Bonnie Gaunt (4 Dec 2006)
"Reply to Marilyn Agee re Lunar Eclipse on Passover A.D. 33"http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/dec2006/bonnieg124.htm
Marilyn,
You are right, there could be no Solar Eclipse on Passover in A.D. 33 (or
any other Passover) because Passover is always at the Full Moon. There was,
however, a Lunar eclipse that day, and it is one of the evidences that the
year A.D. 33 is the correct date for the crucifixion of Jesus. This Lunar
eclipse can be found at the U.S. Naval Observatory website at the following
web address:http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/SpringPhenom.html
This eclipse occurred at 3:00 in the afternoon Grenwich Time on April 3,
A.D. 33 (Julian calendar). How appropriate that at 3:00 in the afternoon,
Jerusalem time, Jesus breathed out his last breath and cried, "It is
finished." The shadow of the earth passing across the moon was a powerful
symbol of the fact that Jesus, by his death, put an end to the old law
covenant and established the new covenant. The Apostle Paul makes this very
clear in Hebrews 9 and 10 (and, yes, I fully believe that Paul wrote the
book of Hebrews). The moon was still in eclipse for 17 minutes when it arose
over Jerusalem that night -- early enough for all to see.Bonnie
----------Hi:"The first table below gives the Julian calendar dates and Greenwich times of the astronomical vernal equinox for the years 25 BCE to 38 CE inclusive. The second table gives, for these years, the Julian calendar dates and Greenwich times of the astronomical Full Moons which occurred on or after the date of the equinox, and the dates and times of the astronomical New Moons on or preceding, and after, the date of the equinox....30 April 6 8 p.m. Thu.
31 March 27 11 a.m. Tue.
32 April 14 9 a.m. Mon.
33 April 3 3 p.m. Fri."
The above are the listed Full Moons for 30-33 AD. Since the shadow of the Earth does not fall on every Full Moon, these may, or may not, be Lunar Eclipse dates, but as you know, there was a Lunar Eclipse on April 3, 33 AD.Fred Espenak has cataloged the Lunar eclipses for NASA at:http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEcat/LE0001-0100.html
30 May 06 03:18
30 Jun 04 10:03
30 Nov 28 20:20
31 Apr 25 20:11
31 Oct 19 03:13
32 Apr 14 09:05
32 Oct 07 12:47
33 Apr 03 14:47
33 Sep 27 03:49I think April 6, 30 AD was the date of the Crucifixion. The Full Moon was not until 8 PM. Jesus died about 3 PM on Thursday, the "preparation of the passover" (John 19:14). Friday, Nisan 14, Passover, started two hours before the Full Moon at 8 PM.> > There was, however, a Lunar eclipse that day, and it is one of the evidences that the
year A.D. 33 is the correct date for the crucifixion of Jesus.> > The moon was still in eclipse for 17 minutes when it arose over Jerusalem that night -- early enough for all to see.I can't see how a Lunar Eclipse at night could determine the date of the Crucifixion. Darkness at night was normal. The supernatural darkness during the Crucifixion was from noon to 3 PM in the daytime. Mt. 27:45 says, "Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour" (3 PM, i.e., about when Jesus died).Preparation of the Passover was on Thursday, April 6, 30 AD. To me, it fits all criteria for the Crucifixion.(1) Jesus was born on Tishri 1, 3757 in 5 BC. It was probably Sept. 4.(2) Herod died about March 18, 4 BC.(3) Jesus was baptised when 30 years old near Tishri 1 in the 15th year of Tiberius (26 AD) (Luke 3:1). Tiberius became Co-Rex in 12 AD. He was literally Sole-Rex over Judea. Augustus was busy in other parts of the realm. Coins minted in 13 AD have both the heads of Tiberius and Augustus on them.(4) The first Passover of Jesus' ministry was when the Temple had been under construction 46 years (27 AD) (John 2:20). Construction began in 20/19 BC.(5) The four Passovers of Jesus' ministry were in 27, 28, 29 and 30 AD.Agape,Marilyn Agee