April in ce 30

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Nisan CE 30 in the Essene Calendar

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Jesus remained literally "three days and three nights" in the tomb, as foretold by him (Matthew 12:40).

Jesus and his disciples left the Temple compound (Matthew 24:1; Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5).

That afternoon, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the destruction if Jerusalem and his Second Coming (Matthew 24:3-25:46; Mark 13:1; Luke 21:5-36).

Luke summarizes the last few days by recalling that by day Jesus went to the Temple and taught and at night returned to the Mount of Olives where he stayed. Crowds of people gathered at the Temple to hear him (Luke 21;37-38).

The Small Council plots to murder Jesus (Matthew 26:3-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:2).

Monday afternoon, on the Mount of Olives, Jesus speaks to his disciples about the destruction of Jerusalem and his Second Coming (Matthew 24:3-25:46, Mark 13:3-37, Luke 21:5-38).

The Small Council plots to murder Jesus (Matthew 26:3-5, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:2).

Jesus dines Monday night at the house of Simon the Leper where Mary of Bethany anoints him (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:2-8).

Judas Iscariot went to the chief priests and sought to deliver Jesus to them. They paid him 30 pieces of silver to do so (Matthew 26: 3-6, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:3-6).

Essenes keep the Passover after sunset Tuesday evening.²

The First Christian Passover apparently observed at the Essene Guesthouse in the Upper City (Mt. Sion).³

The Last Supper, the first Christian Passover, where Jesus ate his last Passover meal, a meatless one, with his followers.

The Preparation Day (Matthew 27:62) of the sacrifice of the Passover lambs (Luke 22:7). 

Essene Holyday
(an Essene annual Sabbath).

The day of the Crucifixion.

Joseph of Arimathea, with the help of Nicodemus, placed Jesus' body hastily in his own new tomb sometime shortly before the beginning of the Passover Sabbath (Luke 23:50-54).

The women observed where and how they laid Jesus' body in the tomb (Luke 23:55).

An annual Sabbath (a Jewish holyday).

Chief priests and Pharisees seek placement of a guard at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-65, cf. Luke 24:21).

Pilate ordered the tomb to made secure.

Authorities placed a seal on the stone and posted guard at the site to secure it until the third day was past (Matthew 27:66).

The women procure and prepare spices to anoint Jesus' body (Luke 23:56 and see also Burial Customs).

The weekly Sabbath.

The women rest according to the commandment (Luke 23:56, Leviticus 23:7).

Jesus arose from the dead on the third day (late Saturday afternoon most likely a moment before sunset so that he was unmistakably in the Tomb for three full days and three full nights).

While it was still dark, at the dawn of "the first day of the week", the women come to the tomb bringing the spices to anoint the body but Jesus had already risen (Matthew 28:1, Mark 15:47, Luke 24:1, John 20:1).⁵

Early Sunday morning Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9).

Travelers, walking to Emmanus from Jerusalem explained that the time of Jesus spending three days in the tomb had already passed (Luke 24:21). 

¹In Jewish reckoning a normal 24 hour day run from sunset to sunset.

²The beginning of the Essene annual Sabbath (the Feast of Unleavened Bread) when they observed Passover. The Essenes always observed their Passover on a Tuesday night. In CE 30 and 31 their Passover was a full twenty-four hours before that of the rest of the Jews (the Passover of the Jews). The Essenes used a solar calendar which fixed their annual Sabbaths on specific days of the week. See The Essene Calendar.

³While Jesus of Nazareth was not an Essene, the Last Supper, also known as the first Christian Passover, likely occurred in the Essene community. "To my mind" writes Bargil Pixner "this took place in the Essene guesthouse on Mount Zion on the Tuesday night" (Pixner 1992:64). If so, it could explain the persisting tradition that the first Lord�s Supper occurred in an upper room on Mt. Sion. Mackowski, concurring, held that this "must have been a very simple dining hall in keeping with the simple life of the Essenes" (Mackowski 1980:141).

⁴Jesus instituted the first Christian Passover at the beginning of Nisan 14. The Jews celebrated the Passover at the end of Nisan 14. The first Christian Passover and the Essene Passover occurred at the same time. Judeo-Christians, well into the fifth century, continued to observe the Christian Passover at the beginning of Nisan 14, which according to Bagatti, was due to "the common belief among the [Christian] Jews that the date had been fixed by the Lord and was, therefore, unchangeable. Many believed that this date was superior even to the sabbath itself" (Bagatti 1971a:81).

⁵This would have been the first occasion for the women to gain access to the body as the authorities, under an order from Pilate, placed a seal on the stone closing tomb (cutting off all access) and posted guards at the tomb until the end of the full three day period.

Page last edited: 08/16/04 06:07 PM

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