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Sermonette: The Wrong Day?? printer-friendly
by Chris Cumming Mr. Armstrong, you have been keeping the wrong Passover for more than 40 years!!
These were the words of a woman who wrote the web site the other day. Not only did she make this accusation, she offered the proof.
Let us take a look at this person’s proof. Turn to Matthew 26:17
Matthew 26:17 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?
Looks pretty clear doesn’t it? The verse seems to say that it was the first day of the feast of unleavened bread and they have NOT yet taken the Passover.
Can this be so? Did Jesus institute the Lord’s Supper on the Holy Day? Have we been keeping it on the wrong day?
Let’s see.
Whenever Jesus took the Lord’s Supper, we know that He was taken that very night and crucified before sundown the next day.
Let’s check something. Turn over to a description of the crucifixion…Mark 15:42
Mark 15:42-43 42 And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathaea, and honourable counseller, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Wait a minute, what did that verse say? It said that Joseph of Arimathaea was wanting to bury Christ because it was the PREPARATION DAY!!
If it was the preparation day, how could it be the Holy Day?
Isn’t that the way we have always understood it? Christ came into Jerusalem. The Passover day approached. Now we know that all days begin at sunset.
The disciples asked Jesus, “Where should we take the Passover?”. Our understanding has been that the question was asked as sundown approached for the day of Passover; that day before the Holy Day.
Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper at sundown. He was taken that night and was in custody into the daylight hours of the Passover day and finally crucified just before sundown.
Joseph got Him buried and He stayed in the grave 3 nights and 3 days. He rose up on the Sabbath afternoon. He was first seen on Sunday morning by Mary.
If this is true, what is going on in Matthew 26:17?
Let us read it again.
Matthew 26:17 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?
There must be something in the wording of the verse. Does your King James Bible show the words “day” and “feast of” in italics? This could be the key. For then, the verse would read:
Now the first of the unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?
Is it beginning to make sense now? Let us look at the commentaries
In the King James Version, notice that the words "day" and "feast of" are in italics. This indicates that these words do not appear in the original Greek. Italicized words were added by the translators either for clarity in English or because they thought the word was necessary. Properly translated, Matthew 26:17 should read, "Now [on] the first [day] of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?" The addition of "day" is required by the Greek; the addition of "feast of" is not required.
The specific day referred to in this passage is the 14th of the month, Passover day (Wednesday). This conversation took place as that day began (Tuesday prior to sunset). Remember that God begins and ends days with sunset (Lev. 23:32). In other words, they talked at sunset at the beginning of the 14th day of the month (Tuesday). Later that evening (in the Passover Day—Wed.), Jesus introduced the Christian Passover or the Lord’s Supper. (Matt. 26:20).
The day of the Passover is the final occasion on which all leavened bread is to be put out of the home in preparation for the seven Days of Unleavened Bread, which immediately follow sunset on the 14th day of the month (Ex. 12:18-19). The day of the Passover consequently came to be considered one of the days of Unleavened Bread.
The day referred to is thus the day before the 15th, when the Feast of Unleavened Bread officially began. Because the translators were confused on this point, they wrongly inserted "feast of" in the Authorized Version.
The first century Jewish historian Josephus confirms this. He tells us that the Passover was on the 14th day and preceded the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted for seven days, that is, from the 15th day to the 21st day of the first month of the sacred year. In common speech, he says, the entire eight-day spring festival was called "the days of Unleavened Bread." (See "Antiquities of the Jews," Book 2-15-12; Book 3-10-5.) Luke 22:1 shows that the word "Passover" was also used to refer to the entire period. The two terms were then used interchangeably.
Matthew 26:17, then, refers to the day immediately preceding the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Today, we refer to it as Passover day.
So, we see that we HAVE been keeping the Lord’s supper on the same day that Jesus instituted it.
The verse does not mean what it SEEMS to be saying.
Another lesson in immersing ourselves into the Word of God and finding the truth of God.
Sometimes this means looking at Bible helps and history books like Josephus to explain little changes made to the translations over the years.
Let us keep ourselves in the Word of God |
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