On the day of Jesus' crucifixion, the Jewish leaders had not yet eaten the Passover meal.
“Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.” John 18:28Pontius Pilate indicated that the day of Jesus' crucifixion was the day of Passover.
“But you have a custom that I should release someone to you at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” --Pontius Pilate, John 18:39John indicated that the crucifixion happened on the preparation day of the Passover, which is the 14th of Nisan on the traditional Jewish lunisolar calendar. The Passover meal is eaten that evening.
“Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’” John 19:14, 15The first-century Jewish majority followed the teachings of the Pharisees.
"...the Pharisees have the multitude of their side..." (Josephus, Flavius, The Works of Josephus, The Aniquities of the Jews, 13:10:6 Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).The first-century Jewish majority kept Passover on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, which fell in the spring in the March/April time frame.
In the month of Xanthicus, which is by us called Nisan, and is the beginning of our year, on the fourteenth day of the lunar month, when the sun is in Aries (for in this month it was that we were delivered from bondage under the Egyptians, and law ordained that we should every year slay that sacrifice which I before told you we slew when we came out of Egypt, and which was called the Passover (Josephus, Flavius, The Works of Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 3:10:5, Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).The Jewish tradition of keeping this feast on the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan was (and still is) based on the following commandment:
"On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover." Leviticus 23:5The day after Jesus' crucifixion was a "high day".
“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” John 19:31The only Biblically-specified "high days" or high holidays related to the Passover Feast are the 15th of the month, which is the day after Passover, and the 21st of the month, which is the seventh day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and falls 7 days after Passover.
And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. Leviticus 23:6-8The day after Jesus' crucifixion was the fifteenth of Nisan, which is the first high holiday associated with the Passover Feast. Therefore Jesus was crucified on Passover, the 14th of Nisan.
The Day After Jesus' Crucifixion: a Holiday and a Traditional
'Sabbath'
According to the gospels of Mark, Luke, and John, the day after Jesus’
crucifixion was a ‘Sabbath.’ The Hebrew word "Sabbath" means "rest".
In the Bible, the word applies to the weekly Sabbath (Saturday) and four
specific holiday Sabbaths. Mark wrote:
“Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.” Mark 15:42-43Luke wrote:
“Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.” Luke 23:53-54John called the day after the crucifixion a "high day" (the day after Passover is a God-designated holiday, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread).
“Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” John 19:31Interestingly, Matthew did not call the day after Jesus’ crucifixion a Sabbath. Instead, he called it the day “which followed the Day of Preparation.”
“On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate..” Matthew 27:62Although a day of preparation precedes each weekly Sabbath, a day of preparation also precedes the Feast of Unleavened Bread. That preparation day is also the day of Passover. Had the crucifixion preceded a weekly (Saturday) Sabbath, or had the crucifixion preceded what could be defined in Matthew's mind to be a Biblical holiday Sabbath, Matthew, like the other gospel writers, would probably have called the day a Sabbath. Perhaps in Matthew's mind, the day was not a holiday Sabbath. In the Bible, the day after Passover is nowhere called a Sabbath, but is called a day of "holy convocation".
“And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.” Leviticus 23:6-7According to the Bible, God only designated four holidays as days of Sabbath rest. One was the Feast of Trumpets.
“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.” Leviticus 23:15Another was the Day of Atonement.
“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement... It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.” Leviticus 23:27, 32The others were the first and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles.
“Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest.” Leviticus 23:39Based on the sign of Jonah, in which Jesus prophesied that his body would be dead three days and three nights, the day after the crucifixion could not have been a weekly Sabbath.
"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days an three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40Since the day after the crucifixion was not a weekly Sabbath, and since it was not Biblically correct to call the day a holiday Sabbath, Matthew was the the most technically correct of the gospel writers in not calling the day a Sabbath. The reason the other gospel writers called the day a Sabbath is probably because the Jewish majority considered the day a Sabbath, as the next few paragraphs show.
The Pharisees traditionally considered the fifteenth of Nisan to be a Sabbath. The evidence for this is seen in noticing the day they observed Firstfruits. According to the Bible, God required the Israelites to celebrate Firstfruits “after the Sabbath.”
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 'He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.” Leviticus 23:10-11The Pharisees, however, observed the day of Firstfruits on the sixteenth of Nisan, the second day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This tradition continues in Judaism today. Flavius Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, verified that this tradition was in effect in the first century.
“But on the second day of unleavened bread, which is the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth...”Since the Pharisees considered the sixteenth of Nisan to be a lawful day to observe Firstfruits, it follows that they traditionally considered the fifteenth of Nisan to be a ‘Sabbath.’ This Pharisaic tradition was probably the reason three gospel writers called the day after the crucifixion a ‘Sabbath.’ Those writers were simply writing in the language of the majority of first century Jews, who followed the Pharisees’ traditions.
Interestingly, the first century Saducees did not consider the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread to be a Sabbath. The evidence is in the day in which they observed Firstfruits. They observed Firstfruits on the day after the first weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The likely reason for the Sadducees observing Firstfruits on this day, instead of the sixteenth of Nisan is in the following statement by Josephus:
“...the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the law of Moses; and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them, and say that we are to esteem those observances to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers...”The Sadducees only heeded the words written in the Torah itself; they disregarded the Pharisees’ traditions. Since the Torah did not designate the fifteenth of Nisan a Sabbath, the Sadducees observed Firstfruits after a weekly Sabbath, in strict accordance with the below commandment.
“He shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.” Leviticus 23:11In summary, the day after Jesus' crucifixion was not a Biblically-designated Sabbath. The day was a holiday and a traditional Sabbath according to Pharasaic tradition, which the first century Jewish majority followed.
The Women and the Spices
In determining the weekday Jesus was crucified, it is important to
note the activities of Mary Magdalene and the ‘other Mary.’ They
witnessed the afternoon crucifixion, the evening burial, and the empty
tomb at dawn the first day of the following week.
“So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!" And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.” Matthew 27:57-61The gospel of Mark says that after Jesus’ death, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James purchased spices to anoint the body.“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.” Matthew 28:1
“Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.” Mark 16:1The gospel of Luke indicates that the women prepared spices, and then rested on the Sabbath:
“Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56If the women purchased spices after the Sabbath, but prepared spices before the Sabbath, then the purchase and preparation of spices took place between two ‘Sabbaths.’ Those ‘Sabbaths’ may have been the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread on Thursday, and a weekly Sabbath on Saturday. The women would have purchased the spices on Friday, between two ‘Sabbaths,’ and crucifixion would have happened Wednesday. If the women purchased and prepared spices on Friday, why did they not anoint the body on that day? They probably could not have done so, since the tomb was sealed and guarded. Perhaps the women expected the guards to be relieved by Sunday.
Perhaps the information in Luke 23:56, quoted above, is not chronological, however. Perhaps Luke wrote that the women prepared spices and then, as an after-thought, wrote that they rested on the Sabbath, which ended before they prepared spices. If this is true, then the conclusion drawn in the previous paragraph that the women purchased spices between two Sabbaths on a Friday, is unsupported.
The Sign of Jonah
The only major sign Jesus gave to the generation that witnessed his
time on earth was the ‘sign of Jonah’ which Jesus gave to explain the number
of days and nights he would be either physically dead or entombed.
“But He answered and said to them, ‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’” Matthew 12:39-40Jesus died in the afternoon and was entombed in the evening. If the sign of the prophet Jonah meant three twenty-four hour days, then the sign could only have been fulfilled if Jesus rose in the afternoon, three days after his death or entombment. In this case, the crucifixion and burial would have been on a Wednesday and the resurrection would have been on a Saturday afternoon or evening. If parts of days and nights counted, however, then the crucifixion may have been on a Wednesday or Thursday and the resurrection would have happened between the hours of darkness Saturday morning and just before dawn Sunday morning. The gospels do not say that Jesus rose on the morning of the first day of the week. Rather, the gospels say the women found that the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb on the first day of the week. Here is what all four gospels say about the women’s first visit to the tomb:
“Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb... the angel ... said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.’” --excerpts from Matthew 28:1-6
“Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen... And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe... he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.’” --excerpts from Mark 16:2, 5, 6The following excerpt from Ralph Edward Woodrow’s book, Babylon Mystery Religion provides a possible explanation for the only passage in the Bible that appears to present a Sunday morning resurrection.“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.” Luke 24:1-3
“Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” John 20:1
The only verse which seems to teach a Sunday morning resurrection is Mark 16:9: “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene...” But this verse does not say he was “rising” or that he “did rise” at that time. It says that when the first day of the week came, he “was risen”--past perfect tense. Since there were no punctuation marks in the Greek manuscripts from which our New Testament was translated, the phrase “early” the first day of the week” could just as correctly--some think more correctly--be linked with the time Jesus appeared to Mary. By simply placing the comma after the word “risen,” this verse would read: “Now when Jesus was risen, early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene.” This seems to be the intended meaning, for the verses that follow show that Mark was recording the various appearances that Jesus made, not explaining on which day the resurrection took place. (Woodrow, Ralph Edward, Babylon Mystery Religion, Riverside, CA, USA: Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Association, Inc., 1966, pp. 129-130.)Another possible explanation for Mark 16:9 is that it may not have existed in the original gospel of Mark. Mark 16:9-20 is a disputed passage that does not appear in the earliest known manuscripts of this gospel.
The following statements give further insight into the time between Jesus' death or burial and resurrection. If partial days counted as days, then either a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion could be argued.
“For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” Mark 9:31
“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’” John 2:19If Jesus rose on a Saturday afternoon or evening, then why did the guards not witness Jesus’ afternoon resurrection? Perhaps Jesus rose quietly in the sealed tomb, and rested until the following morning. Or perhaps he rose and then vanished. According to the gospel accounts, he had a body which was not confined to the laws of space-time, but could appear in a room with closed doors.“And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Mark 8:31
“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, ‘Peace to you!’” John 20:26In summary, based on the gospels, a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion can be argued. He was crucified no later than Thursday, since the requirement of the 'sign of Jonah' was that he remain three nights in the "heart of the earth".
No Earlier Than Wednesday
The crucifixion happened no earlier than Wednesday.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he began appearing to people on the first day of the week. Two of those people were traveling to the village of Emmaus.
“Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.” Luke 24:13-16In the above passage, they talked about “all these things which had happened.” Later in the conversation, one of them said:
“...to day is the third day since these things were done.” Luke 24:21 (KJV)Sunday is the third day since Thursday, so if "all these things" they discussed ended with Jesus' crucifixion or burial, then the crucifixion was on a Thursday. If, however, “all these things” they discussed included sealing the tomb and setting the guard the day after the crucifixion, then the crucifixion was on a Wednesday.
Given that Sunday was the “third day since these things were done,” and given that the last significant event described in the gospels before the resurrection was sealing the stone and posting the guard on the day after the crucifixion, then if the crucifixion had happened before Wednesday, Sunday would not have been the third day since anything mentioned in the gospels happened. Therefore, Jesus was crucified no earlier in the week than Wednesday.
Interestingly, the Aramaic Peshitta text of Luke 24:21, as translated into English by my uncle, a priest fluent in Aramaic, reads:
But we had hoped that he was to deliver Israel, and behold, three days [have passed] since all these [things] happened. Luke 24:21 (English translation of the Peshitta, translated by my uncle)Whether the Peshitta text was originally translated from Greek, or from earlier Aramaic manuscripts, is unknown. In some cases, the Greek text is more accurate than the Peshitta. However, it is debated whether the Aramaic text is more accurate than the Greek in other cases. The Peshitta text is believed to have existed as early as the second century.
In his book Babylon Mystery Religion, Ralph Edward Woodrow gives the following explanation of Luke 24:21.
In seeking to offer an explanation, I submit the following: They had talked about “all these things which had happened” (verse 14)--more than just one event. If “these things” included the arrest, the crucifixion, the burial, and the setting of the seal and watch over the tomb, all of these things were not done until Thursday. Jesus, we have noticed, was crucified on the “preparation” (Wednesday). “The next day (Thursday), that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away” (Matt. 27:2-66). For this reason, the tomb was sealed and guarded. “These things” were not fully completed--were not “done”--until the tomb was sealed and guarded. This happened, as we have already seen, on Thursday of that week, the high day. Sunday, then, would have been “the third day since these things were done,” but not the third day since the crucifixion. (Woodrow, Ralph Edward, Babylon Mystery Religion, Riverside, CA, USA: Ralph Woodrow Evangelistic Association, Inc., 1966, pp. 130-131.)The Time of Jesus' Death
“Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” Luke 23:44-46The Jews began counting the hours of the day at sunrise using a sundial, which divided daylight into 12 parts. At the time of year of Jesus' crucifixion (March/April), the sun rose around 6 A.M. and set around 6 P.M., so the days were approximately 12 modern hours long. On the day of the crucifixion, if the sun rose around 6 A.M., then the first hour began around 6 A.M. and ended around 7 A.M. The second hour began around 7 A.M. and ended around 8 A.M. The ninth hour, therefore, began around 2 P.M. and ended around 3 P.M. Jesus died during that hour.
Interestingly, Jesus died at the same time Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple courts. The first century Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote:
“So these high priests, upon the coming of their feast which is called the Passover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till the eleventh...”The following messianic prophecy from Isaiah and statements from the New Testament indicate that the Messiah is the Passover lamb:
“He was led as a lamb to the slaughter...” Isaiah 53:7Last Supper Passover“Behold! The Lamb of God...” --John the Baptist, (John 1:29)
“...Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” -- Paul (1 Corinthians 5:7)
"And He said, 'Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, "The Teacher says, 'My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.' " Matthew 26:18The only reasonable explanation for a Last Supper Passover is that Jesus was using a different calendar than the Jewish majority. Two different calendars are known to have been in use in the first century: a lunisolar calendar similar to that used by modern Jews, and a solar calendar known to have been used by a Jewish minority sect called by scholars "The Community of the Renewed Covenant." This sect may have been related to the Essenes. The calendar used by the minority sect was alluded to in the Pseudepigraphal book of Jubilees, and the calendar was discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The calendar was a 364-day solar calendar. The first day of the year was always a Wednesday and Passover always fell on a Tuesday. It is unknown how the minority sect dealt with the approximately 1.25-day discrepancy between their year and a true solar year, although Dead Sea scrolls scholar Dr. Shemaryahu Talmon suggested to me in a letter that the sect may have intercalated a week every seven years and two weeks every 28 years. For further information on this calendar, see Talmon, Shemaryahu, The World of Qumran from Within: Collected Studies, Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1989, pp. 147-185; see also The Calendar (Mishmarot) of the Community at Qumram, Baltimore City Community College, at http://www.erols.com/bcccsbs/dsscal.htm."The Teacher says, 'Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' " Mark 14:14
"So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He said to them; and they prepared the Passover." Mark 14:16
"And He sent Peter and John, saying, 'Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.' " Luke 22:8
"The Teacher says to you, 'Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' " Luke 22:11
"So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover." Luke 22:13
"Then He said to them, 'With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer...' " Luke 22:15
If Jesus was using the calendar discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls, then he kept his Last Supper Passover on Tuesday, and he was crucified the next day, on Wednesday, when the Jewish majority kept their Passover. However, since the gospels do not explicitly state that Jesus was using the calendar discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and since it is unknown whether any other calendars existed in Israel in the first century, then it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that Jesus used the calendar of the minority sect. It can be stated with absolute certainty that the crucifixion happened on a Wednesday or Thursday. It can also be stated that the gospels specify two distinct days of Passover for the week of Jesus' crucifixion, which indicates that Jesus used a calendar different from that of the Jewish majority when he celebrated his final Passover.
The Beginning of Jesus' Days: Morning or Evening?
The majority of Jews in first century Israel began their days at sunset.
They used the Jewish majority's lunisolar calendar, in which the first
day of a new month began with the sighting of a new crescent moon just
after sunset. It is unknown whether pre-7th century pre-Babylonian
exile Israel used this method, or whether Jews borrowed this method from
the Babylonians during the exile. The pre-Babylonian exile Jewish
calendar is unknown. The Bible makes occasional references to pre-Babylonian
exile Jewish calendar months, such as Abib (Exodus 13:4), Ziv (1 Kings
6:37), and Bul (1 Kings 6:38). The only archaelogical evidence of
the pre-7th century calendar is a 10th century B.C. clay tablet called
the Gezer calendar. The information in that calendar, however, is not clear.
A number of calendar discrepancies in the Old Testament books of Kings
and Chronicles have given scholars insight into ancient Israel's pre-Babylonian
calendar(s) (see Talmon, Shemaryahu, King, Cult, and Calendar in Ancient
Israel, [Jerusalem: Magnes Press?] 1986; the article in the book is
titled something like "Calendar Reform under Jeroboam"). However,
no one has determined whether pre-Babylonian Israel used a lunisolar calendar
like that used today, or a solar calendar.
Interestingly, although the majority of first century Jews began their days in the evening, the days, according to the gospel writers, began in the morning. The evidence follows.
"Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, 'Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?' " Matthew 26:17
"Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?' " Mark 14:12The above three passages present an apparent discrepancy. In traditional Jewish thinking, the Passover falls on the 14th of Nisan, while the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread fall the next day, on the 15th of Nisan, which begins at sunset. However, if the days begin in the morning, rather than the evening, it is possible to call the day of Passover and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the same day, based on the following five Bible passages. The first passage mentions that the Passover lamb is killed at twilight, which is after sunset, on the 14th day of the month, and that unleavened bread is eaten with the lamb that night."Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed." Luke 22:7
"Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it." Exodus 12:5-8The second passage reinforces that the LORD's Passover begins at twilight, after sunset on the 14th of the month.
"On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the LORD's Passover." Leviticus 23:5Based on the third passage, below, the gospel writers were not in error to write that the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was the same day the Passover lamb was killed, as long as a new day did not begin for the gospel writers at sunset. The gospel writers indicated that the 14th of the month was underway in the morning, and was both Passover and the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Passover lamb was to be killed later that day on the 14th, just after sunset at twilight. Unleavened bread was to be eaten that evening with the lamb. The next passage indicates that unleavened bread was then continually eaten for the next seven 24-hour periods.
"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening." Exodus 12:18The fourth and fifth passages, below, indicate that the Lord's Passover Feast is meant to commemorate the night the Lord passed over the houses of the Israelites when he killed the firstborn of the Egyptian households, and the night the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt. That night was the night of the 14th of Abib (the name of the Israelites' first month during the time of their Egyptian enslavement). The Lord's actual Passover, according to the second passage below, happened at midnight. Since the 14th is the day which commemorates these two events which happened on and after midnight, the 14th did not end until the following morning.
"Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the LORD your God, for in the month of Abib the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the LORD your God, from the flock and the herd, in the place where the LORD chooses to put His name. You shall eat no leavened bread with it..." Deuteronomy 16:1-3The next passage shows that during the Last Supper, the disciples thought Jesus had told Judas to buy something."It will come to pass when you come to the land which the LORD will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, 'What do you mean by this service?' that you shall say, 'It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.' " So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the LORD had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. And it came to pass at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt... Exodus 12:25-29
"Jesus answered, 'It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it.' And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, 'What you do, do quickly.' But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, 'Buy those things we need for the feast,' or that he should give something to the poor." John 13:26-29If the days began in the evening, the disciples would not likely have had the above thought, since the 15th of the month would have already been underway. The 15th is a "holy convocation" on which "no manner of work" was to be done.
Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses. For whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must eat -- that only may be prepared by you. Exodus 12:15-16Buying something would have constituted work, or causing someone else to work. Therefore, the day could not have yet been the 15th, and a new day had not begun at sunset.
On each of the creation days in Genesis 1, some orthodox Jews argue that since the passages say "and there was evening and there was morning, the (xth) day", that the days began in the evening. However, if one reads each creation-day account chronologically, God appears to have done his creating during 'working' hours, or 'daylight' hours, and then there was evening, and then there was morning. If this is the case, then the new day begins in the morning, and even the Sabbath itself begins Saturday morning rather than Friday evening.
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures...(Genesis 1:24 New American Standard Version [NASB]) God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day... (Genesis1:31 NASB) Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. (Genesis 2:1-2 NASB--used for clarity, since it is a more accurate word-for-word translation than the NKJ)Some orthodox Jews argue that based on the passage below, days begin and end in the evening.
And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the LORD your God. For any person who is not afflicted in soul on that same day shall be cut off from his people. And any person who does any work on that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath." Leviticus 23:28-32The passage above, however, only specifically describes the Day of Atonement, an autumn high holy day Sabbath that falls on the 10th day of the 7th month. This day is the highest of the non-weekly Sabbath high holy days. Perhaps this Sabbath had an evening to evening special Sabbath observance requirement. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that days or weekly Sabbaths begin in the evening. As has already been shown, the New Testament demonstrates that the gospel writers' days began in the morning.
Upon noticing the evidence that Jesus and his disciples ate the Last Supper, a Passover meal, probably on a Tuesday night, I hypothesized that Jesus may have been using the calendar discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in which Passover always fell on Tuesday, regardless of the Jewish majority's Passover. When I noticed that the gospel writers' days began in the morning, I further hypothesized that perhaps the Jews who used the Dead Sea Scrolls' calendar began their days in the morning.
The world's most learned expert on the Dead Sea Scrolls calendar is Dr. Shemaryahu Talmon, Profesor Emeritus of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. I asked Dr. Talmon whether the Jews who used the Dead Sea Scrolls calendar began their days in the morning, or in the evening. In a letter date April 8, 1998, Dr. Talmon responded:
I maintain that [the 'Community of the Renewed Covenant'] reckoned [the day] from the morning, as could be expected in a solar calendar, and published my view in a Hebrew paper, entitled "The Reckoning of the Day in the Biblical and Early Post-Biblical Period: From Morning or From Evening," in: The Bible in the Light of its Interpreters. Sarah Kamin Memorial Volume, ed. S. Japhet (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1994) pp. 109-29.Conclusion
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