Tag: Biblical Inconsistencies

What Day Did Jesus Die? The Good Friday Controversy

📅 Today is Day 10 of The 20-Day Easter Special

Each day leading up to Easter, we’re critically examining a core resurrection claim—one at a time—through the lens of reason, evidence, and The God Question’s Core Philosophy.

✍️ Introduction

Many Christians assume Jesus died on a Friday—after all, it’s called Good Friday, isn’t it? But once we step into the world of Gospel comparisons and ancient Jewish calendars, that assumption begins to unravel. The Gospels don’t agree on the day Jesus died—and the reason may have more to do with theology than history.

Today, we’ll examine that contradiction and explore why it matters.

📖 The Contradiction: Mark vs. John

  • Mark’s Gospel (the earliest) tells us Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples on Thursday night and was crucified the next morning, Friday—the day of Passover.
  • John’s Gospel (the latest) says Jesus was crucified before Passover began—because Jesus is portrayed as the sacrificial Passover Lamb.

🕰 In short:

  • In Mark, Jesus dies on Passover.
  • In John, Jesus dies before Passover.

These are not just different emphases—they are different days.

📚 How Days Worked in Ancient Judaism

To understand the contradiction, we must understand that a Jewish day ran from sunset to sunset (not midnight to midnight like ours). That’s why Jesus could have a Thursday evening meal and still die “the next day” while technically being in the same Jewish day.

So far, so good—except the timing of Passover doesn’t match across the Gospels.

📜 Why This Discrepancy Matters

The earliest Gospel (Mark) likely preserves the historical timeline: Jesus ate a Passover meal Thursday night and was crucified Friday morning.

But in John, theology takes the wheel:

  • Jesus doesn’t eat the Passover meal.
  • Jesus dies just as the Passover lambs are being slaughtered.
  • This makes Jesus the Lamb of God, fulfilling theological symbolism rather than historical accuracy.

Scholars like Bart Ehrman argue that John changed the date of Jesus’ death intentionally to fit a theological narrative—to portray Jesus as the divine Passover Lamb.

🧠 The God Question’s Core Philosophy Applied

  1. Does the claim rely on evidence or belief?
    • The tradition of a Friday crucifixion is based on belief, not a unified historical record. The Gospels offer contradictory timelines, and no external evidence confirms the exact day.
  2. Are alternative explanations considered?
    • Gospel authors had different agendas. John prioritized theology over chronology. Mark stayed closer to the timeline but added symbolic meaning through Passover imagery.
  3. Is there independent corroboration?
    • None. The Babylonian Talmud mentions a possible crucifixion date but was written centuries later, making it historically unreliable.
  4. Is the claim falsifiable?
    • Not really. The crucifixion date is treated as sacred tradition, and few within the faith community critically examine the contradiction.
  5. Does the explanation raise more questions than it answers?
    • Yes. If the death of Jesus was the most important moment in human history, why can’t even the Gospels agree on when it happened? What else might have been shaped—or reshaped—by theological motives?

📌 Conclusion

So—what day did Jesus die?

If we apply historical analysis, the most likely answer is Friday, the day of Passover, as preserved in Mark, the earliest Gospel. But that’s not what John wanted to convey. His Jesus wasn’t just a teacher executed by Rome—he was the Passover Lamb, sacrificed for humanity’s sins.

This raises a bigger question: When faith rewrites facts, how can we trust what remains?

At The God Question, we believe truth matters more than tradition. And that starts by asking the hard questions—even about the day the world says changed everything.

📺 For Further Exploration 🔗

YouTube: “Was Jesus Crucified on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday?”

Description:
This video explores the debate surrounding the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, examining arguments for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. It delves into biblical texts and historical context to assess the evidence for each proposed day.

📅 Note: After we wrap up our 20-Day Easter Special on April 20, we’ll return to our regular schedule of posting three times a week:

  • Tuesdays & Fridays – our structured explorations through all 11 blog categories
  • Sundays – our Sunday Special Feature, where we critically respond to real-world religious claims in real time

We hope you’ll stay with us as we continue asking bold questions and applying reason to faith.

The Resurrection Accounts Don’t Agree—And That’s a Problem

📅 Today is Day 5 of The 20-Day Easter Special

Each day leading up to Easter, we’re critically examining a core resurrection claim—one at a time—through the lens of reason, evidence, and The God Question’s Core Philosophy.

🧠 Today’s Big Question

If the resurrection really happened as the defining moment of Christianity, why do the four Gospel accounts contradict each other at nearly every major detail?

Wouldn’t something this miraculous—something this pivotal—warrant a consistent, unified report?

📜 A Quick Glance at the Conflicting Accounts

Let’s break down just a few of the major discrepancies in the Gospel resurrection stories (found in Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20–21):

ElementMatthewMarkLukeJohn
Who went to the tomb?Mary Magdalene & “the other Mary”Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, & SalomeA group of women, unnamed at firstMary Magdalene (alone), then others
Was the stone already rolled away?YesYesYesYes
Who was at the tomb?One angelOne young manTwo men in dazzling clothesTwo angels inside tomb
Where were the angels/men?Sitting on the stoneSitting insideStanding insideSitting inside
What was said to the women?“He has risen… go tell…”Similar messageSimilar messageAngels say little; Jesus speaks
Did the women tell the disciples?YesNo—they said nothing (original ending)YesYes
Who saw Jesus first?Women (Mary Magdalene, etc.)Not shown in earliest versionTwo disciples on the road to EmmausMary Magdalene alone
Where did Jesus appear?GalileeGalilee (as predicted)JerusalemJerusalem

And these are just a few of the inconsistencies. When you compare the full narratives, it becomes clear: these are not four people describing the same event. These are four theological retellings—written decades apart—for different audiences, with different agendas.

🔍 Applying The God Question’s Core Philosophy

Let’s examine the resurrection accounts using our critical thinking lens:

1. Do the accounts rely on evidence or belief?

All the Gospels rely on hearsay and secondhand testimony. There is no contemporary, verifiable documentation of these events—just writings decades later by authors who were promoting a specific theological message.

2. Are alternative explanations addressed?

No. The Gospel writers do not account for inconsistencies or attempt to harmonize the contradictions. Apologists today often try—but the results require cherry-picking, assumptions, and speculation.

3. Is there independent corroboration?

None. All four Gospels are religious texts written within the same faith community. No non-Christian source from the 1st century documents a resurrection, empty tomb, or angelic appearances.

4. Are the claims falsifiable?

No. These are miracle claims presented as divine truth. Any contradiction is explained away as a “matter of perspective” or “complementary” rather than being taken seriously as a credibility issue.

5. Do the contradictions raise more questions?

Absolutely. If the resurrection were a historical event, why do the supposed eyewitnesses disagree so wildly on who saw what, when, and where? If God wanted us to believe it, wouldn’t he have made sure the story was consistent?

💭 Conclusion

For a faith that hinges entirely on the resurrection, these Gospel contradictions should give any honest seeker pause.

We’re not talking about minor differences in wording—we’re talking about clashing stories that disagree on the key details. And when sacred stories look more like legend development than eyewitness reports, we have every reason to question their truth.

The God Question isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions. Because if we’re going to stake our beliefs—and our lives—on something, it should be grounded in truth, not tradition.

📺 For Further Exploration

YouTube Video:
🎥 Are the Gospels Historically Reliable? The Problem of Contradictions


A breakdown of how and why the resurrection accounts differ—and why that matters.

📌 Daily Reminder

Today is Day 5 of our 20-Day Easter Special.
We’ll return to our regular Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday posting schedule after Easter—on April 21st.