1.] formative thoughts on the Passover of Jesus Matthew leads me to believe that Jesus enters Jerusalem on the first day of a seven day feast, or Saturday, and that night has His last supper a full week before the actual 'feast day'. As I recall from other research, the Passover was a week long deal that proceeded from Saturday to Saturday, the latter being what the jews considered as the feast day - could be wrong; don’t quote me. Jesus was arrested and tried that night. Following the abuses of that night, chapter 27 and verse 2 begins, after a morning consultation, thusly: "and when they had bound Him, they led Him away . . .". I am trying to think in terms of elapsed time. The same chapter indicates that Judas returns the silver on Sunday, or the following morning. Mark shows us Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem, visiting key sites, and returning that evening to Bethany, a mile and a half distant, and returning the next day to the big city. Question: did Christ make His 'triumphal entry' in the two-day time frame mentioned in Matt. 26:2? On that second day, or Sunday, Jesus clears the temple, then teaches there. That evening, He leaves the city again and returns on Monday to enter the temple, where He is confronted by angry priests and elders. That same Monday, they leave Jesus teaching in the temple, and send the pharisees and Herodians to trap Him in His words; next come the Saducees; all of this occurring in the same day, for chapter 12:35 says, "and Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple . . .". I point to the word 'answered', for after three waves of onslaught by the established order, verse 34 states: "and no man after that did ask Him any question.". Here, the time frame seems clear and stable. After teaching, and sitting by the treasury, Jesus leaves the city again - still on Monday - to go to Mt. Olive. I wish to assert that if this time frame is not Sat., Sun., and Mon., then these actions occurred in the two days prior to the beginning Saturday of Passover week. Interestingly, Mark 14 begins by indicating that the time frame falls within the two days preceding the feast. Verse 12 of chapter 14 is an important verse, as regards my inquiry, for it indicates the combined nature of the week long feast. The feast begins and ends on a Sabbath: first the Passover, second the unleavened bread. Had the priests sought His arrest, as is written, 'not on the feast day', then the second Sabbath rather than the first is what they referred to. The multitudes clung to Jesus and His every word: from which arises other more telling points, namely: Jesus' reference to unleavened bread, and the bread of life; and too - the 'feared uproar of the people' in direct contrast to the seeming ease of convincing the crowd to cry out "crucify Him". Marks' time line seems consistent with Matthews' - right through to the morning consultation, after which Jesus is bound and led away. In Luke, much the same things are told as in Mark, but here they all seem to fall within the two days prior to the first Saturday. However, the last supper and the arrest still occur on the first day of the seven day feast. On the side, an interesting point is what I have so far gleaned from these three gospels. Unlike movie versions, the texts have Peter going inside with the servants rather than outside in the courtyard. It appears that the trial takes place on an 'upper tier or floor', though not necessarily in an upper room, of either Caiaphas' personal home, which I think the more likely, or the meeting hall. The main point, here, is that Peter sat inside: able to see Jesus. Note Luke 22:61 - "and the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter". In Luke there appears to be a waiting period in which Jesus is detained, and Peter sits close by. The trial takes place secretly on Sunday morning because they had made the arrest on a Sabbath. Here in Luke, I see bureaucracy at work: a process which may have taken up much of the morning. It well could have gone into the afternoon, with Jesus being shuttled between Pilate and Herod. In Luke 23:9 Herod questions Jesus "in many words". What if Herod's questioning had gone past Pilate's office hours, and all business was put off til the next day? I can see Jesus being held in detention between the various meetings with Pilate and Herod. He was no longer in the public's eye. Also, the Saturday of the unleavened bread draws closer; the priests grow more fearful of Jesus message and influence in regard to the feast day. After all the crowds still desire Jesus, in the dark as to His whereabouts though they be. Besides which the priests need some time to hatch their scheme and draw the necessary perpetrators into the plan. I am not inclined to believe that the crowd actually turned on Jesus, as Luke informs me that it was "the chief priests and rulers and people" that demanded the crucifixion. "People" can be hired. After Herod, the priests and rulers had to be "called together" (Lk. 23:13) - more time consumed. In verses 25 and 26 I take note of the particular wording: "and he released unto them (the chief priests and rulers and people (the people possibly being the zealots: a lobbyist group with close bonds and deep entrenchment into the higher powers)) him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, (this may have been much deeper and more complicated that a holding cell in a jail) whom they had desired; (which indicates prior petitioning) but he delivered Jesus to their will. And (as before) they led Him away . . .". The time lines are hazy in Luke, but as they are leading Him, and while Simon follows with the cross, and while a great company follow along, women crying, Jesus talks along His way. But more to the point, two other men are dredged up for crucifixion. I cannot emphasize enough my feeling about the consumption of time. Unless crosses were pre-made, and kept in storage for festive occasions, or unless there were regularly scheduled days for crucifixions, there were plans to draw up, crosses to make, soldiers to call out. In John, we pick up six days before the Passover. Jesus rides the donkey into Jerusalem on the fifth day before Passover. In 13:1 John says "now before the feast of the Passover . . .", and in 13:2 John says "and supper being ended . . .". Through the course of chapters 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 we see John's account of the last supper. More precisely, the supper is over, Judas is off to make a betrayal, and Jesus speaks at length with His remaining disciples. Here, nothing is mentioned of bread or wine, nor is there any way to clearly determine if this supper was eaten in Bethany or Jerusalem. I had not noticed this before, but now that I think about it, the mount of olives is equally accessible from both locations. In John, it is not during the Passover, but before. How much before? At least five days. This of course bears further scrutiny, but it puts a real twist on how we view the passion. Seemingly, in John's account, Jesus is betrayed, arrested and tried before the week of Passover even began. Are we looking at Monday or Tuesday? Also, Christ was 'bound' in the garden rather than later, after the trial. Jesus was led first to the house of Annas; an unnamed disciple was allowed in, but Peter was made to wait standing in the doorway, looking into the palatial dwelling of the priest. At the request of the disciple who knew Caiaphas, Peter was then allowed inside. Who was the unnamed disciple? Was it Judas? And what does this close connection to power really tell us? The trial runs from late in the night to early in the morning, when most people are just waking up. In 18:39 & 40, it is Caiaphas' bunch alone that asks for Barabas. In 19:1 we are told, "then Pilate therefore took Jesus . . ." (as in took Him off their hands). The time lines are again fuzzy, but I get a real sense of Pilate, being scared, giving the whole matter some deep official thought; of looking for a way to pull his feet from the Jewish mire. Finally, Pilate arrives at the judgement seat, and it is Friday at the sixth hour. In another gospel, Jesus is on the cross at this point, but here, they are just getting started: crosses to make; signs to write, etc. In conclusion, we must admit that the arrest, trial, and crucifixion did not, in all likelihood, take place in a single day. If, as I think it occurred, Jesus was arrested before the commencement of the feast week, then He, most probably, was held in detention through the first Sabbath, and the matter did not come before Pilate until about Monday or Tuesday. The preparations for the crucifixion must then be taken into account. What baffles me the most is the three days that Jesus is supposed to be buried, as Jonas remained swallowed for three days. Jews called a day from the evening to the morning. Therefore, if Jesus rose on the first day of the Jewish week, or Sunday, He would have had to be buried no later than Thursday evening.
