Often as witnesses, we were told of people who started studying the Bible (in reality WT literature) and were amazed at what they learned. You know the sort of thing I mean – “I have been going to church for years and never knew that”.
However, in my recent studies, particularly of the book of John, I have felt the same way. There is so much in that gospel that I was never told about or knew. The background to it and why perhaps John wrote it (possibly to combat the rise of Gnosticism). I can see why the Witnesses have a problem with it, it addresses the deity of Jesus and if you do not see yourself having the faith in Christ that means you are spiritually re-born, then 99% of it makes little sense to you. Personally, I am not sure where I stand at the moment, I certainly am not born again but I would not say I am an unbeliever.
Anyway, back to the subject of this thread. One of the problems with the fourth gospel is that it appears to put a totally different time frame round the events surrounding the last supper. Mark undoubtedly wished to show the last meal as a Passover meal and that Jesus was executed on Passover day; and Matthew and Luke follow Mark.
On the other hand, John is quite clear that Jesus was executed on the day before the Passover. He begins his account, “now before the festival of the Passover …” (John 13:1) When Judas left the upper room, they thought he had gone to prepare for the festival (of the Passover?). (John 13:29). The Jews would not enter the judgement hall lest they should become unclean and be prevented from eating the Passover (John 18:28). The judgement was during the preparation for the Passover (John 19:14).
Now the Society is very sketchy about this, and the best explanation they come up with is that the whole Passover festival was referred to as the Passover and that there was a ‘great Sabbath’ and this is really what the ‘preparation’ was for; not the actual Passover. They quote a publication; The Temple, 1874, pp. 186, 187; so not exactly an up to date work of research.
What I really need is someone to have a go at putting together an actual chronology for the period Nisan 13/14/15 in some sort table that is easy to read. Now there’s a challenge!
I know this issue has been raised a few times and although I have searched this site and read related threads, I would be interested in new comments and pointers to existing threads.
When did Jesus die Nisan 14/15/20 or other?
by eyeslice 5 Replies latest watchtower bible
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eyeslice
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JCanon
What I really need is someone to have a go at putting together an actual chronology for the period Nisan 13/14/15 in some sort table that is easy to read. Now there’s a challenge!
John 19:14's reference to the trial being "preparation for passover" is mistranslated or inadquately translated. The Greek is "de (but) preparation for passover". When "de" is used in front of a designated time of the day or a certain special day it's a reference to just before that time. Thus Jesus' trial at Noon "de preparation for passover" was BEFORE the preparation day for Passover which began that evening. Since we know that Jesus ate the actual passover on Nisan 14/15 this could not be the day BEFORE Nisan 14, which is "preparation for passover."
But the term "preparation for passover" is a term that refers to the day before the special sabbath of passover and thus can apply to either of the two high sabbaths of Passover. One sabbath of passover was Nisan 15 and the other Nisan 21st. That is, the first and 7th days of the passover week. Therefore, John 19:14's reference would refer to the afternoon before the second "preparation for passover" sabbath, which is Nisan 20th, so in effect, the trial was at Noon on Nisan 19th.
This harmonizes completely with other chronology associated with Jesus' death. One critical note being that Jesus must die ON PREPARATION before a sabbath day. What witnesses and many others don't understand is that Passover when eaten after sundown is actually eaten on the sabbath day of the 1st day of Passover. If you will check Exodus 12 you'll see that the first of the seven days of Passover begins not on Nisan 15 but on "Nisan 14, in the evening." Exodus 12:18 - "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening you are to eat unfermented cakes down til the twenty-first day of the month, in the evening. Seven days..."
So basically, Jesus was arrested on the first day of unfermented cakes, the very night the Jews left Egypt which was not Nisan 14 but Nisan 15! (Numbers 33:3) Since this was a Saturday AND a sabbath day in 33CE, there is no way Jesus could have died the same day he was arrested and still be in the tomb for "three days and three nights".
But when you date Jesus' trial correctly at Noon on Nisan 19th, before preparation for the sabbath of the 21st, then Jesus dies at Noon the following day, Nisan 20th. He is put into the tomb before sundown which begins a sabbath day. But this is not the usual Saturday sabbath but a "high sabbath" which is the term the Jews use to refer to a special sabbath that is not a Saturday, like any of the special holidays or one of the two special sabbaths of passover. Thus this "high sabbath" reference is to the high-sabbath of Nisan 21st, which was a Friday. This sabbath was thus followed by a second sabbath, that Saturday, the 22nd. It is in this way, with two sabbaths back to back that Jesus can die one day before a sabbath and rise one day after a sabbath and still be in the tomb for parts of THREE NIGHTS. Those three nights are Thursday night (Nisan 20/21), Friday night (Nisan 21/22) and Saturday night (Nisan 22/23).
That's the long and short of it. And this dating has tested true for all other references though unfamiliarity with the true ritual of passover and the way the Jews calculated their dates and dating makes some things confusing. But for your further information, there are some key points:
1. Jesus was arrested at night on the sabbath day of Nisan 15th, a Saturday. That is the day that the Jews had a special "solemn assembly" at Noon in which they partook of a special sabbath meal. The reference for when Jesus appeared before Pilate which was "de early" is a reference to just before the "early EVENING" watch. There were three "evening watches" of 3 hours each. Early from Noon to 3:00 p.m. Mid-evening from 3:00 to sunset, and "late" which was from sunset to 9:00 p.m. Thus "de early" was just before noon when they were to eat the special passover Noon meal. Thus that was the reason the Jews around Noon didn't want to defile themselves for eating this passover meal. It was not a reference to the Seder passover meal that had obviously already been eaten.
But just to assure you that more than just one day was involved from the time Jesus ate the meal until he died, note that Jesus is impaled per Mark 15:25 at the "third hour" which is 9 o'clock but his trial was at Noon, the 6th hour. Further, at the same sixth hour it got dark, remember? So how can Jesus be on trial at the sixth hour and it get dark with him already on the torture stake? I doesn't work! Thus the true chronology of events as you requested are briefly as follows:
CHRONOLOGY OF LAST PASSOVER WEEK:
Nisan 14 in the morning Jesus sends John and Peter to prepare for traditional passover. One of them has to take the lamb to the temple to be sacrifices where the sacrifices begin specifically around 3:00 p.m. to fulfill the "between the two evenings" reference. The first evening was at Noon and the second evening at sunset, so BETWEEN the two evenings was a reference to 3:00 p.m. That's is the same time Jesus died 7 days later on the subsequent day of preparation.
After sundown of Nisan 14th (note the precise date did not change until Midnight per ancient Jewish tradition, it was still Nisan 14 until midnight), the sabbath began. This was the first day of unfermented cakes. Thus the Seder meal is actually eaten on a sabbath day. This was Friday night, 33CE.
Judas left "de night" which is a reference to just before the night watch which was from 9:00 p.m. to Midnight. The others remained in the room per Jewish tradition until Midnight when the meal ends.
After Midnight Jesus goes into the garden of Gethseme and sometime before 3:00 a.m. he is arrested.
Right at sunrise, he is taken to the Sanhedrin and interrogated. This takes nearly 6 hours.
Right before Noon ("de (but) early") he is taken before Pilate which is the usual time Pilate sees the people, around Noon. The Jews don't enter into the palace since it is still the sabbath of the first day of unfermented cakes and they had to remain clean in order to partake of the special sabbath meal at Noontime. Jesus is interrogated and they tease him that afternoon until Pilate finds out he is from Galilee and then sends him to Herod.
Herod was not expecting him and may not have seen him or set up any special trial for him until the next day or even the following day. But Jesus was in custody with Herod right up until it was time for him to return for his trial in order to qualify to be released. This is the day that Herod and Pilate became friends, sometime Wednesday morning, Nisan 19, when Jesus was returned. Jesus' trial proceeded at Noon and he was condemned to die. This was Noon, "de preparation for passover", that is, before preparation for the passover of Nisan 21st, thus before Nisan 20th. Jesus was again teased and near sundown when workers were coming from the fields he was taken out to Cavary to be impaled. Simon of Cyrene, likely a day worker working in the barley harvest was employed to help Jesus with his torture stake.
By 9:00 p.m., the third hour, Jesus was now impaled. After sundown it was now "preparation". Jesus thus remained on the torture state all that night until the next morning. At Noon it got dark until around 3:00 p.m, the 9th hour when he died.
Between the 9th hour and sundown, Jesus was put into the tomb which began the countdown of the THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS. This was the first DAY.
Jesus remained in the tomb that NIGHT, Nisan 20/21 - Night 1,
...the following day, Nisan 21---day 2
..the following night, Nisan 21/22 - night 2
..the following day, Saturday, Nisan 22nd - day 3
...and that following night, Saturday, Nisan 22/23 - night 3.
Jesus rose before 3:00 p.m. at night, early Sunday morning before day, Nisan 23.
He then appeared to his disciples over the next 40 days until 3 days before Pentecost when he ascended to Heaven. Three days later (rather than 10 days later) Holy Spirit descended upon the 120 in the upper room.
Hope this was of help.
Canon
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Granliseur
On this link 'Jesus Christ' at this address: http://bythebible.page.tl/Jesus-Christ.htm at the bottom of the page, an attempt has been made to address this question as far as our modern calendar. At this moment, the date shown is being verified since someone else is claiming a slightly different date. The Jewish custom was to begin the new day in the evening from 6PM. The evening beginning at that time that Jesus celebrated passover meal was Nisan 14 that had begun a few hours earlier. Just like our days, their days lasted 24 hours each. Thus we read in the Bible how Jesus at dawn was turned over to the Roman authorities. This is still Nisan 14. And when he is hung on the stake, it still is Nisan 14. At 3PM it is the ninth hour of daylight Nisan 14. This day then finishes at 6PM the day Jesus died.
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Holy Grail 007
HI JCanon, are you still around after 20 years of posting about Jesus not dying on Friday and 14 as Watchtower teach? I need to ask you some questions surrounding Jesus death. Thanks James.
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Rattigan350
Jesus died on the Passover. The first Passover was observed about the time of full moon, on the 14th day of Abib (later called Nisan) in the year 1513 B.C.E. This was thereafter to be celebrated annually.
If Jesus didn't die on that day, then that accomplished nothing.
Don't worry about what the apostles said or wrote. Always go by what the prophesies said.
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Fisherman
Last Supper was on Thursday eve Nisan 13 (= Friday morning Nisan 14) Then Jesus was arrested later that night. He went back and forth and was executed on the same day of Friday Nisan 14 ( sounds like 1914 when you say it) before sundown. So three days latter he was resurrected.