When Was Jesus Crucified? Mark 15:25 and John 19:14-16

Question
When was Jesus crucified? Mark 15:25 and John 19:14-16
Answer
Mark 15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified him.

John 19:14-16 It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. "Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!" "Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The confusion here results from not understanding that the Jews and Romans reckoned time differently. Based upon the Jewish method of sun up to sun down for telling time (Mark 15:25), Jesus was crucified at approximately 9:00 a.m. John, using the Roman method of counting the hours from midnight (cf. John 1:39, 4:6, 4:52), notes that it was about the sixth hour when Pilate sentenced Jesus to be crucified (John 19:14). So, this would have been around 6:00 am when Jesus was sentenced. The crucifixion would have happened after the sentencing, approximately 9:00 am.

Answer by Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr.

Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).