The Six "trials" Of Jesus.

There were 3 religious trials

1. Jesus tried by Annas (John 18:13)

2. Jesus tried by Caiaphas (John 18:24)

3. Jesus tried by the Sanhedrin (Matthew 27:1)

There were 3 secular trials

1. Jesus tried by Pilate (John 18:29)

2. Jesus tried by Herod (Luke 23:11)

3. Jesus tried by Pilate (Matthew 27:13)

The total number of trials is therefore six. Six is the numeric number of Man in the Bible.

One day the following people and groups will all stand before God at the Seventh Trial:

- Annas

- Caiaphas

- The Sanhedrin

- Pilate

- Herod

The Great White Throne Judgement 

The Great White Throne Judgement is recorded in Revelation 20:11, "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them."

At this Seventh trial Jesus Christ will judge all of those who judged Him, as He will also judge all unbelievers.

The Timing Of The Night Before The Crucifixion.

Jesus was actually "tried" six times during the night before the Crucifixion. Jesus was probably having the last supper at about 6 pm at the start of the Passover celebrated by the Essenes, which was celebrated on a different day from the Passover ordained by the Sanhedrin.

Jesus was probably staying at the home of the Essenes in Jerusalem, of whom John the Baptist was a member. A clue to this is found in Mark 14:12-16,

"Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?" And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water ; follow him. Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there make ready for us."

So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover."

In the culture of the day it was most unusual for a man to carry water. The Essenes were however a strict male only religious group who distanced themselves from the corrupt Sanhedrin, and were mostly based in Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea. The fact that the disciples met a man carrying water makes it highly likely that Jesus was in fact staying with the ultra Orthodox Essenes.
The start of the Passover celebrated by the Essenes was at 6 pm, so it was likely that Jesus and His twelve disciples were sitting down for the last supper by 6 pm.

Jesus had a great deal to say during the Last Supper, as recorded in John Chapters 14 -16.

It seems unlikely that Jesus appeared at Gethsemane before about 9 pm at the earliest, and probably nearer 10 pm.

The timing of the trials can be pinpointed with some accuracy by the crowing of the rooster, as recorded in Matthew 26:74, 75, "Immediately a rooster crowed . And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So he went out and wept bitterly." 

A rooster normally crows about 1 hour before daybreak, which was possibly at 5.00 am at that time of year (April of 33 AD). Thus the three religious trials occurred some time between Jesus' arrest at 10.30 pm approximately, and Peter's denial of Jesus at approximately 4.00 am.

Jesus was actually nailed to the Cross on the "third hour" which is 9 am. Thus the three secular trials of Jesus probably took place between 5 am and 7 am, to allow for time for the Scourging, and the Carrying of the cross to Golgotha between 7 am and 9 am.

Judas Iscariot Betrayed Jesus Christ For Thirty Pieces Of Silver.

Judas betrayed Jesus to the Romans with a kiss, for money. Judas had been stealing from Jesus every day for three and a half years, and finally betrayed him for thirty pieces of silver. This is recorded in Matthew 26:15, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver."

This exact amount had already been prophesied in Zechariah 11:12, "So they weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver." This is one more of many indications of the supernatural origins of the Bible, described in our teaching The Bible is Supernatural

In Gethsemane Jesus Sweated Blood, The Disciples Slept, And Judas Betrayed Jesus Christ.

The garden of Gethsemane is on the Mount of Olives. In Luke 22:44 we read, "And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground". 

This is a rare condition called Haematidrosis. It is invariably caused by intense emotional agony.

Jesus' disciples in Gethsemane were completely indifferent to Jesus' problems, and fell asleep on three separate occasions. The disciples were asleep, whilst He was literally sweating blood, caused by the intense emotional trauma he experienced.

Caiaphas Prophesied About The Crucifixion.

Caiaphas had previously prophesied that Jesus would die for the people. It is recorded in John 11: 49-50,

"And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.'"

The Ad 33 Date Of The Crucifixion From Bible Prophecy.

The exact date of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is pinpointed with amazing accuracy in Daniel 9:23 - 27. This amazing work on the book of Daniel was first worked out by Sir Robert Anderson, Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard. He wrote an excellent book, "The Coming Prince", which has become one of the most important books in Biblical Eschatology.

The most mathematically amazing Scripture in the Bible is found in Daniel 9: 25-26. In this Scripture the angel Gabriel is foretelling the exact date when Jesus Christ, the anticipated Messiah, would come to Jerusalem. This prophecy is mathematically correct to the very day. There is simply no other book on planet Earth which predicts the future with such stunning accuracy.

Daniel 9: 25-26
"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself."



- For a concise explanation of this we have quoted from the New American Standard Bible, the New Open Bible Study Edition, page 942:

- The vision of the sixty-nine weeks in Daniel 9: 25, 26 pinpoints the coming of the Messiah.

- The decree of Daniel 9: 25 took place on March 4th, 444 BC (recorded in Nehemiah 2: 1-8).

- The sixty-nine weeks of seven years equals 483 years, or 173,880 days (using 360-day prophetic years)


- This leads to March 29th, A.D.33, the date of the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem"

- This is checked by noting that 444 BC to AD 33 is 476 years, and 476 times 365.24219 days per year equals 173,855 days.

- Adding 25 days for the difference between March 4th and March 29th gives 173,880 days"

- It should be noted that the Babylonians used a 360 day calendar, which must be converted to our current Solar Years, of 365 days.

- These 360 day years are commonly called prophetic years.

Thus, the exact day when the Messiah would come to Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, was predicted by Gabriel to the very day.

His means of arrival was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9,

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; he is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey".

The conclusion from Daniel 9: 23-27 is that the Bible is completely supernatural.

The Ad 33 Date Of The Crucifixion According To Phlegon, A Secular Greek Historian.

From the work of Phlegon we can work out the date of the Crucifixion.
The Crucifixion is widely reported by numerous ancient writers. However, unlike the New Testament, of which there are 25,366 early copies, many of these ancient writer's manuscripts are fragmented.

We do however have important sections of Phelgon's work, which are critical in dating the Crucifixion.

Phlegon of Tralles

Phlegon of Tralles was a first century secular Greek historian born not long after the Crucifixion. He inadvertently dated the darkness at noon on the day of Crucifixion in his work, The Olympiades.

Phlegon's greatest work was the writing of a history book, called The Olympiades. The Olympiades can be used as a useful means of establishing a time-line.

We only have fragments left to us of this monumental work and quotations of it from other writers.
One such quotation is as follows, "In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the Sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the sixth hour the day was changed into night, and the stars were seen in the heavens. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nicæa."

Africanus quoted a section of Phlegon's work as follows: "During the time of Tiberius Cæsar an eclipse of the sun occurred during the Full Moon."

We believe that the period of darkness referred to by Phlegon is the same period of darkness referred to in the New Testament, since the event is unique.

There is only one period of darkness lasting for three hours in the history of the world. 

- We believe that the event referred to by Phlegon is the same event that is recorded in the New Testament.

- The timing of this "eclipse" referred to by Phlegon is similar to the event described in the Gospels.

- Thankfully we have a more detailed fragment from Phlegon's Olympiades: "In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the Sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the 6th hour the day was changed into night and the stars were seen in the heavens. An earthquake occurred in Bythinia and overthrew a great part of the city of Nicæa." 

- We know from the Bible that on the day of Crucifixion the Sun was darkened for three hours, and there was a great earthquake.

- As explained, we believe that the darkness referred to by Phlegon is the same darkness referred to in Matthew 27:45.

- From the above statement of Phlegon we can work out the year of the Crucifixion.

The dates of the Olympic Games, recorded in Phlegon's Olympiad

In ancient Greece the Olympic Games were held in the July of the first year of each Olympiad, which was a 4 year period running from July to June of each succeeding year.

The 202nd Olympiad has been calculated to run from July AD 29 to June AD 33. The diagram below will help to clarify this.

The 202nd Olympiad Calender



Calculations for the date of the Crucifixion

- Each year of an Olympiad began on 1st July.

- We know that Jesus was crucified in the Spring, at the time of the Passover.

- Phlegon had specifically stated in his Olympiades: "In the 4th year of the 202nd Olympiad, there was a great eclipse of the Sun, greater than had ever been known before, for at the 6th hour the day was changed into night and the stars were seen in the heavens."

- Using the above information we can work out that the period of darkness occurred in 33 AD.

- We can therefore calculate with great accuracy that the three hour period of darkness, and also the Crucifixion, had to be in the Spring of A.D. 33.

- As several of the early Fathers quoted Phlegon, there seems no reason to doubt his word.

- Another historian, Philipon (with Origen), confirms the historicity of Phlegon's statement by writing, "And about this darkness - Phlegon recalls it in the Olympiads...Phlegon mentioned the eclipse which took place during the crucifixion of the Lord Christ, and no other (eclipse), it is clear that he did not know from his sources about any (similar) eclipse in previous times ...and this is shown by the historical account of Tiberius Caesar." 

- Therefore the year of the crucifixion is A.D 33.

Conclusion

There is more historical evidence to support the three hour period of darkness, and therefore of the Crucifixion, in 33 AD than almost any other ancient event in history!