Here are some miscellaneous thoughts I have concerning Passover. Hopefully they will help you understand not only that the Passover lambs were killed at the end of Abib 14 and eaten the night of Abib 15, but that Messiah Yeshua’s last supper was a common meal, not a Passover seder.
1. There is no mention of either Passover or of a New Passover in any of these verses. The gathering being discussed is simply called “The Master’s Supper”. To say it replaces the Passover supper is an assumption. If Paul believed the Master’s Supper took place on Passover, he could have easily said so. Since it was only a common supper eaten before Passover (as John 13:1states), and since that day did not have a name, Paul needed to clarify which day by saying, “the same night in which he was betrayed.”
2. It is believed by many that the unleavened bread of verse 24 symbolizes the Passover Lamb. However, the Lamb was not to have even one bone broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12). Could the breaking of the bread symbolize the breaking of the Lamb? No.
3. Verses 24 and 25 say, “…this do in remembrance of me.” They do not say, “in remembrance of Passover.”
4. It is believed by many that the contents of the cup symbolizes the blood of the Passover Lamb. However, the Israelites were not to drink the Lamb’s blood. Could the drinking of the “cup” symbolize the drinking of the Passover Lamb’s blood? No.
5. Verse 26 tells us that by eating the bread and drinking the cup we show the Master’s death. It aids us in declaring and remembering his death, not the totality of the Passover. There are aspects of Passover that are yet to be fulfilled. Although we have eternal life at this time, “by faith”, we will literally have it fulfilled at our resurrection. The Exodus will literally be fulfilled at that time as well.
6. Verse 25 says, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood.” The New Testament (or Covenant) is the counterpart of the Old Covenant. The Old Covenant was not established in the blood of the Passover Lamb, but in the blood of calves and goats (Hebrews 9:19,20). This suggests that the blood that was shed to establish the New Covenant differs in function from the blood that was shed for Divine protection from the Angel of Death (judgment from Yahweh) or, the antitype, Yahweh’s judgment against the wicked. Yeshua’s shed blood on Abib 14 fulfills at least three different sacrificial aspects; Atonement, Divine protection, and Covenant ratification. The cup, then, symbolizes; the remission of sins (Atonement)(Matthew 26:28); the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28); Divine protection (in that, “I will be to them an Elohim, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10) implies protection); and it is a means of remembering Yeshua’s death. Therefore, to say the cup is a symbol that replaces the Passover Lamb limits the importance of this symbol. When Yeshua gave his disciples these symbols he did not intend for them to be a replacement for the Passover Lamb, especially since he gave them a day before the Lamb was eaten.
7. “The night in which he was betrayed” (vs.23) began the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7; “…he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.” Yeshua was brought as the [Passover] lamb to the slaughter which took place the afternoon of Abib 14. That is further proof that his death at 3:00 pm fulfilled the phrase “between the evenings.” He could not have eaten a fictitious lamb that was slain at the beginning of Abib 14.
These verses compare eating Yeshua’s flesh to eating manna (the bread of life from heaven), not to eating the Passover Lamb or the supposed unleavened bread of Passover. As Yahweh is Yeshua’s source of life (vs.57), Yeshua is to be our source of life by spiritually partaking of this manna from heaven. We symbolically do that at the Master’s Supper.
It is believed by many that this supper took place on the night of Abib 14 which they consider to be the time when the Passover Lamb was eaten. After the foot washing, they sat back down to the supper table. Yeshua then dipped a sop and gave it to Judas Iscariot at which time Satan entered him. Yeshua then said, “That thou doest, do quickly” (vs.27). The disciples did not know why Judas was leaving, but they suspected he was going to buy things they needed for the feast (vs.29). What?! How could the disciples think so nonchalantly of this sudden departure from the Passover supper unless, of course, it was only a common supper the night before the true Passover supper. Had Judas been sent from the true Passover supper the disciples would have been shocked. And what merchants would have their shops open to allow such a purchase on the night of Passover? Obviously the disciples thought shops would be open because it was the night before the lamb was eaten.
The supper in John 13 is the same supper of Matthew 26:20,21; Mark 14:18; and Luke 22:22,23. John 13:1 says that supper was “before the feast of the Passover.” The reaction of the disciples to Judas’ departure confirms the fact that this supper was before the Passover supper.
This verse has led many people to believe that these Jews were about to eat the Passover at the wrong time since Yeshua supposedly ate it the night before. This has led to the belief that the Pharisees kept Passover on Abib 15 and the Sadducees (whom Yeshua supposedly followed) on Abib 14. If you will check verses 3, 12, & 28 of that same chapter, as well as John 19:6, you will note that the Jews of verse 28 included “chief priests” and “captains”. The chief priests were, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Sadducees. Luke 22:52 reveals the “captains” to be “captains of the temple”, again Sadducees. Therefore, these Sadducees had not yet eaten the Passover.
It is taught that the killing and eating of the Passover Lamb takes place on Abib 14. Exodus 12:43-50 outlines this eating concerning strangers. Notice verse 51, “And it came to pass the selfsame day , that Yahweh did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.” The “selfsame day” can only refer to the previous verses concerning eating. The selfsame day the Passover was eaten they came out of Egypt; Abib 15 (Numbers 33:3). Those that keep Passover at the beginning of Abib 14 believe it was eaten that night followed by the exodus the next night.
Beginning of the 14th proponents use these verses to teach, “The whole service of the Passover [including eating] was observed that day (in one day) just as Moses prescribed; that is, on the 14th.” (brackets mine). The KJV says, “So all the service of Yahweh was prepared the same day to keep the passover…” Notice the difference in the emphasized words.
Moffatt’s translation is often used to support that view. It says, “In this way, the whole service of holding the passover in honor of the Eternal and sacrificing burnt-offerings on the altar of the Eternal was carried out that day…” The underlined phrase is not in the Hebrew. It simply says, “all the service of Yahweh was prepared the same day…” Moffatt’s version leads one to believe that it is talking about a Passover service or ceremony whereas the Hebrew shows the service to be people prepared to conduct the passover ceremony. This can be seen by verses 2-5,10,14-16. Each family division had a specific service to perform and to prepare for. Verse 16 says that all those that had a service to perform were prepared the same day, Abib 14.
It is implied that the priests were busy with burnt offerings from before sunset until night and therefore, the Levites took charge of the passover lambs themselves. Yet, verse 11 implies that the priests sprinkled the blood [of the passover lambs] from their hands. Verse 14 then says that after they finished sacrificing the lambs for the people [and by extension, after the priests finished sprinkling the blood for the people], the Levites began sacrificing lambs for themselves and the priests. Once the priests finished sprinkling blood they began offering burnt offerings until night.
“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Messiah our passover is sacrificed for us:” Paul tells us that OUR passover lamb has been sacrificed “for us” or on our behalf. Who sacrificed it for us? Isaiah 53 tells us that Yahweh bruised His Son and smote him. Did Yahweh have our Passover Lamb sacrificed at the wrong time? No. That being true, then Yeshua and his disciples could not have eaten the lamb the night before. If Yeshua did eat it the night before, and if he did it correctly, then Yahweh sacrificed Yeshua at the wrong time. The only way to reconcile this dilemma is to acknowledge the fact that what Yeshua did in the evangel accounts of Matthew, Mark, and Luke is being misunderstood. When translating from Hebrew to Greek and from one culture to another, it can easily lead to error as it has concerning the Holy Names. John’s evangel was written in such a way as to leave us no doubt as to when Passover took place.
Simon was forced to carry Yeshua’s torture stake. It is said that he was coming out of the “country” (Gr. agros meaning – country, farm, farmland, fields, etc.). The argument is put forth that if Passover was a high sabbath (Abib 15), Simon would have been at the Temple or synagogue and not in the fields. That is true. The opposite holds true as well. If the night of Abib 14 began Passover, Simon would have come out of the fields to observe it the night before carrying Yeshua’s stake. The most likely scenario is that Simon came out of the fields the morning of Abib 14 for the purpose of observing Passover that afternoon.
Sadducees/Pharisees
It is often contended that Yeshua observed Passover the year he died according to the Sadducean way. It is said that, “as long as the temple stood, the Sadducees set the festival dates” and, eventually, Pharisaical changes were made. This view is primarily based on the commentaries such as, The New Bible Dictionary under “Pentecost.”
Another comment in that same book is found on page 1054 under “Sadducees” – “Our sources are all hostile and inadequate for an accurate picture. They are Josephus…the Mishnah….the N.T. ” In other words, we don’t have any information concerning the Sadducees except from those three sources. None of those sources provides the view that the Sadducees set festival dates. On the contrary, they oppose that view. The N.T. only shows that the high priest was a Sadducee. So where does this view come from? Conjecture. Since the high priest was a Sadducee, it is assumed that the Sadducees had total control over the temple and festival dates. But if we honestly use the only information we have concerning the Sadducees, we see an entirely different picture.
Acts 22:3 says, “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel (a Pharisee), and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers , and was zealous toward Elohim, as you all are this day.”
Gamaliel would not have taught Paul the Sadducean way of counting.
Acts 23:6 says, “But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee : of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.”
Not only was Paul taught by a Pharisee, his father was a Pharisee. It is doubtful he would have departed from the way he was raised.
Acts 23:9 says, “And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against Elohim.”
Paul had the scribes and Pharisees on his side. Notice he did not appeal to the Sadducees saying, “I count Pentecost and keep Passover just like you.”
Philippians 3:5-6 says, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee ; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.”
Paul declares that, not only is he a Pharisee regarding the law, but that he is blameless regarding it. He kept the law as the Pharisees taught him and was blameless as a result. What could be clearer?
Mark 12:24 – “Yeshua answered and said unto them, You do err, not knowing the scriptures , nor the power of [Yahweh].”
The Sadducees had a very shallow understanding of Scripture because they were political puppets appointed by foreign rulers. They did not understand the concepts of a resurrection or angels, and neither did they understand how to reckon festivals.
Notice what the New Westminster Dictionary of the Bible says about the priesthood in the time of Messiah;
“The chief priest who are mentioned in the N.T. were the officiating high priest, former high priests still alive, and members of their families. They were an anomaly of the times. The law (Yahweh’s Law) that regulated the succession to the high priesthood had come into abeyance through political confusion and foreign domination. High priests were made and unmade at will of the rulers.”
Matthew 23:2,3 says, “… The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”
Yeshua did not say “the scribes and Sadducees.” What is Moses’ seat? Exodus 18:15-16 reads, “And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of Elohim: When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of Elohim, and his laws.” Yeshua declared that it was the job of the Scribes and Pharisees to teach Yahweh’s laws and statutes, including reckoning festivals. Yeshua was not a hypocrite. If he taught us to observe the ways of the Pharisees concerning the Law, we can rest assured that he followed the Pharisees teachings as well.
Samaritan’s
Those who support an early 14th Passover seem to take pride in the fact that the Samaritan’s sacrifice the Passover lamb at twilight. Yet, they disregard the fact that it was the twilight between the 14th and 15th of Abib, not twilight beginning the 14th. Although the Pharisees were in error because of their over zealousness and hypocrisy, Yeshua supported them in their role as those who sit in Moses’ seat (Matthew 23:2,3). Scripture, however, paints a different picture of the Samaritan’s. Consider the following;
John 4:21,22 – “Yeshua saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.”
Not only were they worshiping in the wrong location, they didn’t even know what they were worshiping.
Ezra 4:3-24 – It was the Samaritans that were the greatest obstacle in rebuilding Yahweh’s temple in Jerusalem. Later, they built their own temple in Mt. Gerizim.
The Samaritan religion developed as a result of Jeroboam’s efforts at alienating the ten tribes from Yahweh’s worship at Jerusalem. What they learned of Yahweh they learned from “Jeroboam’s priesthood”, not from the Levitical priesthood. Most of their history involves gross idolatry.
The Samaritan’s reject all Hebrew Scriptures with the exception of the Pentateuch and possibly Joshua. They have rewritten these books in many areas. These rewritten books comprise the “Samaritan Pentateuch.”
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