The Missing Passover

[Ben Masada]

The Missing Passover

We are starting Passover here in Israel. But since the wheels of the Truth cannot stop rolling, I want to bring to your attention the Passover of the year 30 CE. It was supposed to be the last one that Jesus would partake of, and he missed it.

According to John 19:31, that Sabbath was a solemn Sabbath, which is what we call in Hebrew a Shabbaton. That's when a festival falls on the Sabbath. The KJV brings: "For that Sabbath day was a high day."

That Sabbath was the 14th of the month of Nissan; the first day of Passover. The beginning of it is celebrated with the Passover Supper at the evening of the previous day, Friday on that year. That's what we call the Seder Meal.

In the year 30 CE, the Passover Supper was held on the evening of that Friday. No wonder, everyone somehow connected with the events taking place on the Calvary that day, had to leave it in a hurry to prepare themselves and their houses for the Passover Supper.

Jesus missed that Passover Supper because he was on the cross, and soon afterwards, in the tomb. But then again, how to understand that he celebrated his Passover Supper on the evening of Thursday, which was the 13th of Nissan? He didn't. In Israel, no Jew would celebrate Passover in a different day alone or in a small group when everyone else would be doing it next day.

This discrepancy is perhaps due to the fact that the gospel writer, writing somehwere in the world, and realizing that the Jews in the Diaspora would celebrate every festival in two days, thought he could have Jesus celebrate the Passover Supper on the 13 of Nissan. It would have worked if Jesus was a Diaspora Jew; but in Israel there is no such a thing.

There is an option in Judaism to celebrate the Passover later, even a month later, if the person was not for some reason ready for it; but NEVER before. It means that, definitely, Jesus missed that Passover celebration, because his reported "Last Supper" did not have anything to do with the Passover Supper.

The gospel writer had either no idea what he was writing about or simply thought we would never find out about his blunder.

Ben

[Goat]

Jesus was born in the year 4 BCE. He was 30 years old in the year 27 CE when he started his ministry immediately after he got married to Mary Magdalene in Cana of Galilee. He was 33 years old when he was crucified in the year 30 CE. The 14th of Nisan on that year fell on the evening of Friday. Because that 14th of Nisan was a Sabbath, the fourth gospel calls it a solemn or high Sabbath. We call it Shabbaton, because of the coincidence of being Sabbath and festival of Passover at the same time.

You speak as if you are sure of your facts, yet you provide no support. Your chronology does fit, but your facts still appear to be just opinions.

A la Joey

1. Jesus was born in the year 4 BCE.
2. He started his ministry in the year 27 CE
3. He married Mary Magdalene in Cana of Galilee.
4. He was crucified in the year 30 CE.

Well, and what do you have to say to refute this? If you don't, at least check the Catholic Encyclopedia. [/b]

Why, we have the Gospel of Luke to refute that.

Luke has Jesus being born during the census that happened when Quintarsis became the govenor of Syria.
That was 6 c.e.

[McCulloch]

You speak as if you are sure of your facts, yet you provide no support. Your chronology does fit, but your facts still appear to be just opinions.

Well, and what do you have to say to refute this? If you don't, at least check the Catholic Encyclopedia.

And here I was thinking that in debate, the one who makes the claim should support it. I am not saying that you are wrong. You might be correct. Show the evidence.

[dunsapy]

The combined evidence of the Gospels is that there were four Passover celebrations and that Jesus’ ministry was thus three and a half years long.
No one of the Gospels specifically mentions four Passovers. In fact, Matthew, Mark and Luke (often called the Synoptic Gospels) do not mention any Passover except the final one at which Jesus died. It thus is necessary, as in other matters, to combine the details provided by all the Gospel accounts.

John 2:13 refers to a Passover near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Since he was baptized in the fall of 29 C.E., the Passover of John 2:13 must have been in the spring of 30 C.E. John’s Gospel also mentions a Passover at John 6:4 and the final one Jesus attended before he died. (John 13:1) But there is good reason to hold that there was yet another Passover, coming between those mentioned in John 2:13 and John 6:4. How so?

After the Passover in 30 C.E., Jesus preached in Judea for a time and then headed north to Galilee, doing so when there were yet four months till harvesttime. (John 4:35) Though John, in chapter four, introduces only the start of Jesus’ lengthy Galilean ministry, we read at John 5:1: “After these things there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.� What festival was that?

As an aid in determining what festival this was, we can note that all the Gospels relate the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 persons at Bethsaida. (Matt. 14:13-21; Mark 6:32-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15) Both the reference in John 6:4 to an approaching Passover and Mark’s mention that the grass was green indicate that this miracle occurred in the springtime. But the accounts by Matthew, Mark and Luke place this miracle deep into Jesus’ Galilean ministry, on his third tour of the region. The Synoptic Gospels relate too many events for all of them to have occurred in less than a year between the beginning of the Galilean ministry and the Passover of John 6:4.

In the article “Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ,� Harold W. Hoehner observes: “One problem with an addition of a year between the Passovers of John 2:13 and 6:4 is that there is no mention of an additional Passover by John. This is an argument from silence and [it is noteworthy that] not all the feasts are mentioned in John, for example the Feast of Pentecost. Also, the Synoptic accounts require another year between the Passovers of 2:13 and 6:4.�—Published in Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 131, April-June 1974, pages 147-162.
However, if the festival mentioned at John 5:1 was itself a Passover, there would have been time for the events. Furthermore, some manuscripts at John 5:1 speak of it as “the festival,� which would likely mean the Passover. And the Passover was a festival for which Jews were required by the Mosaic law to go up to Jerusalem, as John 5:1 says Jesus did.

This indicates, then, that the earthly ministry of Jesus involved not three but four Passovers. Concerning various theories about the length of Jesus’ ministry, Harold W. Hoehner adds: “The three-year ministry of Jesus from the first Passover to the passion Passover is the most viable option. Of course, since Jesus’ baptism and public ministry preceded the first Passover, the total length of His ministry would be about three and a half years.� And this is exactly the length indicated by Daniel’s prophecy of “seventy weeks� of years.—Dan. 9:24-27.

Regarding the final ‘week of years,’ Daniel wrote: “He [“Messiah the Leader�] must keep the covenant in force for the many [circumcised Jews and proselytes] for one week [of seven years]; and at the half of the week [after three and a half years] he will cause sacrifice and gift offering to cease [by means of his death that fulfilled the Law].� (Dan. 9:27) Accordingly, Jesus was baptized and anointed with God’s spirit as the Messiah in 29 C.E. He died in the spring of 33 C.E., after a ministry of three and a half years.

[McCulloch]

The combined evidence of the Gospels is that there were four Passover celebrations and that Jesus’ ministry was thus three and a half years long.

You assume that all of the passover celebrations during his ministry are referred to in the gospel accounts. Considering that the gospel accounts are admittedly incomplete, this is not a valid assumption.

In trying to pin down the year of Jesus crucifixion, you also have to grapple with the unknown of the year of Jesus' birth and the approximation of his age when he began his ministry. Precision is impossible with the scant facts given.

[dunsapy]

You assume that all of the passover celebrations during his ministry are referred to in the gospel accounts. Considering that the gospel accounts are admittedly incomplete, this is not a valid assumption.

In trying to pin down the year of Jesus crucifixion, you also have to grapple with the unknown of the year of Jesus' birth and the approximation of his age when he began his ministry. Precision is impossible with the scant facts given.

Jesus was born in the month of Ethanim (September-October) of the year 2 B.C.E., was baptized about the same time of the year in 29 C.E., and died about 3:00 p.m. on Friday, the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan (March-April), 33 C.E. The basis for these dates is as follows:
Jesus was born approximately six months after the birth of his relative John (the Baptizer), during the rule of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus (31 B.C.E.–14 C.E.) and the Syrian governorship of Quirinius , and toward the close of the reign of Herod the Great over Judea.—Mt 2:1, 13, 20-22; Lu 1:24-31, 36; 2:1, 2, 7.
His birth in relation to Herod’s death. While the date of Herod’s death is a debated one, there is considerable evidence pointing to 1 B.C.E. CHRONOLOGY [Lunar eclipses].) A number of events intervened between the time of Jesus’ birth and Herod’s death. These included Jesus’ circumcision on the eighth day (Lu 2:21); his being brought to the temple in Jerusalem 40 days after birth (Lu 2:22, 23; Le 12:1-4, 8); the journey of the astrologers “from eastern parts� to Bethlehem (where Jesus was no longer in a manger but in a house—Mt 2:1-11; compare Lu 2:7, 15, 16); Joseph and Mary’s flight to Egypt with the young child (Mt 2:13-15); followed by Herod’s realization that the astrologers had not followed his instructions, and the subsequent slaughter of all boys in Bethlehem and its districts under the age of two years (indicating that Jesus was not then a newborn infant). (Mt 2:16-18) Jesus’ birth taking place in the fall of 2 B.C.E. would allow for the time required by these events intervening between his birth and the death of Herod, likely in 1 B.C.E. There is, however, added reason for placing Jesus’ birth in 2 B.C.E.
Relationship to John’s ministry. Further basis for the dates given at the start of this section is found at Luke 3:1-3, which shows that John the Baptizer began his preaching and baptizing in “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.� That 15th year ran from the latter half of 28 C.E. to August or September of 29 C.E. At some point in John’s ministry, Jesus went to him and was baptized. When Jesus thereafter commenced his own ministry he was “about thirty years old.� (Lu 3:21-23) At the age of 30, the age at which David became king, Jesus would no longer be subject to human parents.—2Sa 5:4, 5; compare Lu 2:51.
According to Numbers 4:1-3, 22, 23, 29, 30, those going into sanctuary service under the Law covenant were “from thirty years old upward.� It is reasonable that John the Baptizer, who was a Levite and son of a priest, began his ministry at the same age, not at the temple, of course, but in the special assignment Jehovah had outlined for him. (Lu 1:1-17, 67, 76-79) The specific mention (twice) of the age difference between John and Jesus and the correlation between the appearances and messages of Jehovah’s angel in announcing the births of the two sons (Lu 1) give ample basis for believing that their ministries followed a similar timetable, that is, the start of John’s ministry (as the forerunner of Jesus) being followed about six months later by the commencement of Jesus’ ministry.
On this basis, John’s birth occurred 30 years before he began his ministry in Tiberius’ 15th year, hence somewhere between the latter half of 3 B.C.E. and August or September of 2 B.C.E., with Jesus’ birth following about six months later.


But you are right, not easy to figure out.

[dunsapy]

Precision is impossible with the scant facts given.

Nothing is impossible with God.

I was just wondering if any of this is sinking in yet?

[McCulloch]

Precision is impossible with the scant facts given.

Nothing is impossible with God.

I was just wondering if any of this is sinking in yet?

Can God do what it is impossible to do?

Can God identify the largest integer? If he can then is that number plus one still an integer?

Can God resist an irresistible force? If he can then the force is not irresistible, if he cannot then there is something he cannot do.

However, God is not posting here. From the facts given in the Bible, it is impossible to state what year Jesus was crucified.

[dunsapy]

Can God do what it is impossible to do?

Can God identify the largest integer? If he can then is that number plus one still an integer?

Can God resist an irresistible force? If he can then the force is not irresistible, if he cannot then there is something he cannot do.

However, God is not posting here. From the facts given in the Bible, it is impossible to state what year Jesus was crucified.

Can God identify the largest integer?

I can answer that one. There is no largest integer.

Can God resist an irresistible force?

I can answer this one also. There is no irresistible force, God encompass all force.

[McCulloch]

1. McCulloch: Precision is impossible with the scant facts given.
2. dunsapy: Nothing is impossible with God.
3. McCulloch: Can God identify the largest integer?
4. dunsapy: I can answer that one. There is no largest integer.
5. Then God cannot identify the largest integer. This task is impossible with God. Thus statement 2 is false.

Back on topic, as I stated, given the information from the Bible and from history, it is impossible to state the year of Jesus' crucifixion with accuracy.

[dunsapy]

1. McCulloch: Precision is impossible with the scant facts given.
2. dunsapy: Nothing is impossible with God.
3. McCulloch: Can God identify the largest integer?
4. dunsapy: I can answer that one. There is no largest integer.
5. Then God cannot identify the largest integer. This task is impossible with God. Thus statement 2 is false.

I answered the first question , there is no largest integer. That is the correct answer.

Back on topic, as I stated, given the information from the Bible and from history, it is impossible to state the year of Jesus' crucifixion with accuracy.

But at the same time you can't say that it is wrong. And I did answer the topic.