The Biblical Spring Feasts in the Light of Jesus

“Six days before the Passover” Jesus came to Bethany (Jn 12:1). Does “Passover” (Greek “pascha”) refer to the day on which the lambs were slaughtered, or to the days that followed on which no leavened bread was allowed to be eaten? To answer this question, let us consider that Jesus was crucified on the “day of Preparation of the Passover” (Jn 19:14). A preparation day is the day immediately before a non-working day, i.e. the day on which arrangements are made for the feast day. The “day of Preparation of the Passover” is therefore Nisan 14, because work was not allowed on Nisan 15. Thus, “Passover” refers to the first day of rest of the Passover feast, i.e. Nisan 15 (“Passover I”). Since Jesus came to Bethany six days earlier, it must have been on Nisan 9.

The next day Jesus was coming to Jerusalem (Jn 12:12‑15), that is, on the very day on which the Passover lambs were taken, namely Nisan 10.

Before the Passover, Jesus ate dinner with his disciples (Jn 13:1‑2). On this occasion he washed their feet (Jn 13:3‑12), he identified his betrayer Judas (Jn 13:21‑26), he taught various things to his disciples (Jn 13:31 to Jn 16) and said the High Priestly Prayer (Jn 17). Then he was arrested (Jn 18:12) and questioned by the high priest Caiaphas (Jn 18:19‑24).

Early in the morning, Jesus was led to the governor’s headquarters. The Jews themselves did not enter that place, “so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover” (Jn 18:28). Because if someone was unclean, they were not allowed to celebrate the Passover Num 9:6‑13). The discussions with Pilate took place on the “day of Preparation of the Passover” (Jn 19:14), i.e. Nisan 14. Jesus was crucified and buried on this day of preparation for a Sabbath that was a “high day” (Jn 19:31). The “high day” was the first day of unleavened bread (“Passover I”), which fell on the weekly Sabbath, as we will see later.

It is interesting that the Gospel according to John does not say that Jesus ate the Passover meal, and there is also no reference to the institution of the Lord’s Supper. This is logical because the Passover lambs had to be slaughtered on Nisan 14, while Jesus was being crucified. Accordingly, no Passover meal should have been eaten the day before.

The Gospel according to Mark contains most of the details about the timeline. Jesus entered Jerusalem and returned to Bethany at evening (Mk 11:11). The following day he left it again (Mk 11:12) and went to the temple in Jerusalem (Mk 11:15). Jesus taught there and towards evening he left the city (Mk 11:19). The next morning, he went back to the temple in Jerusalem (Mk 11:20+27), where they tried to trap him in his talk (Mk 12:13; Mt 22:15; Lk 20:20). Jesus was therefore tested to see whether he was really without guilt and without sin, just as the Passover lambs were examined from Nisan 10 to 14 to see whether they were really without blemish.

Jesus then went to the Mount of Olives (Mk 13:3; Mt 24:3) and there he gave his end-time sermon (Mk 13:5‑37; Mt 24:4‑51). And that was “two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Mk 14:1). As explained above, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on Nisan 15. Thus, it took place on Nisan 13. Matthew mentioned in his Gospel that Jesus said on this occasion on the Mount of Olives that the Passover was in two days (Greek “pascha”) and that he would then be delivered up to be crucified (Mt 26:2).

Then came the “first day of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the Passover lamb” (Mk 14:12). This translation is somewhat misleading, because one might think that the “first day of Unleavened Bread” could refer to Nisan 15. The Greek adjective “protos”, translated here as “first”, also means “most important” or “before”. John the Baptist used it in this sense when he said that Jesus had been before him (Jn 1:15+30). So this refers to the most important day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is the day before when the lambs were sacrificed, i.e. Nisan 14.

On that day Jesus had the Passover lamb prepared for himself and his disciples and they ate it in the evening, instituting the Lord’s Supper (Mk 14:22‑25; Mt 26:26‑28; Lk 22:19‑20). During the night, Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mk 14:43‑46; Mt 26:50; Lk 22:47‑54).

Early in the morning, Jesus was interrogated by the whole council (Mk 14:53‑64; Mt 26:57‑66; Lk 22:66‑71). Then they handed him over to Pilate (Mk 15:1; Mt 27:1‑2; Lk 23:1), who had him crucified at the third hour (Mk 15:25). From the sixth to the ninth hour there was darkness and then Jesus died (Mk 15:33‑37; Mt 27:45‑50; Lk 23:44‑46). And that was exactly at the time when the other Passover lambs were slaughtered at the nineth hour (as explained above).

Jesus was laid in the tomb in the evening, on the “day of Preparation” (Mk 15:42; Mt 27:62; Lk 23:54). This preparation day refers to the preparation day for the weekly Sabbath, because the preparation day for the Passover had already been one day earlier. Thus, we can conclude that Jesus died on the sixth day of the week. Consequently, he entered Jerusalem on the second day of the week, i.e. not on Palm Sunday but on Monday.

The following table shows the chronological sequence. In blue are the dates according to the three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. These are the dates according to Jesus’ understanding, because, for example, he called the evening meal before his crucifixion “Passover” (Lk 22:15), and this shows that for Jesus it must have been the evening of Nisan 14.

According to this, Jesus was crucified on Nisan 15, but on Nisan 14 according to the Gospel of John, as we have seen above (shown here in black again). We will explain the reason for this in the following section.

The astonishing answer is: Jesus was crucified on both Nisan 14 and 15, both of which are correct. But before I confuse you even more, let me give you some background on the biblical calendar before I explain the answer in detail.

A biblical month is a lunar month, because God “made the moon to mark the seasons” (Ps 104:19). The Hebrew word “chodesh” can mean both “month” (e.g. in Ex 12:6+18) and “new moon” and then denotes the first day of the month (e.g. in 1Sam 20:5+18+24+27; 2Kgs 4:23; Am 8:5). If the new moon is seen in the evening, then the next day is the new moon day and therefore the first day of the next month, the so-called Rosh Chodesh (literally “head of the month”). In the middle of the month there is a full moon and towards the end of the month the moon is not visible at all.

At the end of the month in the evening the people kept watch and then reported to the council the next morning when they had seen the new moon. It was then up to the council to proclaim the new month according to the testimony of the witnesses. However, if the month already lasted 30 days, the next day was declared the first day of the next month even if the new moon had not yet been seen due to the clouds. It could also happen that for several months it was so cloudy that it was impossible to see the new moon. This could have meant that there could have been many consecutive months with 30 days and then the new moon could have been seen already on the 28^th day, for example. To avoid this, the council could declare the new month after 29 days in such cases, even though the new moon had not yet been seen. This means that a month always has 29 or 30 days, because in average the phases of the moon are 29.53 days long.

Most years have 12 months and every two to three years there is a leap year, which is 13 months long. (The solar year, which is 365.25 days long, has 12.37 moon phases (365.25 : 29.53 = 12.37). A year with 12 months is therefore 0.37 moon phases shorter, which causes a leap year every 2.7 years (1 : 0.37 = 2.7). This ensures that the first month of Nisan is always in spring.)

Not all Jews agreed with the council’s decisions, and also today not all follow the calendar as published by the rabbis in Israel. At least since the fourth century, it has been customary to shift the start of the month if necessary, so that in particular the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) does not fall on a Friday or Sunday. This is because several Jews want to avoid having to observe two consecutive days of rest, whereas others strictly follow the astronomical dates.

Regarding leap years, there is a rule that over a period of 19 years, the 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, 11^th, 14^th, 17^th and 19^th year should be a leap year. On the other hand, there are Jews who only decide towards the end of the year in spring whether the current year is a leap year or not, depending on how far the grain in Israel has already ripened.

John, the author of the Gospel, wrote that the members of the council did not want to enter the governor’s headquarters so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover (Jn 18:28). This shows that for the council and therefore also for the general population of the Jews it was on Nisan 14. John agreed with this and called this day “the day of Preparation of the Passover” (Jn 19:14).

Matthew, Mark and Luke followed a different chronology. For them, Jesus’ sermon on the Mount of Olives was two days before the Passover, i.e. on Nisan 13, which was two days after the entry into Jerusalem according to Mark’s detailed chronological documentation. They also wrote that the day before Jesus’ crucifixion was the day for the killing of the lambs, i.e. Nisan 14. By doing so, they followed Jesus’ understanding, for he himself spoke of the Passover meal. So we cannot follow the theory that Jesus celebrated something similar with his disciples the day before the actual Passover meal so that his disciples could then celebrate the Passover meal with their families the following day.

For Jesus, the month had begun one day earlier than for the others. Jesus certainly ate the Passover meal on the evening of Nisan 14, otherwise he would have violated the Mosaic Law and would have sinned. It was certainly easy for our heavenly Father to show Jesus the new moon one day earlier. It is also plausible that Jesus did not agree with the council’s decision for another reason. For it is possible that the council was well aware of the appearance of the new moon, but set the beginning of the month one day later so that the first day of rest of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (“Passover I”) would not fall on the sixth day of the week, but on the weekly Sabbath, in order to avoid having to keep two days of rest back-to-back.

God arranged it in such a way that the council declared the beginning of the month one day later than Jesus. This made it possible for Jesus to celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples what he earnestly desired (Lk 22:15) and also to institute the Lord’s Supper, before he was crucified as our Passover lamb, precisely at the time when the Jews were sacrificing their Passover lambs.

Let’s come back to the question of whether Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14 or 15. According to the calendar of the council, he was crucified on Nisan 14 and according to Jesus’ reckoning on Nisan 15. It was the same day.

According to the prophecies, Jesus was to be dead for three days (Mt 12:40; Mt 26:61; Mt 27:40+63; Mk 8:31; Mk 15:29; Jn 2:19‑20). And he was to rise again on the third day (Mt 16:21; Mt 17:23; Mt 20:19; Mt 27:64; Mk 9:31; Mk 10:34; Lk 9:22; Lk 18:33; Lk 24:7+46; Acts 10:40; 1Cor 15:4).

When doing the math, bear in mind that according to the biblical counting method, parts of days are counted in full. The first day of death is therefore the sixth day of the week (Friday), Jesus lay in the tomb on the seventh day, the Sabbath (Saturday), before he rose from the dead on the first day of the week (Sunday). He was therefore dead for three days and rose from the dead on the third day. This counting method can also be found in some other places in the Bible:

• Queen Esther fasted for three days and then went to the king on the third day (Est 4:15 to Est 5:1).
• The people asked Rehoboam to make the hard service easier and he told them to come back after three days (1Kgs 12:5; 2Chr 10:5). And then the people returned on the third day (1Kgs 12:12; 2Chr 10:12).
• Joseph put his brothers in custody for three days and on the third day he spoke to them and set them free (Gen 42:17‑20).

Jesus had prophesied that he would be “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”, just as “Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish” (Mt 12:40). This is a figure of speech that refers to a period of three days including the nights in between. This becomes clear when we look at the following scriptures:

• For forty days, Jesus fasted in the wilderness and was tempted by Satan, as we can read in the Gospels according to Mark and Luke (Mk 1:13; Lk 4:1‑3). And these were “forty days and forty nights”, as we read in Matthew (Mt 4:2). The period of “forty days” is therefore exactly the same as that of “forty days and forty nights”.
• David and his men found an Egyptian man who had “not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights” (1Sam 30:12), and this was from the time he “fell sick three days ago” (1Sam 30:13). So it is about a period of three days.
• Moses was “forty days and forty nights” on the mountain with God (Ex 24:18; Ex 34:28; Deut 9:9+11). It would be unrealistic to assume that Moses ascended or descended the mountain at night. A period of forty days is therefore meant.
• Job’s friends “sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights” (Job 2:13). Here, too, we can assume that they did not come or leave during the night.

The addition of “three”, “seven” or “forty nights” is for emphasis. So Jesus was dead “three days and three nights” according to the biblical parlance. And this is by no means inconsistent with the fact that he was only dead for two nights according to our current way of expression.

Many Jews believe that the Sabbath after which the firstfruits offering was to be made is not the weekly Sabbath, but the first day of rest of the Passover (“Passover I”). The word “shabbath”, Hebrew for Sabbath, was derived from a verb “shabath” meaning “to rest” or “to cease” from something. There are only two exceptions in the entire Old Testament where this does not refer to the weekly Sabbath: First, the Sabbath Year (Lev 25:2‑8; Lev 26:34+43; 2Chr 36:21) and second, the Day of Atonement, which was to be a “Sabbath of solemn rest” (Lev 16:31; Lev 23:32). In Hebrew, in the context of the Day of Atonement the word for Sabbath is followed by the noun “shabbathon”, which means “Sabbath observance”. This was also derived from the verb “shabath”. The very same two Hebrew words “shabbath” and “shabbathon” were also used several times to refer to the weekly Sabbath (Ex 16:23; Ex 31:15; Ex 35:2; Lev 23:3). According to this, the weekly Sabbath is no less holy than the Day of Atonement.

The days of rest of the Passover (“Passover I + VII”) were not labeled as Sabbaths in the Bible, but people were not allowed to work on these days (Ex 12:16; Lev 23:7‑8). Therefore, it cannot be assumed that the Sabbath in question refers to one of these days of rest. And if this were the case, then it would have to be assumed that the seventh and not the first day of the Passover was meant, because this is the day of rest mentioned just before the ordinance for the Day of Firstfruits. The first day of rest (“Passover I”) is subject of the preceding verse (Lev 23:7).

Further evidence that the Day of Firstfruits is to be celebrated on the day after the weekly Sabbath can be found in the regulations for the Feast of Weeks.

Many Jews always celebrate the second day of Passover (“Passover II”) as the Day of Firstfruits, as we have critically discussed above. Consequently, they count the fifty days from this day until the Feast of Weeks. The following should be considered:

There are to be seven Sabbaths from the Day of Firstfruits to the Feast of Weeks (Lev 23:15). Here, the Hebrew word “shabbath” was translated exceptionally as “week”. This translation is questionable. Nowhere in the Old Testament does the Hebrew word for Sabbath mean “week”. The Greek word in the New Testament for Sabbath, namely “sabbaton”, is derived from the Hebrew “shabbath”. This Greek word occasionally refers to a week, but always to a period from Sunday to Saturday (Sabbath), i.e. not to any period of seven days (Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2+9; Lk 18:12; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1+19; Acts 20:7; 1Cor 16:2). But such an arbitrary period of seven days would have to be meant here by the Hebrew “shabbath” in order to be able to count this seven times until the Feast of Weeks. This is also unfounded because there is the Hebrew word “shabua”, which stands for a period of seven days, which does not have to correspond to a week from Sunday to Saturday (Gen 29:27‑28; Lev 12:5; Ezek 45:21).

The Day of Firstfruits should therefore be celebrated on the day after the weekly Sabbath. Another indication for this comes from the analogy with the Year of Jubilee. Every seven years was a Sabbath Year to allow the land to rest (Lev 25:2‑8). After seven Sabbath Years, in the following fiftieth year, was to be the Year of Jubilee (Lev 25:8‑12). The land should also be at rest this year. The analogy is as follows: The seven weekly Sabbaths stand for seven Sabbath Years. The Feast of Weeks corresponds to the Year of Jubilee, in which the land was to rest again. In addition, the Year of Jubilee should follow directly after the seventh Sabbath Year. God wanted two years of rest in a row. This indicates that people should also rest for two days back-to-back, namely on the seventh Sabbath after the Day of Firstfruits and on the following day, the Feast of Weeks. Two days of rest should be a blessing for the people. Unfortunately, some Jews see the Sabbath as a burden because of their own laws that were not given by God. Therefore, I suspect that these Jews were looking for an alternative interpretation of the scriptures in order to avoid this as much as possible.

The Jewish scribes and teachers of the law had long ago falsified the word of God with their interpretations. Jeremiah already reported that they had “made it into a lie” (Jer 8:8). And Jesus also criticized them for not keeping God’s commandments, but their traditions and commandments of men (Mt 15:1‑9; Mk 7:8‑13). It is therefore not surprising that some Jews today have a different view.