These notes were written in my old diary seven years ago on Sun 27Apr2014. There were also some notes made a day earlier and written in a separate note which I cannot locate at this time of writing.
They are a collection of observations I have made mainly from the gospel accounts in Luke chapter 22 and Matthew chapter 26, in which chapters are mentioned particular days of the ancient Biblical week and the observance of the annual Passover in the First month of the Biblical year.
About two years later in March 2016, I surveyed and made notes of my observations of the commandments given in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 regarding the keeping of the Passover Meal and its subsequent Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Observations from Luke 22: 7-23
- Luke 22:7 - describes the Day of Unleavened Bread as the day when the Passover Lamb was killed, i.e. 1m14d.
- Luke 22:11 - The Lord Iesou wanted to eat the Passover meal with his disciples that evening, after sunset.
- Luke 22:13 - they prepared the Passover meal
- Luke 22:15 - Iesou desired fervently to have the Passover meal on that evening, after sunset of 1m14d.
Assuming that the term Passover as used in Luke 22 refers to the Pesach commanded in the OT, this means that the Bread and Cup mentioned in the account of Luke 22:17 - 20 is PART of the Passover meal then.
Observations from a shorter account in Matthew 26: 17 - 30
Matthew 26: 17 - on the "First" Day of Unleavened Bread (1m14d), they were looking for a place to prepare the Passover. This is consistent with Luke 22:7.
Matthew 26: 18 - 20 further corroborates this interpretation. In verse 18 the Lord Iesou instructed his disciples to say to the owner of a certain house in the city that he would keep the Passover at his house. Then in verse v19 the disciples went ahead to prepared Passover in that house. Finally in verse 20, they had their Passover meal "when evening had come", i.e. after sunset of 1m14d.
Matthew's account reveals a starting fact: that the Passover meal was held at sunset at the END of what he calls the "First" Day of Unleavened Bread, which day was 1m14d. It also means that the next day, the day of Crucifixion, would be 1m15d which would then be called the "Second" Day of Unleavened Bread by Matthew . . .(see the discrepancy compared to the commandments in Exodus 12:16, 18).
Notwithstanding the above issue, the partaking of Bread and Wine in Matthew 26: 21 - 30, as in the account of Luke 22, is again part of the Passover Meal. Note Matthew 26:26, "as they were eating . . ."
(The following are further observations from Luke Chapters 23 and 24, made on Sunday, 20May2018)
Luke 23:54 tells us that the Crucifixion (1m15d) took place on "Preparation Day" (the 6th Day of the Week). The weekly Sabbath drew near towards that evening. Further on in Luke 23:55-56, we read that after the Lord's body was laid in the tomb, the disciples rested on the Sabbath (the 7th day of the week), according to the Fourth Commandment.
How did those three days described in Luke 23:54 - 24:7 fit in with the Passover and Feast of ULB? I drew the following timeline in my diary in an attempt to make sense of the chronology.
Next: to compare with the account in Matthew Chapters 26ff.
(To be continued with notes written in my diary on Sun 20Mar2016:
Commandments about the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, as given in Exodus 12, Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16.)
Last Updated: Sunday 18April2021 22:25 hrs
