J
japhy
Guest
I’ve been doing some research into a timeline of Holy Week and the Passover in the year Christ died.
First, from the OT:
Exodus 12:3-8 (RSV-2CE) reads: “[3] … on the tenth day of this month [Nisan] they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; … [6] and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening {Hebrew: ‘between the two evenings’}. … [8] They shall eat the flesh that night…”
Leviticus 23:5 (RSV-2CE) reads: “[5] In the first month [Nisan], on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening {Hebrew: ‘between the two evenings’}, is the Lord’s Passover. [6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord…”
Now, from the NT:
Matthew 26:17 (RSV-2CE) reads: “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?’”
Mark 14:12 (RSV-2CE) reads: “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, ‘Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?’”
Luke 22:7 (RSV-2CE) reads: “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.”
John 13:1-2 (RSV-2CE) implies that the “supper” was held before the Passover proper, reading: “[1] Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. [2] And during supper…”
John says that Jesus was sent to be crucified on “the day of Preparation of the Passover … about the sixth hour”. (John 19:14)
Both Mark and Luke identify “the [first] day of Unleavened Bread” (15 Nisan, not 14 Nisan) as the day on which lamb was sacrificed. This implies, then, that the lamb was kept throughout the whole of the 14th, and then slaughtered sometime between the night ending 14 Nisan and the night ending 15 Nisan, and that it had to be eaten during the night ending 15 Nisan and consumed completely before the morning of 16 Nisan.
This works fine with John’s account, because 15 Nisan is the day the Passover is prepared, i.e. sacrificed. What is more, John says that the Pharisees (et. al.) did not enter the praetorium (on 15 Nisan) “so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover”. (John 18:28)
Finally, John’s reference to Jesus being found without blemish by Pilate at about the sixth hour on 15 Nisan (cf. John 19:6, 14) coincides with the generally understood custom that the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple at that same time.
So Jesus entered Jerusalem (and the Temple) on “Palm Sunday” (intersecting with 10 Nisan) and was “inspected” and found to be without blemish through 14 Nisan (confirmed by Pilate on 15 Nisan) and crucified around the same time as the lambs were, on the day that the Passover was prepared. That would make the Last Supper a pre-Passover meal, thus explaining the silence of lamb at the meal and Jesus’ identifying himself with bread instead.
Does this seem reasonable?
First, from the OT:
Exodus 12:3-8 (RSV-2CE) reads: “[3] … on the tenth day of this month [Nisan] they shall take every man a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; … [6] and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs in the evening {Hebrew: ‘between the two evenings’}. … [8] They shall eat the flesh that night…”
Leviticus 23:5 (RSV-2CE) reads: “[5] In the first month [Nisan], on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening {Hebrew: ‘between the two evenings’}, is the Lord’s Passover. [6] And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the Lord…”
Now, from the NT:
Matthew 26:17 (RSV-2CE) reads: “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Passover?’”
Mark 14:12 (RSV-2CE) reads: “And on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, ‘Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?’”
Luke 22:7 (RSV-2CE) reads: “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.”
John 13:1-2 (RSV-2CE) implies that the “supper” was held before the Passover proper, reading: “[1] Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. [2] And during supper…”
John says that Jesus was sent to be crucified on “the day of Preparation of the Passover … about the sixth hour”. (John 19:14)
Both Mark and Luke identify “the [first] day of Unleavened Bread” (15 Nisan, not 14 Nisan) as the day on which lamb was sacrificed. This implies, then, that the lamb was kept throughout the whole of the 14th, and then slaughtered sometime between the night ending 14 Nisan and the night ending 15 Nisan, and that it had to be eaten during the night ending 15 Nisan and consumed completely before the morning of 16 Nisan.
This works fine with John’s account, because 15 Nisan is the day the Passover is prepared, i.e. sacrificed. What is more, John says that the Pharisees (et. al.) did not enter the praetorium (on 15 Nisan) “so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover”. (John 18:28)
Finally, John’s reference to Jesus being found without blemish by Pilate at about the sixth hour on 15 Nisan (cf. John 19:6, 14) coincides with the generally understood custom that the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple at that same time.
So Jesus entered Jerusalem (and the Temple) on “Palm Sunday” (intersecting with 10 Nisan) and was “inspected” and found to be without blemish through 14 Nisan (confirmed by Pilate on 15 Nisan) and crucified around the same time as the lambs were, on the day that the Passover was prepared. That would make the Last Supper a pre-Passover meal, thus explaining the silence of lamb at the meal and Jesus’ identifying himself with bread instead.
Does this seem reasonable?