0. Introduction
One of the most striking contradictions in the New Testament is about the day of the crucifixion of Jesus. The synoptic gospels claim he died on the same day the Passover meal was eaten in Jerusalem, on Nisan 15. (Mk. 14:12-22; Matt. 26:17-25) However the gospel of John claims he died the day before the Passover meal was eaten, on Nisan 14 on the day of Preparation for the Passover, this likely has a theological motive so that Christ is crucified on the day on which the Passover lambs are slaughtered. (Joh. 19:13-14, 31, 42) Hence, there is no Lord’s supper in the gospel of John, and the meal in the thirteenth chapter does not describe a eucharistic ceremony. (Joh. 13:1-30) First I shall outline the details of the ceremonies then the chronology of the gospels. Elsewhere I have spelled out a few select contradictions in the New Testament.
1. The Synoptics
The general details of the Passover are rather straightforward. The Passover begins on Nisan 14 “at twilight” and the Jewish people would bring a designated lamb, unblemished, to be slaughtered at the sanctuary, “Israel is to kill it at twilight.” (Num. 12:1-6; Lev. 23:5; Num. 28:16) This is the day of Preparation for the Passover. In Orthodox Judaism, new days begin at nightfall not at sunrise. (Chagigah 12a; Berakhot 8:6:9, et al.) After the lamb is slaughtered, “they shall eat the flesh the same night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.” (Exod. 12:8) Since new days begin at nightfall, the Passover Meal is eaten on Nisan 15, which is to say “the fifteenth day.” (Lev. 23:5, 6; Num. 28:17) The festival of unleavened bread runs concurrently with the Passover. Hence, the general structure of the celebration is quite plain.
On the day of Preparation for the Passover, the lamb is slaughtered and the meal is prepared, Nisan 14. (Exod. 12:6)
The next day begins at nightfall, when the Passover Meal is eaten on Nisan 15. (Exod. 12:8; Lev. 23:5-6, cf. Num. 28:16-17)
The next day begins at nightfall, and is a Sabbath or Saturday, Nisan 16. (Lev. 23:6-7; Exod. 12:16)
The day of the resurrection in the Synoptics is “the first day of the week,” “the day after the Sabbath,” “when the sabbath was over," hence, upon Sunday, Nisan 17. (Lk. 24:1; Matt. 28:1; Mk. 16:1)
The Synoptics depict Jesus and his disciples eating the Passover Meal together. (Mark 14:12-25; Matthew 26:17-29; Luke 22:7–22) Which must have been on the night marking the start of Nisan 15, as has already been demonstrated. It is plainly stated:
“On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.” (Mk. 14:12-16)
This is the day of Preparation for the Passover. The disciples ask to prepare the Passover Meal and are given permission. In the scene that follows, that very night Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover Meal (Mk. 14:17-21) and then afterwards he institutes the eucharist. (Mk. 14:22-26) And as we have already seen stated in the Torah, the lamb is slaughtered on Nisan 14 (Exod. 12:6-8) then it is eaten at “night” which is the start of Nisan 15. (Exod. 12:8) Matthew and Luke both follow Mark in this order of events. The disciples ask him for permission to prepare the meal on Nisan 14, (Matt. 26:17-19; Lk. 22:7-13), then Jesus eats the meal that night with them at the start of Nisan 15. (Matt. 26:20-25; Lk. 22:14-23) A different preparation is mentioned in Mark 15:42 “the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,” as Mark specifies, this is the preparation for the Sabbath, not for the Passover. This is also specified by Luke (23:54) which says “it was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.” (compare Matt. 26:62) The Sabbath was on Nisan 16 of this month, not on the fourteenth or fifteenth day of the month. Therefore, the order of events in the Synoptics is as follows.
2. The Gospel of John
Unlike the Synoptics, the disciples never ask whether they should prepare the Passover meal in John’s gospel, because they never eat the Passover in this gospel. The meal eaten in John chapter 13 is not the Passover. It begins by saying explicitly that the events take place, “before the Feast of the Passover.” (Joh. 13:1) Which is to say that the meal takes place during the day of Nisan 13 and what follows are stories and dialogues which are not found in any of the other gospels. Jesus washes the feet of his disciples (13:5-10) and prophesied the betrayal of Judas but never does he institute a eucharistic ceremony. (13:11-30) The subsequent speeches given in chapters fourteen through seventeen, discuss the mission and nature of Jesus and the Holy Ghost.
Jesus is then betrayed in a garden in the Kidron Valley, and is arrested. (Joh. 18:1, 12-14) He is condemned to die by the Sanhedrin and by Pilate that night, which is the beginning of Nisan 14 and the start of the day of Preparation for the Passover. The day and time of his condemnation is given explicitly.
“Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.” (Joh. 19:14)
The meal described in John 13:1-20 took place on Nisan 13 before the Passover Feast ever began because new days begin at nightfall in the Jewish calendar. Therefore, it was Nisan 14, the day of preparation for the Passover when Jesus was condemned at this illegal nighttime trial in the gospel of John.
“Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.” (Joh. 19:31-33)
Notice the reason for breaking the legs of the crucified, “because it was the day of preparation.” It could take days for crucifixion victims to die, so the gospel depicts the Jewish authorities as wanting them dead before the festival and subsequent sabbath begins. It is also stated that Jesus was entombed on the day of Preparation, “Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” (Joh. 19:42)
What took place on the subsequent day is not described in the gospel of John, and the next chapter begins by saying “On the first of the Sabbaths,” τῇ δὲ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων, Mary Magdalene, Peter and the beloved disciple find the body missing. (Joh. 20:1-10) It is not entirely clear what this phrase means. Does it signify the Sabbath on Nisan 16? Or does it signify the day after the Sabbath, Nisan 17 in harmony with the Synoptics? Most translators favor the latter interpretation of the Greek phrase.
3. Summary
In short, Jesus eats the Passover meal at the start of Nisan 15, and is crucified in the “ninth hour” of that day in the Synoptics. (Mk. 15:34; Matt. 27:46; Lk. 23:44) In the gospel of John, he eats a meal “before the Passover” on Nisan 13 (Joh. 13:1-20) then is crucified the following morning on Nisan 14 after the “sixth hour” on “the day of Preparation for the Passover.” (Joh. 19:14, 31, 42)
The only rebuttal the fundamentalists have been able to muster is that Mark 15:42 also claims Jesus died on “the day of Preparation” and therefore is in harmony with John 19:14. But this is nothing more than a slight of hand. Mark 15:42 explicitly says it is the day of preparation for “the Sabbath,” while John 19:14 says it is “the day of preparation for the Passover.” Furthermore, Mark 14:12-16 records that day of the Preparation for the Passover occurred the day before the crucifixion. Therefore, this attempted harmonization is not only desperate, but contradicts Mark’s sequence of events directly. Matthew and Luke follow Mark’s order of events. This contradiction simply cannot be reconciled. Either Jesus died on Nisan 14 or on Nisan 15, it cannot be both. Either he ate the Passover meal with his disciples on Nisan 15, or he was already dead that day. It cannot be both.
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