Post by M. Hawbaker on Sept 26, 2018 7:02:32 GMT
This is from a study I wrote several years ago, examining the days from Lazarus resurrection through Shavuot (Pentecost), and I am picking up the study where Jesus ascends to Jerusalem for the last time in His earthly ministry:
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Thursday, Nisan 8, 3497 AC
John 12:1 Jesus comes up to Bethany, and stays at the house of Simon the Leper (Luke 12:3), who was the father of Judas Iscariot (John 12:4). He stays here for several days, until the strife over the anointing arises, and then Jesus sleeps on Mount Olives (Luke 21:37). This may show the reason Judas giving himself over to Satan: Perhaps it was Jesus ‘disrespecting’ his father’s house by leaving, or perhaps because his father was never healed from leprosy.
Friday, Nisan 9, 3497 AC
Matthew 21:1-11 Jesus makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. See also Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40 and John 12:9-19. Then He returns to Bethany and stays at the house of Simon the Leper.
Sabbath, Nisan 10 [footnote 1] , 3497 AC
Mark11:12-19 Jesus goes up toward Jerusalem to inspect it for the fruit of repentance, and finds none. Compare this action to the parable of the Fig Tree:
He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted
in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found
none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold,
these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none:
cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said
unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and
dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt
cut it down.
Luke 13:6-9
[note 2] Mt. 26:19-29 ....Mk. 14:17-25... Lk. 22:14-38 ....Jn. 13:1-35
Mt. of Olives.. Mt. 26:30-35.. Mk. 14:26-31... Lk. 22:39-40 ....Jn. 13:36-16:33
Gethsemane.... Mt. 26:36-46.. Mk. 14:32-42... Lk. 22:41-46.... Jn. 18:1
Betrayal .........Mt. 26:47-56... Mk. 14:43-53.. .Lk. 22:47-53 ....Jn. 18:2-14
Priest’s Trial[note 3] Mt. 26:57-75... Mk. 14:53-72.... Lk. 22:47-71.... Jn. 18:13-27
Morning (Wednesday day)
Event............ Matthew.............. Mark................ Luke.................. John
Pilate’s Trial .......Mt. 27:1-32.....Mk. 15:1-21....Lk. 23:1-31.........Jn. 18:28-19:5
Crucifixion .........Mt. 27:33-56 ...Mk. 15:22-44 ..Lk. 23:32-49...... Jn. 19:16-37
Burial. ...............Mt. 27:57-61... Mk. 15:42-47... Lk. 23:50-56 ......Jn. 19:38-42
Thursday, Nisan 15, 3497 AC **First day of Unleavened Bread ** (special Sabbath)
Burial. ...............Mt. 27:57-61 .....Mk. 15:42-47... Lk. 23:50-56 .....Jn. 19:38-42
The passage in Mark 15:42 states: “Now when the even was come… Joseph of Arimathaea…”. Joseph was an honourable counselor, and a member of the Sanhedrin Counsel. He buried the body of Jesus at the very twilight limit of the Sabbath, according to the command of the Law (see note 6 below). Joseph, therefore, defiled himself with the corpse of Jesus and was unable to partake of the Passover Lamb, all out of his love for Jesus!
Friday, Nisan 16, 3497 AC ** Second day of Unleavened Bread **
Matthew 27:62-66 The priests request Pilate[note 4] to set a watch at the tomb of Jesus’ burial. They enter into the Praetorium to make this request. Pilate concedes and gives them a Roman Guard to watch over the tomb.
Luke 23:54-56 The women (including Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James and Jesus; and Salome, mother of James and John – see Mark 16:1-2) purchase burial spices to anoint the body of Jesus with. They were prevented from properly preparing His body [note 5] because of the special Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. We know this is on the Friday between the two Sabbaths because the Greek text in Mark 16:1 indicates that only one Sabbath (the word is used in singular form here) had passed when they went to buy spices.
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Footnotes
[1] Nisan 10 through Nisan 13 each year are known as the Days of Examination. By Nisan 10, all the hametz (leaven) had to be out of the Jewish home, and it was also the day the lambs were brought in from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. They would be examined over this period of time to insure there were no blemishes or spots on the Passover Lambs.
[2] This is the meal of remembrance that the Jews still keep to this day. There is also the meal of the Passover Lamb (called ‘eating the passover’ in John 18:28) which was kept on the evening of the 15th of Nisan – the first day of Unleavened Bread. This meal is no longer kept because there is no longer a priesthood to sacrifice the Lamb (or a Temple in which to sacrifice).
[3] The Mishnah, in Sanhedrim 6.2 and 10.4 state plainly that Y’shua Nazarim was executed for blasphemy on Nisan 14th, 38 years before the Temple was destroyed (which happened in 70 AD). This places the year of the crucifixion at 32 AD, which is a Sabbath year (which is also known as a Year of Forgiveness). Also, Sanhedrim 7 bears reference to the proceedings against Jesus before the Sanhedrin counsel on the night of Nisan 14, the ‘evening’ before His execution. Much of the direct testimony is ridiculous in scope, but the date is firmly indicated in 3 places.
[4] Compare this “day of preparation” for a Sabbath to the day of preparation before the special Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. Before that special Sabbath, the chief Preists and Pharisees would not even enter in to the Praetorium (the Judgment Hall of Pilate), for fear of being defiled (John 18:28 – “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.” They desired to be clean for that Special Sabbath so they could partake of the Passover Lamb that would be sacrificed later that day (on Nisan 14).
Here, on the second day of Unleavened Bread, the day of preparation that is referred to is the preparation for the regular weekly Sabbath, which apparently was not as important to them, because they enter in here before Pilate to request the guard to set a watch over the tomb of Jesus.
[5] The Mishnah in ‘The Appointed Times” section called Shabbat, in 23:4-5, it says that the preparation of a corpse before a Sabbath has certain requirements: a. the person attending to the affairs of a corpse wait until the limit of twilight on the Sabbath, and rinse the body, remove any mattress from under it, put it on something cool so that it will keep, tie the chin with a napkin and covers the body with a sheet of linen.
Then , the final anointing is to be taken care of at the very twilight limit after the Sabbath (at the sundown on the normal weekly Sabbath – which is why the women waited these 3 days) Those who have prepared the remainder of the spices and anointings will go forth at the sundown of the Sabbath to prepare the body on the evening of the first day of the week!
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Sabbath, Nisan 17, 3497 AC **Third day of Unleavened Bread**
also First Fruits at sundown.
First a little history on the Feast of First Fruits. First Fruits is a special day set apart by the LORD in the Torah. While the other Feasts of the LORD are mentioned at least 4 times each, First Fruits is only referred to directly only one time – in Leviticus 23:9-14. It is mentioned in passing, referring to it as the starting day for counting the Omer – 3 other times, but only once is the law of the First Fruits specifically given:
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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children
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of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:9-14
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The phrase “morrow after the Sabbath” has caused a lot of confusion over the years, but this is my take on it. The word used for “morrow” here is the Hebrew word “mochorath” which is a different word from the word translated “tomorrow” or “the next day”, which is the Hebrew word “machar”.
“Mochorath” is used in places like Genesis 19:34, Judges 9:42, I Samuel 11:11and I Samuel 31:8 where there is an obvious reference to an evening, and then the daytime of that same day (remember that the Bible says to count days beginning at sunset, and the evening and the morning are the same day). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew English lexicon gives this definition for “mochorath”:
tr'x\m' n.f. the morrow (the day following a past day) -- the morrow; , tr'x\M'mi = on the morrow, so tr'x\M'mi yhiy>w; tB'V;h; tr;x\M'mi on the ‘morrow’ of (= after) the sabbath; of the morrow after a day specified in a law. , Twice (late) with l., tr'x\M'l; on the morrow; strangely ~t'r'x\m'l. , br,[,h'-d[;w> @v,N
With that definition (“from the dawn to the evening of the day”) in mind – consider this idea: For Jesus to keep His prophecy concerning His time in the hell (“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40), then Jesus would have to rise from the dead at SUNDOWN on whichever day He arose! Being crucified on Wednesday, and buried at sundown on Wednesday, the time would be as follows:
1. Wednesday night (night 1)
2. Thursday day (day 1)
3. Thursday night (night 2)
4. Friday day (day 2)
5. Friday night (night 3)
6. Sabbath day (day 3)
This would place His resurrection from the dead at sundown on the regular weekly Sabbath (even if someone wanted Jesus to be resurrected on Sunday, and therefore place His crucifixion and burial on Thursday, if He is a true prophet, then He wouldn’t have risen from the dead until SUNDOWN on Sunday).
Consider how the Jews in the time of Christ kept the Feast of First Fruits: Seventy days [note 1] before Passover, two priests would go out to a field that had never been watered or dunged (Mishnah, Menahot 8:2) and sow the seed of the First Fruits offering. According to Josephus, the common place to sow this seed was across the Brook Kidron in the Valley of Ashes. Then on the day of First Fruits, which was considered to be after the evening sacrifice (which took place at 3 pm) but before sunset, at least two priests with at least 3 women (to be witnesses of the harvest of the First Fruits) to harvest the offering. They would time the event so they would be back at the Temple just in time for sunset on that day. The priests would all go out with a sickle and a basket, although only one priest would do the harvesting because it is a Sabbath day (and to keep him from ‘breaking the Sabbath’, the other priest would carry the basket filled with the First Fruits back to the Temple).
Just in time to be back at sundown, the first priest would ask these questions:
1. Is this the field of the First Fruit?
2. Is the sun beginning to set?
3. With this sickle?
4. Into this basket?
5. On this Sabbath day?
6. Shall I reap?
After the other priest answers all the questions in the affirmative, the priest would reap the First Fruits in the amount of about one ephah (which, when processed, would produce about 3 pecks and 3 pints of barley corn) of grain. The grain was then taken into the Temple and beaten with reeds[2] (instead of being beaten with rods – this was to prevent the husk of the grain from being injured). It was then taken and placed in a large brass pan that had been pierced many times so that every grain would be ‘parched’ as it was cooked over the fire of the Altar of Sacrifice. I said all that to say this – the time of the Harvest of the First Fruits was at sundown on the regular weekly Sabbath [note 3] after Passover.
So why is it important for Jesus to be resurrected from the dead on First Fruits? To begin with, the entire book of the Law was written about Jesus (John 5:39), and He came to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The First Fruits offering is a type of Christ (see all the things written above about First Fruits), and I Corinthians 15:20-23 calls Jesus the First Fruits of them that were dead! Jesus is called the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29), the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18 – and this is talking about firstborn from spiritual death, not resurrection from physical death, for at least six people were resurrected from physical death before Jesus – Lazarus [John 11], the daughter of the ruler [Matthew 9:18-26] and the widow’s son [Luke 7:11-18] by Jesus, and the widow’s son [1 Kings 17:17-23] by Elijah, and the Shunammite woman’s son [2 Kings 4:32-37] and the man thrown in Elisha’s grave [2 Kings 13:20-21]). One last point – the writer of Hebrews even calls the body of Christ the ‘Church of the Firstborn” (Hebrew 12:23).
I would like to mention one more thing before continuing on. The Talmud requires that if someone dies on a Sabbath, or in the preparation time for a Sabbath (after 3pm – which was the time of the evening sacrifice), they were to be cared for in a minimal way. Then the people who desired to ‘attend to the affairs of a corpse’ would return to the place of burial ‘at the end of the Sabbath limit, the twilight [note 4] before the first day begins’ to finish the washings and anointings of the body (Mishnah, Shabbat 23:4 B). It is this very thing the women were doing when they were coming to the tomb at the end of the Gospels.
Matthew 28:1-8 “After the Sabbaths” (the word here is plural in the Greek – pointing to the Special Sabbath of Nisan 15 and the weekly Sabbath of Nisan 17), “as the sun began to set toward the first day of the week” (the word used here is “epiphosko” which is usually translated ‘to get dusk’ or ‘sunset’ in extra biblical material... 'phoskos' meaning 'sunlight' and 'epi' meaning 'end' {think epiloge, epidural, etc) there was an earthquake.
Mark 16:1-8 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome and the other women come to anoint the body of Jesus “very early in the first of the seven at the ending of the sun they came to the tomb“ is a much better translation of verse 2. The word translated ‘rising’ is the Greek word ‘anatellos’, which is two Greek word ‘ana’ which means ‘each’ or ‘very’ and ‘telos’ which means ‘end’.[note 5]
Luke 24:1-7 Very early… women came… and two angels appeared and preached to them… and they left.
John 20:1-2 “But on the Sabbath at it was nearing dark” – the words translated :
‘early’ is ‘proi’ which is translated ‘first’ or ‘near’, but is from the root ‘pro’ which means ‘before'
‘yet’ is ‘eti’ which is translated ‘yet’ usually, but in the past imperative (as found John 20:1) it is always translated ‘approaching’
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[1] If Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus were a perfect pregnancy – which I believe He was (He was perfect in every way), then ponder this: A perfect human pregnancy takes 267 days from gestation to birth. If Jesus were born on the first day of Tabernacles in 2 BC, exactly 267 days before that day was the ‘Day of Implantation” when two priests would go out to sow the seed of the First Fruits offering. One priest would sow the seed, and the other priest would announce to the virgin field that it was blessed of the LORD being chosen to carry the seed of the First Fruits offering (cp Luke 1:26-38).
[2] See Matthew 27:29-30
[3] The only way for Pentecost to always fall on a Sunday is for First Fruits to always fall on the weekly Sabbath. This is required for the 50 day count specified in Leviticus 23:16 to fall on a Sunday, the first day of the week. Although modern Jews refuse to follow this command (they move First Fruits to the sundown of the special Sabbath on Nisan 15 –hating anything to do with Sunday), nonetheless, in the time of Christ, the day was reckoned in the way specified above.
[4] See note #5 in the post above.
[5] Telos = end: Matt. 10:22; 24:6, 13,14; 26:18; Mark 3:26; 13:7, 13; Luke 1:33; 21:9; 22:37; John 13:1; Rom. 6:21,22; 10:4; I Cor. 1:8; 10:11; 15:24; II Cor, 1:13; 3:13; 11:15; Phil. 3:19; I Thess. 2:16; I Tim 1:5; Heb. 3:6, 14; 6:8, 11; 7:3; Jas. 5:11; I Pet. 1:9; 4:7, 17; Rev. 1:8a; 2:26; 21:6 and 22:13.
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Sunday, Nisan 18, 3497 AC **Fourth day of Unleavened Bread **
Evening (Saturday night)
Luke 24:9-11 The women return to tell the disciples (see also Matthew 28:9-10 – many go to tell the eleven, and the other disciples, but Mary Magdalene (according to the other accounts) goes to tell Peter and John (see John 20:1-2).
John 20:3-10 Mary goes and tells Peter and John, who rush to the tomb to find it empty. Peter isn’t sure what to think, but John is convinced of the resurrection. They both return to their abode (see also Luke 24:12). Mary stays at the tomb and sleeps there.
John 20:11-17 and Mark 16:9-11 While everyone else departed, Mary Magdalene stays at the grave and cries herself to sleep. “And Jesus having risen, early on the first day of the week He appears to Mary” – the idea being conveyed here is not that Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, but that after rising, He appeared early to Mary Magdalene. This took place between the time He redeemed His body from death (which I believe was the cause of the great earthquake), went to preach to the people in Hell (I Peter 3:18-20 – even the righteous under the Law were required to be saved the same way we are – by confessing Jesus as LORD) and ascended up into Heaven to pour out His blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven! At this time, those who had received Messiah by faith in Hell were resurrected from the dead and walked around the environs of Jerusalem while Jesus alone ascended into Heaven with His holy blood (Matthew 27:52-53 – “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many”). This may be who the two angels were sitting in Jesus tomb (the word angel is the Greek word ‘angelos’, which simply means messenger – this can mean the spirit beings we know as angels, but can also be used in reference to men and even Jesus Himself ). Because Jesus had not yet ascended, He commanded Mary “Handle me not”[1], because she had been in the graveyard and possibly defiled – and His blood needed to stay pure to bring atonement for our sin.
Mary then goes to the disciples and tells them that Jesus appeared unto her, and they believed her not (cp John 20:18 to Mark 16:11)
Morning (Sunday day)
Matthew 28:9-10 This passage begins a new paragraph, which in Greek manuscripts denotes either a passage of time, a change of venue or both. I believe this event takes place on Sunday morning, although it could have taken place later in the night Saturday night (I think that Matthew began the paragraph here for a reason – to denote the passage of time). As the women are going to tell the disciples that they saw an angel, Jesus appears to them. Then the passage says that they came and “held him by the feet and worshipped Him” – notice there is no restriction on them touching Him, because He has already ascended and poured out His blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven! He tells the women to tell His disciples to meet Him at the appointed place in Galilee.
Matthew 28:11-15 The Chief Priests, fearing an uprising among the people, take a large sum of money and pay off the Roman Guard to lie about what happened to them in the garden of the tomb. The even conspire to pay off Pilate if he finds out about this deception.
Luke 24:18-27 Cleopas and another disciple go into the country (Mark 16:12-13) region near Jerusalem into a town called Emmaus[2]. While they are traveling, Jesus appears to them in another form, so they can’t recognize Him, and He talks with them in the way, expounding to them the prophecies and types of the Messiah from Moses to the Prophets. Toward the end of their walk, the sun began to set, and they constrained Jesus to go in with them at the Inn
Monday, Nisan 19, 3497 AC ** Fifth day of Unleavened Bread **
Evening (Sunday night)
Luke 24:28-35 Jesus goes with them into the Inn, and began to have supper with them. As the custom is, the person who is the invited guest was to give thanks, and when Jesus prayed, they recognized Him. Immediately He vanished out of their sight! The disciples immediately return to Jerusalem and share this event with the other disciples.
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[1] This is the same phrase the High Priest would say as he carried the blood of atonement from the Altar of Sacrifice to the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies – “Handle me not!!”
[2] Emmaus is a town about 8 miles (according to Josephus) from Jerusalem, which means it is considered part of the environs of Jerusalem – but it was about as far as you could travel and still be in the environs of Jerusalem. The exact location of this town is now unknown, but it is believed to be to the southwest of Jerusalem, which would be the probable direction of travel for Cleopas, who was a priest (most of the priesthood lived to the south and southwest of Jerusalem near Hebron). It is of my opinion that he was probably discouraged after the High Priest, that very afternoon had paid off the Levitical Guard to lie about Jesus resurrection. He was probably going toward his home after First Fruits (which would mean his time of priestly service was completed), but still remaining in the environs of Jerusalem so as not to break the Law (three times a year shall all males appear before Me – one of which was Unleavened Bread).
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Wednesday, Nisan 21, 3497 AC **Seventh day of Unleavened Bread *
This is a special Sabbath Day
Before discussing the event that takes place on this day, I would like to explain why the Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread is a special day for the Jews (and in the life of Jesus). According to Jewish history, the seventh day of Unleavened Bread was the day that Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry land – and their enemy was swallowed up by the sea. This is why God commanded Israel to keep this day as a special Sabbath throughout all their generations.
According to their tradition, the Seventh day of Unleavened Bread reveals:
a. Passing from death (Baalzephon, their last place of encampment before crossing the Red Sea, means literally “the house of the dead”) unto life (the first place of encampment on the east of the Red Sea is Elim – which the Talmud uses a play on words by only changing the accent mark – means “You” or “Your Presence”. This is the day when Israel left their bondage to the enemy and came to God.
b. Being delivered out of the kingdom of the enemy and into the presence of God (compare this to Colossians 1:12-14 – by the blood of Jesus we are delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His dear Son).
c. The utter defeat of the enemy – Pharaoh drowns (compare this to Colossians 2:13-15 – Jesus by His blood removes from us all the handwriting of the Law that was against us {i.e. the part of the covenant we couldn’t keep} and took it out of the way, thereby fully triumphing over them and making fools of them)
d. There is a special water libation (pouring) ceremony that is led by the person who led the Passover Seder on the eve of Nisan 14th. This person would take a pitcher of water and pour it out in a circle around his friends.
e. There is a special “tikkun” (course of study) where everyone would stay up all night studying the Torah and the Prophets. The prescribed course of study for this night was the marriage of God to His people – and because of this, the observant Jews call this day “Yom HaKetubah” (the day of the Marriage Contract). The reason they have this course of study is because this is the day that God became ‘betrothed’ to Israel – to be married to her later on Shavuot. On the eve of Shavuot, the observant Jews would stay up that night to study the “beautifying of the bride’, and when the day of Shavuot fully comes, they have a remembrance of the LORD marrying His people.
With all these things in mind, now consider the actions of Jesus on this special Sabbath day.
Evening (Tuesday night) ** still in Jerusalem **
John 20:19-25 Verse 19 of John chapter 20 is one of the worst Greek to English translations I have ever encountered. It is understandable why they translated it this way, church traditions concerning the timing of the resurrection, but there is absolutely NO WAY a Jewish man, especially a Priest [note 1], would say “Then that same day at evening”. The Jewish day always has begun at sundown. So, being evening would denote the passage to a new day. This poor translation intrigued me, and when I looked at how is should be translated, it gave insight to the fact that it is really talking
about the seventh day of Unleavened Bread.
Ou;sh j ou=n ovyi,aj th/| h`me,ra| evkei,nh| th/| mia/| tw/n sabba,twn
Therefore being evening on the day certain other [note 2] the other the Sabbath.
Therefore, a much better translation of John 20:19a would be “Therefore, it being evening on a certain other special day, the other Sabbath”. So then, this passage is talking about a special Sabbath – the seventh day of Unleavened Bread. On this special day, Jesus appears to them and bids them peace, and then He breathes on them and says ‘receive ye the Holy Ghost’.
Until this time, no man had received the indwelling Holy Ghost, therefore no one was yet saved. But here Jesus breathes on them, renews their spirits and imparts to them the Holy Ghost. This is what Paul is referring to when he says; “and so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit “ (I Corinthians 15:45). The first Adam became a living soul when God breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). The last Adam (Jesus) breathed into men and they received a living spirit. This is the moment that God had been waiting for since the fall of Adam – the time that He could once again fully commune with man! It is at this point that old things passed away and all things became new (II Corinthians 5:17). It is here that they become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:15-17) by being adopted into the family of God (Romans 8:9-11). This is the record of the first people who were baptized into the Body of Christ (which is the only baptism that saves us – Romans 12:4-5, compare to I Corinthians 12:13 – see also Gal. 3:26, Rom. 6:3-5 & Colo. 2:11-13).
Here, Jesus is fulfilling the typology of the seventh day of Unleavened Bread – He led the Passover Seder just one week earlier. As the leader of that meal of Remembrance, He shows up on this special Sabbath and pours out the Holy Ghost on those who are present – in fulfillment of the water libation from the Jewish tradition. When they receive the indwelling Holy Ghost, they are saved, which means they are translated out of the kingdom of the enemy and into the kingdom of God (Paul said it this way – “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Colossians 1:13). They passed from spiritual death unto spiritual life (Romans 5:21, II Corinthians 4:11-12 & I John 3:14). The ten disciples were hear for this event (Judas Iscariot had killed himself by this time, and Thomas[note 3] was not there).
Luke 24:36-48 This passage in Luke describes the same event from John 20:19-25, with a little bit different emphasis. “While they thus spoke” – here, once again, the Greek text starts a new paragraph, which conveys a change of venue or the passage of time. This was a few days after Cleopas and the other disciple returned from Emmaus, and the disciples were still discussing the things that Jesus said to Cleopas and the other disciple when Jesus appeared in the midst of them. Jesus says the same thing to them here as in John 20 – “Peace be unto you.” Jesus eats the Shabbat meal with the disciples, and then fulfills the last aspect of the Jewish tradition concerning the seventh day of Unleavened Bread by staying up all night instructing them in the Word. “Then He opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures” Luke 24:45.
Sometime after this event, the ten tell Thomas what happened to them, and he doesn’t believe them.
Thursday, Nisan 29, 3497 AC
Wednesday night
John 20:26-31 Eight days after the events of John 20:19-23, Jesus appears to the disciples again. This was just enough time for the disciples to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee. According to Josephus it was a 5 day journey from Jerusalem to Galilee. If the disciples rested according to the law on Nisan 21, then immediately traveled Nisan 22nd and 23rd, then rested the 24th (which was the regular weekly Sabbath), they would then complete the trip to Galilee on the day of Nisan 27th. One night later, Jesus appears to the eleven. Once again, Jesus greets the disciples with the phrase “peace be unto you”.
On this evening, Thomas calls upon the name of the LORD (he says to Jesus – “My LORD and my God”), and is saved. On this evening, Jesus issues the Great Commission to the disciples (see Matthew 28:16-20 and Mark 16:14-18).
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[1] It is my belief that John was a priest. There were very specific times when John was missing from the ministry team of Jesus – and they occurred with clock-like regularity. It will become more evident when I finish my work on a parallel of the four Gospel, but suffice it to say that John has more understanding and talk about feast days than all the other Gospel writers combined. Also consider the absences – during the time of Christ, Priests would report for service in the Temple of God twice a year for a 3 week period of consecration, service and study. One last thing – when Peter was forced to stay outside the Sanhedrin Judgment Hall (John 18:15-18) that John continued past the guarded door and was known to the High Priest (John 18:15).
[2] “ekeinh” when used with a noun (ie. in conjunction with the word ‘day’), this word is used to differentiate one thing from another thing already named. Specifically, when used in the dative form as it is here, it is used to show the passage of time from one time previously mentioned (the regular weekly Sabbath mentioned in John 20:1) to the one the word is associated with.
[3] Perhaps the church has been too hard on Thomas over the years. None of the disciples, except John, believed that Jesus has risen from the dead until they had received the indwelling Holy Ghost. And the reason for Thomas’ absence may have been to obey Jesus by meeting Him in Galilee as He instructed the women to tell the disciples to do.
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Thursday, Nisan 8, 3497 AC
John 12:1 Jesus comes up to Bethany, and stays at the house of Simon the Leper (Luke 12:3), who was the father of Judas Iscariot (John 12:4). He stays here for several days, until the strife over the anointing arises, and then Jesus sleeps on Mount Olives (Luke 21:37). This may show the reason Judas giving himself over to Satan: Perhaps it was Jesus ‘disrespecting’ his father’s house by leaving, or perhaps because his father was never healed from leprosy.
Friday, Nisan 9, 3497 AC
Matthew 21:1-11 Jesus makes His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. See also Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40 and John 12:9-19. Then He returns to Bethany and stays at the house of Simon the Leper.
Sabbath, Nisan 10 [footnote 1] , 3497 AC
Mark11:12-19 Jesus goes up toward Jerusalem to inspect it for the fruit of repentance, and finds none. Compare this action to the parable of the Fig Tree:
He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted
in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found
none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold,
these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none:
cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said
unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and
dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt
cut it down.
Luke 13:6-9
[note 2] Mt. 26:19-29 ....Mk. 14:17-25... Lk. 22:14-38 ....Jn. 13:1-35
Mt. of Olives.. Mt. 26:30-35.. Mk. 14:26-31... Lk. 22:39-40 ....Jn. 13:36-16:33
Gethsemane.... Mt. 26:36-46.. Mk. 14:32-42... Lk. 22:41-46.... Jn. 18:1
Betrayal .........Mt. 26:47-56... Mk. 14:43-53.. .Lk. 22:47-53 ....Jn. 18:2-14
Priest’s Trial[note 3] Mt. 26:57-75... Mk. 14:53-72.... Lk. 22:47-71.... Jn. 18:13-27
Morning (Wednesday day)
Event............ Matthew.............. Mark................ Luke.................. John
Pilate’s Trial .......Mt. 27:1-32.....Mk. 15:1-21....Lk. 23:1-31.........Jn. 18:28-19:5
Crucifixion .........Mt. 27:33-56 ...Mk. 15:22-44 ..Lk. 23:32-49...... Jn. 19:16-37
Burial. ...............Mt. 27:57-61... Mk. 15:42-47... Lk. 23:50-56 ......Jn. 19:38-42
Thursday, Nisan 15, 3497 AC **First day of Unleavened Bread ** (special Sabbath)
Burial. ...............Mt. 27:57-61 .....Mk. 15:42-47... Lk. 23:50-56 .....Jn. 19:38-42
The passage in Mark 15:42 states: “Now when the even was come… Joseph of Arimathaea…”. Joseph was an honourable counselor, and a member of the Sanhedrin Counsel. He buried the body of Jesus at the very twilight limit of the Sabbath, according to the command of the Law (see note 6 below). Joseph, therefore, defiled himself with the corpse of Jesus and was unable to partake of the Passover Lamb, all out of his love for Jesus!
Friday, Nisan 16, 3497 AC ** Second day of Unleavened Bread **
Matthew 27:62-66 The priests request Pilate[note 4] to set a watch at the tomb of Jesus’ burial. They enter into the Praetorium to make this request. Pilate concedes and gives them a Roman Guard to watch over the tomb.
Luke 23:54-56 The women (including Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James and Jesus; and Salome, mother of James and John – see Mark 16:1-2) purchase burial spices to anoint the body of Jesus with. They were prevented from properly preparing His body [note 5] because of the special Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. We know this is on the Friday between the two Sabbaths because the Greek text in Mark 16:1 indicates that only one Sabbath (the word is used in singular form here) had passed when they went to buy spices.
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Footnotes
[1] Nisan 10 through Nisan 13 each year are known as the Days of Examination. By Nisan 10, all the hametz (leaven) had to be out of the Jewish home, and it was also the day the lambs were brought in from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. They would be examined over this period of time to insure there were no blemishes or spots on the Passover Lambs.
[2] This is the meal of remembrance that the Jews still keep to this day. There is also the meal of the Passover Lamb (called ‘eating the passover’ in John 18:28) which was kept on the evening of the 15th of Nisan – the first day of Unleavened Bread. This meal is no longer kept because there is no longer a priesthood to sacrifice the Lamb (or a Temple in which to sacrifice).
[3] The Mishnah, in Sanhedrim 6.2 and 10.4 state plainly that Y’shua Nazarim was executed for blasphemy on Nisan 14th, 38 years before the Temple was destroyed (which happened in 70 AD). This places the year of the crucifixion at 32 AD, which is a Sabbath year (which is also known as a Year of Forgiveness). Also, Sanhedrim 7 bears reference to the proceedings against Jesus before the Sanhedrin counsel on the night of Nisan 14, the ‘evening’ before His execution. Much of the direct testimony is ridiculous in scope, but the date is firmly indicated in 3 places.
[4] Compare this “day of preparation” for a Sabbath to the day of preparation before the special Sabbath of the first day of Unleavened Bread. Before that special Sabbath, the chief Preists and Pharisees would not even enter in to the Praetorium (the Judgment Hall of Pilate), for fear of being defiled (John 18:28 – “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.” They desired to be clean for that Special Sabbath so they could partake of the Passover Lamb that would be sacrificed later that day (on Nisan 14).
Here, on the second day of Unleavened Bread, the day of preparation that is referred to is the preparation for the regular weekly Sabbath, which apparently was not as important to them, because they enter in here before Pilate to request the guard to set a watch over the tomb of Jesus.
[5] The Mishnah in ‘The Appointed Times” section called Shabbat, in 23:4-5, it says that the preparation of a corpse before a Sabbath has certain requirements: a. the person attending to the affairs of a corpse wait until the limit of twilight on the Sabbath, and rinse the body, remove any mattress from under it, put it on something cool so that it will keep, tie the chin with a napkin and covers the body with a sheet of linen.
Then , the final anointing is to be taken care of at the very twilight limit after the Sabbath (at the sundown on the normal weekly Sabbath – which is why the women waited these 3 days) Those who have prepared the remainder of the spices and anointings will go forth at the sundown of the Sabbath to prepare the body on the evening of the first day of the week!
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Sabbath, Nisan 17, 3497 AC **Third day of Unleavened Bread**
also First Fruits at sundown.
First a little history on the Feast of First Fruits. First Fruits is a special day set apart by the LORD in the Torah. While the other Feasts of the LORD are mentioned at least 4 times each, First Fruits is only referred to directly only one time – in Leviticus 23:9-14. It is mentioned in passing, referring to it as the starting day for counting the Omer – 3 other times, but only once is the law of the First Fruits specifically given:
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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children
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of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Leviticus 23:9-14
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The phrase “morrow after the Sabbath” has caused a lot of confusion over the years, but this is my take on it. The word used for “morrow” here is the Hebrew word “mochorath” which is a different word from the word translated “tomorrow” or “the next day”, which is the Hebrew word “machar”.
“Mochorath” is used in places like Genesis 19:34, Judges 9:42, I Samuel 11:11and I Samuel 31:8 where there is an obvious reference to an evening, and then the daytime of that same day (remember that the Bible says to count days beginning at sunset, and the evening and the morning are the same day). The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew English lexicon gives this definition for “mochorath”:
tr'x\m' n.f. the morrow (the day following a past day) -- the morrow; , tr'x\M'mi = on the morrow, so tr'x\M'mi yhiy>w; tB'V;h; tr;x\M'mi on the ‘morrow’ of (= after) the sabbath; of the morrow after a day specified in a law. , Twice (late) with l., tr'x\M'l; on the morrow; strangely ~t'r'x\m'l. , br,[,h'-d[;w> @v,N
With that definition (“from the dawn to the evening of the day”) in mind – consider this idea: For Jesus to keep His prophecy concerning His time in the hell (“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40), then Jesus would have to rise from the dead at SUNDOWN on whichever day He arose! Being crucified on Wednesday, and buried at sundown on Wednesday, the time would be as follows:
1. Wednesday night (night 1)
2. Thursday day (day 1)
3. Thursday night (night 2)
4. Friday day (day 2)
5. Friday night (night 3)
6. Sabbath day (day 3)
This would place His resurrection from the dead at sundown on the regular weekly Sabbath (even if someone wanted Jesus to be resurrected on Sunday, and therefore place His crucifixion and burial on Thursday, if He is a true prophet, then He wouldn’t have risen from the dead until SUNDOWN on Sunday).
Consider how the Jews in the time of Christ kept the Feast of First Fruits: Seventy days [note 1] before Passover, two priests would go out to a field that had never been watered or dunged (Mishnah, Menahot 8:2) and sow the seed of the First Fruits offering. According to Josephus, the common place to sow this seed was across the Brook Kidron in the Valley of Ashes. Then on the day of First Fruits, which was considered to be after the evening sacrifice (which took place at 3 pm) but before sunset, at least two priests with at least 3 women (to be witnesses of the harvest of the First Fruits) to harvest the offering. They would time the event so they would be back at the Temple just in time for sunset on that day. The priests would all go out with a sickle and a basket, although only one priest would do the harvesting because it is a Sabbath day (and to keep him from ‘breaking the Sabbath’, the other priest would carry the basket filled with the First Fruits back to the Temple).
Just in time to be back at sundown, the first priest would ask these questions:
1. Is this the field of the First Fruit?
2. Is the sun beginning to set?
3. With this sickle?
4. Into this basket?
5. On this Sabbath day?
6. Shall I reap?
After the other priest answers all the questions in the affirmative, the priest would reap the First Fruits in the amount of about one ephah (which, when processed, would produce about 3 pecks and 3 pints of barley corn) of grain. The grain was then taken into the Temple and beaten with reeds[2] (instead of being beaten with rods – this was to prevent the husk of the grain from being injured). It was then taken and placed in a large brass pan that had been pierced many times so that every grain would be ‘parched’ as it was cooked over the fire of the Altar of Sacrifice. I said all that to say this – the time of the Harvest of the First Fruits was at sundown on the regular weekly Sabbath [note 3] after Passover.
So why is it important for Jesus to be resurrected from the dead on First Fruits? To begin with, the entire book of the Law was written about Jesus (John 5:39), and He came to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). The First Fruits offering is a type of Christ (see all the things written above about First Fruits), and I Corinthians 15:20-23 calls Jesus the First Fruits of them that were dead! Jesus is called the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29), the firstborn from the dead (Colossians 1:18 – and this is talking about firstborn from spiritual death, not resurrection from physical death, for at least six people were resurrected from physical death before Jesus – Lazarus [John 11], the daughter of the ruler [Matthew 9:18-26] and the widow’s son [Luke 7:11-18] by Jesus, and the widow’s son [1 Kings 17:17-23] by Elijah, and the Shunammite woman’s son [2 Kings 4:32-37] and the man thrown in Elisha’s grave [2 Kings 13:20-21]). One last point – the writer of Hebrews even calls the body of Christ the ‘Church of the Firstborn” (Hebrew 12:23).
I would like to mention one more thing before continuing on. The Talmud requires that if someone dies on a Sabbath, or in the preparation time for a Sabbath (after 3pm – which was the time of the evening sacrifice), they were to be cared for in a minimal way. Then the people who desired to ‘attend to the affairs of a corpse’ would return to the place of burial ‘at the end of the Sabbath limit, the twilight [note 4] before the first day begins’ to finish the washings and anointings of the body (Mishnah, Shabbat 23:4 B). It is this very thing the women were doing when they were coming to the tomb at the end of the Gospels.
Matthew 28:1-8 “After the Sabbaths” (the word here is plural in the Greek – pointing to the Special Sabbath of Nisan 15 and the weekly Sabbath of Nisan 17), “as the sun began to set toward the first day of the week” (the word used here is “epiphosko” which is usually translated ‘to get dusk’ or ‘sunset’ in extra biblical material... 'phoskos' meaning 'sunlight' and 'epi' meaning 'end' {think epiloge, epidural, etc) there was an earthquake.
Mark 16:1-8 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome and the other women come to anoint the body of Jesus “very early in the first of the seven at the ending of the sun they came to the tomb“ is a much better translation of verse 2. The word translated ‘rising’ is the Greek word ‘anatellos’, which is two Greek word ‘ana’ which means ‘each’ or ‘very’ and ‘telos’ which means ‘end’.[note 5]
Luke 24:1-7 Very early… women came… and two angels appeared and preached to them… and they left.
John 20:1-2 “But on the Sabbath at it was nearing dark” – the words translated :
‘early’ is ‘proi’ which is translated ‘first’ or ‘near’, but is from the root ‘pro’ which means ‘before'
‘yet’ is ‘eti’ which is translated ‘yet’ usually, but in the past imperative (as found John 20:1) it is always translated ‘approaching’
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[1] If Mary’s pregnancy with Jesus were a perfect pregnancy – which I believe He was (He was perfect in every way), then ponder this: A perfect human pregnancy takes 267 days from gestation to birth. If Jesus were born on the first day of Tabernacles in 2 BC, exactly 267 days before that day was the ‘Day of Implantation” when two priests would go out to sow the seed of the First Fruits offering. One priest would sow the seed, and the other priest would announce to the virgin field that it was blessed of the LORD being chosen to carry the seed of the First Fruits offering (cp Luke 1:26-38).
[2] See Matthew 27:29-30
[3] The only way for Pentecost to always fall on a Sunday is for First Fruits to always fall on the weekly Sabbath. This is required for the 50 day count specified in Leviticus 23:16 to fall on a Sunday, the first day of the week. Although modern Jews refuse to follow this command (they move First Fruits to the sundown of the special Sabbath on Nisan 15 –hating anything to do with Sunday), nonetheless, in the time of Christ, the day was reckoned in the way specified above.
[4] See note #5 in the post above.
[5] Telos = end: Matt. 10:22; 24:6, 13,14; 26:18; Mark 3:26; 13:7, 13; Luke 1:33; 21:9; 22:37; John 13:1; Rom. 6:21,22; 10:4; I Cor. 1:8; 10:11; 15:24; II Cor, 1:13; 3:13; 11:15; Phil. 3:19; I Thess. 2:16; I Tim 1:5; Heb. 3:6, 14; 6:8, 11; 7:3; Jas. 5:11; I Pet. 1:9; 4:7, 17; Rev. 1:8a; 2:26; 21:6 and 22:13.
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Sunday, Nisan 18, 3497 AC **Fourth day of Unleavened Bread **
Evening (Saturday night)
Luke 24:9-11 The women return to tell the disciples (see also Matthew 28:9-10 – many go to tell the eleven, and the other disciples, but Mary Magdalene (according to the other accounts) goes to tell Peter and John (see John 20:1-2).
John 20:3-10 Mary goes and tells Peter and John, who rush to the tomb to find it empty. Peter isn’t sure what to think, but John is convinced of the resurrection. They both return to their abode (see also Luke 24:12). Mary stays at the tomb and sleeps there.
John 20:11-17 and Mark 16:9-11 While everyone else departed, Mary Magdalene stays at the grave and cries herself to sleep. “And Jesus having risen, early on the first day of the week He appears to Mary” – the idea being conveyed here is not that Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, but that after rising, He appeared early to Mary Magdalene. This took place between the time He redeemed His body from death (which I believe was the cause of the great earthquake), went to preach to the people in Hell (I Peter 3:18-20 – even the righteous under the Law were required to be saved the same way we are – by confessing Jesus as LORD) and ascended up into Heaven to pour out His blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven! At this time, those who had received Messiah by faith in Hell were resurrected from the dead and walked around the environs of Jerusalem while Jesus alone ascended into Heaven with His holy blood (Matthew 27:52-53 – “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many”). This may be who the two angels were sitting in Jesus tomb (the word angel is the Greek word ‘angelos’, which simply means messenger – this can mean the spirit beings we know as angels, but can also be used in reference to men and even Jesus Himself ). Because Jesus had not yet ascended, He commanded Mary “Handle me not”[1], because she had been in the graveyard and possibly defiled – and His blood needed to stay pure to bring atonement for our sin.
Mary then goes to the disciples and tells them that Jesus appeared unto her, and they believed her not (cp John 20:18 to Mark 16:11)
Morning (Sunday day)
Matthew 28:9-10 This passage begins a new paragraph, which in Greek manuscripts denotes either a passage of time, a change of venue or both. I believe this event takes place on Sunday morning, although it could have taken place later in the night Saturday night (I think that Matthew began the paragraph here for a reason – to denote the passage of time). As the women are going to tell the disciples that they saw an angel, Jesus appears to them. Then the passage says that they came and “held him by the feet and worshipped Him” – notice there is no restriction on them touching Him, because He has already ascended and poured out His blood on the Mercy Seat in Heaven! He tells the women to tell His disciples to meet Him at the appointed place in Galilee.
Matthew 28:11-15 The Chief Priests, fearing an uprising among the people, take a large sum of money and pay off the Roman Guard to lie about what happened to them in the garden of the tomb. The even conspire to pay off Pilate if he finds out about this deception.
Luke 24:18-27 Cleopas and another disciple go into the country (Mark 16:12-13) region near Jerusalem into a town called Emmaus[2]. While they are traveling, Jesus appears to them in another form, so they can’t recognize Him, and He talks with them in the way, expounding to them the prophecies and types of the Messiah from Moses to the Prophets. Toward the end of their walk, the sun began to set, and they constrained Jesus to go in with them at the Inn
Monday, Nisan 19, 3497 AC ** Fifth day of Unleavened Bread **
Evening (Sunday night)
Luke 24:28-35 Jesus goes with them into the Inn, and began to have supper with them. As the custom is, the person who is the invited guest was to give thanks, and when Jesus prayed, they recognized Him. Immediately He vanished out of their sight! The disciples immediately return to Jerusalem and share this event with the other disciples.
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[1] This is the same phrase the High Priest would say as he carried the blood of atonement from the Altar of Sacrifice to the Mercy Seat in the Holy of Holies – “Handle me not!!”
[2] Emmaus is a town about 8 miles (according to Josephus) from Jerusalem, which means it is considered part of the environs of Jerusalem – but it was about as far as you could travel and still be in the environs of Jerusalem. The exact location of this town is now unknown, but it is believed to be to the southwest of Jerusalem, which would be the probable direction of travel for Cleopas, who was a priest (most of the priesthood lived to the south and southwest of Jerusalem near Hebron). It is of my opinion that he was probably discouraged after the High Priest, that very afternoon had paid off the Levitical Guard to lie about Jesus resurrection. He was probably going toward his home after First Fruits (which would mean his time of priestly service was completed), but still remaining in the environs of Jerusalem so as not to break the Law (three times a year shall all males appear before Me – one of which was Unleavened Bread).
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Wednesday, Nisan 21, 3497 AC **Seventh day of Unleavened Bread *
This is a special Sabbath Day
Before discussing the event that takes place on this day, I would like to explain why the Seventh Day of Unleavened Bread is a special day for the Jews (and in the life of Jesus). According to Jewish history, the seventh day of Unleavened Bread was the day that Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry land – and their enemy was swallowed up by the sea. This is why God commanded Israel to keep this day as a special Sabbath throughout all their generations.
According to their tradition, the Seventh day of Unleavened Bread reveals:
a. Passing from death (Baalzephon, their last place of encampment before crossing the Red Sea, means literally “the house of the dead”) unto life (the first place of encampment on the east of the Red Sea is Elim – which the Talmud uses a play on words by only changing the accent mark – means “You” or “Your Presence”. This is the day when Israel left their bondage to the enemy and came to God.
b. Being delivered out of the kingdom of the enemy and into the presence of God (compare this to Colossians 1:12-14 – by the blood of Jesus we are delivered out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of His dear Son).
c. The utter defeat of the enemy – Pharaoh drowns (compare this to Colossians 2:13-15 – Jesus by His blood removes from us all the handwriting of the Law that was against us {i.e. the part of the covenant we couldn’t keep} and took it out of the way, thereby fully triumphing over them and making fools of them)
d. There is a special water libation (pouring) ceremony that is led by the person who led the Passover Seder on the eve of Nisan 14th. This person would take a pitcher of water and pour it out in a circle around his friends.
e. There is a special “tikkun” (course of study) where everyone would stay up all night studying the Torah and the Prophets. The prescribed course of study for this night was the marriage of God to His people – and because of this, the observant Jews call this day “Yom HaKetubah” (the day of the Marriage Contract). The reason they have this course of study is because this is the day that God became ‘betrothed’ to Israel – to be married to her later on Shavuot. On the eve of Shavuot, the observant Jews would stay up that night to study the “beautifying of the bride’, and when the day of Shavuot fully comes, they have a remembrance of the LORD marrying His people.
With all these things in mind, now consider the actions of Jesus on this special Sabbath day.
Evening (Tuesday night) ** still in Jerusalem **
John 20:19-25 Verse 19 of John chapter 20 is one of the worst Greek to English translations I have ever encountered. It is understandable why they translated it this way, church traditions concerning the timing of the resurrection, but there is absolutely NO WAY a Jewish man, especially a Priest [note 1], would say “Then that same day at evening”. The Jewish day always has begun at sundown. So, being evening would denote the passage to a new day. This poor translation intrigued me, and when I looked at how is should be translated, it gave insight to the fact that it is really talking
about the seventh day of Unleavened Bread.
Ou;sh j ou=n ovyi,aj th/| h`me,ra| evkei,nh| th/| mia/| tw/n sabba,twn
Therefore being evening on the day certain other [note 2] the other the Sabbath.
Therefore, a much better translation of John 20:19a would be “Therefore, it being evening on a certain other special day, the other Sabbath”. So then, this passage is talking about a special Sabbath – the seventh day of Unleavened Bread. On this special day, Jesus appears to them and bids them peace, and then He breathes on them and says ‘receive ye the Holy Ghost’.
Until this time, no man had received the indwelling Holy Ghost, therefore no one was yet saved. But here Jesus breathes on them, renews their spirits and imparts to them the Holy Ghost. This is what Paul is referring to when he says; “and so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit “ (I Corinthians 15:45). The first Adam became a living soul when God breathed into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). The last Adam (Jesus) breathed into men and they received a living spirit. This is the moment that God had been waiting for since the fall of Adam – the time that He could once again fully commune with man! It is at this point that old things passed away and all things became new (II Corinthians 5:17). It is here that they become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:15-17) by being adopted into the family of God (Romans 8:9-11). This is the record of the first people who were baptized into the Body of Christ (which is the only baptism that saves us – Romans 12:4-5, compare to I Corinthians 12:13 – see also Gal. 3:26, Rom. 6:3-5 & Colo. 2:11-13).
Here, Jesus is fulfilling the typology of the seventh day of Unleavened Bread – He led the Passover Seder just one week earlier. As the leader of that meal of Remembrance, He shows up on this special Sabbath and pours out the Holy Ghost on those who are present – in fulfillment of the water libation from the Jewish tradition. When they receive the indwelling Holy Ghost, they are saved, which means they are translated out of the kingdom of the enemy and into the kingdom of God (Paul said it this way – “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Colossians 1:13). They passed from spiritual death unto spiritual life (Romans 5:21, II Corinthians 4:11-12 & I John 3:14). The ten disciples were hear for this event (Judas Iscariot had killed himself by this time, and Thomas[note 3] was not there).
Luke 24:36-48 This passage in Luke describes the same event from John 20:19-25, with a little bit different emphasis. “While they thus spoke” – here, once again, the Greek text starts a new paragraph, which conveys a change of venue or the passage of time. This was a few days after Cleopas and the other disciple returned from Emmaus, and the disciples were still discussing the things that Jesus said to Cleopas and the other disciple when Jesus appeared in the midst of them. Jesus says the same thing to them here as in John 20 – “Peace be unto you.” Jesus eats the Shabbat meal with the disciples, and then fulfills the last aspect of the Jewish tradition concerning the seventh day of Unleavened Bread by staying up all night instructing them in the Word. “Then He opened their understanding that they might understand the scriptures” Luke 24:45.
Sometime after this event, the ten tell Thomas what happened to them, and he doesn’t believe them.
Thursday, Nisan 29, 3497 AC
Wednesday night
John 20:26-31 Eight days after the events of John 20:19-23, Jesus appears to the disciples again. This was just enough time for the disciples to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee. According to Josephus it was a 5 day journey from Jerusalem to Galilee. If the disciples rested according to the law on Nisan 21, then immediately traveled Nisan 22nd and 23rd, then rested the 24th (which was the regular weekly Sabbath), they would then complete the trip to Galilee on the day of Nisan 27th. One night later, Jesus appears to the eleven. Once again, Jesus greets the disciples with the phrase “peace be unto you”.
On this evening, Thomas calls upon the name of the LORD (he says to Jesus – “My LORD and my God”), and is saved. On this evening, Jesus issues the Great Commission to the disciples (see Matthew 28:16-20 and Mark 16:14-18).
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[1] It is my belief that John was a priest. There were very specific times when John was missing from the ministry team of Jesus – and they occurred with clock-like regularity. It will become more evident when I finish my work on a parallel of the four Gospel, but suffice it to say that John has more understanding and talk about feast days than all the other Gospel writers combined. Also consider the absences – during the time of Christ, Priests would report for service in the Temple of God twice a year for a 3 week period of consecration, service and study. One last thing – when Peter was forced to stay outside the Sanhedrin Judgment Hall (John 18:15-18) that John continued past the guarded door and was known to the High Priest (John 18:15).
[2] “ekeinh” when used with a noun (ie. in conjunction with the word ‘day’), this word is used to differentiate one thing from another thing already named. Specifically, when used in the dative form as it is here, it is used to show the passage of time from one time previously mentioned (the regular weekly Sabbath mentioned in John 20:1) to the one the word is associated with.
[3] Perhaps the church has been too hard on Thomas over the years. None of the disciples, except John, believed that Jesus has risen from the dead until they had received the indwelling Holy Ghost. And the reason for Thomas’ absence may have been to obey Jesus by meeting Him in Galilee as He instructed the women to tell the disciples to do.
