Holy Week begins with the Triumphal Entry (a.k.a. Palm Sunday) and concludes with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ the next Sunday. The Four Gospels, place an overwhelming emphasis on that one week. For example, the Gospel of John has 21 chapters and the Triumphal Entry is in chapter 12. Thus, roughly half of the Gospel of John is dedicated to one week in Jesus’ life.
Let’s address a valid question; how can we know that the Triumphal Entry and the day of Resurrection were on Sunday? We’ll start with the Resurrection. The Four Gospels attest to the fact that Jesus was resurrected on “the first day of the week,” which was the day we now refer to as Sunday.
Matthew 28:1 - Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
Mark 16:2 - Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
Mark 16:9 - Now when He [Jesus] rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.
Luke 24:1-2 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
John 20:1 - Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
So then, it’s firmly settled that Jesus came out of the tomb very early on the “first day of the week,” that is, on Sunday. For this reason, the early Christian community switched their day of worship from the Jewish Sabbath to the day of Resurrection.
Now, let’s consider the day of the crucifixion. Determining the day of our Lord’s crucifixion is more involved. John 19:13-14 tells us exactly when Jesus’ trial came to a conclusion, “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour.” All the Greek text (e.g. the Nestle-Aland Text, Byzantine Text, and Majority Text indicate that Jesus was brought to the judgement seat on the “Preparation Day of the Passover.” In accordance with the instructions for Passover in Exodus 12, the preparation day of the Passover is the 14th of Nisan. Furthermore, John 19:31 tells us it was also the Preparation Day for the Sabbath; “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” The Jewish religious leaders were seeking to expedite the crucifixion process because the Sabbath started at sundown. Additionally, John tells us that it was a “high day.” It seems this term was used for Sabbath days that fell on other significant holy days or feast days. In the year of our Lord’s crucifixion, the Sabbath coincided with Passover thus it was a “high day.”
The Gospel of Mark also attests to the Crucifixion being on Friday. Mark 15:42-43 says, “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.” Again, “the day before Sabbath” is Friday. The end of the day has come and they need to put Jesus body in a tomb as the Sabbath has arrived. This fits the description of what happened with everything being hurried due to the Sabbath coming. They didn’t even have time to anoint his body for burial. The beginning of Mark 16 tells us, “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen” (Mark 16:1-2).
The primary objection to the Crucifixion being on Friday is the inability to fulfill Jesus’ words in Matthew 12:40; “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” If one forces a literal application of this passage, then moving the Crucifixion to Thursday still presents a problem, namely, you can’t get three 24 hour periods between Thursday afternoon (Jesus died at the 9th hour - which according to Jewish chronology was 3PM) and Sunday morning. Three 24 hour periods would span Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon, and we know Jesus was already risen at dawn on Sunday. In an attempt to fulfill the three 24 hour periods, some have argued the Crucifixion was on Wednesday. However, such arguments ignore the detailed chronology described in the Gospels and give interpretive priority to the three days/three nights statement. If priority is given to the Holy Week details in the Gospels, then the three days/three nights statement was meant to be general and not literal in it’s application. Jesus frequently adopted a non-literal teaching style — a classic example is John 6:51-66.
Three other passages that we should consider are Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12 and Luke 22:7. In each passage, the terms “Passover” and the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” are used interchangeably even though they are separate events that dovetail into one another on the Jewish calendar. Matthew 26:17 says, “Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?’” Mark 14:12 gets more specific, “Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, ‘Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?’” Luke 22:7 follows the same specificity saying, “Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.’”
Technically, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is Nisan 15, but it was common for the Jews to refer to the celebrations in the same way that we refer to “Christmas” — we commonly use the designation “Christmas” for the general time frame of the season not just for December 25. If we go with the biblical accounts of a Friday crucifixion, and we know that Friday was also the Preparation Day of the Passover (John 19:14), then in keeping with the Jewish day starting at sundown, Nisan 14 (the Preparation day of Passover or the first day of Unleavened Bread) started at sundown on Thursday and concluded at sundown on Friday. Thus, the Last Supper was held at the very beginning of the “day of Unleavened Bread.”
With that chronology in mind, we can continue to work backward with the details provided by John 12:1 and 12:12. John 12:1 says, “six days before Passover,” Jesus was in Bethany with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Six days before Friday (14th) is Saturday (8th). Thus, Jesus was with Mary Martha and Lazarus on the Sabbath (Saturday) before the Crucifixion. John 12:12 tell us, “the next day,” the people gathered in Jerusalem because they heard Jesus was coming into the city, and they “took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him.” The next day from Saturday is Sunday. Indeed, the people started preparing their palms in anticipation of Jesus’ arrival on Sunday (9th) making it a “Palm Sunday.”
Yet, Jesus didn’t come into Jerusalem early that day. Rather, he came that evening when the Jewish date changed from the 9th to the 10th. Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of Holy Week is Mark 11:11. The detail in that verse can not be overlooked. It says, “And Jesus went into Jerusalem and into the temple. So when He had looked around at all things, as the hour was already late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.” Young’s Literal Translation says, “Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple, and having looked round on all things, it being now evening, he went forth to Bethany with the twelve.” If you remember that the Jewish day went from sundown to sundown then Jesus came into Jerusalem on the Nisan 10. That’s incredibly important because, according to Exodus 12:3, the Passover lambs were selected for sacrifice on the 10th day of the month. At the very beginning of the day the Jews would select their lambs, God the Father provided for Himself the Lamb for an offering (Genesis 22:8). In the words of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
So let’s settle the dates we know according to the Jewish chronology and the Gospels:
Day - Date - Passage
Sat - 8/9 - Jn 12:1
Sun - 9/10 - Jn 12:12
Mon - 10/11
Tue - 11/12
Wed - 12/13 - Mk 14:1
Thr - 13/14 - Lk 22:7
Fri - 14/15 - Jn 19:14, Mk 15:42
Sat - 15/16 - Mk 16:1
Sun - 16/17 - Mk 16:2 et. al.
One last nugget of scriptural gold — the first full day of our Lord’s resurrection would have been the 17th. Genesis 8:3 tells us that the Ark came to rest on, “the 17th day of the month!” God has given us new life in the resurrection of Jesus the Christ!
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17
My God bless you this Holy Week!
If this lesson has encouraged you by reminding you that God’s timing is always perfect, then send it to someone that needs encouragement today.
God before government,
Rit
Ooooo that part about the ark coming to rest on the 17th!! Wow!!!