This year also feels extraordinary for the Jewish and Assyrian communities of faith, as for the first time since 33 A.D., the Pesach Seder (Passover Dinner), which corresponds to the Last Supper in Catholic traditions, fell on the exact same day (Wednesday evening). 2026 marks the first such occurrence in the modern era under the calendars of both faiths, given there have been no instances of the full triple alignment (full moon + Pesach/15 Nisan beginning at sunset + Holy Thursday in the earlier Catholic sunset reckoning) on a Wednesday night since 33 A.D.
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Thanks, Expert, you've cited a full-orbed Wednesday crucifixion special, "A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays(C)". It has the same problems with this theory that I've outlined here. I will agree that the Wed people who do this bring a little more argument to the table, but I believe that's because the traditional narrative has Palm Sunday and I find this to be Palm Monday instead (and I grant that's me going against tradition so I keep it as a more tenuous view).
The basic issue is that the schedule inserted two more days to pull the resurrection back from Sun to Sat, contrary to Lev. 23:11.
In this fuller version of the schedule, they also run into the traditional Christian calendar inserting one extra day somewhere between "Palm Sunday" and Good Friday. Most Christian sources who do this say there was a whole day of relative silent study between Jesus and the apostles; but when I tracked this assumption I found it to be because they really wanted the triumphal entry on "Sunday" rather than because they honored the text.
If the entry was Sun then Jesus's journey from Jericho to Bethany the day before was Sat, but he would not have engaged such a long journey on Sat. John 12:1, "Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany." But my key belief here is that this is not what we literally call "6 days before" (i.e. Sat 8 Nisan), it is 6 days inclusive from Sun 9 Nisan to Fri 14 Nisan, consistent with counting in other passages. It's notable to Luke for being 6 days because people were thinking then about Passover being the 6th day of the week. This is a second signal that the day is Sun in addition to the signal that Jesus is traveling. (We could easily have Zacchaeus's house Fri-Sat night, Luke 19.) Also, Palm Monday would fall on the 10th and not the 9th, to coincide with the inspection of the lamb.
From there your link follows the traditional chronology except for compressing it two extra days to get to Wed crucifixion, and then adding back the two days for Sat resurrection and Sun testimony. I'm arguing for the median during Holy Week, one day less than tradition and one day more than the Wed position.
Add: The link also makes a clear error at the end, it puts "Firstfruits" on Sat (before sundown) when Lev. 23:11 says clearly Firstfruits is the day after the Sabbath. That was probably just a sloppy addition of the word "Firstfruits" in the wrong place rather than an intentional error. Note also that it uses the same system it rejects, inclusive counting, by having the "sixth" through "second" days before Passover be counted inclusively rather than as we do today. It gives the "Second Day Before Passover" Nisan 13 as what we call the day before "Passover" Nisan 14. Well, then Sunday is the "third day after" Friday, pretty simple, huh?
I probably should write this up separately because there are enough subtleties that it should take its own form.
To be clear, I simply brought this up for consideration.
Calendars are not a strength of mine, and you will not see me making strong claims about a specific timeline, and certainly not with judgments attached. The only thing I do feel quite strongly is incorrect is the Roman Calendar-based timeline, which is simply, and intentionally, wrong.
However, I am most certainly not a calendar expert.
What seems important to me is the realization that the timelines and understandings Christianity has been given on times aren’t even close to correct.
Yeah, and I appreciate that! After 25 years where my position was "it's wrong but God has his reasons" I have now migrated to "it's technically wrong but there's a limited way to permit it and I can explain the reasons it happened". Specifically, 1st-day rest and Palm Sunday (as well as 25 Dec birth instead of conception). The rest, including "on the third day", is not a problem from the church. Glad you recognize this generally!
Yeah, just uh, don’t expect me to recognize it specifically, cause it’s easier to learn a whole new language than to reconcile calendar timelines amid competing discrepancies and historical contexts.
More generally speaking, it’s real easy to get deleteriously bogged down on specifics. I almost got into two issues yesterday where I really didn’t intend to be debating any matters. Quickly abandoned that which caused strife on the premise that doing such is also commanded.
Two of the absolute most important drops to be aware of, imo, are “think mirror” and “red lines”.
Recently had a red line issue as well, but the two from yesterday did not need to be among them, nor did anything in this discussion, for another example (thankfully, this one wasn’t, but I’ve seen this topic, and other topics that I didn’t expect, escalate to it).