The following chart was developed for a series of lessons covering the major themes of the Passion Week in 2010. It is an attempt to place the critical events of the final weeks of Jesus’ first advent in chronological order. It begins when Jesus begins to head toward Judea for his final attendance at the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah).

These late ministry events are listed alongside the Galilean, Judean, and Modern (Gregorian) dating systems. The Gospel parallels are also available for reading and consideration. While there are events leading up to the Passion Week the majority of this chart is focused on the Passion Week (a.k.a. Holy Week). The events prior to the Passion Week sets the stage for Jesus’ royal entry into Jerusalem, his death, burial and resurrection.

Dating the Life of Christ

The dating of this chronology utilized a 33 A.D. crucifixion date as argued for by a number of scholars. In particular, the conclusions of Harold W. Hoehner (Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ) and Darrell L. Bock (Studying the Historical Jesus: A Guide to Sources and Methods) informed my thinking regarding a 33 A.D. crucifixion. While I would respectfully vary somewhat from Hoehner’s daily chronology during the Passion Week, I do utilize his suggested solution to the problem of multiple Passovers (Jesus partakes of the Passover but also dies on Passover). Hoehner appeals to the Galilean (sunrise to sunrise) and Judean (sunset to sunset) calendars to resolve the apparent discrepancies in the Gospels. Namely, both days share the same lunar night.

Some events listed do not have dates but are still placed in chronological order.

Please note that I have included references to Acts and 1 Corinthians in the resurrection accounts for readings as well. Köstenberger’s work (The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament) proved useful concerning the order of resurrection appearances.

Reading Chronologically

Reading the Gospel events chronologically should by no means usurp the Gospel writers themselves. Each Gospel writer wants to say something very important to the reader with what they have written. That should be respected. It is not my aim to dismiss a Gospel writer’s intentions with his audience. I only hope this helps a user to think through the events as they happened on each of those critical days.

The suggested start date to the readings would be the week before the Passion Week. The daily readings begin the Saturday before Palm Sunday which appears as Nisan 9 (Galilean), Nisan 8 (Judean), and Saturday, 28 March 33 A.D., on the chart below. The Chronology intentionally leaves off this year’s dates for use across multiple years and to accomodate Eastern and Western church calendars.

Further suggestions: If there is too much to read, try reading only one Gospel’s portrayal of each day’s events. The Wednesday of the Passion Week has very little reading. Consider using that day to either catch up on missed reading, or read ahead for Thursday, or both. There is a lot of material to read on Thursday.

Markers

The parallel passages in parentheses and brackets indicate that the material is a similar event, material closely associated to the event, the same event (though located differently in the Gospel for thematic purposes), or confirmatory evidence as indicated by a summary statement.

The event titles are similar to or borrowed from titles in a number of books or Bibles.

I wish to thank the NET Bible Tagger for making this chart even more user-friendly online.

Chronology and Synopsis of the Passion Week

There is an excellent table of the events that took place in Jesus’ life during the Passion Week included in the commentary above, but I was unable to reduce it in size to fit this page — it was to wide — but I created a link, which will have the complete article WITH THE EXCELLENT TABLE of daily events in the life, death, and resurrection of our LORD Jesus Christ leading up to the PASSION WEEK:

TABLE OF THE EVENTS LEADING UP TO AND INCLUDING  THE PASSION WEEK