Well,  Easter Sunday has come and gone, but I have a question that I hope you can help.  In John's gospel, chapter 19, it says Jesus was crucified on the day before Passover.  In  the synoptic gospels,  it appears that the Last Supper was on Passover.  I posted this on my denominational site and got two responses.  I would like to get some input from others. Please explain this apparent contradiction.  Thanks.

Matthew 26:17-  On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus saying "Where do you want us to make preparations for the Passover?"  v.20- When it was evening, He took his place with the twelve.   Mark 14:12 to Mark 14:17 is almost identical. Luke 22:9- 15 is similar.  But John 19:14 -16 says that Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified on the day of Preparation for the Passover.

Exactly!  So, if the Last Supper was Thursday night according to our calendar it would have been the begining of the next day according to the Jewish calendar.  So, Jesus would have been crucified on the same day as the Last Supper.  But according to John, it was the day of preparation for the Passover!

Thanks.  I did not see it as a debate. I assumed that Biblical scholars would have found the answer to the question.  One explanation that was given to me on the other board was that there may be some difference in translation from the Greek to the English.  In the Greek, some of the words used in the synoptics indicate that the Last Supper may not have been Passover. Perhaps Jesus, knowing He was to be crucified ordered the meal because it would be His last meal with his disciples but did not keep every element of the Passover since it was not yet time.

Thanks again.  I often have questions about things.  Our assistant pastor who conducts our Wednesday morning Bible Class has twice reminded me that I tend to get caught up with the minors and we need to move on with the discussion. 

Thanks anyway.  I am sorry to have bothered you.

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Apr 11, 2012 -- 7:57AM, slate wrote:

In John's gospel, chapter 19, it says Jesus was crucified on the day before Passover.  In  the synoptic gospels,  it appears that the Last Supper was on Passover. Please explain this apparent contradiction.

The trick is: the Lord's passover calendar was one day ahead of that year's Jewish religious calendar. In other words, Matthew, Mark, and Luke reported crucifixion week according to the Lord's religious calendar; while John reported it according to the Jews' calendar.

The way I figure it: the Lord-- being a prophet and always in direct contact with God --was privy to the correct date that year; while the Jews somehow made a mistake in their own calculations: either accidentally or deliberately depending upon the circumstances. Sometimes they fudge the date a bit for reasons of their own that I do not wish to elaborate here.

Anyway; it worked out perfectly for Christ because the Jews had been careful to avoid executing the Lord on the very day of the feast; but did anyway because of their religious calendar's error that year.

Cliff
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