THE PASSION, A SYMBOL of a New era

Interpretations

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symbolic importance of the resurrection numbers

Christians may have claimed the number eight as a symbol of their "eights day of creation" but in reality this significance has been directly taken over from Judaism. Jewish baby boys are circumcised on the eights day after birth, symbolizing the covenant between God and his children of Israel, that promises to one day guide them to a restitution of his original (seven day) creation before its corruption through the original sin.

The number five is without any doubt the most famous example in antiquity of an "increased number". The name "quintessence" is actually synonym for the whole concept.

With regard to the number thirteen, its substantial meaning in Judaic number symbolism has been discussed extensively. With respect to Jesus and his disciples it is absolutely clear that the thirteenth person of the company is definitely not Judas (as the medieval tradition want us to believe). In accordance with the important symbolical value that this number has in the Jewish tradition, the real number thirteen was of course Jesus himself. The number thirteen has important significance in the Jewish tradition that corresponds with it explanation as "twelve increased with one", which is demonstrated to the age of thirteen years as which Jewish boys become "sons of the law" (Bar Mitzvah)

The same symbolism also applies to the number twenty-one, like in Western tradition, this is the year in which teenagers become adults. Even in this case the symbolism is identical: until twenty years you're a teenager, add one year and you'll become an adult. In the passion week this number has however been used in another more important context that excluded its use as a "resurrection number" In this case the number twenty-one served to estimate the important 3 x 7 value of Jesus death and rest in the grave.

5 - The "quintessence" represents exactly the concept of the "increased" resurrection numbers.

8 - Circumcision on the eights day as symbolic for God's promise to bring back his children to the Garden of Eden (the covenant).

13 - Thirteen years is end of twelve years of childhood and beginning of Bar Mitzvah.

21 - twenty-one is end of teenage, begin of adulthood, similar to Bar Mitzvah.

34 - Jesus earthly life ended at 33 years.

55 - The Jewish calendar doesn't know a fixed year length of 365 days or 52 weeks in a year. Based on the lunar cycle, the Jewish calendar knows 6 different year lengths, varying from 353 to 385 days. Seven times every nineteen year a thirteenth month is added in order to compensate for the solar year. The length of the Jewish calendar year can differ from 50 to 54/55 weeks. As such the Jewish religious calendar is divided in exactly 54 weekly Sabbath Torah readings. A complex system of modifications makes sure that even in the shortest year, all 54 texts are read.

89 - The Jewish calendar is based on the length of the lunar phases. Month have as such a varying length of either 29 or 30 days. Four three month long seasons of the religious calendar are as such 88 or 89 days long.

144 - This progressive "Fibonacci" number is not a "resurrection number" but definitely deserves recognition as an important religious symbolical number.

(The progressive numbers: 5 - 13 and 21 also had another mystical symbolic meaning in the Jewish tradition that directly links them to God. This becomes clear after multiplying them by two). 

It is absolutely clear that in Judaic and Hellenistic number symbolism, some individual progressive "Fibonacci" numbers had a significant symbolical meaning that completely complies with the "resurrection number symbolism" of the Passion week. In Jewish religious tradition, all of these numbers symbolized the phenomenon of renewal through the end of an old-, and the start of a new cycle.

This explanation of these numbers is very old, while the religious significance of these numbers has stretched out to current Christian faith. It is however only within the context of the Judaic tradition that these numbers manifest their full significance. As such, nobody will question their individual meaning as ideal "resurrection numbers". Each of the numbers expresses the "quintessence" of the new Christian era.

The question that remains, is whether the simple mathematical progression of these numbers was also understood. Regarding this, it needs to be made very clear that from a purely mathematical point of view there is an enormous difference between being charmed by a simple number progression, and knowing all mathematical the ins and outs of this progression including its unique relation to Eclid's geometrical division in extreme and mean ratio.

In other words, whoever might have used the fact that the resurrection numbers create a simple mathematical progression, did not necessarily have to know all its geometrical qualities, just like someone that draws a circle does not necessarily have the know the number pi. It is however an absolute fact that the narrative gospels were written during the exact period and in the exact environment in which Roman architecture made large scale use of this kind of mathematical progressions.

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Conclusions:

There are so many presumptions that still need further investigation that it is very difficult to draw final conclusions. Nevertheless some of the possible scenarios will be briefly discussed. The interpretation of the facts and assumptions depends on the religious, historical or scientific background of the reader. Just like beauty, which according to Shakespeare is in the eye of the beholder, also facts get a completely different interpretation when beheld from a religious perspective. By itself all of these interpretations are valid because everyone has the right to his own opinion. The fact that this article focuses on a historical perspective should not withhold religious readers from interpreting the information in completely different way. 

scenario I
"Divine inspiration"

It does not sound very scientific, but basically we are dealing with a religious subject, so why not accept the fact that God inspired the writers of the gospels to incorporate the symbolism of the resurrection numbers. Or even better, why not accept the fact that the crucifixion and resurrection took place exactly like described in the gospels and that the symbolism of the resurrection numbers is part of God's master plan for the new Christian era. After all we are dealing with religious faith and hardly anyone would still claim the Bible to be a history book.

scenario II
"Numbers yes but progression no"

Considering the information currently available it is safe to draw the conclusion that several religious symbolic numbers have been used in a mystical messianic symbolism of the passion of Jesus. The 666 symbolism of the crucifixion and the 888 symbolism of the resurrection is convincing but points towards a symbolism that is still strongly connected to the Torah tradition of God's original creation as described in Genesis. The use of the forty hours between the death and appearance of Jesus is proof of this traditional approach. The use of the resurrection numbers is a logical consequence of the fact that the resurrection was set to take place at the first day-, the first week-, the first hour-, the first month-, etc.

The resurrection numbers do have an important symbolical meaning in the Jewish tradition and this interpretation does comply with their possible use in the resurrection symbolism of Jesus but there is no specific evidence that their mathematical progression was also understood, which for the moment makes it impossible to prove that the progressive number series by itself was used as the basis for the time-scheme of the resurrection of Jesus. However, regardless whether the "resurrection umbers" were understood as a mathematical progression or not, their individual significance in the Jewish and Hellenistic religious and symbolic tradition provides a valid explanation for their use.

scenario III
"The mathematic key"

Tangible evidence proves that difficult progressions were understood and even used by the Pythagoreans and later in Roman architecture to deduct the irrational number √2. It is as such impossible that the simplest of all mathematical progressions was not known. Even if it was not fully understood with all its geometrical qualities regarding the Golden Section etc, this would still not mean that the progressive value of the various religious Jewish numbers that expressed the "quintessence" of the covenant was not understood. Many mystical Jewish-, Hellenistic- and Christian religious- and philosophical texts talk about number progression. Number manipulation, especially in the context of the Hebrew calendar, was such an important task in the Jewish religious culture that it is unthinkable that in all the hundreds of years of Jewish and Christian Messianic mysticism nobody managed to see this over-evident connection.

The fact that no written texts survived in our time is not surprising considering the verbal Hebrew tradition, the Diaspora and persecutions of the Jews. Besides this we have to consider the secret "initiation" character of classical religious- and philosophical societies plus the fact that all mystical books that might have contained information were systematically destroyed. Parting from the fact that the progressive nature of the resurrection numbers must have been clearly understood by the writer of the passion planning, it becomes clear that even Jesus' presumed age of 33 was intended to express the concept of the fulfilled cycle of earthly end-time.

Coincidence is acceptable up to a certain point, but when all numbers involved in the resurrection of Jesus are related to a simple mathematical progression, including Jesus own age, it becomes very difficult to ignore the facts, especially considering how the narrative gospels originate in the period and environment of the biggest splendor of Roman Hellenistic architecture. A period in which it was highly fashionable to make large scale use of geometrical proportions and mathematical progressions, similar to the one that much later got a name through the works of Leonardo Fibonacci.

Origin of the narrative gospels 

What becomes clear is the fact that the whole story of the death and resurrection of Jesus is an intricate but tailor-made messianic mystical time scheme. This time scheme was constructed in such a way that it would gain the maximum symbolic impact when it comes to expressing the eschatological concept of the Old and the New era that finished and initiated through Jesus death and resurrection.

The narrative gospels were most likely written towards the end of the first century, in a period in which the original Judaic Christian sects of the Diaspora needed a new theological framework in order to explain the fact that Jesus had not returned on earth as hoped and expected, especially during and after the "eschatological" wars against the Romans from 66 to 70 that lead to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem .

Up to that moment no clear Christian theology explained how Jesus' original resurrection had already paid the bill for the original sin long before the war against the Romans. Most Judaic Christians were still hoping for a quick return of their Messiah and prepared for the Last Judgment as the true eschatological event. Most of them probably hoping that Jesus' return would liberate them from the hated Romans and restore the Temple in Jerusalem. Because this return did not come and ever more time passed, the need grew for additional religious texts that would provide powerful theological proof of the eschatological importance of the original death and resurrection of their Messiah. As such it is reasonable to say that until the end of the first century, the first (mostly Judaic) Christians were simply awaiting the return of their messiah Jesus.

From the first century onwards, the Judaic Christian sects of the Diaspora and the "sayings gospel" tradition started to become increasingly integrated into the Hellenistic cultural background of the many gentiles that converted to Christianity. This new phase in the development of Christianity called for new religious texts, that would highlight the unique Messianic aspects of Jesus' death and resurrection in a powerful symbolic way that would incorporate both the Judaic eschatological-, as well as the Hellenistic symbolical traditions. As such the narrative gospels created the first real Christian dogmas. This was done in order to unite the many dispersed sectarian groups of the Diaspora and provide them with a coherent theological message that would secure survival in the Roman-Hellenistic world. Since their introduction, the narrative gospels were gradually modified and later also incorporated the old sayings gospels as part of the sermon on the mount.

By the time of the institutionalizing of the Christian faith as the official Church of the Roman empire, many different versions of Christian gospels circulated. In the mean time, the original inspiration of Judaic/Hellenistic symbolism had almost completely disappeared into the background. Already in 135 Hadrian destroyed everything that was left of original Palestine Judaism. After him, also Roman Christianity turned against the Jewish people, collectively blaming them of the death of their Christ. What also disappeared into the background together with the dissociation from Judaism, were the keys to the resurrection symbolism that was expressed in the passion story of Jesus. As such, this unique aspect of Judaic/Hellenistic symbolism survived the editorial censorship of Nicaea in 325AD, and became part of the Christian religion that by now exists for almost 2000 years.