Sunday 2021.02.14
Reading from John Chapter 19
When did the Crucifixion take place?
We learn from John 19:14 that it was the "Preparation of the Passover", at about the sixth hour that Pontius Pilate, after having taken his seat at the judgment place Gabbatha, gave in to the demands of the angry mob and delivered the Lord Iesou to be crucified.
Is preparation day of the passover the 14th day of the 1st month when the passover lamb, which had been taken from the flock and kept since the tenth day, would be slaughtered and roasted in fire at twilight in the evening and be eaten before sunrise the next day, the 15th day of the 1st month, a special sabbath day when no work is to be done? Or was it already the 15th day of 1st month, when the feast of unleavened bread had already begun?
What preparation day was it? What does "passover" mean in this passage? (The synoptic gospel accounts, however, place the trial and crucifixion of Iesous on 15th day 1st month instead, i.e. the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which fell on a Friday, the next day being a weekly Sabbath. See Luke chapter 22 and Matthew chapter 26, to be discussed in another post, coming soon.)
John 19:14 - 19 ASV
14 Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King!
15 They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified.
The word "preparation" is mentioned again in verses 31 and 42. In particular, verse 31 says that the next day was a "high sabbath", implying that it was both a weekly seventh day sabbath as well as a special sabbath day, the 15th day of the 1st month, the beginning of the feast of unleavened bread.
If so, the crucifixion would have taken place on the afternoon of the 14th day of 1st month, and the Lord Iesou was buried that day, before the Passover meal was to be taken that evening at twilight. The next day, the 15th day of 1st month, was a special day of rest to mark the beginning of the week-long feast of unleavened bread. It coincided with the weekly 7th day sabbath, and was thus referred to as a "high sabbath" in John 19:31.
In other words, our Lord was crucified on the day when the Jews were preparing for their passover meal. It was "Preparation Day".
John 19:31 ASV
The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a *high day*), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
John 19:42 ASV
There then because of the Jews` Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.
