Who said Jesus was crucified at twelve noon?

Answer 1

None of the gospels says that Jesus was crucified at twelve noon.

John's gospel says, in chapter 19 verse 14, that it was "about the sixth hour" when Pilate presented Jesus to the Jews, saying "Behold your King!" This is the only reference to any time frame that John makes in his entire account of the crucifixion (a careful chronology of events being outside his purpose), and it is followed by more cries of "Crucify him," Pilate's final acquiescence to the Jews' demands, and Jesus being led away (v. 16). If Pilate's presentation of Jesus had taken place about noon, it would have been well into the afternoon hours by the time the cross had been carried to Golgotha and the crucifixion actually carried out. According to the other accounts, this cannot be right.

However, if John used Roman reckoning of time relative to Jesus' appearance before the Roman governor (midnight to noon and noon to midnight, rather than the Jewish reckoning of sunset to sunrise and sunrise to sunset), it would have been "about" six in the morning when Pilate brought the scourged and humiliated Jesus out to the Jews, which would result in Jesus being placed on the cross about nine AM, in total agreement with the synoptic accounts.

Answer 2

Neither the Romans nor the Jews calculated time from midnight as we now do, but instead from sunrise. The practical reason for this is that the hours of daylight could be measured accurately by a shadow-stick or, for those who could afford one, a sundial. For the Romans, as well as the Jews, the sixth hour (sexta hora), when Jesus was sent to be crucified, was twelve midday.

John's Gospel, alone among the New Testament gospels, says that Jesus was sent to be crucified at the sixth hour, and that he was already dead by 3 pm.

The earliest gospel, that attributed to Mark, is quite specific about what events occurred in each three-hour period leading up to the death and burial of Jesus, saying that he was crucified at 9:00 am, the third hour:

• Mark started the story "when it was evening" (14:17). In this ancient world without electricity, that would mean when the sun went down, or approximately 6 pm, when Jesus and the disciples sat down for the Last Supper on the evening of the Passover meal.
• Mark knew that the duration of the Passover meal was three hours and that it concluded with the singing of a hymn. So at the end of his segment he noted, "And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives". It was obviously about 9 p.m.
• Mark then has Jesus and the disciples go 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.
• The act of betrayal, the darkest deed in human history, came next, occurring at the stroke of midnight.
• Jesus was led away for a trial before the high priest and other senior priests and elders. This governing body then judged him, on the basis of his messianic claim, to be worthy of death. It was 3:00 a.m.
• 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 am.
• "As soon as it was morning", which would be 6 am, Jesus was led by the chief priests, scribes and elders to Pontius Pilate for judgement.
• Mark told his readers once again that this drama has been shaped liturgically, saying, " It was the third hour," or 9 am "when they crucified him".
• When "the sixth hour had come" (12 noon), darkness covered the whole earth, reflecting the betrayal at 12 midnight.
• After three hours of darkness, Jesus said "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" At 3 pm, Jesus gave up the ghost. Jesus was buried in the final period from 3 to 6 pm, before the sun went down. That brings us to 6 pm on Friday evening, reflecting the beginning of the passion on 6 pm on Thursday evening.

Based on Mark's account, followed more or less closely by Matthew and Luke, Jesus was crucified at 9 o'clock and died at 3 o'clock. At 12 noon, these accounts say a great darkness covered the whole land, which could have made it impossible to send prisoners to be crucified at that time.