If Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation, why had He already eaten the Passover meal?

"From this (time) Pilate sought to release Him; but the Jews kept crying, saying, If thou wilt release this (man), thou art not a friend of Caesar: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. Pilate then, having heard these words, led Jesus out and sat down on (the) judgment-seat345 at a place called Pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha. Now it was (the) preparation† of the Passover; it was about sixth‡ hour. And he saith to the Jews, Behold your King. They cried therefore, Away with (him), away with (him); crucify him. Pilate saith to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar" (verses 12-15).347 In later Greek τὸ λιθόστρωτον was said for tessellated work or mosaic used for the floors of buildings, public or domestic, and very particularly for the tribunal of a Roman in the execution of his office. So Julius Caesar, on his military expeditions, regularly carried such a mosaic with him, as Suetonius tells us (gap. 46). The word <span style="font-family: 'H ebraica'">aj;B]N'</span> seems to be from a Herew root, <span style="font-family: 'H ebraica'">hB'N:</span>, "to be high" (cf. Geba, Gibeah, Gibeon, etc.). The one apparently refers to the flooring, the other to the elevated platform unless Lightfoot's idea be well founded, who derives G. from <span style="font-family: 'H ebraica'">bN''</span>, "a surface," and hence regards the Greek and Hebrew words as equivalents. † No matter of fact in the Gospel has been debated more keenly or with wider differences among men of piety and learning than this of παρασκευὴ τοῦ πάσχα in connection with John 18:28, which doubtless disposes a modern or Gentile reader at first sight to conceive that the Lord must have observed the Passover and instituted His own Supper on the day before the time followed by the Jews. On the other hand, it is no less plain that, according to the three Synoptic Gospels, the Lord partook of the Passover with the disciples at the regular season, 14th Nisan. Hence there have not been wanting those who have dared to reject the narrative of John, whilst a still greater number have fallen into the opposite error, and treated the earlier Evangelists as confounding the meal with the Passover. Not a few, like Dean Alford, give up the question in despair as to us insoluble. The truth is, that all these contending parties start with the error of forgetting the obvious and certain fact that the Jews reckon the day from evening to evening, and that hence it is all a mistake to suppose that the Lord took the Passover with the disciples on one day and suffered the next [Neander, Meyer, Godet, Weiss, Ellicott, Westcott, Sanday]. So it would be to our Western habit of thought, but not so according to the Jews, nurtured in the law. It was on our Thursday they ate, and on our Friday He suffered; but to the Jews it was one and the same day. Hence there was still time for such Jews as had been too much occupied with the mock trial and condemnation of our Lord to eat the Passover if they did not legally defile themselves meanwhile. The preparation of the Passover does not mean the 13th, but the 14th Nisan. It was the day before the Paschal Sabbath, which was, on this occasion, a double one, and so of peculiar sanctity. Hence Matthew, speaking of this Sabbath, says, ἥτις ἐστὶν μετὰ τὴν παρασκευὴν, as Mark explains, παρασκευὴ ὅ ἐστιν προσάββατον, or Sabbath eve. This seems conclusive in reconciling the statements of the fourth Gospel with those of the other three. The painful fact is the unbelief that exposed so many persons eminent for erudition and even for godliness to such hasty and careless discussion of Scripture. Had they held firmly the inspired character of the holy writings, they would at least have avoided error and irreverence if they could not clear up the difficulty. ‡ It is well known that not Nonnus only in his poetical paraphrase of our Gospel gives "third" hour, but also five uncials and four cursives, either in the original text or in a correction, not to speak of less direct authorities. Still, the weight of witnesses is overwhelming for ἕκτη, "sixth." It would seem that our Evangelist adopted a different reckoning of hours, from midnight to noon, as we do. Certainly the Romans did for their civil day (see Plin., "N. Hist.," ii. 79; Censorinus de "Die. Nat.," xxiii; Aul. Gell., "N. Att.," iii. 2; and Macrob., "Sat.," i. 3). And it suits all the mentions of hours in the Gospel of John excellently, besides falling in with Mark's third, sixth, and ninth hours of the natural day from the sun. This serves to explain the otherwise singular message of Pilate's wife (Matt. 27:19), in which she spoke of suffering much "today in a dream because of Him." To Procula, as a Roman, the day was reckoned from midnight, as the hours appear to be throughout our Gospel, but not in the Synoptists. It is singular, as showing the perplexity in minds of old as now, that Jerome says in his breviary on Ps.

How powerless is the struggle to do right, where the world is loved, one's sins are unjudged, and grace unknown! The Jews saw through Pilate as he through them. How wretched not to have Christ for eternal life! Pilate preferred the friendship of the world to the Son of God, as the Jews saw no beauty in Him that they should admire Him; and both played their part in crucifying Him. Pilate may seek to release Jesus, may go in and out, may speak to Jesus and pour scorn on the Jews. But the last word of apostate unbelief passes their lips and closes Pilate's mouth, who will not be behind the Jews in allegiance to Caesar. All is over now. The prince of the world comes, and though he has nothing in Christ, Christ dies rejected of man, forsaken of God, the Righteous One for our sins; never such hatred and unrighteousness as on the world's part toward Him; never such love and righteousness as on God's part toward the world in virtue of Him.

531 Luke 22:7. — "The day of unleavened [bread]." Provision of ἄζυμα (Ex. 23:15) began, as we should say, with 6 p.m. (cf. verse 14) on the Thursday, when the 14th Nisan set in (cf. Matt. 26:17; Mark 14:12), i.e., the Eastern Friday eve, but our Thursday night. The theory, occasioned by comparison with the Fourth Gospel, that the Lord anticipated the ceremony by one whole day (Neander, Godet, Westcott, etc.) seems to be already excluded by the Evangelist's words "the day … in which the passover had to be killed." It was simply the darkness of one half of the technical day that divided the Lord's celebration from that of the Jerusalemites in general.

The "Jewish Encyclopaedia" discredits Chwolson's idea that the present calendar for Passover, which excludes Friday as a day for its observance, was in existence then, stating that it is not generally accepted.

To sum up: The Lord and His disciples may be confidently regarded as having taken the initial meal substantially at the same time as the rest of the Jews, within the limits of what Wellhausen (on "Luke") calls the same "official day," referring to Luke 22:34 there (cf. Mark 14:30, yet more explicit). The language of John 18:28 is, in the light of Jewish usages, in no way incompatible with that of Mark 14:12; and John 19:14 does but fix the day and hour of what is spoken of in the latter passage, whilst John 19:31 speaks of preparation simply with manifest reference to the Sabbath alone. The "mistake" that critics have attributed to the Synoptists is a "mare's nest." Most are singularly wanting in what Huxley called "scientific imagination."

The Paschal Feast. — Led from Caiaphas to the palace, where the Procurator dwelt when at Jerusalem, the Lord was now to be arraigned before Pilate. But the Jews entered not within, lest they should be defiled, for they had not yet eaten of the Passover. Difficulties have been raised by this statement, as to whether the Lord had really kept the Passover, or had anticipated it. Now, remembering that the day, according to Jewish computation, began at sunset, not at midnight, there need not, we believe, be any real difficulty about it. The Paschal lamb was to be slain between the evenings of the fourteenth of Nisan. But when was it eaten? It had to be prepared, skinned, and roasted, ere they could partake of it. So the Paschal feast took place probably in the beginning of the fifteenth of Nisan — i.e. at sunset or later. In Ex. 12, at the institution of the feast, this seems pretty clear. "They shall eat the flesh that night" (8); so runs the direct revelation about it. And that night began the feast of Unleavened Bread (14, 18); for it was the fifteenth of Nisan.

Will it be said that Ex. 12:18 contradicts this, as it states, "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even."? Let it be remarked that the time here noted is "at even" not "between the evenings," as we really read in verse 6. The lamb slain between the evenings of the fourteenth, the eating with the unleavened bread was to begin "at even," i.e. at sunset, when the fifteenth of Nisan was commencing. That this must be the meaning, a reference to Lev. 23:6 will show. Unleavened bread was to be eaten for seven days, closing with the twenty-first at even. Hence it is plain, that the eating unleavened bread must have commenced with the beginning of the fifteenth of Nisan, else they would have eaten the unleavened bread for eight days, and not for seven. The "at even" of Ex. 12:18 refers to sunset, when the new day would just begin.

The lamb was taken on the 10th of Abib, the day (John 12:1, 12.) when our Lord entered Jerusalem on the ass' colt and was slain on the 14th, the day He died. It was slain "between the two evenings" (Ex. 12:6, marg.): the Jewish day would commence at sundown on the Thursday evening, at which time the Lord and His disciples took the passover, but the bulk of the people evidently took it before sundown on the Friday evening. The Lamb of God having been slain on the Friday "between the two evenings." This is a simple explanation of a difficulty that volumes of learned controversy have been written on. [Luke 22:15, John 18:28.]

37 Compare Matthew 26:17, Luke 22:7, John 13:1, and Exodus 12:6, 18. I apprehend that the consideration of the different structure of the days, makes the Last Supper and Passover quite intelligible. Thursday evening, our 13th, is their Friday, 14th beginning. I believe then our Lord ate the Passover on Friday and was offered up on Friday - we know that it was late, night, when He was betrayed, just after the supper; John 13:30, etc. That was their Friday night. The blessed Lamb of God was offered up, He was crucified the third hour, and the scene closed just after the ninth hour - about three hours within the Friday. I know that learned men say "between the two evenings was 3 o'clock and 6 o'clock," but why? What is their authority? It is remarkable that the unleavened bread was to begin at even, i.e., at 6 o'clock on our Thursday, their Friday, but the Paschal Lamb to be slain between the two evenings. Query whether that be not between the beginning of Friday (our Thursday evening) and the beginning of Saturday (our Friday evening), which was strictly fulfilled in our Lord, and upon this supposition every statement in the Scripture is consistent. The order is just thus then, as: - Thursday, 13th, evening with us - Friday, last Supper; Friday, 14th - Friday, the Crucifixion; Friday, 14th evening with us - Saturday, "rested the Sabbath"; Saturday, 15th - Saturday, the high Sabbath, rested Saturday, 15th evening with us - First day of the week, Sunday, 16th morning with us - First day of the week they came very early to the sepulchre.

Our Lord ate the last supper with His disciples in the early hours of the 14th day for the Jewish day was reckoned from sunset to sunset. It was night when Judas left the room. Later that night they went to the Garden of Gethsemane, and while still night Judas led the band of men to take the Lord. He was crucified at the third hour, (Mark 15:25), or nine o'clock our time. There was darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour: twelve o'clock to three o'clock our time, and about the ninth hour the Lamb of God died: still on the fourteenth day of the First month. The Passover Lamb was to be killed "between the two evenings", (Ex. 12:6; Margin). They tell us this means between 3 and 6 o'clock in the afternoon. So the Lamb of God died at exactly the hour when they began to kill the Passover lambs.

My present impression is that the supper the Lord instituted, the last supper, was not the paschal lamb itself. His eating the Passover with them was in general. As the paschal lamb was slain between the two evenings, the putting away leaven was over [the] evening before. It was quite late when Jesus went out. Judas had agreed with the chief priests before. He went out to do it after the sop at supper, and goes and fetches the band. Thus Christ was sacrificed between the two evenings on the same day (Jewish) as He eat the Passover with His disciples. Hence John treats it as before the feast of the Passover. So it was, in Gentile computation, the day before; yet in the Passover. He was to depart out of this world. So in John 18:28: they go out into the hall of judgment, that they might eat the Passover.

As to chapter 18:28, it is a question of whether Christ anticipated the Passover, for they began it in the evening, and among the Jews the evening began the next day, and was reckoned with it. It was dark when they went out. I did look into the thing once, but those things do not occupy me much. "That they might eat the passover," falls in completely with Christ being sacrificed on the paschal day; it is merely a question of why He ate the supper previously, and still it was on the same day. As to the title on the cross, here we get the whole - "Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews." One Gospel gives one part, and another another; but here you get it in full.

(1) We now come to the last passover, the story of which is by all the synoptists very briefly told. It is John alone who, while he scarcely mentions the passover itself, gives the full out-pouring of Christ's heart in connection with it. The ordering of the paschal supper is more briefly given in Matthew than in Mark or Luke, the directions as to finding the man at whose house it is to be prepared being omitted. But it is seen, all through, how fully He is Master of all circumstances, and the disciples, it is evident, are intended to feel this. If He be going down the steep decline to Calvary, it is of His own free choice, and He is still the King who does so. "My time is at hand," seems certainly spoken for the ear of a disciple; and it is natural that to such the Lord should give the privilege of entertaining Him at a time like this. That it is already the first day of unleavened bread is decisive that He did not anticipate the appointed time for the passover, as many have thought. The three synoptists unite in this specification of time, Mark and Luke adding that it was the day when they killed the passover. The statements of John alone are thought to be in contradiction to this, but have been often shown to be not really so; nor is this the place in which to consider them.