Paul explicitly reports events just before the crucifixion.
After all…
focusing just on Paul’s undisputed letters, Paul recounts…
• …that “Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread” [the Last supper].1
• …Jesus’s Last Supper speech (verbatim).2
• …that Jesus was taken by Roman/Jewish leaders.3
• …that Jesus did not resist.4
This is relevant because…
• …He assumes his audience is familiar with “the night” and the “betrayal” by Judas Iscariot.
• …These details would likely not be circulated without context.
• Chrisitan Wolff: “…the imperfect form ...., 'was handed over', is used, expressing the course that this process took.” [“Humility and Self-Denial” in Wedderburn’s “Paul and Jesus” (Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), 158.]
• 1 Corinthians 11:24-26 — ”when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
• 1 Thes 2:14 — “the Jews, who… killed the Lord jesus”
• 1 Cor 2:8 — “…the rulers of this age… if they had understood it they would not have crucified [Jesus]” (with context just laid in 1 Cor 1:23 — ”we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” (Roman leaders and Jewish leaders were the “rulers of this age” for Paul.)
• Gal 1:4 — ”gave Himself… so that he might rescue us”
• 2 Cor 13:4 — “He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet…” This sentiment pervades Paul’s writings both explicitly:
• 2 Corinthians 5:14 — “Christ… died for all”
• Galatians 2:20 — “[Jesus] gave Himself up for me” And implicitly, where,
• David Brondos: “he alludes to it through the phrases he employees when speaking of Christ's death and in the contexts in which he discusses the cross. Perhaps the most important of these phrases are those in which Paul employs the Greek preposition hyper: Paul makes use of this preposition to speak of Christ's death ‘for’ or ‘on the half of’ others at least 10 times in his letters,” [Paul on the Cross (Fortress, 2006), 71.]
Paul explicitly reports precise details of Jesus's crucifixion.
For example,…
• …Paul reports the context before and after. (See above.)
• …Paul reports Jesus was crucified.1
• …Paul reports it involved Jesus’s body and blood2
• …Paul reports Jews and Romans were responsible?3
• …Paul reports Jesus faced “reproaches” during the process.4
• …Paul reports “His sufferings,… His death”. (Phil 3:10)
1 Thes 2:14 — “the Jews, who… killed the Lord jesus”
1 Cor 2:8 — “…the rulers of this age… if they had understood it they would not have crucified [Jesus]” (with context just laid in 1 Cor 1:23 — ”we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness.” (Roman leaders and Jewish leaders were the “rulers of this age” for Paul.)
Romans 15:3 — For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” (cf. 2 Cor 13:4; cf Ps 69:9)