Good Friday: Matthew 27:46, Greek Grammar, Calendar Calculations, and Historical Coincidences

Good Friday is the day Christians commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It marks the culmination of Jesus’s passion, occurring during the Jewish festival of Passover. In the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion, one of the most striking moments is captured in Matthew 27:46, when Jesus cries out from the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” This article examines the significance of that cry – including its original language and grammar – and explores how the date of the first Good Friday is determined (considering Gregorian vs. Julian calendar calculations) as well as several remarkable historical coincidences associated with that day.

Matthew 27:46 – The Cry of Dereliction

Matthew 27:46 records Jesus’s words in Aramaic: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani”, which means “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” This anguished cry, often called the “cry of dereliction,” is a direct quotation of the opening line of Psalm 22. By uttering these words, Jesus invokes a well-known prophetic psalm that begins in despair but ends in vindication. Both Matthew and Mark preserve the Aramaic phrasing of Jesus’s cry (transliterated into Greek characters) before providing its translation for readers.

The slight differences between Matthew’s and Mark’s renditions (“Eli” vs. “Eloi”, and the spelling of lama/lema) likely reflect dialectical variations in Aramaic or the authors’ transcription. In Aramaic (the common language Jesus spoke), Eli or Eloi means “my God,” and lema sabachthani translates as “why have You forsaken me.” The word sabachthani corresponds to “forsaken me” (similar to Hebrew azavtani), and lema means “for what purpose” or “why.” Matthew immediately interprets the phrase for the reader: “that is, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?’” in Greek. The Greek verb used for “forsaken” (ἐγκατέλιπες, from ἐγκαταλείπω) is in the aorist tense, indicating a completed action – Jesus expressing that he has been forsaken at that moment.

This cry powerfully expresses Jesus’s sense of abandonment as he bears the weight of humanity’s sins. Yet, by quoting Psalm 22, Jesus also links his suffering to the fulfillment of prophecy. Psalm 22, written centuries earlier, remarkably foreshadows details of the crucifixion (for instance, the psalm describes hands and feet being pierced and people casting lots for the sufferer’s clothing). By invoking the first line of this psalm, Jesus likely intended to call the whole psalm to mind. Though it begins with anguish, the psalm ends with trust and triumph – suggesting that Jesus’s cry was not one of despairing defeat, but pointed toward the hope of vindication beyond the grave.

Dating Good Friday: Julian vs. Gregorian Calendar Calculations

Determining the exact date of the original Good Friday involves correlating the Gospel accounts with historical calendar data. The Gospels indicate that Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation (the day before the Sabbath) during Passover. This means Jesus died on a Friday at the time of the Jewish Passover (14th or 15th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish lunar calendar). Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea from AD 26 to 36, so the crucifixion must have occurred within that timeframe. Scholars have narrowed down the plausible years by identifying when Passover fell on a Friday in that period.

Using astronomical calculations and historical records, researchers have determined that only a few dates in that range are possible candidates for a Friday Passover. The two most widely cited possibilities are AD 30 and AD 33:

1. AD 30: In AD 30, the 14th of Nisan (Passover) likely fell on Friday, April 7 (Julian calendar). This date fits a timeline in which Jesus’s ministry began around AD 27 and lasted about three years. Some chronologies of the Gospels favor AD 30 for the crucifixion, aligning with the Synoptic Gospels’ inference that the Last Supper was a Passover meal on Thursday night and the crucifixion on Friday (which would have been Nisan 15 by Jewish reckoning after sundown).
2. AD 33: In AD 33, Nisan 14 fell on Friday, April 3 (Julian calendar). This date is supported by other lines of evidence and is a favorite among many scholars. It allows for a slightly later start to Jesus’s ministry (around AD 29) and aligns with the Gospel of John’s timeline which implies the crucifixion took place on the afternoon of Nisan 14, just as the Passover lambs were being slaughtered. The year AD 33 also has the advantage of corresponding with a notable lunar eclipse (discussed below) on the evening of the crucifixion, and it fits historical references such as Luke 3:1, which suggests John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministries around AD 28–29 (the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar).

Apart from AD 30 and 33, no other year in the late 20s to early 30s AD provides a convincing match of a Friday crucifixion at Passover. For example, AD 27 and AD 34 would have a Friday Passover, but AD 27 comes too early (Jesus would have barely begun his public ministry) and AD 34 is likely too late (Paul’s conversion is often dated to AD 34). Thus, historians focus on 30 and 33 as the key options.

One must also consider the calendar system in use when discussing dates. In the first century, dates were recorded according to the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar date for Good Friday in AD 33 is April 3, but the equivalent date in our modern Gregorian calendar would be April 1, 33. Similarly, April 7, 30 (Julian) corresponds to April 5, 30 on the Gregorian proleptic calendar. The Gregorian calendar—now internationally used—was introduced much later (in 1582) to correct the drift of the Julian calendar against the solar year. Because of this reform, when we project dates from antiquity onto today’s calendar, we have to adjust them by the appropriate number of days. The table below illustrates the Julian vs. Gregorian dates for the two main candidate years:

Even after establishing the calendar date, the calculation of Easter has its own history. Early Christians linked the date of Easter to the timing of Jewish Passover, but eventually the Church set a formula for Easter: it falls on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the spring equinox. In AD 325, the Council of Nicaea established that the Church would use a standardized reckoning for Easter, fixing March 21 (the spring equinox date in 325) as a reference point. At that time, the Julian calendar was in use, so Easter dates were calculated based on the Julian calendar. By the 16th century, however, the accumulated error in the Julian calendar (which gains about 1 day every 128 years) had shifted the calendar dates of the equinox and full moon. Therefore, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar reform in 1582, skipping 10 days to realign March 21 with the equinox and adjusting the leap year rule. Since then, Western Christianity has used the Gregorian calendar for calculating Easter, while Eastern Orthodox churches continued (and some still continue) to use the Julian calendar or a revised version of it. This is why in many years, Eastern Orthodox Easter falls on a later date than Western (Catholic and Protestant) Easter. Despite these differences in computation, both calendars anchor the observance of Good Friday and Easter in the historical events of Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection circa AD 30–33.

Historical Coincidences and Notable Events

The crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday was accompanied by a series of extraordinary happenings, some of which are recorded in the Bible and others noted by later analysis. These events and “coincidences” have been the subject of much commentary, as they seem to underscore the cosmic and historical significance of that day. Notably:

• Midday darkness: All three Synoptic Gospels mention that from about the sixth hour until the ninth hour (roughly noon to 3 pm), darkness fell over the land during the crucifixion. This unusual midday darkness has prompted speculation and research. Because Passover occurs during a full moon, a normal solar eclipse is ruled out (solar eclipses cannot happen during a full moon). Some historians have suggested there might have been a khamsin dust storm or an unusually heavy cloud cover that day, causing an eerie gloom. Others interpret it as a supernatural sign, symbolizing judgment or the sorrow of creation at the death of Christ.
• Lunar eclipse – the “blood moon”: Later on the evening of the crucifixion, the moon rose, and according to astronomical calculations, on April 3, 33 AD there was a partial lunar eclipse visible from Jerusalem around sunset. A lunar eclipse at Passover (which always falls on a full moon) could cause the moon to appear reddish in color – a “blood moon.” The Apostle Peter, in his first sermon after Jesus’s resurrection (see Acts 2:20), quotes the prophet Joel’s words that “the sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood” before the day of the Lord. The concurrence of the crucifixion’s darkness and an actual blood-red moon that night would have struck witnesses and later Christians as the fulfillment of this prophecy, lending cosmic significance to Jesus’s death.
• Earthquake: The Gospel of Matthew (27:51) reports that at the moment Jesus died, “the earth shook and the rocks were split.” In other words, an earthquake struck Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion. Remarkably, geological evidence suggests that an earthquake did occur in the region around that general time. Sediment layers from the Dead Sea (about 13 miles from Jerusalem) show signs of a major earthquake occurring in the first half of the first century (possibly around 31 AD, give or take a few years). While we cannot be certain this is the same quake mentioned in Scripture, the timing and location align plausibly, making it a striking possible coincidence between the biblical account and the geological record.
• Calendar symbolism: Some early Christian writers noted a symbolic convergence of dates: they reckoned that Jesus’s crucifixion occurred on March 25 in the Julian calendar. March 25 was considered by some ancient Christians to be the date of the spring equinox and also believed to be the anniversary of the world’s creation. Later tradition additionally identified March 25 as the Feast of the Annunciation (commemorating the conception of Jesus). Thus, an idea emerged that the redemption of the world on Good Friday coincided with its creation and with Christ’s conception – all happening on the same date in different years. While modern historians would place the crucifixion in early April rather than late March, and the equinox now falls on March 20 or 21, this perceived alignment of sacred dates in the early Christian imagination is a fascinating example of finding divine meaning in the calendar.

Historical and Astronomical Analysis

The study of Good Friday through the lens of scripture, language, and history reveals a rich tapestry of meaning. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus’s haunting words in Aramaic connect his suffering to ancient prophecy, demonstrating the depth of his anguish and the fulfillment of Scripture. Through historical and astronomical analysis, we can identify the likely date of that first Good Friday and appreciate how it aligns within the frameworks of the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Moreover, the remarkable phenomena recorded – from midday darkness to a possible “blood moon” and earthquake – highlight the momentous nature of the crucifixion event. Far from being an isolated incident, the crucifixion is seen as a world-changing occurrence, woven into both the theological narrative of the Bible and the observable patterns of history and nature. Good Friday thus stands as a day of profound sorrow and profound significance, remembered annually not only as a matter of faith but also as a moment where history and divine purpose converged.