NASA has discovered evidence suggesting that a cosmic event — a lunar eclipse — could have led to the biblical descriptions of the skies turning red on the day Jesus Christ was crucified.
Many scholars tie the date of Friday, April 3, 33 A.D., to the death of Jesus, and now, NASA's astronomical models suggest that there was an eclipse that day, reports the New York Post.
NASA noted that Christian texts describe the moon as turning to blood after the crucifixion, "potentially referring to a lunar eclipse, during which the moon takes on a reddish hue."
The agency added that its technology pinpointed that the ancient eclipse was visible in Jerusalem shortly after the sun went down on that day.
According to the gospel of Matthew 27:45, "From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came all over the land," according to one translation of the verse that describes the skies as Jesus Christ hung on the cross.
The eclipse theory was initially floated by Colin Humphreys and W. Graeme Waddington, two Oxford University researchers, back in 1985. Now, with the Easter holiday, the theory is gaining traction on modern-day social media, including TikTok.
"The date of the crucifixion has been debated for many years yet there has been no agreement on the year nor the day on which Jesus died," they wrote.
"In this review, astronomical calculations are used to reconstruct the first century A.D . Jewish calendar and to date a lunar eclipse which Biblical and other references suggest followed the crucifixion, the paper adds. "The evidence strongly points to Friday, 3 April, A.D. 33 as being the date when Christ died."
Other passages in the Bible point to what was being seen in the skies on the day of Christ's execution.
A translation of Acts 2:20 reads that "The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord."
The passage was spoken by the Apostle Peter, 50 days after the crucifixion, and quotes another prophecy from the Old Testament.
In it, Joel 28-31 says that "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."
There are some scholars who say that the verses predicted the second coming of Christ, not the crucifixion, but others, including Humphreys and Waddington, said they believe the verses describe the skies on the day Jesus died.
Their research further pointed to a passage from the Report of Pilate, which is part of the New Testament apocrypha.
"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 passage says.
The phrase supports the idea that the lunar eclipse was seen and recorded in scripture, Humphreys and Waddington argued.
Peter's quote about the sun being turned into darkness, they said, references Matthew 27:45 while aligning with the blackout that was reported in the gospel.
Meanwhile, Good Friday always falls two days before Easter Sunday. The holiday is determined by the first full moon after the first day of spring, which aligns with the Jewish Passover, when Jesus is believed to have been killed.
And in the Gospels, Jesus was resurrected on the Sunday after Passover. Early Christians ensured that was when Easter fell and linked the holiday to the Bible as well as the full moon.