The Timing of the Passover: Part II
Before you read this post, make sure you’ve read the prior one to understand the context. I want to discuss when we should observe the Passover meal today. Growing up, I did notice a couple of disconnects between Passover, the “Night to Be Much Observed” and the Days of Unleavened Bread. For instance, I think most people just keep the Night to Be Much Observed without even realizing that this night is mentioned only once (and rather ambiguously) in scripture (Ex. 12:42). So, I had some studying to do.
Even the people I know who agree with my first premise (that the OT Passover was kept in the latter part of the 14th day) still disagree with my second. There is basically one reason for this:
Paul wrote in 1Co 11:23-24, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.”
Now, I see this verse and recognize that, yes, the timing that Paul outlines is correct. That’s obvious. Others take it as a verification that Jesus changed the time we are commanded to partake of the Passover meal.
I’m going to attempt to keep this organized. There are several reasons why I believe we should keep the Passover at the end of the 14th day. One, it matches the timing of the original Passover that God commanded (Ex. 12:6). This command was established as an ordinance forever (v. 14). Two, the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are connected so many times in scripture (Eze. 45:21, Mar. 14:12). It’s just logical that Passover flows right into the Days of UB. It never made sense to me that we ate unleavened bread at Passover, but could still have leavening in our homes the whole next day until sundown. The third and major reason is that Jesus Christ perfectly timed his sacrifice to coincide with the annual sacrifice of the Passover lambs.
What bothers me most is that the keeping of the Passover has made Jesus’ last meal more important than His sacrifice. Scripture is pretty clear that Jesus knew He could not participate in the Jewish Passover meal.
Joh. 13:1 “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come that he should depart out of this world… And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him…” It says that Jesus knew his hour had come (to be betrayed) before the feast of Passover, and this account is described during the meal. However, Jesus still needed to pass on the new symbols of the Passover; He replaced the slaughtering of the lamb with the bread and the wine (Mat. 26:26-28).
Joh 18:28 “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.“
Clearly, the Jews kept the Passover during the latter part of the 14th day, because these men were taking Jesus on the morning of the 14th and hadn’t yet taken of the Passover. That’s why the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is so perfect. He was the ultimate sacrifice on the perfect day, at the perfect time, when all the Passover lambs were to be slaughtered. The beauty of this fulfillment of prophecy should not be overshadowed by the timing of His last meal.
There are some things from the teachings of Jesus that are taken extremely literally, while others are taken as metaphorical. For instance, the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples is only in one gospel account (Joh. 13:4-15). Yet, it is incorporated as a required ceremony of the Passover service. He said, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you” (v. 14, 15). Is He not speaking of His important example of overall servanthood? Or, is He literally just saying we should wash each others’ feet once a year? I understand that the actual washing of feet can be quite a humbling experience; that’s fine. But why do we take some of Christ’s words in letter, and others in Spirit?
There is no command in scripture for the timing of the Passover meal to be changed. Jesus Christ didn’t command it, and Paul didn’t either. In fact, Jesus reinforced the original command in Exodus 12 by seeing that His death occurred at the same time as the Passover lambs. We are commanded in I Co. 11:28, 29 to discern the Lord’s body. Do we do that by placing importance on when Jesus ate the Passover animal, or by symbolically taking of His body when He fulfilled prophecy and became our Passover lamb (I Co. 5:7)?
Try to consider this. Then let me know what you think.
I do disagree with your second post…just as you said I would. LOL. I can see why you present this case though. I appreciate your effort to reach beyond what you have been told to understand. Doing what you’ve been told to do is NOT knowing why you should do it. It is admirable to reach beyond what your told so you come to understand the excellency of Christ.
There are a lot of different rehearsals of the Passover in scripture from various perspectives. They are not written for us using the same repetitive verbiage and so the commands can become confusing. To add to that confusion there are so many “teachers” out there that promote their own widely dissenting opinions.
I want to point out how you correctly understand the time in which “evening” is defined biblically. Evening comes before “dark” or “night”. The biblical record and definition shows that you are 100% correct in that thinking. If you hold on to THAT truth concerning “time” then you will see clearly the path to understanding when you read the command for the Passover.
I won’t need to tell you what is right…you’ll just know what is right.
Exo 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
Exo 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that NIGHT, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
They killed the lamb in the afternoon, took it home and cooked it and ATE IT in THAT NIGHT…on the first day of unleavened bread and NOT on the day called “Passover”. The command for the Passover to the Israelites was only about the “killing” of the lamb and NOT the “eating” of the lamb on the day called Passover. The killing of the lamb points to the time of death of the coming Messiah – on Passover. It was our day of substitution (Him for us) by His sacrifice. The eating was to be after sundown on a whole separate day (the first day of unleavened bread). That is how the command in the first covenant reads.
Paul had to correct the Corinthians for their error in trying to switch the Passover supper BACK to a first day of unleavened bread event. They tried to merge the two distinct covenant symbols into one amalgamation. The Jews ate the Passover given to them by Moses – a type of Christ. We eat the Passover given by Christ Himself.
Who has the greater message? Christ or Moses? They are two distinct covenants which should not be merged. There is a new priesthood with a new high priest that are in covenant together. That covenant is not linked to the Levitical system anymore but is linked to the Melchizadekian order.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a BETTER covenant (not the same covenant), which was established upon BETTER promises (not the same promises).
The Jews said the Messiah is coming…good. We say the Messiah has come…better.
This is why Paul taught us, ”For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread”….
Our path is clear before us through that teaching. Our eating the Passover on the night He was betrayed says, “He has come and made substitution for me”. We become living witnesses of the death of Christ in our time by those actions.
Better…(just my opinion).
You lose me a little when you start comparing Moses and Jesus Christ – which I never did. My point that Jesus did not change the timing of Passover has nothing to do with comparing the Old/New covenants. It has to do with Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilling the role of the sacrificed Passover lamb.
You say that our eating Passover on the night He was betrayed says “He has come and made substitution for me.” I say that eating Passover following the time He became our Passover lamb, the ultimate sacrifice, says that even more.
However, we both believe in observing the Passover on the 14th; it shouldn’t become a divisive issue.
I don’t feel divided against you…neither am I striving with you. I have nothing but respect for you…you’re my sister in Christ. You should know that I bible study with Christians’ from every sect. I make it my life’s pursuit to sit down and discuss Christ with anyone searching for Christ. I try to meet everyone on the level they are on…novice to master. I find this conversation far from divisive. You may be right…you may be wrong. We won’t know if we don’t discuss it. That defines my belief and faith in Christ. I’m not afraid to be wrong today…I’ll become right tomorrow.
First off the Passover and the substitution is for anyone in “covenant”. You made the statement that we should keep the Passover at the end of the 14th. Where in the covenantal commands do you find a position for your stance? What Law do you site? What example?
Secondly there are 2 different covenants. It’s fair to ask…are you planted in the first or planted in the second. This is the most important thing I will say to you in this response. Which Passover you keep defines the covenant you are currently in. The Jews were served a bill of divorcement…do you want to be connected to their covenant?
The point of my first post was…I feel you have made a contradictory statement. I say that because I can’t follow how you reasoned to the point you came to. Let me summarize:
(Through your reasoning) Evening = afternoon. Night = after sundown. Passover = afternoon sacrifice. Passover was to be eaten = in that night or after sundown. That was your deduction…not mine.
Those facts combined = The first covenant command states that the eating of the Passover sacrifice was to be on the 15th – the first day of unleavened bread – after sundown – after nightfall. Not on the day of Passover which you are supporting. (Here I just extended your line of thinking to include when Passover was commanded to be eaten by covenantal command.)
That’s the deduction I take away from your 1st post conclusion. It’s a fair deduction. There is no twisting of your words here.
How do I feel about that deduction?
I agree that you proved this conclusively by that post on the Passover…of which I 100% endorse and applaud you for. And when I say conclusively, I mean argument ending…nail in the coffin kind of deduction. Lifelong Pastors cannot explain what you did in 10 simple paragraphs in your 1st post.
Yet…
In the 2nd post you say that we should eat the Passover at the end of the 14th before sunset. By what law, command or example do you base that on? Once again, through your reasoning this is not the command given by God in the first covenant. The eating as commanded by God was to be on the day of unleavened bread. You also stated that is this NOT taught by the Paul the apostle to the Corinthian church. He taught in the night Christ was betrayed was the eating. By your reasoning…neither the Law nor the apostles teach the conclusion you came to.
You reject Paul’s teaching to the Corinthians to observe this on the night He was betrayed. So that does away with eating Passover at the beginning of the 14th. If you eliminate that possibility then what do you have left? Either the timing of the word “evening” you put forth is wrong….or…the eating of the Passover on the afternoon of the 14th is wrong. They both cannot be correct teachings. We have a paradox.
So how did you get there? That’s a respectful, straight forward, reasonable and fair question.
I don’t want you to feel like I’m attacking you or beating you down. You did not comment on any of this from my first post. I’m just trying to understand where you are coming to this conclusion from because I can’t follow how you got there. I have no biblical reference to support you conclusion. Your first post was overwhelmingly compelling and your second has thrown me into limbo. I hope to discuss this face to face…because I have lots o’ questions.
Okay, I’m going to try to address your points.
One, I think it’s actually a bad thing to say that the old and new covenants should be completely separate. They aren’t. You say that I’m clinging to the old covenant through my idea that the timing of Passover didn’t change. Yet you keep all of the other Holy Days at the same time and date. How is that not the same?
The Holy days were given as part of the old covenant. The Sabbath, clean and unclean meats, these all come from the old covenant. How can you say this should not be merged with our new covenant when you still observe these things?
You say I will just know what is right. Well, that’s not true. I don’t have all the answers, but the points you bring out don’t make a clear-cut case.
I actually don’t know if the Passover meal should be observed at the end of the 14th or beginning of the 15th. Right now, it makes sense regarding my previous studies that we could begin the Passover meal on the 14th and it would flow into the 15th. The most important part is recognizing the perfect timing of Christ’s sacrifice coordinated with the earlier slaughter of the Passover lambs. Then we would take of His body and blood.
I base these conclusions on the Bible as a whole. You know as well as I do that the Old Testament is still valid and the true Word of God.
I probably did seem a bit contradictory and that’s because I don’t have all the answers. I’m still figuring it out. So, the exact time when we should eat the Passover meal isn’t clear to me yet. But I do think it’s important that there is no command for it to change, and that it be taken after Jesus perfectly fulfilled the role of the Passover lamb.
By placing more importance on the timing of Christ’s betrayal than on His perfect sacrifice, I see a failure to discern His body.
What might help in this discussion is some background history of the early Passover/Unleavened Bread practice of the early Christians called Quartodecimans.
http://wp.me/p2eDvf-1aK