Many believe that Yeshua could not have observed the Passover because he was hanging on the stake at the time. Others say that the Last Supper was not a Passover meal.
To know if Yeshua observed the Passover before he died, we need to establish when the Passover, mandated by the Eternal, is to be observed. To qualify for Messiah he had to obey the Eternal in everything he did.
We will refer to Exodus 12.
Exodus 12:3-6 [The Scriptures - TS] 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... 5 ‘Let the lamb be a perfect one, a year old male... 6 ‘And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day... Yisra’el shall kill it between the evenings. (Words of the Eternal in blue)
*[The word Yisra’el is used regarding the children of the Eternal in past, present and future times; it is also a spiritual dimension and does not refer to the modern-day nation called Israel]
To understand the Festival of Passover better, we must first understand a few facts from Scripture
WHEN DOES A DAY BEGIN IN SCRIPTURE?
Exodus 1:5, 8, 13 5 ...And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the first day. ... 8 ...And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the second day. ... 13 ...And there came to be evening and there came to be morning, the third day
In Hebrew thought the day begins at sunset and ends at sunset, whereas the secular day begins and ends at midnight.
The first half of the Scriptural day is night-time and the second half is day-time. This is the reason why Feasts like Passover start the night before regarding to the secular calendar.
For example, the Sabbath begins on Friday at sunset and ends on Saturday at sunset
(For more information, please read THE BEGINNING AND ENDING OF A DAY IN SCRIPTURE).
PASSOVER THROUGHOUT ANCIENT ISRAEL
The First Passover
On the 10th day of the first month (Abib) of the (Hebrew) year, a lamb without blemish
(foreshadowing Yeshua) was kept until the 14th of that same month and killed <in the evening> (verse 6). The literal Hebrew says <between the two evenings> (the first evening is from noon to 3 in the afternoon, and the second evening is from 3 in the afternoon to twilight). There is only one twilight for the 14th of Abib and that is after sunset on the 13th.
The Jewish Encyclopedia tells us that this is the twilight period between the time the sun goes down and the darkness when the stars are out.
The blood of the lamb (a foreshadow of the blood of Yeshua) was sprinkled over the doorposts of their houses, the lamb was roasted and eaten in quickly. So, the Passover lamb was killed in the evening between the 13th and 14th of Abib, and eaten on the night of the 14th when the Hebrew and Scriptural day begins.
The Scriptures are clear that the 14th of Aviv is the Eternal’s Passover and that the 15th of Abib to the 21st of Abib is the Feast of unleavened bread
Numbers 28:16-17 [TS] 16 ‘And in the first month, on the fourteenth day, is the Passover of יהוה, 17 and on the fifteenth day of this month is a festival. For seven days unleavened bread is eaten.
Passover in the wilderness:
Two years after leaving Mitzraim (Egypt) the children of the Eternal (Yisra’el) were still in the wilderness and in the first month (Abib or Nisan) of the year they kept the Passover
Numbers 9:5 [TS]
So they performed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, between the evenings, in the Wilderness of Sinai
Passover in the time Joshua and the people of Yisra’el entered the land (ca.1406 before Yeshua) – Dr Herman Hoeh; ca.1273 before Yeshua – Jewish reckoning)
The children of the Eternal wandered in the desert for forty years and having crossed the Yarden (Jordan) river, they kept their first Passover in the land of Kenaʽan (Canaan), on the 14 of Abib in the Plains of Jericho
Joshua 5:10 [Hebraic Roots Bible - HRB]
And the sons of Israel camped in Gilgal, and prepared the Passover in the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the plains of Jericho.
Passover in the time of King Hezekiah (7th century before Yeshua)
Seven hundred years before Yeshua when King Hezekiah ruled over Judah, we find evidence that the king and all of Judah were not ready to observe the Passover on the 14th of Abib so they observed on the 14th on the second month as stipulated in Scripture – Numbers 9:10-11.
This event is recorded in the second book of Chronicles
2 Chronicles 30:2, 15 [HRB]
2 And the king and his leaders, and all the congregation in Jerusalem, took counsel to keep the Passover in the second month
...
15 And they killed the Passover offering on the fourteenth of the second month.
Passover in the time of Darius the Mede (5th century before Yeshua)
Darius the Mede (Daniel 6; 9:1; 11:1 and Ezra 6:14; 7:1) made a proclamation concerning the Passover
3 Now this year, the 5th year of King Darius, word was sent from the king to Arsawes, saying :
4 In the month of Tybi (?) let there be a Passover for the Jewish garrison. Now you accordingly count fourteen
5 Days of the month Nisan (Abib) and keep the Passover, and from the 15th day to the 21st day of Nisan
6 (are) seven days of Unleavened bread. Be clean and take heed. Do no work
7 On the 15th day and on the 21st day. Also, drink no beer, and anything at all in which there is leaven
8 Do not eat, from the 15th day from sunset till the 21st day of Nisan, seven
9 Days, let it not be seen among you ; do not bring (it) into your dwellings, but seal (it) up during those days. 10 Let this be done as Darius the king commanded.
(Cowley AE. Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2005-reprint, p. 63)
Perhaps following the council of Daniel who served him, this proclamation tells of Passover being on the 14th of Nisan or Abib by the Feast of Unleavened Bread from the 15th through the 21st.
Passover when Yisra’el returned to the land from exile with Ezra.
The people who returned to Jerusalem with Ezra kept the Passover on the 14th of Abib (5th century before Yeshua)
Ezra 6:19 [HRB]
And the sons of the exile performed the Passover on the fourteenth of the first month.
These verses make it evident that the Passover was still being killed and eaten on the 14th of Abib as commanded by the Eternal since the time when Yisra’el was in Egypt.
JEWISH PASSOVER OBSERVANCE IN YESHUA’S TIME (Two Passovers)
Some groups like the Sadducees strictly followed the Torah and observed the Passover on the 14th, but the majority of the Jews in Yeshua’s time observed the Passover on the 15 of Abib as do the orthodox Jews to this very day.
The gospels appear to say that the Messiah ate a Passover meal with the twelve in the evening beginning Nisan (Abib) 14, and John appears to say Jews were having their Passover meal one day later. There are different theories to explain this.
1. The Sadducees and Pharisees disagreed on the day of Passover. The Sadducees (more conservative group) believed the Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread were separate feast days. They held Passover on the fourteenth as God decreed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Those of the majority opinion, including the Pharisees, held Passover on the fifteenth…
2. Thousands of people would come to Jerusalem to have their lambs ritually slain in the Temple. If they only had one day in which to prepare for the Passover, it would have been extremely difficult to have slaughtered all the lambs brought in to be sacrificed. Therefore, they worked on two different time scales. The northern part of the country went with the old way of dating (starting from morning and going to the following morning). The southern part of the country followed the official dating method (from evening to evening). Thus, there were two times when lambs were being killed in the Temple for sacrifice…
(Sampson R & Pierce L. A Family Guide to the Biblical Holidays. Heart of Wisdom Publishing June 2001, p. 112)
In other words, there were two consecutive Passovers in Yeshua’s time:
1) The real Passover which the Eternal commanded was on the 14th Abib and the Feast of Unleavened Bread starting on the 15th. The Sadducees strictly observed the Torah, and they observed the Passover on this day.
2) The Passover of the Pharisees, which combined the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread starting on the 15th of Abib. This combination of the two Feasts was generally called the Passover.
Why Did the Pharisees Observe the Passover on Abib 15 and not on the 14th?
Where did such a practice come from?
From 301 B.C. to 198 B.C., the Egyptians controlled the Palestinian Jews. They were extensively influenced by these Gentiles’ philosophies and religious beliefs. Among the practices that the Jews adopted was the reckoning of the ‘day’. The Egyptian day traditionally started with sunrise (see Wilkinson, Vol.11, p. 368), while the Eternal’s day begins with sunset (Leviticus 23:32). This is where the problem lays, when it comes to Passover reckoning. The Egyptians allowed the Yehudim to retain their ancient calendar, however the change came with the beginning of the day; it became common practice to begin the day at sunrise. This custom persisted among the Yehudim even down to the time of Yeshua (see The Jewish Quarterly Review, April 1946)
[Note: Modern Jews continue this practice up to the present time, Nazarene Notes]
YESHUA OBSERVED THE PASSOVER ON THE NIGHT OF THE 14TH OF AVIV AND WAS THE PASSOVER LAMB IN THE AFTERNOON ON THE SAME DAY
Yeshua obeyed his Father and observed it on the 14th; otherwise he could not have been the Messiah. Yeshua kept the Torah faithfully all throughout all his life.
YESHUA SAID HE WOULD KEEP THE PASSOVER... WE SHOULD BELIEVE HIM Matthew 26:18 - ...Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. Luke 22:15 - ... I have greatly desired that I eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
To understand this fact, we have to remember again that in the Hebrew world, a day starts after sunset. In other words, the first part of the day is during the night followed by morning and ends in the afternoon at sunset.
If Yeshua did not observe the Passover on the 14th of Abib as the Eternal commanded (Leviticus 23:5; Numbers 9:5) then he did not observe the Passover at all and therefore could not have qualified to be the Messiah.
The Scriptures tell us that Yeshua definitely observed the Passover, and it would have been on the 14 of Abib as the Eternal commanded
Matthew 26:17-19 [Word of Yahweh - WOY] 17 Now before the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Yahshua, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? 18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 19 And the disciples did as Yahshua had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.
Mark 14:12 [Hebraic Roots Bible - HRB] ... Where do You desire that going we may prepare that You may eat the Passover?
Luke 22:15 [HRB] 15 ...I have greatly desired that I eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Some argue that it could not have been the Passover because of what the author of the book of John recorded about the ‘Last Supper’
John 13:1-2 [HRB]
1 And before the Feast of the Passover, Yahshua knowing that His hour had come that He should move from this world to the Father, loving His own in the world, He loved them to the end.
2 And supper having occurred...
Here the author places the ‘Last Supper’ before the Feast of Passover. This is where the confusion lies.
• THE AUTHORS OF MATTHEW, MARK AND LUKE WRITE ABOUT THE PASSOVER ON THE 14TH OF ABIB THAT THE ETERNAL COMMANDED THE ONE YESHUA OBSERVED • THE AUTHOR OF JOHN WRITES ABOUT THE PASSOVER ON THE 15TH OF ABIB THAT THE PHARISEES AND MOST OF YISRA'EL WRONGLY KEPT
And again, the book of John records that Yeshua was taken from Qayapha (Caiaphas) to the praetorium
John 18:28 [HRB]
Then they led Yahshua from Caiaphas into the praetorium, and it was morning. And they did not enter into the praetorium that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Here, the Passover is still in the future; it was the *Jews’ Passover (15th of Abib) and not the real one that the Eternal had commanded His children to observe (14th of Abib).
(* In the book of John the term ‘Jew’ often implies Jewish authorities [Scribes and Pharisees, High priests and Sadducees as in 7:13; 9:22; 19:38; 20:19).
When Yeshua was on the stake, the Jews wanted the three crucified bodies to be removed as sunset approached and the High Sabbath (their Passover combined with the Feast of Unleavened Bread) was about to begin:
John 19:31 [HRB]
Then, since it was Preparation, that the bodies not remain on the tree on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a holy day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and they be taken away.
According to the first century historian Josephus Flavius, the Yehudim slew the lambs for the Passover on Preparation day, outside the walls of Jerusalem, between 3:00 and 5:00 pm., and would roast them after sundown in their homes for the Passover meal.
Yeshua the Lamb of the Eternal died outside the wall of the city at 3:00 in the afternoon – precisely at the same time the lambs were starting to be slain for the Passover of the Yehudim (Pharisees).
The seeming contradiction of the two different Passovers in reality shows design on part of the Eternal.
PASSOVER CHART FOR THE MESSIAH’S DEATH IN 28 CE
REMEMBER!!!
THE SCRIPTURAL DAY BEGINS AT SUNSET AND ENDS AT SUNSET. THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY IS NIGHT TIME AND THE SECOND HALF IS DAY TIME.
| PASSOVER 28 CE (14TH OF AVIV) Leviticus 23:5; Deuteronomy 16:14
FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD |
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SHOULD FOLLOWERS OF YESHUA OBSERVE THIS ANCIENT FEAST?
As followers of Yeshua we must observe the Passover because he observed it
Luke 2:41-42 [TS]
41 And His parents went to Yerushalayim{Jerusalem} every year at the Festival of the Passover.
42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Yerushalayim according to the practice of the festival.
Furthermore, during his final supper with his disciples on the night before his death, he told them:
Luke 22:19 [TS]
...do this in remembrance of Me
More importantly, the Eternal commands us to do so – Exodus 12:1-14.
This command is is eternal <observe it as a festival, an everlasting law> – Exodus 12:14
Remember Yeshua did not change the Passover he completed it with a set of services to commemorate his final night on earth with his disciples since he would die the next day as the real Lamb of the Eternal at the precise time the Jews were killing the physical lambs. The Messiah is the true spiritual fulfilment of the Passover. This is not altering a law or commandment it is filling or living out the full meaning of the Passover as the Eternal always intended.
YESHUA OBSERVED THE PASSOVER (on the night part of the 14th )
AND WAS THE PASSOVER LAMB (on the day part of the 14th)
ON THE 14TH OF THE MONTH.
Sources: Dr. Robert Thiel; Leroy Neff; Herman Hoeh; H W Armstrong; Roy Page (logosapostolic.org); Edward Elkins; The JewishQuarterly Review; Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906.