Day 6 - 1 day before Passover
Wednesday Morning, Jesus is sent bound before Caiaphas & the leadership. Robes are rent at Jesus' confession that he is the messiah. The Jewish leadership march him, mob fashion, over to the Praetorium as Jesus is taken to the palace of the Roman governor Pilate.
"Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover." John 18:28
It is significant here to notice that the Jewish leadership had not yet eaten Passover and Jesus has already eaten Passover. This cannot be adequately explained unless one understands the potential for two Passover occasions. Jesus ate a legal Passover Tuesday night, offering his own "body" as the Passover lamb, and yet the "official" Passover is still to occur Wednesday night after the lambs have been sacrificed and Jesus has been crucified.
At the end of the inspection period, if no fault is found in it, the Passover lamb is declared "unblemished." In the same way, the Gospels let us know that Jesus, although falsely accused, bears no fault.
So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" "Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied. Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man." Luke 23:4
When Pilate discovered that Jesus was a Galilean he sent him to Herod
Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. That day Herod and Pilate became friends-- before this they had been enemies.
John 23:6-12
Pilate tries three times to release Jesus but the Jews have already committed themselves.
"You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Therefore, I will punish him and then release him." With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand.
Jesus is flogged and given a robe (later taken back v.31) and a crown of thorns by the Praetorium guards. Matt 27:27-31
The Crucifixion
Was Jesus Killed on Preparation Day; the 14th of Abib (also called Nisan)?
1. Prophetically, Jesus must be crucified on the 14th since he is the Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7, Rev 5:6). Many argue that Jesus was killed not on the 14 but the next day on the 15th because he certainly ate the Passover with his disciples. For a God who loves object lesson, symbolism and parable, for the God who's very nature and being is fulfillment of his promises, a misstep here is simply not believable.
2. The Jewish leaders vowed to arrest Jesus before and not during the Feast. Since Preparation Day is not legally part of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, his arrest on Tuesday night of the 14th matches this concern. For them "Passover" had not yet started as of Tuesday night, though the disciples had finished their "Passover" meal. It is also a reasonable assumption that their main concern was that the arrest not be during the "festivities" or in public and sensitivity to God's Holy Day was of only secondary concern.
"??y plotted to arrest Jesus in some sly way and kill him. But not during the Feast," they said, "or there may be a riot among the people" Matt 26:3-4.
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3. On the morning Jesus is arrested the Jewish leaders "had not yet eaten" Passover.
"Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium. It was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover" John 18:28
4. John states that it was Preparation Day.
It was the day of Preparation of the Passover week, about the 6th hour. John 19:14
Again, this is the day before the official Passover at 6:00 AM. This day began the evening before at twilight and it is now early the next morning. This is the day the lambs are slain.
From the 6th hour to the ninth hour darkness came over the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out?? when Jesus had cried out ??gave up his spirit. Matt: 27:45
In Matthew, this would be from 12:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The last lamb was to be slain by 3:00 PM.
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:56) This quote is from a psalm about faith and ultimate victory, not doubt. (Psalm 22:1)
Just a thought here about the fulfillment accomplished by the "darkness." The law stated that the lamb was to be slain "at twilight" The custom of the day had them killed much earlier in the day. Perhaps God matches the traditional expectations of fulfillment by the saints but also fulfills the legal requirement with a miraculous twilight.
4. John says again, after the crucifixion, that it was the Preparation Day; the 14th of Nisan.
Now it was the day of Preparation and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. John 19:31
***Interpretation Key***
This special Sabbath is not referring to a weekly Sabbath (Saturday) but the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. If it were a weekly Sabbath there is no reason for the adjective "special". Forcing this special Sabbath to mean Saturday is THE ONLY evidence for a Friday crucifixion.
As evening approached Jesus is laid in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea (Matt 27:57). On Wednesday evening just before sunset a large stone is rolled in front of the entrance. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were sitting there opposite the tomb.
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