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Introducing the issue of the three days and three nights of Jesus entombment. Discussing the problems with the traditional view and the goals to be attained by this writing.
Dealing with the literalness of the sign, the circumstances in which it was given, and to whom it was spoken.
The meal that Jesus and his disciples took on the night of his betrayal and arrest was the traditional Passover Seder, observed on the 14th day of the first Jewish month, Nisan. Also that John reports the same meal on the same night, but in a different manner.
Stating the fact that during the week of Passover, there were two Sabbaths. This is a key element to a proper understanding of the chronology of events.
The first day of the week must be understood from a Jewish background, and not Roman.
A time-frame based upon the evidence given, and taking into account the full three days and nights of Jesus entombment.
It is debated by some, whether the Passover was observed on the night of the 14th or the 15th. This issue seems to hinge on the application of Exodus 12:6. When the instructions for killing the Passover lamb stated that it shall be killed 'in the evening', this in reality means, 'between the evenings'. The question that arises is, which evenings? Is it the evening between the 13th and 14th, or between the 14th and 15th? It is hoped that sufficient evidence will be given here to show that it points to the evening between the 13th and 14th.
The phrase 'between the evenings' is understood as meaning between the evening of one day into the next. Freedman notes that,
from the time the sun began to decline in the west . . . or when the evening shadows began to fall. The sun reaches its zenith at midday and then begins to decline in the west, the decline being perceptible from a half an hour after midday, and this is regarded as the falling of the evening shadows. 1
With this understanding, the evening begins after the sun has reached its zenith, or highnoon. So, according to Jewish recokoning, 'evening' begins after highnoon.
1. We must ask the question, does the Scriptures give any indication or definition of this manner of counting of days? Yes. In Lev. 23:26-32, the Lord is commanding concerning the observance of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. He commands that they shall afflict their souls on the tenth day of the seventh month. Then in verse 32, He says,
it shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even to even, shall you celebrate your sabbath.
The scriptures count the observance of Yom Kippur from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth. It is plainly stated that Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the seventh month. However, the beginning of its observance is on the evening of the ninth. This is how God reckons the counting, and this is how the jews also counted it. This would also hold true for the counting of passover. Passover is the fourteenth day of the first month. but the beginning of its observance, with the killing of the passover lamb, is on the evening of the thirteenth.
2. Several sources place the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, as occuring between the evenings of the thirteenth and the fourteenth. According to Safrai and Stern,
Before the eve of Passover, that is, during the night of the 13th of Nisan...a thorough search for chametz [leaven] was made. The eve itself was a sort of feast, because the paschal sacrifice was offered that afternoon. 2
Also, Schauss agrees saying, "In the afternoon of the day before Pesach, the sacrificial animal was slaughtered with elaborate ceremonies in the Temple." 3 Both of these sources, along with others that could be quoted, point to the fact that the Passover lamb was killed in the evening between the thirteenth and the fourteenth.
3. Let us not forget the witness of early Church history. The Eastern Churches, following the Apostolic custom of observing Passover on the fourteenth, were called Quartodecimans, or fourteenthers, by the Church in the west. Hilgenfeld states that these churches observed the Fourteenth of Nisan, "not as the anniversary of the crucifixion, but as the anniversary of the Last Supper." 4
Eusebius gives an account of a meeting between Polycarp, who was a quartodecimian as well as a disciple of the Apostle John, and the Roman bishop, Anicetus.
Anicetus could not persuade Polycarp not to keep the day [the 14th], since he had always kept it with John the disciple of our Lord and the other apostles with whom he had been familiar. 5
The evidence seems clear and points to one conclusion. The Passover sacrifice was offered on the afternoon of the 13th and was then roasted for approximately three hours,and eaten on the night of the 14th. Polycarp, who was taught by the Apostle John himself, kept the Passover on the 14th, not the 15th. They weren't called fiftheenthers, were they? No.
It is helpful and prudent, when one comes to the word 'passover' in the New Covenant writings, to be able to determine its exact application. Passover can point to several different things. The term Passover [pascha/pesach], can refer to. . .
