These notes are offered in the persuasion that it is possible to elicit from the Gospels a complete timetable for Passion Week. It is my conviction that too much difficulty is made of the Passover instructions given to Moses. These should be read simply, as they stand, without attempting at first to overlay them with special significance’s. Read thus, they pose some questions which come naturally to mind. For instance, why was the 14th Abib chosen? A simple answer is that they were to leave Egypt on the 15th, full moon. They were to use the moon’s light in their exodus to freedom.
Before they left, they were to be brought into contact with God’s defence of and provision for them, in the unique meal of roast lamb. Not any lamb, but one selected for its perfection four days previously, and “kept” until the 14th day. This suggests that it was to be kept near the family’s dwelling, rather than loose in the field, so that it would become familiar to the whole household, who may thus have suffered pangs of regret when finally this lovely and lovable beast was slain. But slain it was, and its blood exhibited on the door-frame. Nobody was to leave the house that night; is there any significance in the report of Herodotus (some 1200 years later admittedly) that sacrifices of swine’s flesh were offered by the Egyptians at full moon?
All these things would have little meaning before the Exodus; but afterwards the “blood of the Lamb” would be recognised as efficacious in their deliverance, and the sequence of events would be accepted with understanding by discerning individuals. However, not until the shadow was made substance in Jesus could it be really understood what was performed that night in Egypt, nor without the earlier event can we fully appreciate what took place in Jerusalem nearly 1,500 years later.
The lamb was slain in the evening, the NEB says between dusk and dark (Exo. 12:6). I take this to be before sunset, as in this equinoctial month this would be the same as moonrise. The lamb, slain on the 14th day, would, after preparation and roasting, be ready for eating on the 15th day—we suggest at around 7 o’clock at the earliest.
Not only was the lamb eaten on the 15th day, but this was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, a feast of 7 days ending upon the 21st Abib. This was the “bread of affliction” eaten over the 7 days of their flight. These seven days were those ending at Succoth, Etham, Pi-Hahiroth, and the eastern side of the sea, with the three days to Marah; here bitter water was sweetened, and they were able to resume some normality, in that the need for haste and frugality was gone.
So much for the “shadow” events; let us now look more closely at the fulfilling events, each indicated by an identifying time reference.
9th Nisan — Saturday
Jesus came into Bethany six days before the Passover (Jno. 12:1). By working backwards we will find that this was on a Sabbath day.
10th Nisan — Sunday
The entry into Jerusalem took place the “next” day (Jno. 12:12). We note that the synoptic writers do not mention the evening spent in Bethany, and without John we may have assumed that the journey from Jericho led straight into the city (Mt. 21:1; Mark 11:11; Luke 19: 29).
In Matthew it appears that Jesus cleansed the Temple on this day, but Mark places it upon the following day (Mt. 21:12; Mark 11:15).
They returned to Bethany to sleep (Mt. 21:17; Mark 11:11).
11th Nisan — Monday
They returned to the City (Mt. 21:18 and Mark 11:12). Mark alone records the return to Bethany this night (Mark 11:19).
12th Nisan — Tuesday
They came into Jerusalem again, and on this day Jesus was confronted by opponents and questioners of every persuasion, so that we have the record of Matthew chs. 21 to 25, about the events taking place upon this one day.
In Matthew 26:2, Jesus reminded the disciples that “after two days is the feast of the passover”. These two days were the 13th and 14th, after which, on the 15th, the feast was to be eaten.
13th Nisan — Wednesday
As it began at 6.00 p.m. on our Tuesday, we see that the events in Simon’s house took place on this day (Mt. 26:6-13).
Upon being asked “Where will we prepare?”, Jesus instructed his friends as to the place. They would have begun to prepare for the Passover, though not in fact preparing it, for they were yet a day early. That evening Jesus “cometh with the twelve” to eat the usual evening meal.
14th Nisan — Thursday
There is no mention of a lamb, or of unleavened bread, though, in accordance with custom, all leavened bread and all leaven would on this day begin to be cleared from their houses, and they may have used unleavened cakes. Jno. 13:29 shows clearly that the feast was not until the following day. Jesus, however, made of the evening meal “this passover”—a simple linking of bread and wine, betokening the giving of his own body and life, a fulfilment of the parallel in Egypt. The meal eaten, they removed to the Garden. Here, Jesus was apprehended and taken, first to Annas, then to Caiaphas, before whom he was taunted and questioned. I do not consider this a trial so much as a pre-trial enquiry—the real trial was a rushed proceeding at daybreak.
The hearing before Pilate, the reference to Herod, the scourging, and finally the bearing of the cross to Calvary, all took place before mid-day on Thursday. The land was in darkness from noon to 3, whilst Jesus hung upon the tree, and at this hour his spirit departed. This was the hour when the lambs began to be brought to the Temple.
On being aware that he had died, his friends interred his body; we assume that this took place in the very little time of an hour or so remaining before sunset.
15th Nisan — Friday
This was the day of the Passover feast, for which the Jews had been so scrupulous. It was a “high day” (Exo. 12:16), a Sabbath.
16th Nisan — Saturday
This was the normal Sabbath.
It will be seen that two Sabbaths followed the burial of Jesus, and not until Sunday morning were the loving women able to come to the tomb with their spices and wrappings.
17th Nisan — Sunday
On this first day of the week, Jesus was found to be risen. That afternoon, two disciples, Emmaus-bound, stated that “this is the third day since these things were done”. This third day ended at around the time when he revealed himself to them at supper.
Their use of the phrase “third day” assures us that the crucifixion took place on Thursday, supporting the whole of our timetable.
The problem of the three days and three nights remains, for burial at evening and raising at morning will always result in a greater number of nights than days, no matter how long the intervening period.
However, if we accept the suggestion that Jewish reckoning took account of even a small fraction of a day as being a whole day, we may have the answer. So long as the body of Jesus was entombed before six on Thursday (and we feel that the record allows for this to have occurred within the last hour or two of that day), we are able to say that the entombment lasted from Thursday afternoon to Sunday morning, covering three days and three nights.
As suggested at the outset, the essential facts are all there, submerged in the Gospel narratives.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One