Dear ~John and Doves,
There have been a couple of dates put forward as "Ascension Day" in 2005 and some people seem to have different opinions as to where they have come from. I hope what follows helps to clarify the position, and doesn't make you more confused.....
CHRISTIAN CALENDAR - CHRISTIAN EASTER SUNDAY - MARCH 27th 2005.
This is the date that Christians celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, i.e. 1st day of the Jewish week (Sunday).
(John 20:1) "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre."
JESUS was seen by the disciples for FORTY DAYS AFTER HIS RESURRECTION and then he ascended into heaven.
Acts 1:2-3 "Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God."
Ten days later Pentecost arrived = 50 days from Resurrection Sunday.
Acts 2:1 "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place....."
This brings the Christian Calendar to -
Christian Ascension Day - 5th May 2005 (27 March + 40 days = 5th May 2005)
Christian Pentecost Sunday -15th May 2005 (27 March + 50 days = 15th May 2005)
JEWISH CALENDAR
This year the Jewish Calendar came to the end of their 12th month (ADAR) on 11th March 2005. The official calendar then added another month called ADAR II (13th month) which meant it was a Leap Year. ADAR II ended on 9th APRIL (a Sabbath) .
(The Jewish calendar is odd in that it has Tishrei (7th month) as the beginning of their official calendar year (currently 5765)
which makes calculating and converting Jewish and Christian dates confusing). However...
In historic times, I understand that the Jewish sacred 1st month of the year was set by the state of the barley crop prior to the end of the 12th month. If the barley was at a certain stage of maturity i.e. (ABIB) which means "heads or spikes of grain", and it appeared that it would be ready for harvest, in the next month then the year was declared ended, and the next month would be declared NISAN - 1st month - (by the sighting of the new moon) of the sacred year. If the barley was found not to be getting ready for harvest towards the end of their 12th month, then a 13th month would be added (ADAR II) to keep the years in line with the natural growing seasons. The barley harvest therefore would always be harvested in the 1st month NISAN.
This year, Jews in Israel found that the barley was ABIB in ADAR I (12th month) and believed that the new month that started on 12th April should have been declared as NISAN (with NO 13th month inserted). In this event, Jewish Passover would have coincided with our Christian Easter and fallen on the weekend of 25th March - 27th March. This would mean the dates for Ascension Day and Pentecost would have been the same as for our Christian Easter dates. However...
Official Jewish Calendar
The official Jewish Calendar for this year added a 13th month, ADAR II, which ran from 12th March until 9th April, which has delayed NISAN (the month of Passover) until 10th April. This means that Jewish Passover was held from the 14th Nisan (24th April) with the OMER count (50 days) bringing the Jewish Calendar to Pentecost on June 14.
Running on the official Jewish Calendar this makes "Ascension Day" 10 days earlier on 4th June 2005, therefore -
Ascension Day by the Jewish Calendar - 4th June 2005 - IYAR 26
Jewish Pentecost - 13th/14th June 2005 - SIVAN 6.
Complicating Factors
One of the difficulties in date conversions, is that at any one time, it is different dates and different days/nights around the world. I have a feeling that this is one of the reasons why it is difficult to know "the day and the hour" of Jesus' return. Mid-day on one side of the world is mid-night on the other - Tuesday on one side of the "Date-Line" is Monday on the other. "Midnight" passes all around the globe during a 24 hour period. To make it all the more complicated the Jewish day/date begins about 6 p.m. as night is arriving, whilst the Western day begins after midnight, just 6 hours later. Some people use Jewish time (i.e. the time in Jerusalem) to arrive at their conclusions, but I wonder whether Jerusalem time has anything at all to do with the "Rapture" of the Church.
No wonder Jesus told us to - JUST WATCH!!!!
All of the above is why we have TWO dates for ASCENSION DAY and TWO dates for PENTECOST being proposed on 5 Doves.
One is being worked from the Christian observance dates, where some people think the Jewish Passover dates should have been, whilst the Other dates are being worked from the Modern Official Jewish Calendar.
You will be interested to know that next year (2006) Christian Easter and Jewish Passover fall in the month of April, (13th - 17th);
in (2007) they both fall in April (3rd to 9th); in (2008) Easter falls in March, but Passover in April; and in (2009) they both fall on the weekend of 10th - 13th April 2009.
Maranatha - Come Lord Jesus...