Posted by Bibleman [Bibleman] on November 05, 1999 at 13:44:42 {6xiCHW3gJ2MSSTtTA17sslyACFuF8c}:
In Reply to: QUESTION FOR MR. B posted by DaJahVeu on November 05, 1999 at 10:26:53:
Here is a brief summary of the events which you can check in the scriptures:
Nisan 14, sometime in the morning, Jesus sends John and Peter to prepare for passover.
John and Peter locate the upper room and Peter takes the lamb to the temple to get in that long line to have the sheep sacrificed while John prepares the bitter greens, unleavened bread, etc. for the meal. Sometime after 3:00 p.m. John brings the slaughtered lamb and John and Peter roast it in preparation of the meal.
Just before sundown Jesus and the other apostles, including Judas show up for the Passover. At sundown it becomes the special sabbath day of unfermented cakes.
The meal itself, however, per Jewish tradition, is not eaten until after nightfall. Luke says, "when the hour arrived" they ate. Jews customarily do not begin Passover until nightfall.
So let's says from 7:30 until 9:00 p.m. they ate Passover. Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and instituted the New Covenant while Judas was still with them. During the meal, more than once Jesus hinted that someone would be him.
Then at "de-night" (John 13:30) Judas left. "Night" is a common term for the "mid-night" watch, and "de-night" means just before that. So John gives the specific time Judas left. The Midnight watch ("night") would be from 9:00 p.m. until Midnight.
Jesus continued to eat with his disciples, eventually going out to the Mount of Olives were, full and sleepy they began to nod off. During this time, Judas was busy getting the armed band together to confront Jesus.
Then after Midnight, the mob arrives and Jesus is arrested. He is interrogated and accused at the home of the high priest.
Luke 22:66 "At length when it became day, the assembly of older men of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they haled him into the SANHEDRIN hall..."
VERY IMPORTANT. It is already "day", in fact, right at sunsrise and he is just now coming before the Sanhedrin. He was interrogated here all morning long until just before Noon. That's when he was presented before Pilate, which was the usual time Pilate met with the public.
But this was also very close to the time of the Noontime special "passover" meal to be had and so the Jews didn't want to enter into the governor's palace because they wanted to eat the special "passover" Noontime meal.
John gives us the specific time he was brought to Pilate at John 18:28: "Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the governor's palace. IT WAS [DE-EARLY] in the day." This doesn't mean it was still early in the morning but "de-early" here is a specific time meaning just before the "early" evening watch. Evening for the Jews began at Noon onward. But there was an "early" evening (Noon-3:00 p.m.), Mid-evening (3:00-6:00/sunset) and "late" evening (sunset to 9:00 p.m.) watch. So this was right before Noon.
Pilate then interrogates Jesus throughout the afternoon. Apparently there is a conference with Pilate and the accusers with Jesus not present, giving the guards time to tease Jesus by dressing him up like a king. When Pilate sees this he brings Jesus out and shows him to the crowd. And another discussion ensues during which Pilate finds out Jesus is from Galilee. And since he didn't want to accuse Jesus whom he knew had done nothing deserving of death, he decided to get out of the situation by sending him to Herod.
Now this is where the story is incomplete. We don't know if Herod saw him that afternoon. We don't know if he interviewed Jesus the next day and then set up hearings over the next few days, etc. We know there was time enough for Herod's wife to advise him not to have anything (negative) to do with Jesus, etc.
But the story picks up again when Herod presents Jesus to Pilate, declaring him innocent. This is the day Herod and Pilate become friends. Based upon that, the release of one of the condemned prisoners must have been scheduled one day before the sabbath, that is, Noon, Wednesday, Nisan 19th.
John 19:14 thus gives the specific time of this trial which is "de-preparation for passover; the hour was the sixth." That is, it was the afternoon just before "preparation for passover" at Noon. "Preparation for passover" sabbath of the 7th day of unfermented cakes (21st) would began that night. So this was the afternoon before, Wednesday, Nisan 19th.
So this was Jesus' final trial. He was dressed up and teased again during some downtime that afternoon apparently, and that evening while going out to Calvary, Simon Syrene who was "coming from the field", likely a dayworker working in the wheat harvest, was employed to assist Jesus carry his torture stake. Pilate accompanied them.
There may have been some kind of formal sentencing
over the condemned as they nailed them to the stakes. But Pilate was there to write a sign for Jesus' stake which said, "King of the Jews" in three different languages. By the time all this was done, it was 9:00 p.m. at which time Jesus was impaled. (Mark 15:25). Please note that the night impalements are reasonable per Jewish custom since this was the beginning of their day, basically and even if there was a sabbath to follow, the condemned would be on the stake close to a full night and day. That would give time for people to sneer at them, etc. and they would have their public day of shame. These prisoners were "naked" and thus on these cold nights shivering all night.
DIVERT: I will divert here to note that this likely is why Jesus asked to have Jehovah "remove this cup." That's because Jesus wasn't afraid to die, but he may have been a very private and modest man. So to be naked before his disciples, his enemies, his mother and family, would have been extremely embarrassing for him. That was the one thing he wished he didn't have to endure. So he was emptied of everything including any iota of personal dignity or modesty he may have had. Okay, back to the timetable.
So from 9:00 p.m. until Noon the next day Jesus was on the torture stake. The crowds probably thinned out that night. The prisoners were guarded. And in a quiet moment Jesus was able to tell John to take care of his mother for him, etc.
Then the next day the crowd picked up again and they jeered the prisoners and that's when some noticed that the sign over Jesus' head said "King of the Jews" and they asked Pilate to change it to "He SAID he was king of the Jews" and Pilate said: "What I have written, I have written."
Then at Noontime, after having spent all night on the stake, it suddenly got dark and remained dark from Noon until 3:00 p.m. At that time, there was an earthquake, and Jesus died.
Simon of Arimethia went to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body and they rushed to get it into the tomb before sundown which began the sabbath day of Nisan 21st, which was not the usual sabbath day but a "high sabbath" day of Passover, which fell not on a Friday but a Thursday.
So they found a new, empty tomb and placed him in there. But some of the disciples were still hanging around and the chief priests and pharisees then thought that someone might steal the body. So they ran to Pilate to get a 24-hour guard. This was "before the next day" which began at nightfall, but AFTER preparation, which ended at sunset.
KEY DATING SCRIPTURE: Matthew 27:62 "The next day [de-epaurion = before next day] which was after Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together before Pilate..."
In this verse, "de-epaurion" is used, which means "before the morrow" or "before the next day." The normal secular Jewish day began at NIGHTFALL, not at sunset. Only sabbath days began at sunset, but still ended at nightfall. Thus when the Bible says to celebrate the sabbaths "from evening to evening" it is inclusive like saying from "Sunday to Sunday". That means the sabbath days are longer than the normal day, and Preparation is shorter. This also means that each sabbath day has two special meals. It begins with a special meal and ends with a special meal.
But because it is so confusing with when the "sabbath day" began versus the normal secular day, this verse explains that though this was "de-epaurion" or before the next secular day, that it was still AFTER Preparation, which means after sundown, since Preparation ended when the sabbath began, which begins at sundown.
So that's how we know that "de-preparation" was just a substitute for "de-epaurion", before the next day, only "de-preparation" was just more specific. But the reference is to the normal time the Jewish day began and ended and that was at nightfall. The sabbaths were an exception.
At any rate, the guards were posted before nightfall. It would not have made much sense to have the grave unguarded all that first night since they were so concerned about his body being stolen.
This thus began the "three days and three nights" that Jesus was in the tomb. Technically beginning with his death, when he would have been considered to be in the grave, or Hades, these three days and three nights went from Thursday afternoon until Saturday night.
Now, we have some specific times as to when Jesus was resurrected.
Mark 16:9 says, "After he rose [de-]early on the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene." The "de-early" reference in this case means before the "early" morning watch, which was from 3:00 to sunrise. So Jesus rose before 3:00 a.m.
But Mary Magdalene, specifically came after 3:00 a.m. as we learn from John 20:1 which says: "On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the memorial tomb EARLY, while there was still darkness."
This reference to "early" is not accompanied by the "de" so this is not a reference to before the "early" watch, but this is DURING the early watch, which of necessity means after the "early" watch had begun. But it was still dark at this time, of course.
And you know the rest, of course. Those are the particulars. He appeared for 40 days and then ascended three days before Pentecost.
But here's your BONUS!!!!
Here's what you get for believing and following this through.
You see, the 1260 days, 1290 days and 1335 days are fulfilled upon Jesus' 3-1/2 year ministry.
That is, every 3 years the Jews added an extra intercalary month. So that in the 3-1/2 year period of Jesus' ministry there was an extra month, thus what would have been simply 42 lunar months, which is 1260 days, in actuality it was 1290 days.
Now, when you date Jesus death on Nisan 14th and his resurrection on the 16th, there is no correlation between the 1290 days and the 1335 days which are 45 days apart. But when you have Jesus dying on the 20th, which is five days after the 15th, which is 50 days from Pentecost, then you see where his death ends the 1290 days from the end of the Festival of Booths on Tishri 21st, and he fulfills Pentecost 45 days later!
That is, Pentecost is 50 days from the 15th and 45 days from the 20th. The Festival of Booths, which is in the fall and when Jesus would begin his ministry, is celebrated in the 7th month, for 7 days from the 14th through the 21st, just like Passover, six months earlier/later is. So basically the 3-1/2 years ideally is 42 months, from Festival of Booths in 29CE to Passover of 33CE. But with the extra month, its 1290 days. And that is what fulfills the 1335 days to Pentecost from his death on Nisan 20th, which officially ended his ministry.
So without the correct understanding, you don't get to apply or understand this application of the pattern of the 1290 days and 1335 days as fulfilled during Christ's first coming, which we know, will likely be again applied to his Second coming! Which, of course, it was. But somewhat differently.
So, there you have it.
Cheers,
Bibleman