The Passover and
The Lord's Evening Meal
When we first started this document, we thought that we knew quite a bit about the Passover, but after much research and many letters from readers, we realized that few of us actually understood the times, dates, and significances involved.
The First Passover
What most call 'the day of Passover' isn't really a day at all; it's a seven-day festival. For notice the first instructions from God on this, as found at Exodus 12:2, 3, 5-8 (LXX), 'This will be your first month. It is to be the first one [in your] year. So tell the whole gathering of the children of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man should select a lamb (depending on the size of his family) for his household É So, choose a perfect male, yearling lamb from [your herd] of lambs and kids, and keep it nearby until the fourteenth day of this month. Then the whole group of the children of Israel will slaughter it that evening. And they will gather the blood and put it on the top and both sides of the doorframes of the houses where they will be eating [the lamb]. Then that night, they will roast the flesh over a fire and eat it with fermentation-free bread and bitter herbs.'
And we read in verses 15 and 16, 'Now, you will eat fermentation-free bread for seven days. And starting on the first day, you must remove all fermentation from your homes. And if someone eats fermentation between the first and seventh days, that person must be destroyed in Israel. The first day will be called holy, and the seventh day will be your holy day. You aren't to do any hired work then. The only work that you may do will be the things that you need to [survive].'
Also, notice the same laws as they are found in Leviticus 23:5-8: 'On the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, is Jehovah's Passover. Then the fifteenth day of that month is the Feast of Fermentation-free bread to [Jehovah]. You must eat fermentation-free bread for seven days. The first [of these] days must be a Holy Assembly for you, and you must not work for anyone on that day. And you must offer whole-burnt offerings to [Jehovah during those] seven days. Then the seventh day will be [another] Holy Assembly for you, [during which] you must not work for anyone.'
The Days of Passover
So from the above, we can see that the Passover started after sundown on Nisan 14, and that's when the Israelites were to start eating a meal with fermentation-free bread, which they were to do every day for seven days. However, the lamb was to be taken to the Temple and sacrificed on the following day, and then the portions that were not offered to God and the Priest were taken home and prepared (cooked). So, although the Passover festival ran for seven days (until the 21st), the actual Passover sacrifice was eaten on Nisan 15 (the Feast).
Nisan 14 – The Day of Preparation
Thereafter, God's people apparently gave names to each of these days, and Nisan 15 was called Passover, but Nisan 14, which was the 'holy day,' was referred to as the Day of Preparation (of the lamb). It was on this day that Jesus instituted his 'evening meal,' and he as 'God's Lamb' was slaughtered. We can clearly see this from the following scriptures:
John 18:28 – 'Early the next morning, they led Jesus from CaiAphas' [home] to the Governor's Palace, but they didn't go inside, because they didn't want to become unclean (so they could eat the Passover).'
John 19:14 – 'Now, it was about the sixth hour of the day of Preparation for the Passover. And [Pilate] said to the Judeans, See, your King!'
Matthew 27:62, 63 – 'Then the next day, after the Preparation, the Chief Priests and Pharisees gathered and came before Pilate, saying, Lord, we remembered that while he was alive that impostor said, Yet, in three days I will be raised.'
Exodus 12:5-8 – 'So, choose a perfect male, yearling lamb from [your herd] of lambs and kids, and keep it nearby until the fourteenth day of this month. Then the whole group of the children of Israel will slaughter it that evening (before sunset on the following evening). And they will gather the blood and put it on the top and both sides of the doorframes of the houses where they will be eating [the lamb]. Then that night (Nisan 15), they will roast the flesh over a fire and eat it with fermentation-free bread and bitter herbs.'
The Reason for Confusion about the Days
However, the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke would seem to contradict the above scriptures, because Jesus told his disciples to prepare for the Passover on the previous day. So, most assume that Nisan 13 was the day of Preparation, and Nisan 14 was the PassoverÉ NOT TRUE! Notice from the above scriptures, that:
á According to John 18:28, on the morning after Jesus' evening meal and his arrest, those who brought him before Pilate hadn't yet eaten the Passover [lamb].
á According to John 19:14, Jesus was brought before Pilate on the day of Preparation (Nisan 14).
á According to Matthew 27:62, 63, it was the day after Jesus' death (Nisan 15th) that the Chief Priests and Pharisees came before Pilate and asked him to post guards at Jesus' tombÉ and Matthew called the previous day (Nisan 14) the Preparation.
So, Jesus did send his Disciples to prepare for the Passover on Nisan 13, because Nisan 14, which started after sunset (the Holy Day), was the first day of the seven-day celebration. And it was called Preparation because on the following noon (toward the evening), the Jews were to slaughter the lamb for the evening meal (the actual Passover), which would be eaten that night (on Nisan 15). So, the reason why people get confused about the meanings of these days is because:
1. They think that Passover was just a one-day celebration
2. Jewish days started after sunset on the previous evening, and this causes them to forget that the following morning is part of the same day.
Notice that no lamb was mentioned as being slaughtered on the day before Jesus' Last Supper, nor do the accounts speak of a lamb being eaten at the meal, for Jesus himself was to become the lamb that was to be slaughtered on the following afternoon (Nisan 14). However, the previous evening (at sunset) was to be the beginning of the seven-day festival, during which all the Jews were to start eating the yeast-free (unleavened) bread, along with some wine and a 'sop' that was likely was made from olive oil, salt, and bitter herbs (possibly, dill, cumin, etc.). No, it wasn't lamb gravy, and yes, all they ate was the bread and sop. That was a typical supper back then, for meat wasn't eaten at every meal, since there were no refrigerators to keep it from spoiling.
In addition, remember that the day of Preparation was the holy day, and thus a Sabbath; so Jews would typically prepare for this first meal of fermentation-free bread, bitter herbs, and wine on the previous afternoon (Nisan 13); and that was when they were also to remove all the fermentation from their homes. Then, although offering a holy sacrifice at the Temple was allowed on the Sabbath, notice that the lamb wasn't to be cooked until the next day (Nisan 15) had begun.
Conclusions
So, notice that this understanding hasn't really changed anything, it just gives us a better idea why the first day of Passover (Preparation) was a 'holy day;' why no lamb was mentioned as being eaten during Jesus' last supper; and why it was appropriate for him to be slaughtered on the following afternoon (when the Passover lambs were slaughtered). Therefore, the appropriate day for memorializing Jesus death remains the same, Nisan 14.
But, why is this date so important? Notice that Paul wrote (at 1 Corinthians 5:7), 'Clean out that old fermentation so you can be something new that isn't fermenting, because the Anointed One (who is our Passover) has been sacrificed.'
So, the week of Passover was the time:
á When God accepted Israel as 'His inheritance'
á When He saved their firstborn with the blood of lambs
á When He saved them all and led them from Egypt
á When the blood of the 'Lamb of God' was shed to inaugurate the New Sacred Agreement
á That Jesus himself selectedÉ he chose the first day (Nisan 14) for Christians to celebrate the Memorial of his sacrifice.
For more information on the Lord's evening meal and who should partake, please see the link The New Covenant.
A Second Passover Date
Of course, attending the Passover Festival was a life-or-death matter for Israel, because God told them (at Numbers 9:13): 'But if anyone is clean and is not away on a trip, he must be sure to keep the Passover. Any person who doesn't offer the gift to Jehovah at the proper time is guilty and must be cut off from his people.'
So we must assume that, as with the Passover, celebrating the Lord's Evening Meal at the proper time is very important for Christians.
However, unlike the pagan peoples who lived around them, the Israelites were not worshipers of the gods of astrology, so they weren't as involved (as were other ancient peoples) in making celestial observations. And so; since the calculations to arrive at the correct Passover date (the 14th day of their first lunar month) can be difficult to determine at times (as is testified to by the different dates selected by various religious groups today), there was apparently some allowance for error.
And also; when people were unable to observe the Passover – as when they were ceremonially unclean, away on a trip, or whatever – they were allowed to celebrate it 28-days later, on the evening of the next full moon. Instructions concerning this are found at Numbers 9:10-12, where we read: 'Tell the sons of Israel that; Whenever a man among you or your descendants has become unclean because of touching a dead body, or is far away on a journey, he must still keep the Passover to Jehovah, but he must do it on the evening of the fourteenth day of the second month. [The Passover sacrifice] must be offered then, and eaten with fermentation-free bread and bitter herbs. They must not leave any of it over until the next day, nor may they break any of its bones. They must offer the sacrifice just as they would on the Passover.'
As the result; when circumstances don't allow a Christian to celebrate the Memorial of the death of Jesus on the 14th day of Nisan (which appears to be a most appropriate time for doing so); as was true of the Passover in ancient Israel, this may be celebrated twenty-eight days later, according to ancient custom and the Law. However, this apparently doesn't disallow Christians from meeting together and partaking of the sacred bread and wine on other occasions, for this appears to be what First-Century Christians did at their 'Love Feasts' (see Jude 12, and 1 Corinthians 11:20, 26).
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