There is a lot of confusion about the timeline of the Crucifixion, and today I want to dig deep into this subject. We are going to look at when the Passover is supposed to be kept, was the Last Supper a Passover, and what day was Yeshua crucified.

So, the first thing we need to look at is when Passover is supposed to be kept. There is some argument about if Passover is on the evening beginning the 14th day or the evening ending the 14th day. According to the Bible, a day begins and ends at evening. The Hebrew word for evening is erev and means “mixture”. It is a mixture of day and night. This refers to the time when the sun is no longer visible, but the light from the sun is still visible. One day is ending and the next day is beginning. It is also called sunset or twilight.

We can see this clearly illustrated when we look at the Day of Atonement.

“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement… It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at EVENING, from EVENING to EVENING, you shall celebrate your sabbath.”
– Leviticus 23:27-32

The 10th day of the 7th month is the Day of Atonement, and that day begins at sunset on the 9th. The evening beginning the 10th day is called the evening of the 9th, and the evening ending the 10th day is called the evening of the 10th.

Keep that in mind as we look at the language of Passover.

“On the fourteenth day of the first month at TWILIGHT is the Lord’s Passover.”
– Leviticus 23:5

“Let the children of Israel keep the Passover at its APPOINTED TIME. On the fourteenth day of this month, at TWILIGHT, you shall keep it at its APPOINTED TIME. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.”
– Numbers 9:2-3

So, on the 14th day at twilight or sunset is the Passover. This means at the evening ending the 14th day is when you keep the Passover. Notice that we are to keep it at the appointed time, which means we are not supposed to do it any other day. So, keeping it on the evening of the 13th would be a violation of this command.

Passover is the meal that begins the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and they are lumped together.

“On the fourteenth day of the first month at TWILIGHT is the Lord’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; SEVEN DAYS you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for SEVEN DAYS. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.'”
– Leviticus 23:5-8

Notice that unleavened bread is to be eaten for 7 days not 8 days. If we eat Passover on the evening beginning the 14th, the evening of the 13th, we would be eating unleavened bread for 8 days, which doesn’t fit the commandment. So, once again, this points to the end of the 14th day.

Also, listen to what it says about the lamb. The Bible says we are to keep the lamb until the 14th day and kill it at twilight.

“Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at TWILIGHT.”
– Exodus 12:6

If you kill the lamb on the evening ending the 13th, then you haven’t kept it until the 14th day. To kill it on the 14th day at twilight means to kill it at the end of the 14th day. Ok, hopefully I’ve explained that well enough.

Now, let’s look at the Last Supper. Was the Last Supper a Passover?

Some people have argued that the Last Supper was not a Passover celebration, but let’s examine what the Bible 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?”
– Matthew 26:17

“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?”
– Mark 14:12

“Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the PASSOVER MUST BE KILLED.”
– Luke 22:7

So, we see from the Gospels that this event happened on the day that the Passover must be killed. That means it was the 14th day of the first month. Now, listen to the instructions that Yeshua gave His disciples concerning this meal.

“And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I WILL KEEP THE PASSOVER at your house with My disciples.”
– Matthew 26:18

“Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may EAT THE PASSOVER with My disciples?”
– Mark 14:14

“And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the PASSOVER for us, THAT WE MAY EAT.”
– Luke 22:8

“Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may EAT THE PASSOVER with My disciples?”
– Luke 22:11

So, Yeshua clearly said He is going to eat Passover with His disciples in that house, and Yeshua is not a liar. He told the disciples to prepare the Passover so they could eat it together, and the disciples did what He asked, and they prepared the Passover meal.

“So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the PASSOVER.”
– Matthew 26:19

“So His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the PASSOVER.”
– Mark 14:16

“So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the PASSOVER.”
– Luke 22:13

Now, notice when they sat down to eat. They ate at evening, the correct time to eat the Passover.

“When EVENING had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were EATING, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”
– Matthew 26:20-21

“In the EVENING He came with the twelve. Now as they sat and ATE, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
– Mark 14:17-18

“When THE HOUR had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to EAT THIS PASSOVER with you before I suffer”
– Luke 22:14-15

When the hour had come, at evening, He sat down to eat the Passover with them. This is the appointed time that we read about in Numbers.

“Let the children of Israel keep the PASSOVER at its APPOINTED TIME. On the fourteenth day of this month, at TWILIGHT, you shall keep it at its APPOINTED TIME. According to all its rites and ceremonies you shall keep it.”
– Numbers 9:2-3

I’ve heard people argue that Yeshua kept Passover a day early because He knew He wouldn’t be able to keep it the next day. That’s impossible because Yeshua did everything correctly. We are commanded to keep Passover at a specific appointed time, and that’s at the end of the 14th day, at sunset. And the Bible says that Yeshua kept it at that time with His disciples.

Yeshua emphasizes this fact by saying,

“With fervent desire I have desired to EAT THIS PASSOVER with you before I suffer”
– Luke 22:15

I have heard various theories that try to say this Last Supper was not Passover, and what I’ve come to realize is that they are attempting to fit the Bible into their theory. They believe that Yeshua died on Passover, on the 14th day at sunset, so they have to figure out what to do with all of these Scriptures that tell us that He ate the Passover the night before.

Some say He ate Passover early, while others say the Last Supper wasn’t even Passover at all. They are ignoring what the Bible says, and twisting things to fit their theory. The confusion seems to be with understanding what John wrote about the crucifixion.

“Then they led Jesus 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.”
– John 18:28

At first glance, this sounds like Yeshua was going to be crucified on the day before the Passover meal. However, that doesn’t fit with the other Gospels, and I don’t believe the Gospels are contradicting one another about this. So, how do we understand this?

The first thing we need to realize is that the entire Feast of Unleavened bread was referred to as Passover.

“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called PASSOVER.”
– Luke 22:1

We see here that the Bible is defining terms for us. They came to call the entire Feast “Passover” long before the First Century, and we see evidence of this in the Old Testament. The prophet Ezekiel refers to Passover as a feast of seven days.

“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the PASSOVER, A FEAST OF SEVEN DAYS; unleavened bread shall be eaten.”
– Ezekiel 45:21

So, with that in mind, consider that the priests didn’t want to be defiled at any point during the Feast of Passover because they would be eating sacrifices every night. We read in Numbers 28 that there were special Passover sacrifices offered up every day for the entire seven days of the Feast.

“On the fourteenth day of the first month is the PASSOVER of the Lord. And on the fifteenth day of this month is the feast; unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days… And you shall present an offering made by fire as a burnt offering to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are without blemish… also one goat as a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. In this manner you shall offer the food of the offering made by fire DAILY FOR SEVEN DAYS, as a sweet aroma to the Lord; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and its drink offering.”
– Numbers 28:16-24

So, you see that John isn’t contradicting the other Gospels. Yeshua ate Passover on the 14th at evening, and He was Crucified on the 15th. The Priests didn’t want to be defiled because they had duties all week for the Feast of Passover.

So, what day of the week was Yeshua crucified?

This brings us to the theory that Yeshua died on Wednesday. This theory is based on pre-conceived ideas that they are trying to fit into Scripture, instead of simply letting the Bible interpret itself.

The people who teach that Yeshua died on Wednesday also teach that He didn’t eat the Passover at the Last Supper. The reason they do this is because they are looking for two Sabbath days during the crucifixion week, and if He ate Passover during the Last Supper, that means He died on the 15th, the Festival Sabbath, but they need the Festival Sabbath to be the day that follows His crucifixion for their theory to work.

Let me try to explain this theory.

They believe Yeshua ate the Last Supper on Tuesday evening, but it wasn’t Passover. Then He died on Wednesday, which they say is the preparation day for the Passover. They say He was buried on Wednesday evening right before the Festival Sabbath began. Then Thursday was the Festival Sabbath, and Friday the women prepared spices for His burial, and they rested on the regular weekly Sabbath and went to the tomb early Sunday morning to find the empty tomb.

This creates two Sabbaths between the crucifixion and resurrection, but the Bible doesn’t give us two Sabbaths. When people try to fit the Bible into their theories, they end up with things like this.

What we need to do is set aside our preconceived ideas and simply let the Bible interpret itself.

The Bible tells us that Yeshua died on the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, which means He died on Friday.

“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.”
– Mark 15:42-43

This verse defines for us what the Preparation day is, it is the day before the Sabbath. At that time, the Jewish people referred to Friday as the Preparation day, because it was the day they prepared for the Sabbath.

They wanted to get the body of Yeshua in the tomb before the Sabbath began at sunset.

John calls this day the Preparation day as well, but the way he phrases it has caused confusion for some people because John calls it the preparation day of the Passover.

“Now it was the PREPARATION DAY of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
– John 19:14

“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.”
– John 19:31

“So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ PREPARATION DAY, for the tomb was nearby.”
– John 19:42

As I mentioned before, the phrase “Preparation Day” is an exclusive reference to Friday, the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, and John even confirms this here by saying it was the Jews’ Preparation Day.

But what does John mean when he says, “the Preparation Day of the Passover”? He’s simply saying it was Friday during Passover week. Remember that the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread is called Passover. So, the Preparation day of Passover is the Friday during Passover.

Some people see contradictions between John’s Gospel and the other three, and they want to say John is right and the other Gospels are wrong. While other people say Matthew, Mark, and Luke are correct, but John is wrong.

However, I’m saying that all four Gospels are correct and they are all telling us the same thing. We just have to see it from a First Century Jewish perspective to understand it. All four Gospels agree that the crucifixion took place on Friday, the Preparation Day for the Sabbath during Passover week. There is no contradiction in the text.

The contradiction happens when we don’t look at all four Gospels together for context. If you try to single out one Gospel at the exclusion of the others, you will come away with a bad interpretation, which will force you to see contradictions in the text. So, we need to seek a harmony of the Gospels that doesn’t cause us to compromise the text.

When people say Yeshua didn’t eat Passover at the Last Supper, they are compromising the text which clearly tells us He did eat Passover with His disciples that night.

And when People say He was crucified on Wednesday, they are compromising the text which clearly says He died on the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, which means He died on Friday.

The idea that there were two sabbath days between the crucifixion and resurrection is a manipulation of the text. We clearly see in the Gospels that there is only one sabbath mentioned.

“This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and THE SABBATH drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on THE SABBATH according to the commandment.”
– Luke 23:52-56

“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.”
– Luke 24:1

We see here that they rested on the Sabbath after His body was placed in the tomb, and the day after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, the women came to the empty tomb.

Matthew confirms the same timeline.

“On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.”
– Matthew 27:62-66

“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.”
– Matthew 28:1

Here, we see that on Saturday, the Sabbath, the priests and Pharisees came to Pilate to ask that the tomb be guarded, and the next day, the day after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, the women came to the empty tomb.

Mark also confirms this same timeline.

“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

John also confirms this same timeline.

“So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.”
– John 19:42

“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.”
– John 20:1

None of the Gospels indicate that there was more than one Sabbath day between the crucifixion and resurrection. They are all in agreement that Yeshua died on the Preparation Day of the Sabbath, and He rose early Sunday morning before the women came to the tomb on the first day of the week.

So, the Biblical timeline looks like this. Yeshua ate Passover with His disciples on Thursday the 14th at evening. He was crucified on Friday the 15th and buried before sunset. They rested on the Sabbath and returned to the tomb on Sunday morning very early to find the empty tomb.