Appendix IV 

Considering Other Dates 

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ 

A.D.

 36  

    The latest date which has been considered as a possible year for the Crucifixion of Jesus is 

A.D.

 36. Nisan 14 

fell on a Friday that year. If we go back 33 years from 

A.D.

 36 to 

A.D.

 3, we find that November 25 did fall on 

a Sunday that year, in agreement with Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich's visions from God. However, 

A.D.

 3 is too late a date for the Birth of Christ. Herod died well after Christ was born (Mt 2:16 19), but the 

evidence places Herod's death earlier than 

A.D.

 1 (see chapter 12). If one accepts that Christ died at about the 

age of 33 years, 

A.D.

 36 is too late for the Crucifixion, because the Birth of Christ cannot be placed as late as 

A.D.

 3. On the other hand, we cannot place the Incarnation and Birth of Christ much more than 33 years 

before the Crucifixion, for the Ministry of Jesus Christ began when He was about 30 years old (Lk 3:23) and 

lasted about 3  years (see chapters 2 and 7). 

A.D.

 33  

    Some faithful Christians hold an opinion that Jesus Christ died in 

A.D.

 33. They give a number of reasons 

for this opinion. In the year 

A.D.

 33, Passover began on a Friday at sundown, as was the case the year that 

Jesus was crucified. Passover began on Friday, April 3, in 

A.D.

 33. 

    However, if Jesus had died in the year 33 

A.D.

, at the age of 33 years and 6 weeks from His Holy 

Conception (the Incarnation), then He would have been born in 1 

B.C.

 Blessed Anne Catherine's visions from 

God clearly indicate that Jesus was born in a year when November 25

fell on a Sunday. But in 1 

B.C.

, 

November 25 fell on a Thursday. And if Jesus had died in 33 

A.D.,

 at the age of about 33 years counting from 

His Birth (rather than from His Holy Conception), then He would have been born in 2 

B.C.

, when November 

25 fell on a Tuesday, not a Sunday. 

    Again, if one accepts that Christ was born about 33 years before the Crucifixion, then the year for His Birth, 

in 1 or 2 

B.C.

, is too late to accord with the year of the death of Herod. If Christ was born in late 2 

B.C.

, then 

the latest date for the death of Herod (which has some scholarly support) is early 1 

B.C.

 There is not, in this 

case, enough time between late 2 

B.C.

 and early 1 

B.C.

 to account for Herod's search for the new born King of 

the Jews, the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, and the Massacre of the Holy Innocents. Also, Herod chose 

to kill infants two years of age or younger, because he thought the Christ child might be as old as about 2 

years. He determined this date from the information given him by the wise men (Mt 2:16). The Massacre of 

the Holy Innocents occurred about 1  years after the Birth of Christ (see chapter 6). 

    Some people assume that 

A.D.

 33 is the correct number because it is a holy number, being the same number 

as the age of Christ at His Crucifixion. There is some truth to this view because, if the years of the Christian 

calendar had been correctly matched to the years of Christ's life as was intended, then the year of His death 

and Resurrection would be called 

A.D.

 33. This is, in fact, the way that the calendar ought to be set up. 

However, there is no basis for assuming that the years called 

A.D.

 have been correctly matched to the age of 

Jesus Christ, and this book presents ample evidence to the contrary. 

    On April 3 of 

A.D.

 33, there was a lunar eclipse which should have been visible from Jerusalem just as it was 

ending, a little after sunset. Sometimes a lunar eclipse will make the moon appear a red color (the exact shade 

of red varies). Some people refer to the words of Saint Peter the Apostle as evidence of a lunar eclipse 

associated with the Crucifixion. Saint Peter quoted the book of the prophet Joel:   `    the sun shall be turned 

into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord, the great and manifest day.  '   (Acts 2:20; 

cf. Joel 2:31). He then spoke about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 

    There is no mention in the Gospels of a lunar eclipse occurring on the day of the Crucifixion. The sun did 

turn to darkness for about 3 hours when Christ was on the Cross (Mt 27:45). But the prophecy of Joel about 

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