Is Passover an Appointed Time for the Crucifixion?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth didn’t happen on just any day of the year…the timing is simply too hard to ignore. His execution was either a 1-in-365 happenstance incident or, perhaps, an appointed time of divine design.

Nisan 15^th – Jesus was crucified on the first day of the Jewish Passover. Merriam-Webster defines a sacrifice as “an act of offering to a deity something precious.”

Passover commenced at sunset, the beginning of a Jewish day, with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The meal was intended to commemorate the time when the sacrifice of an innocent lamb had been required of God for salvation from the angel of death in Egypt.

A basic understanding of an appointed time helps to determine whether the timing of the crucifixion was merely a coincidence or more than that. Clues are found in the story of how the Hebrew Law came to be given by God at Mt. Sinai.

_ _ _ _ _

God’s booming voice coming from the burning bush at the base of Mt. Sinai instructed Moses to return to Egypt after a 40-year exile. Along with his brother Aaron, they were to confront the mighty Pharaoh of Egypt with a clear and succinct message:

^{Ex 5:1} …”Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’”_(NKJV)

Initially, Pharaoh was not willing to give up his slave labor force, but he paid a big price. Suffering through several plagues, Egypt’s ruler was finally wanting to stop the misery and commanded, “‘Go, serve the Lord your God.”

Realizing he was about to make a big mistake if he let all of his Hebrew slaves leave, Pharaoh asked, “Exactly who is going with you?” On the other hand, if he only released the Hebrew men to go have this feast, he could hold their family’s hostage.^[1]

Moses countered with an unexpected response that blunted Pharaoh’s scheme: “We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and our cattle we will go, because we are to hold a pilgrim feast for the Lord.”^[2]

‘No way!’ was the essence of Pharaoh’s response saying, “‘No! Go, you men only, and serve the Lord, for that is what you want,” then Moses and Aaron were driven out of Pharaoh’s presence.”^[3] The 9^th plague of deep darkness for three full days came next, but Pharaoh still did not relent.

A 10^th plague was now coming to persuade Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go. This time it would include very personal consequences with more major financial impacts.

Livestock value to both the Egyptians and Hebrews was very significant, especially for the enslaved Hebrews. Sheep were the source of clothing, food and milk, even as pets. For a household to lose a single lamb meant losing a valuable commodity.

For the Egyptians, cattle were valued in much the same way as sheep. Cattle were part of the Egyptian religion and represented a status of wealth where losing a significant portion of livestock would have a disastrous affect.^[4]

Leading up to the horrible night of the 10^th plague, God offered protection for the Hebrews if they followed a precise sacrificial ritual. Each family was to choose one of their unblemished lambs, sacrifice it, splash its blood on the door posts of their homes, and roast the lamb for a family feast at sunset.^[5]

At midnight, the angel of death passed over any home with the lamb’s blood splashed on the doorposts thereby sparing the of the Hebrew’s firstborn and their livestock. The 10^th plague was devastating for the Egyptians – every firstborn died including the death of Pharoah’s own son breaking his resolve.

Salvation from the plague of death set the stage for what would become Israel’s first legally mandated Feast of Unleavened observance. Passover was to be observed every year from that time forward:^[6]

^{Ex 12:14}‘So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance._(NKJV)

A few weeks later, God handed down the Law to Moses atop Mt. Sinai. The Law defined the observance of three annual Festivals or Feasts and a permanent place to observe the Passover at its appointed time:

^{Lev. 23:}^4-7‘These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times.

‘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. _(NKJV)

Centerpiece of the Passover commenced on Nisan 14 was the sacrifice of the paschal lamb eventually to permanently occur in the place God was yet to reveal.^[7] Following at sunset, Nisan 15, was the Feast of Unleavened Bread featuring the roasted meat of the sacrificial lamb.

Passover was a week-long celebration yet the Festival was intended to be a solemn time in remembrance of God’s miraculous deliverance from slavery and tyranny. The Law’s definition for observing the Passover used similar terms as for the weekly Sabbath, each was called “a holy assembly” or “holy convocation.”^[8]

Found to be innocent by the government rulers Tetrarch Herod and Procurator Pilate, at the urging of the Jewish leadership Jesus was crucified on the first day of Passover observed at its appointed time. Events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus at the Passover were controlled solely by his archenemies – out of the control of Jesus, his Disciples or any alleged Christian conspirators.

Was the crucifixion of Jesus on Passover, Nisan 15, merely a coincidence or a divinely appointed time?

Updated August 28, 2024.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

NKJV = New King James Version translation.
NET = NETBible translation

REFERENCES:

[1] NET.
[2] NET.
[3] Quotes from NET translation. Exodus 10[iv] Exodus 12.
[4] Benner, Jeff A. “Ancient Hebrew Livestock.” Ancient Hebrew Research Center. 2022. <https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/culture/ancient-hebrew-livestock.htm> Cownie, Emma. Emmafcpwnie.com. 2018. “Why cattle mattered in the Ancient World.” <https://emmafcownie.medium.com/why-cattle-mattered-in-the-ancient-world-4e27b1c37e58> “Cattle in the ancient world of the Bible” Women In The Bible. 2006. <https://womeninthebible.net/bible_daily_life/cattle_ancient_world/#:~:text=Cattle%20were%20an%20important%20status%20symbol.%20In%20biblical,as%20well%20as%20for%20ploughing%2C%20threshing%20and%20transport.> Broyles, Stephen. The Andreas Center. 2010. <https://www.andreascenter.org/Articles/Sheep%20and%20Goats.htm> “Sheep in History. Sheep101.info. 2021. <http://www.sheep101.info/history.html
[5] Mock, Robert. Destination Yisra’el. “The First Pesach in the Land of Egypt.” photo. 2017. <https://destination-yisrael.biblesearchers.com/destination-yisrael/2017/04/the-history-of-the-passover-in-the-days-of-the-nazarene.html&gt
[6] Exodus 12:27; Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
[7] Exodus 12; Deuteronomy 16; Leviticus 23. “Abib” and “Nisan.” Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011.
[8] Exodus 16:22-23, 29; 20:8-10; Leviticus 23:3. Babylonian Talmud. Rodkinson. 1918. Book 1, Tract Sabbath, Chapters 1-10; Book 2; Erubin, Pesachim, Book 3, Chapter IV, VI, VIII. <https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm#t03> Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. Book V, Chapter 15. pp 1382-1392 & pp 1393-1421. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm> Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapter 10. 1826 -1889. The NTSLibrary. 2016. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Temple%20by%20Alfred%20Edersheim.pdf> Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6359-friday “Festivals,”“Holy Days,” “Passover,” ”Shabbat,” “Sabbath ” & “Sabbath and Sunday.” 2011. <http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com> “Shabbath.” <https://israelect.com/Come-and-Hear/shabbath/index.html; “Shabbat” and “Festivals. Jewish Encyclopedia. 2011. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com

The Empty Tomb – Resurrection or Conspiracy?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

The Empty Tomb – Resurrection or Conspiracy?

For the more than 2000 years, the incident reported by the Gospels to have occurred at dawn on Sunday during Passover has been debated countless times. Believers say it was a Resurrection; skeptics have proposed many conspiracy theories to explain away how the body simply vanished.

Two named Jewish Council members laid the dead the body of Jesus killed by crucifixion in Joseph’s own unused the tomb. Four named women from Galilee also witnessed the body of Jesus being prepared for burial on a slab stone inside the tomb, then a stone rolled in front of the entrance to it.

Setting the scene the next day, the Jewish leadership testified to Pilate the body was in the tomb and needed to be secured. Dual security methods were implemented by the authority of Pilate to prevent the body from being stolen.

Guarded by an armed Roman-Jewish military squad called a koustodia by Matthew, the tomb was sealed. Predawn of Sunday, according to Mark, finds Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jose, Salome, and Joanna fretting about who would roll away the stone set in place Joseph of Arimathea.

Four conclusions can be drawn from these two accounts: the women expected to find the dead body of Jesus; they were not accompanied by either Joseph, Nicodemus or any of the Disciples; they were unaware the tomb had been sealed nor that it was being guarded by koustodia.^[1]

Sunrise of Sunday begins the final phase in the sequence of events at the tomb preceded by the trial, crucifixion and burial of Jesus of Nazareth. A significant number of ten verses in Matthew and eight verses in Mark describe the scenario at the tomb that morning; Luke paraphrased how events at the tomb began.

Calm and quiet quickly took a dramatic turn when Matthew describes a great earthquake occurred. In a matter of moments, the Roman-Jewish legally imposed chain of custody over the body of Jesus was suddenly broken.

^{MT 28:2-4} “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.” _(NKJV)

Angelic beings pointed out to the witnesses at the tomb that it was empty. Witness accounts gathered by the authors of Matthew and Mark describe the tomb being opened by an angel or a young man wearing a wrap-around, brilliant white robe.

Shortly thereafter, Luke’s report describes two men in dazzling apparel.^[2] One speaking angel or two present angels, both can be true.

Seasoned Roman-Jewish military soldiers and the women of Galilee were paralyzed with fear by the traumatic sequence of events. Incapacitated by terror, they watched and listened as the events at the tomb unfolded.

Reactions of witnesses to a traumatic event are indications of what was going through their minds. Matthew reports the chaotic scene that Sunday morning where those present scattered in three directions.

Hardcore military squad and the four women reacted in a similar manner – they all ran away. Mark reports the petrified and dumbstruck women didn’t say a word as they ran from the tomb. Luke said they were “terrified.”

Women of Galilee headed for the location of some of the Disciples. The koustodia split up, some diverting to the Jewish chief priests, the others to destinations unknown.

Reactions to the unbecoming behavior by the koustodia is telling. The guard’s message rang true to the chief priests based on their response to the information.

Chief priests were undoubtedly surprised by this unexpected turn of events. Quickly they assembled the elders of the Jewish Council (possibly including Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea) to deal with their new problem.

Irony of ironies, areJewish leadership had just testified to Pilate the body of Jesus was inside the tomb and had implored him to secure the tomb to prevent the theft of the body. Now they were compelled to address the inexplicable missing body in-spite-of the Roman-Jewish security measures they had implemented. Matthew describes what they decided to do:

^{MT 28:13-14}“You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole his body while we were asleep….’ If this matter is heard before the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”_(NET)

Further insight to the authority of the koustodia is also revealed. Promising to appease Pilate if the koustodia’s dereliction of duty became an issue, it confirms the guards were ultimately under Pilate’s Roman authority though strongly influenced by the Jewish leadership.

Meanwhile, the women of Galilee arrived at the location of some Disciples. John’s eyewitness Gospel joins the description of events at this point with Mary Magdalene’s bewildered announcement to the Disciples. She is quoted exclaiming:

^{JN 20:2} “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”_(NET)

Two Disciples identified by John, Peter and himself, ran to the tomb to see for themselves finding it empty save for the burial linens. The two returned home in wonderment.

Both the koustodia and the women reported the same event to two different parties describing how the chain of custody had been broken by events at the tomb. Each party hearing the information reacted differently, yet neither party called the reports false.

Four women from Galilee, members of the koustodia, the broken chain of custody, two angels, and the empty tomb are details that are challenging to refute if they are false.

Were the events involving the empty tomb a false narrative or was there a Resurrection?

Updated June 7, 2024.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

NET = NET Bible translation; NKJV = New King James Version translation.

Gospel Resurrection account: Matthew 28, Mark 16; Luke 24, John 20.

[1] “Centuries later, archaeologists opened the tomb of Jesus.” News24hours. photo. 2016. <https://news24hours.in/2016/10/31/centuries-later-archaeologists-opened-the-tomb-of-jesus-christ>
[2] NetBible.org. Greek text. Matthew 28:2, aggelos and katabaino. Mark 16:5, neaniskos, periballo, and stole. Luke 24:4, astrapto and esthesis.

The Trial of Jesus — Guilty or Innocent?

Posted on by K.B. Vogelman

The Trial of Jesus — Guilty or Innocent?

Jesus of Nazareth had been arrested by a posse of the Jewish leadership in the Garden of Gethsemane outside Jerusalem. Escorted by the armed guards back into the city, Jesus would be aberrantly tried on the charge of blasphemy as defined in the Law of Moses.^[1]

Prosecuting the case in defense of God’s Law was Chief Priest Caiaphas and the defendant representing himself was Jesus of Nazareth. The verdict of the aberrant trial would have colossal implications in one of two very different ways.

Rome would surely react unfavorably to any potential new Jewish figurehead if they did nothing. A conviction as an insurrectionist and tax evader might be viewed by Rome positively and trouble could be averted.

Conviction from a Jewish perspective would publicly label Jesus as a blasphemer worthy of death, not worship. God’s Law would be successfully defended and upheld.

Acquittal would mean, at the very least, that Jesus would likely be considered the Son of God, worthy of worship. Such a verdict would be an embarrassment for the Jewish Council and pose a threat to their religious political power base.

As an added bonus, a conviction would eliminate the subversive threat to the Jewish leaders political power base. A Jewish Talmud Gemara would later expose the reasoning:^[2]

^{San 49b} “…thus the blasphemer and the idol-worshipper are executed. Wherein lies the particular enormity of these offences? — Because they constitute an attack upon the fundamental belief of Judaism.”^[3]

Gravity of the situation called for a fair and thorough trial, but how likely was that reality? At stake was the defense of Judaism, a religious institution headed by the same power base that was responsible for rendering the verdict – the prosecution witnesses even came from among those serving as judge and jury.^[4]

Defense witnesses for Jesus were nowhere to be found. Not because there weren’t any, but being under the threat of death themselves, who would come forward in his defense?^[5] Even his most stalwart disciple, Peter, upon whom Jesus had declared he would build his church would deny knowing Jesus three times that very night as the aberrant trial progressed.

Other ominous signs did not favor a fair trial given it was not conducted in accordance with Jewish law. Legal code in the Talmud defined how capital offenses were to be tried and convictions rendered. Among them:^[6]

MISHNA: Sanhedrin 32a:

“Capital charges must be tried by day and concluded by day.”

“In capital charges, anyone may argue in his favour, but not against him.”

“Capital charges may be concluded on the same day with a favourable verdict, but only on the morrow with an unfavourable verdict therefore trials are not held on the eve of a Sabbath or Festival.”

Pretrial events began at the residence of Annas, a Sanhedrin power broker, former Chief Priest and father-in-law of Chief Priest Caiaphas. Annas began with cursory questions asking Jesus about his disciples and his teachings. Jesus replied that he had always spoken openly in the Temple and synagogues – there were no secrets.

“Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”_(NRSV)

Not sitting well with his captors, one of them reacted by hitting Jesus. Holding firm, Jesus again challenged his captors saying:

“If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?””_(NRSV)

With this, Annas sent the posse with their blindfolded and bound prisoner to Caiaphas. By the time they arrived at the Sanhedrin meeting hall at the Temple, Jesus had been mocked and beaten.

Chief Priest Caiaphas presided over the trial held that fateful night. The Law required two eyewitnesses to corroborate the same point of evidence to establish a fact for a conviction.^[8]

Initially the High Priest’s prosecution effort was not going well with many accusers coming forward; however, no two witness testimonies could agree.^[9] Finally, two witnesses made the same accusation: “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”

Not quite the same, Jesus actually had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”^[10] Nevertheless, Jesus was accused of saying he would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in just three days when previously it took 46 years to build.

Implying only God could do this, it created an opening, Caiaphas understood the implications. He pounced on the moment with an indicting question that cut to the heart of the trial:

^{MK 14.61} “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” _{(ISV, NLT, NRSV)}

An answer in the affirmative would be self-incriminating and condemning. It was the moment of truth – was Jesus of Nazareth willing to put his life on the line knowing that he would die if he acknowledged this to be true? The answer to Caiaphas was unambiguous:

“I am.”

To be crystal clear, Jesus added:

^{MK 14:62}“’you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power’ and ‘coming with the clouds of heaven.’”_{ISV, NET, NRSV)}

Immediately the verdict was rendered when Chief Priest Caiaphas tore his robe and said,

^{MT 26:65} “He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses?”_(NASB)

Sentencing was still not a slam dunk. Under Rome’s laws, the Jews were not allowed to carry out capital punishment.^[11]

Would a heathen Roman government even entertain a charge of blasphemy based solely in Jewish religious law? Probably not, they figured.

On the outside chance Rome did level such a charge, would they issue a death penalty judgement for blasphemy? Even more unlikely.^[12]

Considering their options, the Jewish Council sought to convince Pilate that Jesus was guilty of failure to pay taxes to Caesar and for insurrection to Rome. Either of those charges could result in the Roman death penalty.

For Pilate, the accusation of insurrection was a hot button issue with Rome having battled insurrections throughout his tenure as Procurator … at least this was assumed to be the case.^[13] Ultimately, Pilate found Jesus to have no guilt on either charge. Subsequent Jewish political pressure compelled Pilate to sentence Jesus to be crucified.

Was the trial of Jesus fair or was the verdict a divinely predestined outcome?

Updated June 5, 2024.

NASB = New American Standard Bible translation
ISV = International Standard Version translation
NLT = New Living Translation
NRSV = New Revised Standard Version translation
Gospel accounts: Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23, John 18-19.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

REFERENCES:

[1] Leviticus 24:15-16. John 18:3, 12: “chiliarchos <5506>” and “speira <4686>”. CR Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. Book V, Chapter 15, pp 1382-1392 & pp 1393-1421. <http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/default.htm> Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple – Its Ministry and Services. Chapter 10. 1826 -1889. The NTSLibrary. 2016. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Temple%20by%20Alfred%20Edersheim.pdf>Babylonian Talmud.
[2] “Lady Justice.” ClipArtBest.com. image. 2022. <http://www.clipartbest.com/clipart-4cbo7xgei>
[3] Soncino Babylonian Talmud. Ed. Isidore Epstein. 1935 – 1948. Sanhedrin 49b.<https://israelect.com/Come-and-Hear/sanhedrin/index.html>
[4] Josephus. Against Apion. Book II. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false> Spiro, Ken. “History Crash Course #39: The Talmud.” <http://www.aish.com/jl/h/cc/48948646.html> Valentine, Carol A. . “The Structure of the Talmud Files.” <https://israelect.com/Come-and-Hear/structure.html> CR Numbers 30:35.
[5] Sanhedrin 43a.
[6] Sanhedrin 32a – 36b.; CR. Deuteronomy 19:16-18.
[7] Edersheim, Alfred. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. 1883. Chapter 13. The NTSLibrary. 2016. <http://www.ntslibrary.com/PDF%20Books/The%20Life%20and%20Times%20of%20Jesus%20the%20Messiah.pdf> Josephus. Antiquities. Book XX, Chapters IX.1 & X.1; Book XVIII, Chapter IV. Whitson, William. The Complete Works of Josephus. 1850. Footnotes – Book XX, Chapter VIII. <http://books.google.com/books?id=e0dAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false>
[8] Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15; Numbers 35:30. Sanhedrin 9a, 30a. Resnicoff, Steven H. “Criminal Confessions in Jewish Law .“ 2007. <http://www.torah.org/features/secondlook/criminal.html>
[9] Sanhedrin 41a. “Capital Punishment.” Jewish Virtual Library. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/capital-punishment>
[10] John 2:19. NASB.
[11] Sanhedrin 41a. “Capital Punishment.” Jewish Virtual Library. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/capital-punishment>
[12] Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah. Book V, Chapter 14.
[13] Forsythe, Gary Edward. “Ancient Rome – The Roman Army.” 2007. <http://history-world.org/roman_army.htm>