Why do Catholics think Jesus died at 3 o'clock on Good Friday?

Answer 1

We know from the original gospel, known to us as Mark's Gospel, exactly when Jesus died on the cross. The last twenty four hours in the life of Jesus are graphically described in eight segments each of exactly three hours:

• The story begins "when it was evening" (Mark 14:17), or when the sun went down: approximately 6 pm.
• 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 says, "And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives". It was about 9 p.m.
• Mark then has Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where his 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. Peter's threefold denial of Jesus, once each hour until the cock crowed, marked 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.
• "It was the third hour when they crucified him," that is, 9 o'clock in the morning.
• When "the sixth hour had come" (12 noon), darkness covered the whole earth, reflecting the betrayal at 12 midnight.
• After just 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.

This tells us that Jesus undoubtedly died just at 3:00 pm on Friday afternoon. Or, if we choose to feel that this sequence is too artificial to be a genuine history, then we do not really know when Jesus died, or if he was crucified at all. The other gospels, known to be based on Mark, more or less followed the same sequence and times, but were written such as partly to lose the artificial pattern of Mark.

Answer 2

Another answer from our community:

Catholics don't believe He died at 3:00pm....who really knows!

They know that Jesus suffered on the cross for several hours before He died. Traditionally, Good Friday services have been held from 12:00pm - 3:00pm.

Answer 3

A:Mark's Gospel breaks down the last twenty four hour into eight intervals of just three hours each, using descriptions of the hours appropriate for the times. These can be transcribed into modern clock terms, to show when each event occurred, including the death of Jesus at 3pm local (Middle Eastern) time.

1. We start with the celebration of the Passover Feast, which becomes the Last Supper. It began "when it was evening" (Mark 14:17), or when the sun went down: approximately 6 pm. Mark knew that the duration of the Passover meal was three hours and that it concluded with the singing of a hymn, so the first thing Jesus did was to sing a hymn with his disciples. Then Mark says, "And when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives". It was about 9 p.m.
2. Mark then has Jesus and the disciples go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus went to pray. He suffered alone and in agony, asking God that, if possible, he take this cup (his destiny to be crucified) away from Jesus. Meanwhile his 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.
3. The betrayal of Jesus, the darkest deed in human history, came next, occurring at the stroke of midnight.
4. At 3:00 a.m., Jesus was led away for a trial before the high priest and other senior priests and elders. It was on the basis of his messianic claim that he was judged to be worthy of death.

   The watch of the night between 3 am and 6 am was called cockcrow. Peter's threefold denial of Jesus, once each hour until the cock crowed, marked the end of that phase of the night. That makes it 6 am.

5. "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.
6. "It was the third hour when they crucified him," that is, 9 o'clock.
7. When "the sixth hour had come" (12 noon), darkness covered the whole earth, reflecting the betrayal at 12 midnight. After three hours of darkness, at 3 p.m., Jesus cried out and gave up the ghost. He has suffered alone and in agony, just as in the Garden of Gethsemene, and his last words reflect anguish at the failure of his prayer in the Garden, when he asked if it were possible that this fate be taken from him: "My God. My God. Why hast thou forsaken me?".
8. Joseph of Arimathea then asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, so that he could be buried before the Sabbath began. Jesus was buried in the final period from 3 to 6 pm, before the sun went down.

In this account, and in the synoptic gospels that generally followed Mark, Jesus was placed on the cross at 9 o'clock and died just twelve hours later at 3pm local time, an unusually short time for this form of torture and execution. There were three more hours to the end of Good Friday by the Jewish calendar.

The account in John's Gospel has some different timings, but Jesus still dies at 3 pm. Christ's crucifixion takes place on the day before the Passover celebration and the trial before Pontius Pilate takes place later in the day. Jesus is sent for crucifixion at the sixth hour, or 12 noon, and died after less than three hours.

Answer 4

Mark 15:34-7: "And at the ninth hour [3:00 PM] Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. "

Answer 5

One thing that people seem to forget when it comes to the Catholic Church is that the Catholic Church was established by Our Blessed Lord, Himself, on the Apostle Peter (see Matthew 16:17-19) and Our Blessed Lord promised both to be with it until the end of the world, and to guide it into all truth.

So the Catholic Church was there when Our Blessed Lord died, in the person of His mother, and the apostle John. This was the most momentous event to happen to the early Church and it certainly would never have forgotten it. Later when it was committed to writing, it was recorded in The Bible.

Short answer? Why does the Catholic Church believe it? Because we were there and witnessed it.