…for the Passover day that is even recorded in the New Testament. And the way it’s recorded in the King James has caused an awful lot of confusion. All right we will find out. Let’s first of all come to Matthew 26 and let’s read it in the King James Version of the Bible and we’re going to see where this has caused an untold amount of confusion for those who want to keep the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now, for people who keep Sunday and Easter, this didn’t cause any confusion at all, because they just go on their merry way and do whatever they want to do.

Matthew 26:17—now when we read this, let’s keep in mind something very important here: the 14^th day from sundown to sundown is the Passover day, correct? Yes! The 15^th day from sundown to sundown is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread cannot come before the Passover, can it? No, it comes after the Passover. Yet, let’s read here in Matthew 26:17—let’s read it just as it is in the King James: “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread…” Whoa! Now if you read it carefully, if you have a good King James, you will find three words that are italic: day and feast of. Now what do the italic mean when they’re inserted: It means that these words are not in the original Greek. But it means that the translators inserted these words to clarify what the meaning of the verse is. However, in this case, they didn’t clarify it. They only confused it!

Now, let’s read on and see why this would cause so much confusion, because this would mean then that the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover fall on the same day, which is what the Jews today believe. But in this case, it would make the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover fall on the 14^th, if that were the case. So let’s read it: “Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?…. [So they hadn’t even eaten the Passover yet. Yet, this day is called the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and as we will see, mistakenly so because they should have stuck to the original Greek and made a proper translation of it. And then they would discover that the Passover day itself actually has another name, which is fitting for the day and answers the question about unleavenness.] …And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, ‘The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples’” (vs 17-18). So we know that He was going to keep—if (v 17) meant the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread—then Jesus was keeping the Passover on the wrong day. Now of course, we know that would be sin and since Jesus never sinned, we know that He didn’t do this.

All right let’s read the account in Mark 14:12 and we are going to see something just a little different, but we are going to see something concerning the slaying of the lambs. And you cannot answer the questions as to what these verses mean unless you go to the original Greek and have a proper translation of it. Let’s read it here, Mark 14:12 (KJV): “And the first day of unleavened bread… [Now here the Greek does say, ‘the first day of Unleavened Bread,’ but there’s no ‘feast of’ is there? But notice what was taking place]: …when they killed the Passover… [So this was, as we will see a little later, right at the time that they were killing the Passover lambs for the domestic Passover.] …His disciples said unto Him, ‘Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover?’” So this is confusing. Now also it’s confusing from another point of view, because the Jews have said, ‘Well, all the Passover lambs later were killed at the temple. Well, they aren’t anywhere near the temple, they’re just starting to enter into the city. And Jesus didn’t say, ‘Well, go to the temple and sacrifice the Passover lamb first, then go to the house.’ NO! He didn’t say that!

Let’s continue the account here in v 13: “And He sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, ‘Go ye into the city… [So they were right at the entrance of the city] …and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, “The Master saith, ‘Where is the guest chamber, where I shall eat the Passover with My disciples?”’…. [Whoa! That creates a problem, doesn’t it?] …And he will show you a large upper room…’” (vs 13-15) and so forth.

Now let’s come the account in Luke 22 and let’s read it here, and then we will understand something very, very important. Luke 22:7 (KJV). So we’ll tie all of these three Gospel accounts together. “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.” [Sounds like they’re killing it on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, doesn’t it? Well, that’s not exactly true. Because when you get to the Greek, it should read this way: ‘now on the first of the unleaveneds—or the first day of the unleaveneds.’ Now why would the Passover day be called, ‘the first of the unleaveneds.’ Because it was the first day of the year in which unleavened bread was required.

Now let’s read a quote here from The Journal of Biblical Literature (Vol. 63, 1944, pgs. 188-189, from the Harmony of the Gospels):

This phrase, ‘the first of the unleaveneds’ or ‘the day of the unleaveneds’ or ‘a day of the unleaveneds’ –which are all in the Greek. In the first century it was commonly known that the day of the unleaveneds in Luke 22:7 was the 14^th Passover day.

That’s the answer. It also tells us this: the Passover day is an unleavened bread day separate from the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but in addition to the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Let’s go on:

In an article entitled The Crucifixion Calendar a G. Amadon pointed out the error of those translators who translated this verse to read: ‘the first day of the festival.’

—which they did in Matthew 26 also. I haven’t checked any other modern translations lately, but that’s how they do it. I’m sure the Revised Standard does it; and I am sure that other of the more modern translations do, because they don’t care about the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. So you can’t put an credence into a faulty translation. He pointed out that the translators who translated this verse to read: ‘the first day of the festival’ and so forth:

…but on what authority should the Hebrew translators introduce the word ‘chock’ that is only of the first day of Unleavened Bread. However, this day, the Passover day, was commonly called and was a common expression, ‘the first of the unleaveneds’ or the first day of the unleaveneds’ and was know to be the Jewish 14^th day of the first month, which was practically all the writers of the first century agree.

Now that’s something! So, when we understand the duties that are to be performed on the Passover day, and also the day before, it becomes clear why this day is called “the first day of the unleaveneds”—which then is a literal translation.

According to Jewish law, all leaven in all residences and properties owned by Jews was searched out on the 13^th, the unleavened bread for the Passover was made and ready by 3 p.m. on Nisan 13, The leaven was then gathered and burned by 10 o’clock in the morning on the 14^th. No one was to eat leaven in any form after 11 o’clock.

They shouldn’t have eaten it at all.

These required practices show why Nisan 14 was referred to as the ‘first of the unleaveneds, because on that day leaven was removed and burned, so hence, Nisan 14, the Passover day is called ‘the first of the unleaveneds’ or ‘the first of the unleavened bread’ or ‘the first day of unleavened bread.’

Now let’s read it in a proper English translation, adhering to the Greek, which we have in the New Testament, the Harmony and the soon coming new Bible.

Now, Matthew 26:17: “Now on the first of the unleaveneds… [See, the ‘feast of’ is removed. Just ‘the first of the unleaveneds’ and that means in the year. Because it’s perfectly legal to eat leavened bread any other time during the year.] …the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, ‘Where do You desire that we prepare for You to eat the Passover?’ And He said, ‘Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, ‘My time is near; I will keep the Passover with My disciples at your house’”” (vs 17-18).

Now, let’s read the account in Mark—and we will find something very interesting with the literal translation of the Greek. Mark 14:12: “And on the first day of the unleaveneds, when they were killing the Passover lambs… [Now when were they instructed to kill the Passover lambs? Between the two evenings—that is, after sunset and dark. So here, get this scene with Jesus and the disciples coming toward Jerusalem. They knew they were going to keep the Passover. But Jesus didn’t tell them anything. They didn’t know where. So they see the Passover lambs were being killed—or they were killing. Now where were they killing the Passover lambs. You’re not going to see it at the temple because they didn’t do that until the next afternoon. So where were they killing these lambs? Wherever they were preparing the Passover to eat in the individual houses and particular inns in the city.] …when they were killing the Passover lambs… [now nothing like doing it at the last minute, huh? Yes!] …His disciples said to Him, ‘Where do You desire that we go and prepare, so that You may eat the Passover?’ And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, ‘Go into the city, and you shall meet a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him’” (vs 12-13).

Now, we don’t know what house that He went into. Some people say this may have been the house where Mark lived. Maybe, maybe not, because it doesn’t show that Mark was there at the Passover with Jesus—so it probably wasn’t. So nevertheless, they went and found the house. What kind of Passover did Jesus keep? Did He keep a domestic Passover in a house or did He keep a temple Passover with the lamb killed at the temple? No, He kept a domestic one with it slain at the house. And He kept it on the 14^th as the day began, not on the 15^th as the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread began.

Now, let’s come to Luke 22:7: “Then came the day of the unleaveneds in which it was obligatory to kill the Passover lambs…. [Now notice, they were killing the Passover lambs, and it was obligatory to kill, when?—this means obligated under the compunction of law. What did the law say was the time to kill it? Between sunset and dark. As soon as the sun went down, they started killing the lambs.] …And He sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat.’ But they said to Him, ‘Where do You desire that we prepare it?’ And He said to them, ‘Watch, and when you come into the city, you will meet a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters; And you shall say to the master of the house, “The Teacher says to you, ‘Where is the guest chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?’” And he shall show you a large upper room furnished; there prepare’” (vs 7-12). And they went up and got everything all set up.

Now, what does this tell us? This tells us: The Passover day is reckoned by those who wrote the New Testament—Matthew, Mark and Luke—by custom and understanding of the time that the Passover day is an unleavened bread day.

Now, that being the case, when the Passover is on the Sabbath, now we answer the question: How can we determine the day of the wave sheaf offering when the Passover occurs on the Sabbath? Since the Sabbath and the Passover—when it falls on the same day—you also have this: On that day, all leaven had to be out before sunset and burned, because they couldn’t do anything on the day portion of the 14^th because it was a Sabbath day. So if you want to ‘split hairs’ you can only split it so far because whenever the Passover falls on the Sabbath day, it is an unleavened bread day from sunset to sunset and it is a Sabbath! Therefore, the Sabbath during unleavened bread does not occur as it would if it were in the middle of the week. But when it falls on the weekly Sabbath, and being a whole day of unleavened bread, then which first day of the week do you start counting to Pentecost? Because it is the day after the weekly Sabbath. And you have to have a first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. You can’t have it if the first day of Unleavened Bread is on the first day of the week, and the seventh day of Unleavened Bread falls on the weekly Sabbath—there is no weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And you would not have any first day of the week during Unleavened Bread in that particular case; if you count it outside of Unleavened Bread. So the answer is this:

The Passover day is a separate unleavened bread day—as we’re observing it today. Tomorrow then, is the day after the Sabbath, which was unleavened, and which begins the first day of the count toward Pentecost. That way the unleavened bread day of the Wave Sheaf Offering Day—being the first day of the week—follows the Passover.

So that’s how you answer the question what do you do in the years when the Passover falls on the weekly Sabbath? But I think it’s very important not only knowing how to count, and which day to begin with—you begin with the 15^th day of the first month as the first day toward Pentecost. And notice, in this year when the Passover is very late, that that also accomplishes another situation, which is this: If you counted from beginning with the first day after the last day of Unleavened Bread, you would go past and be wait late in June with keeping Pentecost because the Passover is so late this year. So it helps solve that problem, too, that you don’t go beyond the 20^th of June. So, this is important to realize.

Now, let’s understand this: The New Testament teaches that the Passover day is a separate day of unleavened bread. When the Passover fell in the year that Jesus was crucified, it was in the middle of the week—on a Wednesday—so they kept the Passover Tuesday night. And it had to be that way so that Jesus could be in the tomb three days and three nights. He could not have been crucified in a year when the Passover falls like it does this year—which the Passover day today is on the Sabbath. But what it does tell us is this: Every Passover day is a separate day of unleavened bread—not a doctrine that anyone has added to the teachings of the Bible, but what the New Testament itself teaches and helps us to interpret the things that we find in Leviticus 23 on how to count toward Pentecost the day after which Sabbath.

So that answers both of those questions, doesn’t it? So it’s fitting and right that we get all the leaven out of our houses and we observe the Passover day as a whole day of unleavened bread in addition to the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Both days require unleavened bread.

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Scripture References:

1. Exodus 12:1-10, 21-24, 11-14, 28-31

2. Exodus 10:27-29

3. Exodus 12:31-42

4. Leviticus 23:6-12, 14-16

5. Exodus 13:5-6

6. Matthew 26:17-18

7. Mark 14:12-15

8. Luke 22:7-12

 

Scriptures referenced, not quoted: 

• Genesis 15

• Deuteronomy 16

• Exodus 16

 Also referenced: 

Books:

• The Christian Passover

• The Day Jesus, the Christ, Died

• Count Pentecost, the Morrow After Which Sabbath?

• Unger’s Bible Dictionary

• Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 63