What were the events of the night before and on the day of the crucifixion in the order that they occurred?

Answer 1

A:

Mark's Gospel divides the last twenty four hours in the life of Jesus into periods of just three hours each, listing each event and marking off time to measure the three hours between each event:

1. "When it was evening", or approximately 6 pm, Jesus and the disciples began the Last Supper.
2. The duration of the Passover meal was three hours and it concluded with the singing of a hymn. So at the end of his segment Mark noted, "And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives". It was about 9 p.m.
3. Jesus and the disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane, where his closest disciples, Peter, James and John, were not able to remain awake. "Could you not watch one hour?" Jesus asked. The process was repeated two more times. The disciples could not watch one, two or three hours. It was now midnight.
4. The act of betrayal, the darkest deed in human history occurred at the stroke of midnight.
5. Jesus was led away for a trial before the Sanhedrin. This governing body then judged him, on the basis of his messianic claim, to be worthy of death. It was 3:00 a.m.
6. The watch of the night between 3 am and 6 am was called cockcrow. Mark now inserted his account of Peter's threefold denial of Jesus, once each hour until the cock crowed, marking the end of that phase of the night. That makes it 6 a.m.
7. "As soon as it was morning", which would be 6 o'clock, Jesus was led by the chief priests, scribes and elders to Pontius Pilate for judgement.
8. "It was the third hour", or 9 o'clock "when they crucified him".
9. When "the sixth hour had come" (12 noon), as if on cue, darkness covered the whole earth for three hours, a counterpoint to the midnight betrayal.
10. At the end of the three hours, at 3 p.m., Jesus said "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
11. Jesus was buried in the final period from 3 to 6 p.m., before the sun went down and the Sabbath began.