The M+G+R Foundation
The Real Timing of Jesus'
Last Passover, His Crucifixion
and Burial
Originally Published on October
26, 2012
PURPOSE
The purpose of this document is to
provide the adequate information to confirm why Jesus and His Apostles
were having their Passover
Meal
at a different time than the Temple Masters and most of the other Jews
of the time.
SUMMARY
What Christians refer
to as the Last Supper was Jesus' Last Passover Meal and it took place
after sundown on the Tuesday of what Christians refer to as Holy Week.
Jesus died on the cross at 3 P.M., the
ninth hour [Mark 15:37], as
all Christians believe. However, Jesus was crucified and died on
Thursday, not on Friday as it is traditionally assumed.
The Temple Masters, and the Jews who followed them, celebrated their
yearly Passover Meal after sundown on Saturday - the Saturday which
preceded the Sunday when God, The Father, resurrected Jesus Christ.
On that particular year, the Calendar by which Jesus practiced Judaism
was four days out of phase with the one used by the Temple Masters.
As incredible as it may sound, such information may be found in the
Holy Texts of the New Testament, yet completely ignored by the
Christian equivalent of the Temple Masters.
BACKGROUND
As part of theo-history revisionism,
Jesus' Last Passover Meal has
been incorrectly transformed into His Last
Supper.
What this change accomplishes is to disassociate, in the mind of the
Faithful, the two
events.
In other words - convince all that the last meal that Jesus ate was not the Passover
Meal; that it was just His Last Supper, regardless of what the Holy
Scriptures clearly tell us.
That is how far the revisionists have gone to separate Jesus from His
Judaism. The image presented is as if He had never participated in
Jewish Holy Days or followed
the true Jewish
traditions, instead of the adulterated ones observed by those who had
commandeered the
Administration of the Jewish Faith - the Temple Masters of the time.
We have even seen someone seriously defending the difference between
the Last Passover Meal and
the Last Supper using the
depiction of Da Vinci's Last Supper as the ultimate reference.
For years, the exposure and correction of this great inconsistency, and
related ones, has
been in our agenda. It is the Will of God that we finally address
it now.
INTRODUCTION
First, let us briefly review a few key-related Biblical texts
since they are truly
the ultimate
authority when read and
understood in the proper manner. (1)
Matthew 26
[2]
You know that after two days
shall be the pasch, and the son of man
shall be delivered up to be crucified:
[17] And on the first day of the
Azymes, the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Where wilt thou that we
prepare for thee to eat the pasch? [18] But Jesus said: Go ye
into the
city to a certain man, and say to him: the master saith, My time is
near at hand, with thee I make the pasch with my disciples.
Mark 14
[12]
Now on the first day of the
unleavened bread, when
they sacrificed the
pasch, the disciples say to him: Whither wilt thou that we go,
and
prepare for thee to eat the pasch? [13] And he sendeth two of his
disciples, and saith to them: Go ye into the city; ... and there
prepare ye for us.
Luke 22
[1]
Now the feast of unleavened
bread, which is called the pasch, was at
hand. [2] And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might
put Jesus to death...:
[7] And the day of the
unleavened bread came, on which it was necessary that the pasch should
be killed. [8] And he sent Peter and John, saying: Go, and prepare for
us the pasch, that we may eat.
John 12
[1]
Jesus therefore, six days
before the pasch, came to Bethania, where
Lazarus had been dead, whom Jesus raised to life....
John 19
[31]
Then the Jews, that
the bodies might
not remain on the cross on the sabbath day, (for that was a great
sabbath day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken,
and that
they might be taken away.
Let us now briefly review a few
Biblical
definitions
+ The Feast
of Passover lasts seven
days (under some conditions it may last eight days). It is also called the
Feast of Azymes or of the Unleavened Bread. The Passover
Meal, the
Pasch, is consumed at the
beginning of the first day of the Feast which starts at Sundown
on
the civil day prior to the
calendar day of when Passover holiday period starts. [For
example, for the year 2012 (the year 5772 according the the Jewish
calendar), the Passover holiday period starts on the calendar day of
April 7th, however the Passover Meal, the Pasch, was consumed after
sundown of the prior calendar day - April 6th.]
+ "Parasceve" in this case represents
"the day before the Sabbath".
+ The Saturday preceding (before) the day of the Pasch is called a
"Great Sabbath". That is, on this Sabbath, the Sabbath preceding the
week on which the Passover
will fall, is when the upcoming Passover period is solemnly
announced.
+ Directions for keeping the feast were carefully laid down in the Law
(see Exodus 12, 13, etc.), and carried out with great exactness even
after
the Exile. They depended upon the beginning of the Jewish year.
The date discrepancies began after
the Babylonian Exile.
A
different reference point began to be used by the Jewish leaders to
determine
the beginning of the New Year. As a matter of fact, even the name of
the first month of the year was changed from Aviv to Nisan. That is, the formula
to determine the
date was the original but,
the resulting date was not that required by God since
the starting point/event - using the Sun cycles - was changed. We will
discuss this
matter in
the
DETAILS section.
Reviewing other relevant Scriptures:
Matthew 12:39,
16:4, 17:16 and Mark
8:38
Jesus, clearly chastising the Temple Masters for deviating from the
Mosaic Law, frequently used the terms:
Wicked,
perverse,
adulterous and sinful generation.
Then we have Jesus clearly underscoring and upholding the Mosaic Law:
Matthew 5:17
Do not think that I
am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfill.
Matthew 5:18
For
amen I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle
shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matthew 7:12
All
things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you
also to them. For this is
the law and the prophets.
Plus
the very
frequent and many positive references to Moses and Mosaic Law by
Jesus. Too many (2)
to list here.
All of the above clearly indicates that Jesus (and His followers), and
the
Temple Masters (and their followers), were
practicing different forms of
Judaism. As a matter of fact, the divergence was so great that
the Passover date did not even coincide.
Thus, the accusation of "adulterers" - a term which referred to the adulteration of
the Mosaic Law; the Law which Jesus clearly stated that He had come to
fulfill.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that Jesus was born and raised into
the Jewish faith; a faith which had
been adulterated by the wicked, perverse, adulterous and sinful
generation which comprised the Temple Masters of the time and their
followers.
That is, paraphrasing the expression
commonly used by many Catholics, Jesus was a "cradle Jew".
Jesus was not necessarily introducing a new Faith; Jesus was demanding
that the
adulterated faith be restored and enhanced. His demands would
lead to
the ultimate
Passover, when the sacrificial lamb required by the Law, would be
Jesus
Himself. An act which, by its magnificent and awesome uniqueness, would
make Paradise available to those who would follow, by word and deed,
Jesus - the Word of God Who
came to give fulfillment to the Law and the
Prophets. It is at this point when Christianity came into being.
In reality, all else are just details
which we will highlight now.
DETAILS
As we have shown in an earlier document, If Jesus Strongly Disapproved of the
Jewish Temple Masters And His Lineage Is Traced Directly to Abraham -
What Was His Religion? (3),
the Judaism practiced by Jesus was essentially the same as that
practiced by the Samaritans who used the calendar we now know as the
Essene Calendar, based on the Sun and not on the Moon.
In simple terms: The first day of the Jewish Year, determined by the
Solar system, is totally
different from that determined by the Lunar
system.
The best way to demonstrate when was the time established
by God
to celebrate the Passover meal is to: (a) first define a few Biblical
terms
- using the Bible as the source of the definition; and then (b) use the
precise formula given by God to determine the exact date of the
Passover.
According to Exodus 12: 6-8, the paschal lamb is to be sacrificed on
the 14th day of the first month (Aviv) of the year. The question is, of
course, in which precise moment of that particular day should it take
place? Let
us review what Exodus 12: 6-8 tell us:
[6]
And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month: and the
whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the evening.
[7] And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both the
side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they
shall eat it. [8] And they
shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and
unleavened bread with wild lettuce.
The "evening" is the
afternoon before the Sun sets. The "night" is
after the Sun sets. Now then, it is the millenary Jewish custom that
the current day ends when the
Sun sets which also means that the new
day starts after the
Sun sets.
Therefore, if the lamb is to be sacrificed on the 14th day of Aviv - in
the evening, that is, before
the Sun sets - and eaten at night, that is, after the Sun has set, the
lamb was eaten on the 15th day of Aviv in accordance to the Jewish date
accounting.
Now we need to Biblically determine how is the 14th day of Aviv is
chosen....
The first day of the Jewish year begins on the first
Wednesday following the Spring Equinox, a Wednesday which of
course, starts when
the Sun sets on the previous Tuesday. (*)
Knowing - (a) exactly when Jesus
observed the Passover; (b)
exactly when
the Temple Administrators, and their followers, observed the Passover;
(c) its relation with the
Sabbath after the crucifixion of Jesus; and (d) the knowledge of the
approximate age of Jesus at that time - we can establish that there are
only
two possible
years when all
of that took place: 29 A.D. or 32 A.D. (*)
(*) Do
note that because of the
error made by the individual who was establishing the Gregorian
calendar, Jesus was born on the year 5 B.C.. That is, on the year 29
A.D. he was around 33 years old while on the year 32 A.D. he was around
36 years old. For example, since there is no year
"0" and
we assume that He was born on the year 5 B.C., Jesus would be 33 years
old on December 25th of the year 29 A.D. and not 34 years old.
More specifically, using the Gregorian calendar frame of reference, the
Passover Meal of Jesus and His disciples could have taken place:
Possibility I: After
sundown on the 10th of April (which is the 14th of Aviv
in the Samarian-Essene calendar) of the Gregorian Year 29 (which
was the 10th of Nisan of
the
Jewish Year according to the Temple Masters' calendar); or
Possibility II: After sundown on
the 6th of April (which is the 14th of Aviv
in the Samarian-Essene calendar) of the Gregorian Year 32 (which
also was the 10th of Nisan of
the
Jewish Year according to the Temple Masters' calendar).
The details - in Table form - of the explanation set forth above may be
found through Footnote (4).
As the reader may have noted already, and regardless of which of
the
two optional years (29 or 32 A.D.), it turned out that the
Passover observed by the Temple Masters and their followers started at
sundown of the much spoken about "Great Sabbath". This is precisely the
sundown that precedes the Resurrection of Jesus.
Now, if we take the following Scriptural readings....
Then the Jews, that the bodies might
not remain on the cross on
the sabbath day, (*) besought Pilate that their
legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. John
19:31
And there was there Mary
Magdalen, and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre. And the next day, which followed
the day of preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came
together to Pilate, Saying: Sir, we have remembered, that that seducer
said, while he was yet alive: After three days I will rise again.
Matthew 27: 61-63
(*) In this particular case
it was on a Parasceve day, which was the Friday before the Great Sabbath
...we obtain further confirmation of what we have explained above. What
we read in Matthew 27:61-63 took place on the Sabbath - which followed
the Day of Preparation - the Parasceve.
Why was Friday the Day of Preparation - the Parasceve? Because,
since the Passover observed by the Temple Masters would start at
sundown at the end of the Sabbath,
and no one could work on the Sabbath, it follows that the Passover
preparations, which
were many and labor intensive, had to be made on Friday.
Now, the question remains as to what day of the week Jesus was
crucified....
We know
that He was still on the cross on Thursday - the day before the Day of
Preparation -
and He celebrated the Passover in the evening of Tuesday to Wednesday.
Therefore, the many and complex events that took place after His
arrest, on what
already was
the first day of Passover (the night spanning Tuesday and Wednesday),
would indicate that Jesus was crucified on Thursday. This seems to be
confirmed by the following words from Jesus Himself:
For
as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights: so shall
the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three
nights." [Matthew 12:40]
Since Jesus was buried before the Day of Preparation (the Parasceve)
for the Passover festivities - that is, before sundown on Thursday - He
was "in the heart of the earth" for three days - Thursday, Friday and
Saturday - and for three nights - Thursday to Friday, Friday to
Saturday
and Saturday to Sunday.
CONCLUSION
Had the Samaritans (1)
and the Essenes been given in the Holy Scriptures the significant and
rightful place that
they held at
the time, and not the marginal position that is officially taught to
the faithful, as well as highlighting the significant number of Essenes
among the followers
of John
the Baptist first, and then of Jesus, it would be clear to the faithful
why John the Baptist
and Jesus used the following terms - This
wicked, perverse, adulterous and sinful generation [Mat.12:39,
16:4, 17:16, Mk. 8:38] - when referring to the Temple
Masters and their followers while giving the fundamental Mosaic Law its
rightful place.
The clear cut separation that we have made between
the pristine Catholic Faith (5)
and the wicked, perverse, adulterous and sinful Church Administration (6) turns out to be a
parallel of what was taking place at the time Jesus walked amongst men.
EPILOGUE
None of the above affects
our faith in His Death and
Resurrection, and certainly not in the absolute reality of His Act of
Redemption. What it does is:
(a) Brings into focus the unimaginable
suffering of Mary - magnified from what we originally
believed - as She
had to wait one more long day until His Glorious Resurrection as the
adulterated Biblical history teaches us.
(b) Strengthens the coherence and validity of the Holy Scriptures.
How can we not love Him and desire to alleviate His sorrows by taking
advantage of the Graces He secured for us through His sacrifice on our
behalf? How can we not
make an effort to console His Holy Mother - Mary? She suffered a
martyrdom
that only a mother in Her position could possibly understand.
Think about all that They have done for us while today's "Temple
Masters"
- the Roman and Orthodox Catholic Administrators - have done exactly
what the Temple Masters of His time did - adulterate
the Faith and exploit Their Holy Memory for their own worldly benefit.
Now, we invite the interested reader to the
Proposed
Judeo-Christian
Calendar
for the
current year (2021).
NOTES
(1) Biblical Texts -
Literal or Symbolic? Part I
and Part
II
(2)
References to
Moses in the New Testament
(3)
Which
was the branch of Judaism that Jesus upheld?
(4) Details
of date
calculation
(5) Our
position
regarding the
pristine Catholic Faith
(6) Our position
regarding the
Church Administration
Related
Documents on The New Calendar
Related
Documents on the roots of Jesus
Originally Published on October 26,
2012
Enriched on December 6th, 2013 and on
April 9th, 2020 [Holy Thursday]
© Copyright 2012 - 2021 by The M+G+R Foundation.
All rights reserved. However, you may
freely reproduce and distribute this document as long as: (1)
Appropriate credit is given as to its source; (2) No changes are made
in the text without prior written consent; and (3) No charge is made
for it.
The M+G+R Foundation
About
Us || Frequently
Asked Questions || Disclaimer
Our Research Department
Please Note: If the above dated image does not appear
on this document, it means that you are not viewing the original
document from our servers. Should you have reason to doubt the
authenticity of the document, we recommend that you access our server
again and click on the "Refresh" or "Reload" button of your Browser to
view the original document.
If you wish to contact The M+G+R Foundation, please
access our Contact Page and follow the
instructions.