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Christian Apologetic
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The last meal that Jesus ate with his disciples has widely been assumed to be a Passover meal. This indeed seems to be suggested by Scripture,
If the Passover meal were eaten on Friday (Nissan 15), then it would have been eaten after the Passover lamb was slain and eaten. If that were the case, then the death of Christ would not coincide with the killing of the Passover lambs. Yet we know it had to, and it did. The verses above need some explanation. "Evening" sometimes means late afternoon, and at other times it means early night. Although the Feast of Unleavened Bread began on Nisan 15 when the Passover lamb was eaten, Nisan 14 when the Passover was prepared and the lamb was slain was also a time of unleavened bread. Sometimes, verses which are not clear need to be understood in the context of other Scripture. We have very many plain statements that the Passover lambs were slain the afternoon following the "last supper," and the time of the crucifixion. All the Gospels agree on this point. Mark says, "now when the even [i.e., sunset was approaching] was come [after Christ had died], because it was the preparation [of the Passover lamb], that is, the day before the sabbath [the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began at sunset after the Passover lamb had been slain], Joseph of Arimathaea ... went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus" (15:42,43). Luke agrees: "And that day was the preparation, and the [special] sabbath drew on " (23:54). John gives even more detail,
The Passover lambs were indeed being slain at the very time that Christ, the Lamb of God who fulfilled all of the relevant Old Testament types and prophecies, died on the corss. How could Christ have "taken the Passover" with His disciples the night before? He didn't. The Last Supper did indeed occur the night before the crucifixion, but it was not the Passover. This often overlooked fact is clear from John's account, which is a bit more precise. While the other gospels refer to "the sabbath" drawing nigh, John alone explains that the sabbath which began at sunset the day Christ was crucified "was a high day." I other words, it was not the ordinary weekly sabbath which always began on Friday at sunset. It was, in fact, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the fifteenth of Nisan), of which the first and last days were special sabbaths during which no work was to be done (Exodus 12:14-16). John also clarifies the fact that the "last supper" was not the Passover: "Now before the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come ... supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot ... to betray him." So the "last supper" actually took place the night before the Passover. How could it have taken place both "the first day of unleavened bread" and "before the feast of the Passover"? Although technically the Feast of Unleavened Bread began with the fifteenth of Nisan after sunset of the fourteenth (the Passover lamb was slain just before sunset, roasted, and eaten that night), the days of unleavened bread were also counted from the fourteenth of Nisan because the eating of unleavened bread began "on the fourteenth day of the month at evening" (Exodus 12:18). Though they were two separate feasts, the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread were treated as one inasmuch as they overlapped. The Passover Lamb, though "prepared" (slain and the roasting process begun) just before sunset on the fourteenth, was not eaten until that night, which was then the fifteenth. What day of the week was Nisan 14? While we refer to Nisan 10 as Sunday, it really began on Saturday after sunset when the sabbath ended. The Jewish day always begins at sunset. Thus, Nisan 11 began at sunset Sunday, the twelfth Monday, the thirteenth Tuesday, and Nisan 14, the day of preparation, began Wednesday at sunset. The "last supper" then, took place Wednesday night, the beginning of Nisan 14, which was also called the day of preparation. The following afternoon, in the "evening" of Nisan 14, the Passober lambs were slain shortly before sunset. Christ was on the cross and "gave up the ghost" at the same time that Thursday afternoon. Not only does this chronology agree much better with the Scripture of the New Testament, it also must be this way in order to agree with Christ "types" presented in the Old Testament - particularly that of Jonah. Had Christ been crucified on Friday, He couldn't possibly have spent three days and three nights in the grave by Sunday morning. The verification of that fact is simple. What was left of Friday afternoon can be counted as day one. All day Saturday is day two. Friday and Saturday nights until dawn Sunday total two nights. The period just comes up short by one day ad one night! Even counting a few minutes of Sunday morning as the third day would not suffice because there would still be one night missing. Furthermore, no part of the day on Sunday may be counted because we are distinctly told that the angel rolled away the stone "as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week" (Matthew 28:1). The tomb was already empty at that point, so Christ must have risen from the dead sometime prior to dawn. How long before dawn we are not told. Had the Scriptures simply said "three days," hen a Friday crucifixion could have qualified by counting any part of the day as the whole. If Christ were crucified before sunset Friday, then that would be part of the day which began Thursday at sunset and ended Friday at sunset. The second day went from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset, and the third day, which began at sunset Saturday, would be counted aw well. The Bible, however, is precise in its language and quite specific about "three days and three nights." The specifications derive from Jonah's experience: "And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights" (Jonah 1:17). Jesus Himself declared: "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so hall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth [i.e., in that part of Hades known as Abraham's bosom]" (Matthew 12:39,40); Luke 16:22). That specific requirement cannot be met by a Friday Crucifixion. In spite of this undeniable error, the Roman Catholic Church persists in their understanding of a "Good Friday" crucifixion. Indeed, Rome has built much of its ritual and dogma upon that obvious falsehood. In this fact alone we have sufficient evidence of the Roman Catholic Church's manufacture and official endorsement of untruth to cast doubt upon everything else it affirms with equal dogmatism. And what can be said for millions of Protestants who similarly go to Good Friday services each year. Does it really matter? Are we splitting hairs? The day of our Lord's crucifixion is of considerable importance - Christ said He would b three days and three nights there. If He did not spend that time there, then He lied. Also, in fulfilling many prophecies, Christ had to die at the very time when the Passover lambs were being slain all over Israel - and He did! That necessity determined the day of the crucifixion. Astronomy and the Crucifixion Sir Robert Anderson consulted the Astronomer Royal at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England in his study of the prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks. That expert's astronomical calculations determined that in A.D. 32, Nisan 14 was from Wednesday sunset to Thursday sunset. We have already noted, of course, that it had to be on that day in order to conform to the biblical account. Everything then hangs together as it must. It is agreed that Jesus made his triumphant arrival into Jerusalem on a Sunday. Fr the Old Testament type to be fulfilled, that had to be Nisan 10 as we have noted, the day that the Passover lambs were taken for observation. Four more days brings us to the fourteenth, when the Passover lambs were slain, which works out to be a Thursday. For this and the other reasons given above, we can only conclude tat Christ was nailed to the cross on Thursday about noon and died shortly after 3:00 o'clock in the afternoon. The assembly of the congregation of Israel had indeed slain their Messiah and Passover lamb without knowing what they had done. In love and mercy, Christ had prayed while n the cross: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Let us count again the days and nights that He was "in the heart of the earth," now that we know from type, prophecy, and astronomical calculations precisely en Christ laid down His life. On Thursday, the nearly three hours left after His death until sundown are counted as day one. Friday and Saturday account for days two and three. Thursday Friday, and Saturday nights number three. After these three days and three nights in the grave, Christ rose from dead some time before dawn Sunday morning. No doubt it was shortly, if not immediately, thereafter that the angel rolled the stone back to show that the tomb was empty. |