Hi all,
Let’s pick up Passover week following in the steps of Jesus. Mark’s gospel provides details no other gospel does.
That Palm Sunday, described in Mark 11, was the 10th of the month, when the Lamb was brought into the city to be examined by the elders through the 14th. Mark’s gospel is very specific on the days.
Mark 11:1-11 records Jesus coming into the city. The people are shouting quoting Psalm 118 which was read every day during Passover week, which is about Messiah. This is what the crowds shouted upon His entrance, and remember that the word‘hosanna’ in Hebrew means “Save us now we beg you!”, sometimes translated unfortunately simply as ‘save’:
“Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed be your father David, who comes in the name of the Lord. Lord in the highest, hosanna!” Incredibly, the people were shouting to Jesus to save them, and He did.
(Read Psalm 118 which is all about the Messiah, including ‘the stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’, and remember the Hebrew word ‘salvation’ in the OT is ‘Yeshua’ (v14, 15).
Another bit of trivia to correct your understanding to what the Bible actually says versus how a verse is commonly used. The phrase “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”, is from Psalm 118:24, followed by v25’s “Save us now we beg you! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord…Save us now we beg you!”
The ‘This is the day the Lord has made’, refers to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, THAT day – it is not any old day you happen to pick out to cheer yourself up with – when you say that verse realize the context; “This is the day the Lord has made” refers to the day of salvation purchased by Jesus.
After Palm Sunday
Mark 11:12 says ‘on the morrow when they came from Bethany’ – so that is now Monday the 11th. It is on Monday the 11th (v 15-19) that Jesus cleanses the temple, overthrows the money changers, and curses the fig tree.
Mark 11:20 says “And in the morning as they passed by, the fig tree…” This is Tuesday the 12th. Peter sees the withered tree which starts the morning. The withered fig tree is of course a prophecy from the Lord about how Israel is about to wither in the rejection of their Lamb (and be dispersed to the nations in the year 70AD, less than 40 years later).
It (Israel) should have born fruit the text says of the tree, but it wasn’t the right season (11:13) – it was all known before by the Father and Lord that they would reject the first coming of the Lord, and prophesied in the cursing of the tree.
From Tuesday morning Mark 11:20 all the way through Mark 13:37 which is the end of that chapter, it is one day according to Mark. During this intense day Jesus is examined by the elders for any flaws as the Passover Lamb. Mark specifically and purposely mentions all the sects of Judaism that examined Him and could find no fault.
In 11:27 it is the elders, scribes, and chief priests, who ask ‘By what authority do you do these things?’
In 12:13 it states Pharisees and Herodians examined Him through v17.
In 12:18 it states then came Sadducees to Him asking their questions.
In 12:28-33 a wise scribe came to examine Him, asking, “What commands are most important?” Jesus replied:
“Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord. (Hebrew, one like a team, not one like a lone pencil) And you shall love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and the second is like it, which is to love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” (That’s Jesus’ statement – take note.)
This final exchange was the most important because it was the summary of all their previous questions
This last question cut to the core of Jesus’ heart and the most important command of all. When the scribe agreed with Him, Jesus said the scribe was not far from the kingdom.
This ended the examination of the Lamb as prescribed in the original Passover of Exodus 12, for it says: “After this no man dared ask Him any more questions.” (Mark 12:34)
Jesus had been brought into the house and examined by every sect of Judaism, and no flaw was found in Him. The same declaration would be made by the Roman Governor Pilate, as if any doubters would require a Gentile confirmation to the Jewish findings: “I find no fault in this man!” (Luke 23:4, John 19: 6)
Sunday the 10th was Palm Sunday, the Lamb’s entrance into the house of Israel to be examined.
Monday the 11th was the cleansing of the temple and some teaching and Q&A.
Tuesday the 12th was the most intense examination of the Lamb, finally ending at Mark 12:34.
The rest of chapter 12 is about the widow’s 2 mites, and chapter 13 is about the destruction of the temple in the year 70AD. concluding Tuesday the 13th.
Mark 14:1 begins: “Two days later was Passover.” That means Thursday was the Passover, when the Lamb was killed.
All 4 gospels tell us Jesus died on the Day of Preparation. (Matthew 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31)
The Day of Preparation is the day the Passover lamb was killed.
Again, the lamb was killed at 3pm on the 14th. As you may recall, Jesus died at 3pm. They rushed to get His body to a tomb because it was the Day of Preparation; they had a lamb to roast at 6pm!
Consider the double Sabbath. He died at 3pm Thursday, and at 6pm with the eating of the Passover meal, a Ceremonial Sabbath began, lasting all day Friday. After that Sabbath came the normal Saturday Sabbath, both days preventing them from going to the tomb to embalm the body until Sunday morning.
The ceremonial Sabbath was not understood by early Gentile church leaders (Roman Catholic), so they only understood the Saturday Sabbath, thus throughout Christendom ‘Good Friday’ has come to stand for the day Jesus died on the cross. The original readers would have understood the culture.
Feast of Firstfruits
We know from Leviticus 23: 9-16 the Feast of Firstfruits starts ‘on the morrow after the Sabbath’ from Passover. That day they would offer to the Lord the first fruit of the harvest. Jesus was the fulfillment of Firstfruits, being the first fruit of the harvest of the earth, the first born from the dead.
This is why Jesus is never called ‘the only begotten Son of God’ after HIs resurrection. Throughout the New Testament He is called ‘the first born among many brethren’ and ‘the first born from the dead.’ (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:18, Hebrews 12:23, Revelation 1:5)
What about a Wednesday crucifixion?
IF Jesus died a day earlier, on Wednesday, then you have a regular day (Friday) between the ceremonial Sabbath and the Saturday Sabbath, and the women would have used that day to embalm the body. They did not, thus disproving that theory. They had to wait until after the Friday Passover Sabbath and then the Saturday Sabbath, before they could do the work of embalming at first light on Sunday the 17th – the first day of Firstfruits.
Next week: What happened between the cross and the resurrection? Was there a battle between Jesus and Satan?
Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
