So it has occurred to me for a while that the Marcan Passion timeline is problematic. Most specifically, the claim that Jesus was crucified during Passover. However I have now found that the timeline is contradictory, Palm-Sunday to Good Friday as it appears in Mark cannot happen in the same week. Here is the problem:
1. Palm Sunday begins at Mark 11:1 with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem
2. The Cleansing of the Temple happens (Mark:15-19)
3. Jesus is crucified by the Romans (Mark 15:21-32)
Do you see the problem? How about if I put in the dates:
1. Palm Sunday begins at Mark 11:1 with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem
2. On 25 Adar the Cleansing of the Temple happens (Mark:15-19)
3. On 14 Nisan Jesus is crucified by the Romans (Mark 15:21-32)
To be fair, I'll explain where we get the date of the Cleansing from. The Mishnah Shekalim which you can read for yourself is the only Jewish source that tells us when money changers were allowed in the Temple, and they were only permitted there on the 25th of Adar because that was the day the temple tax was due. And they weren't allowed to charge fees, not that the NT says they did, but if Jesus really did get into an altercation with them then it wasn't because of that reason. From the 15th leading up to the 25th they set up tables in the city but not the temple. So that's it, there's only one day per year the money traders were in the temple for Jesus to have an altercation with.
Also, we must keep in mind that Mark is woefully uninformed about Jewish customs. Hence why he has the women go to give Jesus a second anointing.
So Jesus is crucified 18 days later? But within the gospel narratives this all happens within one week. I have identified three plausible solutions... take your pick:
1. That the Cleansing happened about 2 weeks earlier then the gospel narratives suggest
2. That the crucifixion happened earlier than Passover (despite the gospel
or
3. That the Cleansing didn't happen, or that if it did that the money changers were not involved after all.
1. Palm Sunday begins at Mark 11:1 with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem
2. The Cleansing of the Temple happens (Mark:15-19)
3. Jesus is crucified by the Romans (Mark 15:21-32)
Do you see the problem? How about if I put in the dates:
1. Palm Sunday begins at Mark 11:1 with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem
2. On 25 Adar the Cleansing of the Temple happens (Mark:15-19)
3. On 14 Nisan Jesus is crucified by the Romans (Mark 15:21-32)
To be fair, I'll explain where we get the date of the Cleansing from. The Mishnah Shekalim which you can read for yourself is the only Jewish source that tells us when money changers were allowed in the Temple, and they were only permitted there on the 25th of Adar because that was the day the temple tax was due. And they weren't allowed to charge fees, not that the NT says they did, but if Jesus really did get into an altercation with them then it wasn't because of that reason. From the 15th leading up to the 25th they set up tables in the city but not the temple. So that's it, there's only one day per year the money traders were in the temple for Jesus to have an altercation with.
Also, we must keep in mind that Mark is woefully uninformed about Jewish customs. Hence why he has the women go to give Jesus a second anointing.
So Jesus is crucified 18 days later? But within the gospel narratives this all happens within one week. I have identified three plausible solutions... take your pick:
1. That the Cleansing happened about 2 weeks earlier then the gospel narratives suggest
2. That the crucifixion happened earlier than Passover (despite the gospel
or
3. That the Cleansing didn't happen, or that if it did that the money changers were not involved after all.
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