NASA discovery linked to Jesus' crucifixion 'reveals exact day Christ died'
- READ MORE: Firsthand evidence of Jesus' crucifixion found in manuscript
A discovery by NASA may confirm the Biblical account of Jesus' crucifixion, according to researchers from Oxford University.
The Bible states that the sun turning into darkness and the moon into blood, which some scholars believe referenced events following Christ's death.
NASA's models, which trace the positions of the Earth, moon, and sun through history, show a lunar eclipse occurred on Friday, April 3, 33AD — the year traditionally linked to Jesus' death.
The cosmic event would have been visible in Jerusalem shortly after sunset, and the position of the moon would have given it a reddish hue.
The Biblical historians believe the lunar eclipse identified by NASA was the same written about in the Bible.
The NASA discovery was made in the 1990s, but is now going viral on TikTok as today is known among Christians as the day Jesus was crucified.
'Christian texts mention that the Moon turned to blood after Jesus's crucifixion—potentially referring to a lunar eclipse, during which the Moon takes on a reddish hue,' NASA noted.
The American space agency added that scholars narrowed narrowed down a possible date of the crucifixion to Friday, April 3, 33AD, because a lunar eclipse o
Christians across the world are celebrating Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus. A discovery by NASA has provided proof of accounts of Jesus' death in the Bible
The Bible verse that discusses the moon appears in Acts 2:20, which states: 'The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.'
Scriptures details how the apostle, Peter, shared the words 50 days after the crucifixion, leading some experts to believe he was recalling events witnessed during Jesus's death.
However, many historians argue that the passage was meant to prophesize the second coming of Jesus.
That is because Peter was quoting from Joel 2:28–31, a passage that speaks of cosmic signs and spiritual awakening: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.'
Because the Book of Joel was written centuries before the crucifixion, many scholars believe Peter was explaining how the crucifixion was previously prophesied by Joel.
Colin Humphreys and W. Graeme Waddington, biblical scholars from the University of Oxford used NASA's findings, along with textual references of the crucifixion to argue that the moon did in fact to red blood following Jesus' death.
They theorized that Peter was not giving a prophecy about the coming of Jesus, but was telling the crowd that Joel's prophecy was filled.
NASA's astronomical models, which can track the positions of the Earth, moon and sun throughout history, revealed that a lunar eclipse occurred on Friday, April 3, 33AD
According to the Gospels, darkness fell over the land from noon to 3pm while Jesus hung on the cross, which the researchers said closely aligns with the imagery described in Joel's prophecy.
Humphreys and Waddington argued that Peter's use of the phrase 'the sun shall be turned into darkness' referenced Matthew 27:45: 'From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.'
The researchers also pointed to lesser-known texts in the New Testament apocrypha, which contains writings about Jesus' life, such as his infancy, divine nature, and relationships with his family and disciples.
The New Testament apocrypha, however, was not included in the traditional biblical canon because it was not considered divinely inspired.
However, Humphreys and Waddington highlighted a verse, the so-called Report of Pilate, as further evidence of unusual celestial events during the crucifixion.
'At his crucifixion the sun was darkened; the stars appeared and in all the world people lighted lamps from the sixth hour till evening; the moon appeared like blood,' the verse reads.
Thus, they said, provides more evidence that Jesus died on the day of the ancient lunar eclipse.
Christians across the world are celebrating Good Friday to commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
Good Friday is always two days before Easter Sunday, which is determined by the first full moon after the first day of spring, and then it is the first Sunday following that full moon.
The method stems from early Christian efforts to align the holiday with Jewish Passover and astronomical events.
Jesus is believed to have been crucified around Passover, which is based on the Hebrew lunar calendar.
According to the Gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the Sunday following Passover.
Early Christians wanted Easter to reflect this timing, so they sought a system that would keep Easter connected to Passover and Jesus' resurrection.
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