Timing of the Passover in the Apostolic writings
A condensed timeline....
I have provided a calendar for this study. It will make it easier to understand if you are looking at it as well. Apostolic Passover Calendar
On the 3rd day of the week, towards the ending (between the evenings) of the 13th day of the month, beginning of the 14th Yah'shua partakes of the final meal he will eat with his taught ones.
4th day of the week....
Judas takes the money purse and departs. He leaves and meets the temple Priests and sells the life of Yah'shua, the priests buy his treachery for thirty pieces of silver. (Note: Buying and selling is not allowed on High days).
Yah'shua and some of his taught ones go to the garden of Gethsemene. Yah'shua prays to the Father of all creation.
Judas betrays Yah'shua.
During the remaining darkness and well into the day, Yah'shua faces the Temple priests, the ruler of Yehudah & Pilate. He is sentenced to die.
Late in the afternoon he is nailed to a stake or tree.
He must not remain on the stake for at the going down of the sun starts the first day of the Feast of Unleavened, and according to torah a man can not remain hung on a tree overnight. He is taken down and quickly prepared for his burial place. He is laid to rest before the going down of the sun.
A guard is placed at the tomb so that no one can come and take his body away and claim that he has risen.
The 15th.. The entire first day of Unleavened.. (A High day) (5th day of the week)..... No work .. (one night and one day has elapsed).
The 16th.. The entire second day of Unleavened.. (6th day of the week).... (two nights and two days have elapsed). No one could approach or enter the tomb because it was sealed and a guard was posted...
The 17th.. The entire weekly Sabbath .... No work .. (three nights and three days have elapsed).
The 18th.. The morning of the 1st day of the week. The tomb is visited early in the morning.
The tomb is open, the guards are afraid, because the body of Yah'shua is nowhere to be found.
Does the timing of Passover/Unleavened agree between the Torah and the Apostolic writings? Let’s search it out.
Step by step, line upon line, precept upon precept.
Instructions on how to prepare the sacrificial lambs for Passover.
Exodus 12:1-5
And Yah’weh spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mitsrayim, saying, 2“This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you. 3“Speak to all the congregation of Yisra’el, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month each one of them is to take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4‘And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the beings, according to each man’s need you make your count for the lamb. 5‘Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male. Take it from the sheep or from the goats.
Here we see the initial preparation for the Passover sacrifice. let’s move on.
Instructions on when to slaughter the sacrifice, how to use the blood for the Passover of the destroyer, and how to eat the sacrifice:
Exodus 12:6-11
6‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Yisra’el shall kill it between the evenings. 7‘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. 8‘And they shall eat the flesh on that night, roasted in fire – with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9‘Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire, its head with its legs and its inward parts. 10‘And do not leave of it until morning, and what remains of it until morning you are to burn with fire. 11‘And this is how you eat it: your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover of YHWH.
We have some contentions in the interpretation of "between the evenings". Some groups claim that this refers to the ending of the 13th day, instead of the ending of the 14th day. We address this in this study... Between the evenings
The Passover in the Apostolic writings
Now lets look at the same events in the apostolic writings to see how they compare with the Tanakh.
Matthew 27:1-2
And morning having come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Yah’shua, so as to put Him to death. 2And having bound Him, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
John 19:13-14
13Therefore, when Pilate heard these words, he brought Yah’shua out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14And it was the Preparation Day of the Passover week, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Yehudim, “See your Sovereign!”
Matthew 27:45-46
45And from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land, until the ninth hour. 46And about the ninth hour Yah’shua cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lemah shebaqtani?” that is, “My El, My El, why have You forsaken Me?”
John 19:31
31Therefore, since it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the stake on the Sabbath – for that Sabbath was a high one – the Yehudim asked Pilate to have their legs broken, and that they be taken away.
These accounts match perfectly with the Passover of the Tanakh. He was impaled on the day before the first high day of the feast of Passover (Unleavened) in the evening before the going down of the sun. Can there be any doubt about this?
Let’s look further into the matter.
Did Yah'shua partake of the Passover?
Matthew 26:1-5
And it came to be, when Yah’shua ended all these words, He said to His taught ones, 2“You know that after two days the Passover takes place, and the Son of Adam is to be delivered up to be impaled. ”3Then the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people came together at the court of the high priest, who was called Qayapha,” 4and plotted to seize Yah’shua by trickery and kill Him. 5But they said, “Not at the festival lest there be an uproar among the people”.
This shows us that the priests and scribes knew the matter needed to be finished before Passover began.
Mat 26:20 And when evening came, He sat down with the twelve. 21 And while they were eating, He said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you shall deliver Me up.” 22 And they were deeply grieved, and began to say to Him, each of them, “Master, is it I?” 23 And He answering, said, “He who has dipped his hand with Me in the dish, he shall deliver Me up. 24 “Indeed, the Son of Adam goes as it has been written concerning Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Adam is delivered up! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.” 25 And Yehudah – he who delivered Him up – answering, said, “Rabbi, is it I?” He said to him, “You have said it.” 26 And as they were eating, Yah'shua took bread (artos), and having blessed, broke and gave it to the taught ones and said, “Take, eat, this is My body.”
If this supper had been the first meal of Passover (Unleavened), would not everyone have been in attendance? Only Yah’shua’s disciples were present at this meal. The Apostolic writings also do not refer to the bread of that supper as unleavened, which it would have been if it were the first meal of Passover (Unleavened).
John 19:13-14
13Therefore, when Pilate heard these words, he brought Yah’shua out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14And it was the Preparation Day of the Passover week, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Yehudim, “See your Sovereign!”
Here we see in John that the day Yahshua is impaled is the preparation day for the Feast of Unleavened otherwise known as the week of Passover. Which means that the first High day of Unleavened would begin at the going down of the sun, and that Yah'shua needed to be placed in the tomb before then.
Joh 13:27 And after the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Yah'shua, therefore, said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the table knew why He said this to him, 29 for some were supposing, because Yehudah had the bag, that Yah'shua was saying to him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give somewhat to the poor. 30 So, having received the piece of bread, he then went out straightaway, and it was night.
Buying and selling is not performed on High days. The followers of Yah'shua would not have thought Judah was going to buy something if it were a High day, which it would have been had the meal they were partaking of been the Passover meal.
Joh 18:28 Then they led Yah'shua from Qayapha to the palace, and it was early. And they themselves did not go into the palace, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Here we see the religious leaders at the time would not defile themselves so that they could partake of the Passover meal which was going to be eaten that evening. Many people suggest that there were two reckonings of Passover observance. This would mean that the followers of Yah'shua would have been keeping two Passover observances which goes against scripture. Because we see in the gospel accounts that they were keeping the first day of the Feast beginning at the going down of the sun. evidenced by the following.
John 19:31
31Therefore, since it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the stake on the Sabbath – for that Sabbath was a high one – the Yehudim asked Pilate to have their legs broken, and that they be taken away.
So far our study has shown agreement on the timing of the Passover offering and the beginning of the Festival of Unleavened. Now let’s look at an example of the three places in the Apostolic writings that throw everything into confusion.
Matthew 26:17-21
17And on the first day of Unleavened Bread the taught ones came to Yah’shua, saying to Him, “Where do You wish us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I am to observe the Passover at your house with My taught ones.” ’ ” 19And the taught ones did as Yah’shua had ordered them, and prepared the Passover. 20And when evening came, He sat down with the twelve. 21And while they were eating, He said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you shall deliver me up.”
These verses and the matching verses of Mark and Luke appear to contradict the whole Passover event of the Tanakh and the Apostolic writings. Do we throw out the harmony of the Torah and Apostolic writings over what is quite probably either a mistranslation, scribal error, or deliberate twisting of the situation?
Lets look to the writings to see how close these translation are, and if there is a translation that fits with the rest of the writings. If you have a Greek word resource you should use it to follow along.
de protos azumos mathetes proserchomai Iesous lego autos pou thelo hetoimazo soi phago pascha.
de = now (towards the) We add "towards" to the sentence to add a sense of timing
protos = first (day of)
azumos = Unleavened
mathetes = (the) disciples
proserchomai = came (to)
Iesous = Yah'shua
lego = (and) spoke
autos = (to) him.
pou = where
thelo = would (you) have (us)
hetoimazo = make ready (for)
soi = you (to)
phago = consume (the)
pascha? = Passover?
Now towards the first day of Unleavened, the disciples came to Yah'shua and spoke to him.
Where would you have us make ready for you to consume the Passover?
de epo hupago eis polis pros deina kai epo autos didaskalos lego mou kairos esti eggus poieo pascha pros se meta mou mathetes.
de = and (Yah'shua)
epo = said
hupago = go
eis = to (the)
polis = city
pros = to
deina = a certain person
kai = and
epo = say
autos = (to) him
didaskalos = (the) teacher
lego = (has) said,
mou = my
kairos = time
esti = is
eggus = near.
poieo = (I will) prepare (for the)
pascha =Passover
pros = among
se = you
meta = with
mou = my
mathetes. = disciples.
and Yah'shua said, "go to the city, to a certain person and say to him, the teacher has said my time is near, I will prepare for the Passover among you, with my disciples".
We come up with a translation that is in agreement with the actual events rather than opposing them.
Additional Notes:
The foot washing, and all of the other teachings Yah’shua gave his disciples that night were for their benefit. They were used as last minute instructions to them before his departure.
The Tanakh and Apostolic writings work together perfectly on the matter. Multiple witnesses show that the meal that Yah’shua had with his disciples was, a farewell supper, nothing more.
Shalom
Allen Spiker
