Let me begin with just a brief note on my appreciation for the accuracy of the Fourth Gospel on matters related to the Temple and feasts of the Torah. I first began to consider the possibility that John was more precise that the synoptic gospels at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in New Orleans in 2009. Paul Anderson (The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus) gave a stunning presentation on the value of John for historical understanding (if you are skeptical, I suggest you take a look at the book). Then I read Richard Bauckham’s Jesus and the Eyewitnesses and The Testimony of the Beloved Disciple. I became convinced that the Fourth Gospel is written by a Jerusalem disciple (the elder John) who ran in priestly circles (if this notion sounds strange to you, you might acquaint yourself with the evidence before discounting it). My previous views (published in many articles here 2010 and earlier on MJ Musings) about the timing the crucifixion, Passover, and Last Supper all began to change. With that said, I think there is a great value in looking at John to ask questions about the chronology of Yeshua’s last week.

RESULTS
Knowing the short attention spans of many readers, I will give my conclusions first and then you can decide whether to read the notes and commentary below. I give two results tables depending on whether we think the crucifixion was on a Thursday or a Friday (see below, “Friday Is Not a Certainty”):

IF CRUCIFIXION IS THURSDAY & PASSOVER IS THUR NIGHT/FRIDAY:

• Saturday (possibly Friday night), Yeshua arrives in Bethany (Jn 12:1). If so, he would not have traveled far since it was the Sabbath.
• Saturday night they hold a dinner for him in Bethany (arguably, could be Friday night).
• Sunday morning is the Triumphal Entry (Jn 12:12; arguably, could be Saturday morning, which would be unlikely and render Thursday crucifixion unlikely).
• Wednesday night is the Last Supper.

IF CRUCIFIXION IS FRIDAY & PASSOVER IS FRI NIGHT/SATURDAY:

• Sunday (or Sat night), Yeshua arrives in Bethany.
• Monday morning (possibly Sunday) is the Triumphal Entry.
• Thursday night is the Last Supper.

**Note that a Wednesday crucifixion theory, if based on John, would have the Triumphal Entry on Saturday morning (possibly Friday).

**Note that with so many ambiguities (what does “six days before” mean exactly?), the Palm Sunday/Good Friday tradition could fit with John’s chronology (as Raymond Brown supposes is does).

**The only things we can be “sure of” from John’s chronology: the crucifixion is on Nisan 14 when the lambs would be slaughtered and the Last Supper is the night before the regular Passover Seder. We cannot be certain about the day of the week given all the ambiguities.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE END IN JOHN
Taking the statements about timing at face value from John (for example, we skip over possibilities such as the notion that the Lazarus story may be told out of chronological order), we find these helpful periods, events, and chronological notes leading to the crucifixion and Passover:

• 10:22, Hanukkah.
• 10:40-42, Interlude beyond the Jordan.
• Ch. 11, The raising of Lazarus.
• 11:54, Interlude in the town of Ephraim (no one knows where this town is located).
• 11:55, Passover at hand and many had come to Jerusalem to purify themselves (very important, see commentary below).
• 12:1, Six days before Passover (thus, five before the crucifixion).
• 12:2-10, Mary anoints Yeshua, chief priests plot and plan.
• 12:12, The next day (five days before Passover, four days before the crucifixion).
• 12:13-16, Triumphal Entry.
• 12:17-19, Pharisees concerned with his popularity.
• 12:20-36, Greeks are brought to him, heavenly voice.
• 12:37-50, Yeshua hides, sayings on belief and unbelief.
• 13:1, Before the Passover.
• 13:2-27, Last Supper.
• 13:28-30, They supposed Judas went to buy what was needed for the feast.
• The remainder of chs. 13-17, discourses at the Last Supper.
• 18:1-27, Nighttime arrest and first trials.
• 18:28, It was morning; priests would not enter as they feared being disqualified to eat the Passover (see commentary below).
• 19:1-13, Roman trial, flogging.
• 19:14, It was the day of preparation for the Passover.
• 19:15-30, Crucifixion and death.
• 19:31, It was the day of preparation, bodies to be buried before Sabbath, Sabbath was a high day.
• 19:32-41, Body removed and burial.
• 19:42, They laid him close since time was short and it was the day of preparation.
• 20:1, First day of the week, women come to tomb in the early morning.

MANY HAD COME TO JERUSALEM TO PURIFY THEMSELVES
According to Numbers 19, the period of time for purification after coming into contact with any kind of corpse impurity (contact with the dead, being under a roof where a corpse lay, or contact with people or objects that have corpse impurity, etc.) is seven days.

We know that people would come to feasts early in Jerusalem (not a strict requirement to fulfill the entire period in the city), with many arriving in time to spend the entire seven days purifying themselves. Paul purified himself seven days before his Nazirite vow (Acts 21:24-27). Josephus mentions the practice of many pilgrims coming from the countryside to Jerusalem and spending the seven days of purification in Jerusalem (War I.XI.6 #229). Thus, in 11:55, while Yeshua has not yet arrived near Jerusalem, some of those who have arrived wonder when he will show.

SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE DEFILED … COULD EAT THE PASSOVER
The chief priests would have to consider themselves impure if they went under Pilate’s roof (as violence happened there and a corpse under that roof was a real possibility). This would make them unfit to eat the Passover (Numb 9:6-12). Thus we see here, as in several other indications, that Yeshua’s morning trial and crucifixion happened on Nisan 14, when the lambs for Passover were slaughtered.

YESHUA CRUCIFIED ON NISAN 14
Every indication in John is that Yeshua was crucified starting the morning on which the Passover lambs were slaughtered. John 19:14 is clear that it was the day for preparing for the Passover (which is Nisan 14).

FRIDAY IS NOT A CERTAINTY
I have in the past defended the “Good Friday” notion (that Yeshua was crucified on Friday). But that was based on previous assumptions I held and harmonizing Mark with John (something I no longer feel the need to do). If Passover (the first day of Unleavened Bread) is a Sabbath, then the “Sabbath” mentioned could be the weekly Sabbath (Friday night till Saturday night) or any day of the week on which the Passover fell. If Yeshua was crucified before Passover started, then we have no reason for dogmatism about a Friday crucifixion (but neither is it impossible, Matthew 12:40 notwithstanding).

All Hebrew Bible verses (in bold) are given in the JPS translation (verse numbers in parentheses are Christian numbering). The Mark verses are from my favorite English version, the RSV (until the Delitzsch Hebrew-English version is released).

Psalm 69:22(21) They give me gall for food, vinegar to quench my thirst.
Mark 15:21-23 And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). And they offered him wine mingled with myrrh; but he did not take it.

Psalms 22:19(18) They divide my clothes among themselves, casting lots for my garments.
Mark 15:24-26 And they crucified him, and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour, when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”

Isaiah 53:12 . . . And was numbered among the sinners, Whereas he bore the guilt of the many . . .
Mark 15:27 And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.

Psalms 22:9(8) Let him commit himself to the LORD; let Him rescue him, let Him save him . . .
Psalms 109:25 I am the object of their scorn; when they see me, they shake their head.
Mark 15:29-32 And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests mocked him to one another with the scribes, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Psalms 22:2(1) My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?
Mark 15:33-39 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Elo-i, Elo-i, lama sabach-thani?” which means, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And one ran and, filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that he thus breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Unlike the many statements leading up to the crucifixion, the story of how it happened itself is concerned less with theology than with presenting in stark reality the betrayal of a good man, the senseless mockery, the brutal misunderstanding of what his kingdom is all about. Meaning is between the lines, a midrashic retelling of the innocent sufferer theme in the Hebrew Bible.

In the case of the story of Yeshua’s death, many different texts about the innocent sufferer are used. So even details like soldiers gambling for Yeshua’s clothes are connected to ancient words about an innocent sufferer’s indignation. Yeshua suffers like the just men who were persecuted in the pages of the Hebrew Bible.

Pilate calls up a whole cohort, more than 500 soldiers. This is part of the irony. To crucify Yeshua the might of Rome has to be called out. The historical reason for this is simple: Pilate needs to be ready in case a rebellion breaks out over this crucifixion. Rome must be ready to meet and repel any resistance. There will, of course, be none.

The parading of Yeshua in a mock robe with a fake scepter is a Roman tradition in triumphal parades of prisoners. The mocked person would be hailed as Caesar. History records many similar examples (Evans and Wright, Jesus, the Final Days, 27).

The irony of Mark’s messianic secret theme (see Yeshua in Context, chapter 6) is now fully realized. When misunderstood and crassly presented, Yeshua’s kingship is a matter for the Roman provincial government to mock. What can a man and a few disciples do to Rome?

In Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, Richard Bauckham discusses evidence that Simon of Cyrene and his sons Alexander and Rufus were the source for this part of the story. Peter has dropped out of the story and the women don’t enter in until 15:40. Simon and his sons must have been known to Mark’s community. Few characters in the gospels are named and Bauckham argues effectively that the evangelists only listed names of eyewitnesses whose stories they knew of first or second-hand.

Is the wine with myrrh to ease the pain of the victim or to prolong his agony? It seems that in mentioning the wine and the gambling over clothes, Mark is drawing on two texts about innocent sufferers without specifically citing the connections. They give me gall for food, vinegar to quench my thirst (Psa 69:22(21). They divide my clothes among themselves, casting lots for my garments (Psa 22:19(18). Mark’s account is short, brutal, and effective. The great man, Yeshua, is abused as an innocent sufferer. In the next scene the ironic meaning of it all will come to the fore.