigah, offerings made during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Jesus is tried and executed at 9am.on the cross.Dies at 3pm. and is placed in the tomb.
Saturday – the weekly Sabbath.
Sunday – Resurrection Day.
Note:- For Jews, a part day was counted as a day. Thus:- Friday late afternoon Jesus dies and placed in tomb Saturday in Tomb Sunday morning rose fromm the dead. Rose again after thre days.
