We’re deep in the weeds of uncovering the REAL timing of the last events of Yeshua’s life which are his last supper, arrest, crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
If there’s anyone who is just joining us from this post, my advice to you is don’t.
There’s a ton of foundational material you’ve got to absorb first or you’re going to be about as lost as a 250 pound American tourist who just got parachuted into some remote jungle in Africa in the dead of night minus a flashlight or compass.
Start from the beginning of this series by clicking here.
Now for those us who have been with me from the beginning of this series, let’s pick right up from where we left off.
So far we have established the following timeline:
AVIV 13 (The Day Before Passover):
Preparations for SEUDAH MAPHSEHKET or the Last Supper are done.
AVIV 14 (Passover Day in the Evening)
The Last Supper is eaten and note that since the day has now switched over to Aviv 14, it is now officially Passover Day. (And you should know by now that is NOT the official Passover meal. If you’re thinking this is the official Passover meal, you’ve got to go back and review the earlier articles.)
From Aviv 14 (Passover) to Aviv 15 (The 1st Day of Unleavened Bread), all of the following momentous events take place.
-Judas betrays Yeshua at the Last Supper
-Yeshua is arrested, tried and convicted in court.
-Yeshua is crucified.
-At the women’s urging, the Romans remove Yeshua’s body from the cross and placed it in the tomb BEFORE sunset (meaning before the day switches over from Aviv 14 to Aviv 15).
AVIV 15 (1st Day of Unleavened Bread)
Yeshua’s body is firmly ensconced inside the tomb and it is now the 1st day of Unleavened Bread.
Okay, the first thing I need to address is I betcha some of you folks are wondering…
…where in the world did the official Passover meal go?
Well, I’ve got a news flash for you.
The Passover meal was NOT eaten on Passover Day.
You read that right and let me say it again.
The Passover meal was NOT eaten on Passover Day.
Got it Charlie?
The Passover lamb is to be slaughtered and prepared on Passover Day but it was NOT actually eaten on Passover Day.
Actually, many folks don’t know this but the Biblical command only says that the Passover meal is to be eaten after dark.
It doesn’t specifically mandate that the Passover meal has to be eaten sometime from the start to the end of Aviv 14.
So let’s get this straight right now for all time and forever.
According to the Biblical calendar, the official Passover meal was NOT eaten on Passover, it was the first meal of the new day on MATZA.
Why?
Because that is precisely how it went IN EGYPT.
The Israelites were still eating the Pesach lamb at around midnight (on AVIV 15!) when the angel of death passed through Egypt and slew all the Egyptians firstborns.
And let me remind you that the real Hebrew for Passover does NOT mean “to pass over”.
We can thank Jerome in the 5th Century AD for this inaccurate and misleading interpretation because he incorrectly rendered the Hebrew words ZEVAH PESACH into “Pass-over” and as a ridiculous result, the whole gentile world harbors this idea that on Passover night, God “passed over” the firstborns.
Sure, linguistically or semantically speaking, you can say the Lord passed over the Hebrew firstborns and only slew the Egyptian firstborns, but the only problem you’d have with that interpretation is that ZEVAH PESACH simply doesn’t mean “pass over”.
That’s the bottom line man.
ZEVAH PESACH means “protective sacrifice”.
So here’s what really took place on that horrible and wonderful night in Egypt.
On Aviv 14 (Passover Day), the Pesach Lamb was killed and its blood painted on the doorways of the people’s homes.
And then, AFTER the day switched over from Aviv 14 (Passover Day) to Aviv 15 (The 1st Day of Unleavened Bread), at around midnight, the Angel of Death passed through Egypt and killed all the firstborns.
Let me say that again.
The blood of the ZEVAH PESACH(Protective Sacrifice) was painted on the doorposts of the homes on AVIV 14 BUT…
…the Angel of Death didn’t start passing through Egypt and doing His business until the first few hours of the next day which is AVIV 15.
So yup, the simultaneous passing over and killing of the firstborns actually occurred on the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread.
During this time, the Israelites were eating their first PESACH meal and then a few hours later sunrise came (still AVIV 15 folks) and then the Israelites gathered together to collectively hightail it out of Egypt.
Then later after the meal was eaten and it turned into daytime (still the same day) the Hebrews assembled together to be led by Moses as they left Egypt.
Hence, the day the Hebrews ate the lamb is the same day the Hebrews hightailed it out of Egypt, the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread…
…which leads me to my next point.
Do you remember what is significant about the first and last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
Do you recall that there are two kinds of Sabbaths spoken of in Scripture?
There’s the “Weekly 7th Day Sabbath“ that was ordained at the creation and there are “Special Festival Sabbath Days“.
Well, the first day and the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread were one of these special festival Sabbath days.
While the requirements differ between the Weekly 7th Day Sabbath and the Special Festival Sabbath Days, some of the demands are the same AND…
…one of the requirements that are the same is that…
…handling a human corpse was FORBIDDEN…
…on ANY kind of Sabbath…
…whether it was the Weekly 7th Day Sabbath…
…or a Special Festival Sabbath Day.
Got it?
Look at these set of verses from the Gospel of Luke.
“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Yeshua’s body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.”-Luke 23:50-54 (NIV Translation)
So here’s the thing.
If the 1st (and last) day of MATZAH is a special Festival Sabbath Day, what kind of Sabbath is being referred to here?
I’ve already established that Yeshua was put into the tomb before the sun set right before the day switched over to Aviv 15th.
Therefore, obviously, this is NOT referring to the weekly 7th Day Sabbath but to a special Festival Sabbath day.
I think the Complete Jewish Bible accurately captures the nuance.
“It was Preparation Day,
and a Shabbat was about to begin.”
-Luke 23:54
Notice the Complete Jewish Bible says “a” Shabbat (a special festival Sabbath day) as opposed to “the” Shabbat (the weekly 7th day sabbath).
Now getting back to my point that one is forbidden to handle a corpse regardless of the type of Sabbath day we’re dealing with, understand that this is why everyone was in a mad rush to get Yeshua down from the cross and get his body in the tomb before the day switched over from Aviv 14th (Passover) to Aviv 15th (Matzah) because again the 1st day of Unleavened Bread is a special festival Sabbath day.
Got it?
I don’t know how I can make this point any clearer.
Let’s move on because I wanna finish this study series today.
Yeshua is now in the tomb and the sun sets as the day (a Hebrew day) switches over from Aviv 14 to Aviv 15, the 1st Day of Matzah.
Not a lot went on during AVIV 15th.
Yeshua “rested” in the tomb as the day switched over from AVIV 15th to AVIV 16th.
Okay, so at this juncture, I have to remind you of something that I’ve already made clear but since it’s so pertinent to this post I need to re-explain it.
Although Firstfruits has been celebrated over the past several centuries on AVIV 16th, that is NOT how it was done in Yeshua’s day.
Or let me rephrase it.
BIKKURIM was NOT necessarily always observed on AVIV 16th in Yeshua’s day.
In Yeshua’s day, Firstfruits was observed the day AFTER the 7th day Sabbath regardless of the calendar date.
Therefore, in Yeshua’s time, Firstfuits WAS ALWAYS ON THE 1ST DAY OF WEEK or…
…Sunday according to our modern calendars.
The change to make Firstfruits always on AVIV 16 occurred after the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D..
Once that happened, the Sadducees who were in power lost control over the Priesthood and as a result the Pharisees took control of matters concerning ritual and tradition and made Firstfruits a fixed date to always be observed on AVIV 16 but again, that was NOT how it was done in Yeshua’s time.
Okay, so let’s wrap this up.
Here’s what we’ve got so far.
AVIV 13 (Wednesday During The Day):
Preparations for the Last Supper are taken care of.
AVIV 14 (Wednesday-Thursday sometime between 7pm-6am):
The last supper is eaten, Yeshua proclaims his body and blood as seals of the New Covenant, Judas betrays Yeshua and Yeshua is arrested and convicted.
AVIV 14 (Thursday sometime between 6am-7pm):
Yeshua is scourged and crucified and put inside the tomb BEFORE the sun sets and the day switches over to AVIV 15 which is considered to be a preparation day Sabbath.
AVIV 15 (Thursday-Friday sometime between 7pm-6am):
Yeshua spends his first night in the tomb.
AVIV 15 (Friday sometime between 6am-7pm):
Yeshua is still inside the tomb.
AVIV 16 (Friday-Saturday sometime between 7pm-6am)
Yeshua spends his second night in the tomb
AVIV 16 (Saturday sometime between 6am-7pm)
Yeshua is still inside the tomb.
AVIV 17 (Saturday-Sunday sometime between 7pm-6am)
Yeshua spends his third evening inside the tomb.
AVIV 17 (Sunday Morning)
YESHUA IS RESURRECTED ON FIRST FRUITS!!!
Two points to keep in mind again.
FIRST, the Thursday evening that Yeshua spent his first night in the tomb WAS A SABBATH but…
…it was NOT the weekly 7th day sabbath (obviously).
Instead, since it was the 1st Day of Unleavened Bread, it was a special preparation day festival sabbath.
SECOND, remember the idea that Bikkurim (First Fruits) had to be on AVIV 16th wasn’t made official until after the Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.
Until then, in Yeshua’s day, Firstfruits was observed the day AFTER the 7th day Sabbath.
In the year of Yeshua’s death, that would have been AVIV 17!
So yes, Yeshua was indeed resurrected on Firstfruits.
Well, there you have it!
Per this timeline, Yeshua has indeed been in the tomb for three nights exactly according to the prophecy of Jonah who was in the belly of the great fish for three nights and days.
And that concludes our study.
I hope you realize that minus an understanding of the Jewish customs, traditions and political circumstances in Yeshua’s day, you ain’t gonna have a hope in heaven of really understanding how the passion week of Yeshua’s last days on earth played out.
The next time we meet, we’re going to be talking about SHAVUOT or the Feast of Weeks.
Until then, stay frosty!!!
I’m really enjoying the material you put on here, so let me first say Thank You and God Bless you!
I also have always struggled with the traditional timing of the events of the crucifixion/resurrection of Christ. The one issue I see is that according to this view, Jesus would’ve been in the tomb 3 nights, but not 3 WHOLE days…Whereas, the view I’ve studied before puts forth that Jesus was Laid in the tomb Wednesday of that week, And Resurrected on the First Day (after Sunset on Saturday), which would equal exactly 72 hours from when he was laid in the tomb on Wednesday. This also seems to satisfy the statements regarding when the spices were bought and applied to Jesus’ body. One passage says they rested on the Sabbath, THEN bought spices. Another passage says: they bought spices and THEN rested on the Sabbath necessitating two Sabbaths with one day between them in which Jesus’ body was re-wrapped and spices were applied. I believe that Jesus had to have been at least 3 full days in the tomb, because of the language of where Jesus said “After 3 days I will rise” Thoughts? Btw, I read of this particular viewpoint in a book called “Babylon, Mystery Religion” in the last chapter of the book it lays out this view in great detail.
-Pastor Daniel Fox
Coos Bay, OR
Hi Pastor Daniel, Thanks for your comment and I understand where you’re coming from. In spite of the bombastic style of marketing these articles, I will admit I cannot be 100% certain of the timeline I presented. But here’s the thing. There is no one else in the world who can be certain either EXCEPT Yeshua and he hasn’t returned yet. Having said that, for the time being this is my position and I am prepared to defend it for what I think are two very good reasons. It fits the Scriptural understanding for Yeshua’s era AND it fits the Traditional understanding for Yeshua’s era (how things were done in his time).
One thing I am pretty darn confident about is that it is simply NOT possible that Yeshua was crucified on the 6th day of the week (Friday according to our calendars) unless you disregard Yeshua’s prophecy about being “3 nights in the tomb”.
Thanks for reading and you’re right this was a TOUGH topic to tackle because I had to pull so many things together.
Be blessed and Shalom,
Rich
Hi i really enjoyed your article and it explains a lot. The “last supper” is amazing to learn about and fills some gaps in my understanding.
So when would the priest go talk to Pilate and the spices be bought mixed then brought to the tomb on Sunday morning? 70+ pounds would be a lot to acquire i would imagine and costly.
Maybe there is some translation problems that muddy my mind in the Matthew 27:57- 28:4 mixed with Luke 23:55-24:1
Also when we read very early in the morning, since we were talking about time and after dark being their 1st meal, did they view that as morning as well. How would their speech be in this situation. Would it be our morning or theirs.
i have done some reading that said the priests would go harvest the first fruits with the remaining twilight hours after “the new day started after the sabbath. Any insight to these things i would very much cherish.
Thank you for your time, I do not mean to undermine anything just trying to get the clearest understanding with a Hebrew view point.
Impressive. Everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion. I lean towards the pro-wednesday execution camp.
” And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,….” Dan.9;27.