The Events Surrounding the Crucifixion

Introduction
Was the "Last Supper" the Passover Meal?
The Day of the Crucifixion
The Year of the Crucifixion

The Events Surrounding The Crucifixion

Introduction

There are many books available dealing with the subject of the events surrounding the crucifixion, many of which disagree with each other. I am sure that the authors honestly believe in what they have written and the majority have published their works, as they perceive, to the Glory of God.
Since there are so many and so many disagreements between them, then perhaps a short Bible study would be in order to show what God would have us know about the subject.
First let it be said that to a believer in Messiah there are no contradictions in the Word of God (the Bible) and that where there are apparently so, it is God's way of drawing our attention to an important truth or principle.
Let us not forget that the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit and it is only by the Holy Spirit and the Grace of God that we can understand it in the way that God intended. To the unbeliever it is a work composed by man, full of errors, myths and contradictions. To the believer in Messiah a love letter from the Creator, overflowing with all that we need to know to be able to come into a personal relationship with Him and to be able to serve Him to His Glory.

Was the "Last Supper" the Passover Meal?

It is important to reach a conclusion regarding this topic before we can proceed with the rest of the study as the outcome will necessarily effect how the days of the crucifixion are to be seen.

17 Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Yeshua, saying to him, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"
18 He said, "Go into the city to a certain person, and tell him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples."'"
19 The disciples did as Yeshua commanded them, and they prepared the Passover.
Mt. 26:17-19

12 On the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, his disciples asked him, "Where do you want us to go and make ready that you may eat the Passover?"
13 He sent two of his disciples, and said to them, "Go into the city, and there will meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him,
14 and wherever he enters in, tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"'
15 He will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Make ready for us there."
16 His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found things as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
Mk. 14:12-16

7 The day of unleavened bread came, on which the Passover must be sacrificed.
8 He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."
9 They said to him, "Where do you want us to prepare?"
10 He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him into the house which he enters.
11 Tell the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?"'
12 He will show you a large, furnished upper room. Make preparations there."
13 They went, found things as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.
Lk. 22:7-13

1 Now before the feast of the Passover, Yeshua knowing that his time had come that he would depart out of this world to his Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
2 After supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,
3 Yeshua, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from God, and was going to God,
4 arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist.
5 Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Jn. 13:1-5

It will immediately be noticed that all three Synoptic Gospels state that it was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Mark and Luke both add that it was when the Passover Lambs were killed. The Law states that the lambs were to be slaughtered on the 14th of the month and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to commence on the 15th. The reason for the apparent contradiction is that by the time of Yeshua the terms 'Passover' and the 'Feast of Unleavened Bread' had become synonymous; although according to the Law, the two are distinct yet inseparably linked.
Some have tried to show by this that Yeshua ate the Passover meal with His disciples a day early, on the evening of the 13th. However that would then mean that Yeshua broke the Law, which emphatically states that it has to be eaten on the evening of the 14th. of Nissan.
We can see conclusively then, that according to the Synoptics, Yeshua, with His disciples, ate the Passover meal as laid down in the Law.
For some, the first verse of John 13 implies that the meal mentioned was eaten before the feast of the Passover. However it is quite reasonable to read verse one as a way of introduction to the subject rather than as a description of what took place from verse 2 onward, and that the term 'the Passover Feast' is a description of the whole of Passover and not just the Passover meal; after all it is quite clear from the Synoptics that John is in agreement in describing the same evening meal - that the same meal is in view.
We have seen then that the Synoptics are in one accord as to the fact that Yeshua and His disciples ate the Passover meal, according to the Law, on the evening of the 14th. of Nissan and that the Gospel of John, whilst showing other events, also describes the Passover meal.
John's Gospel, as has been seen already, provides a few passages which have caused several to question that the meal shared by Yeshua and His disciples was indeed the Passover meal.

Then they led Yeshua from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
Jn. 18:28

This passage would imply that the Priests did not want to defile themselves, so as to be able to eat the Passover meal, and that therefore Yeshua was being tried on the day before the Passover. This would then mean that He must have eaten the meal with His disciples the day before and therefore it could not have been the true Passover meal. However, according to Jewish tradition (cf. Acts 11:2-3 And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with him, saying, "You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!") a Jew that entered a Gentile's house would be 'unclean' until the evening. Yet if he were unclean until the evening he would still be able to eat the Passover meal as the meal was eaten in the evening (after the ritual cleansing would have taken place); therefore the above passage cannot be referring to the Passover meal but to the 'Chagigah' - the festive meal that was eaten on the 15th of Nissan. (For more on the subject see 'The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah' by Alfred Edersheim, Book 5 / Chapter 14, pp. 865-866).
As can be seen Jn. 18:28 does not present itself as evidence against the meal being eaten by Yeshua and His disciples as being the Passover meal.
Another passage that some use to try and show that Yeshua did not eat the true Passover meal is Jn. 19:14:

Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"
Jn. 19:14

They argue as follows: "Since it says that it was the Preparation Day of the Passover it has to be the 14th. that is in view and as it was the same day as the trial and crucifixion of Yeshua, then the crucifixion took place on the day before the Passover. Thus the meal that Yeshua ate with His disciples was not the true Passover meal as it was eaten on the evening of the 13th. rather than the 14th."
However it must be noticed that both Mark and Luke state that the preparation day was the day before the Sabbath: Mk. 15:42 "Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath," and Lk. 23:54 "That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near."
Another problematic passage is Jn. 19:31:

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.
Jn. 19:31

The difficulty arises from the expression 'for that Sabbath was a high day'. The question then is "What is the 'high day' referring to?" The obvious answer, in view of other relevant passages, is that it was the regular weekly Sabbath but was made special or high by the fact that, at the time of Yeshua, the 'Omer' (VaYikra / Leviticus 23:10-14) was waived on the 16th. of Nissan which, at the time of the crucifixion, fell on the normal weekly Sabbath.
So although some have tried to show that the Sabbath mentioned was not the regular weekly Sabbath, but in actual fact an extra Sabbath caused by the 15th. Nissan (The feast of Unleavened Bread) falling on Thursday or Friday - depending on the particular day for the crucifixion preferred, it can be seen that it was the regular Sabbath albeit with the addition of the waiving of the Omer - thus making it 'special'. (For an in depth study of the subject, Alfred Edersheim's 'The Temple Its Ministry And Services' [chapters 10 & 11] is recommended).
The Scriptures agree then that the Preparation Day was a Friday - the regular day of the week that preparations were done for the Sabbath and not the day of preparing for the Passover (evening) meal. Therefore the above passages in John do not negate Yeshua and His disciples from eating the true Passover meal on the evening of the 14th. of Nissan in accordance with the Law.
In light of the other Gospels, with reference to Preparation Day, it is probably correct to understand Jn. 19:14 as meaning 'the Preparation Day [for the Sabbath] of the Passover week'.
In summary: Although there would appear to be room for several interpretations concerning the title, day and date of the meal that Yeshua shared with His disciples it has, by careful study, been shown that the scriptures reveal beyond any doubt that Yeshua and His disciples ate, according to the Law, the Passover meal on the evening of the 14th. of Nissan.

The Day of the Crucifixion

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