The Week

Six days before the Passover, Jesus and the disciples arrived in Bethany from Jericho, a journey of about 15 miles. He can make the trip in about eight hours. This is when the Mary/Perfume/Judas incident occured.

John 12:1 says, Six days before Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived.

If Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before the Passover and he didn’t travel on the Sabbath (which would have been breaking the Sabbath), then his arrival must have been on Friday and the Passover would therefore occur on Thursday. Jesus died before the Passover began, so he must have died Wednesday evening.

His arrival at Bethany couldn’t have been earlier than Friday because John 12:12 says that the next day Jesus went into Jerusalem, which was his Triumphal Entry on Sunday (Palm Sunday). He arrived in Bethany on Friday in the early afternoon. The Sabbath began at sunset, around 6:00 PM. The next day, around 6:00 PM when the Sabbath was ending and Sunday beginning, Jesus went into Jerusalem. He rested on the Sabbath.

On Friday, after Jesus arrived in Bethany, Jews from Jerusalem heard he was there and they went out to meet him. That shows Jesus arrived early in the day, maybe in the early afternoon (because he had to walk 15 miles from Jericho). Word traveled from Bethany to Jerusalem (1.7 miles) that Jesus had arrived, and then people came out to see him. They also had to travel back home before the Sabbath began at twilight. Therefore this must have been in the early afternoon.

(Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed: Six days before Passover)

John 12:1-11

Day 7

(Saturday of the previous week

Jesus rested and kept the Sabbath in Bethany. Although he had taught it was all right to do good on the Sabbath and to circumcise on the Sabbath, he did not teach it was OK to break the Sabbath for just any reason.

Day 1

(Sunday)

“The next day” Jesus went into Jerusalem. The next day is the Sabbath, but at the end of the Sabbath, just before the beginning of the First Day, Jesus went to Jerusalem. That was when the Triumphal Entry occurs, in the late afternoon or early evening.

On the Sabbath just before twilight, becoming the first day of the week, Jesus walked into Jerusalem, and looked around. The priests challenged him about the people shouting "Hosanna!" He answered them and then walked out, returning to Bethany. It was the first day of the week and Jesus had presented himself to the religious authorities for examination.

Remember, in the laws of the Passover, the Passover Lamb must available - in the house - for examination four days before sacrifice. Jesus presented himself for examination four days before his sacrifice. He entered Jerusalem on Sunday (Triumphal Entry), and on Wednesday, four days later, he was sacrificed.

John 12:12

Matthew 21:1-17

Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”

Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The Triumphal Entry was late in the day, not early in the morning. It occurred when the first day of the week was beginning, at about 6:00 P.M.

Mark 11-9-11

And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.

Matthew 21:17

In the morning, still on Day 1 (Sunday), Jesus returned to Jerusalem. On the way there he saw a fig tree and turned aside to get some figs. Finding the tree barren, he cursed it and continued his journey to Jerusalem.

Matthew 21:18

Mark 11:12

Testing by the chief priests and elders:

Jesus began teaching the people in the temple. How better to draw attention to yourself? What if a famous person from another denomination came to your church and began teaching from your pulpit but nobody had invited him - he just walked in and began teaching?

The chief priests and elders asked Jesus on whose authority he was doing this. Jesus replied by asking them if they believed the testimony of John the Baptist. You see, John had testified that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. If they believed John, then they had their answer: he had authority from God. If they did not believe John, neither would they believe Jesus. They replied they did not know. Jesus replied that therefore they cannot know from whose authority Jesus operates.

Matthew 21:23-27

Testing of the chief priests and Pharisees.

Jesus told parables that day – and the priests and Pharisees understood what he meant. “And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.”

Matthew 21:28-44

vs. 45

Day 2 ?

(Monday)

Perhaps Day 1 ended here and Day 2 began, for Mark 12:12-13 says, “so they left him and went away. Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Jesus to catch him in his words.” There appears to be a break in time. Matthew 22:15 says, “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.” Maybe overnight plotting was done.

Mark 12:13

Testing by Herodians and disciples of the chief priests.

The Herodians and disciples of the priests asked Jesus whether it was lawful (under God’s law) to pay taxes to Caesar. Jesus saw their cunning and replied that we must pay tribute to whom tribute is due. “When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.”

Matthew 22:15-22

Testing by the Saducees.

“The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him…” how will people with multiple marriages be given to the right person in the afterlife. Jesus said there is no marriage in the afterlife. (Note: He didn’t say there is no sex; just no marriage.) Then Jesus explained that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The clue to the understanding of this verse is in the meaning of “is.” God didn’t say he was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, when they were alive. He said that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He still is their God. They are still alive. Therefore the scriptures prove the afterlife. When it dawned on them that they had been missing the simple, evident meaning of that verse for their entire lives, “they were astonished at his doctrine.” Just because a religious man has studied doctrine for his entire life doesn’t mean he is correct in what he believes.

Matthew 22:23-33

Testing by the Lawyers.

The Pharisees sent a lawyer to test Jesus. He asked, “What is the great commandment in the law?” A good lawyer would never ask a question he didn’t already know the answer to, unless he was trying to learn. These men were not trying to learn; they were testing and tempting Jesus. If he gave a wrong answer, they would know it. Jesus answered accurately by quoting Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18, neither one of which is part of the Ten Commandments.

Matthew 22:34-40

The lawyer said, “Well said, teacher…You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” The lawyer knew the answer and proclaimed that what Jesus had said was correct. He was not asking Jesus in order to find out the answer; he already knew. It’s interesting that the lawyers and by extension the Pharisees knew this truth, yet they behaved the way they did anyway.

Mark 12:32-33

Jesus had passed their tests, but they had failed his. His test was when he asked them what authority John the Baptist had and they would not answer it.

At the end of the day, when Jesus and the disciples were leaving the temple, he told them what was to come in the future.

Matthew 24

Mark 13

End of Day 2

(Monday)

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “As you know, the Passover is two days away—and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

Mon – Tue – Wed. In two days it would be Wednesday, the Jerusalem Passover, the day of Jesus’ sacrifice.

Matthew 26:1-2

Day 3

(Tuesday)

The chief priests and elders spent the night plotting how to kill Jesus.

Matthew 26:3-5

Day 3

(Tuesday)

Now the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some sly way to arrest Jesus and kill him. “But not during the Feast,” they said, “or the people may riot.”

They were discussing the Jerusalem Passover. We know it was the Jerusalem Passover because it was being discussed by the chief priests. It occured on Thursday. They were in a hurry to get rid of Jesus before Passover began. They had to get it done by Wednesday.

Mark 14:1-2

Jesus is anointed for his burial in Bethany

Matthew 26:6-13

Judas slipped away and went to the chiefs priests to betray Jesus.

Matthew 26:14-16

Preparation Day for the Galilean Passover

It was Tuesday, and that evening – when Wednesday began – was the beginning of the Galilean Passover. The following night, when Wednesday ended and Thursday began, the Jerusalem Passover was held. Tuesday was the Day of Preparation for the Galilean Passover; Wednesday was the Day of Preparation for the Jerusalem Passover.

Confused?
Galilean: Tuesday=Preparation; Wednesday=Passover
Jerusalem: Wednesday=Preparation; Thursday=Passover

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

Don’t be confused by this. The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are two different Feasts. One occurs the day before the other. The Passover lasts one day and the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasts seven days. However, since they occur eight days in a row, the Jews began to refer to them interchangeably (Ezekiel 45:21), just as they do today. When they say “Passover” or “Feast of Unleavened Bread,” they are referring to the full eight days which include both feasts. Therefore the scriptures say, “On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’”

Matthew 26:17

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”

Technically speaking, the Passover lamb was not sacrificed on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; it was sacrificed on Passover. However, the names of these two feasts had both been expanded to include the other. That method began in the Tanach (Old Testament) (Ezekiel 45:21) and it continues today. Look on a modern Jewish calendar that marks the holidays. You will see, “First day of Passover, Second day of Passover…” etc.

Mark 14:12

During the Preparation, when the disciples were preparing the Passover meal, Jesus may have been teaching the people by parables and answering their questions.

Day 4

(Wednesday)

So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve.

This begins The Galilean Passover and the Day of Preparation for the Jerusalem Passover.

Matthew 26:19-20

This is when Jesus predicted his betrayal by Judas and Peter. Jesus gave his teachings documented in John 13-17.

John 13-17

At midnight they went to the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus prayed.

Mark 14:32-42

Matthew 26:36-46

Judas brought a crowd and they arrested Jesus.

Mark 14:43

Matthew 26:47-49

They took Jesus before the ruling Sanhedrin for a final judgment. It was early in the morning. The Sanhedrin had to be roused out of bed to get this done before their Passover began.

They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together.

Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.

Mark 14:53

Matthew 26:57

They brought in worthless witnesses, which didn’t matter because the Sanhedrin – the judges – knew the witnesses were worthless. They knew because they themselves had paid the witnesses to testify lies.

Mark 14:55-59

The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.

Matthew 26:59-60

Jesus was given to opportunity to testify for himself.

Mark 14:61-62

Without proven evidence and having found no fault in Jesus, the ruling council determined he was worthy of death. (A sacrificial lamb must be without blimish or fault.)

Mark 14:63-64

Still very early in the morning, the Jews finished testing Jesus, the one whom God had determined was to be his own sacrificial lamb. They were ready for further judgment by the Gentiles.

Mark 15:1

Day 4

(Wednesday)

Early morning

Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the [Jerusalem] Passover. So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

John 18:28-29

Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”

Luke 23:1-2

Jesus stood before the gentile Roman governor, Pilate, and testified for himself.

Meanwhile Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.

Matthew 27:11

After talking with Jesus, Pilate found no fault in him.

“What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.”

John 18:38

But Jesus' trial wasn’t over yet. The Jews found no fault in Jesus and the Roman governor found no fault in Jesus. But what about a half-jew-half-gentile? Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod, another gentile ruler but this one might have had an obscure Jewish heritage.

Luke 23:6-12

But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here.”

On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.

Luke 23:5-11

Pilate declared that Jesus was innocent, without fault or blemish

Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death.

At this point, no one found Jesus guilty of any crime. The chief priests and Sanhedrin didn’t, because if they did they would not have had to bring in false witnesses. Furthermore they would not have stayed up all night trying to figure out a way to kill Jesus.

Herod found no fault in Jesus, so he sent him back to Pilate. Pilate found no fault in Jesus and said so. He also said that the Jew’s charges against Jesus were baseless.

Luke 23:13-15.

Nobody found fault in Jesus. He had no sin, no spot, no blemish, no imperfection. He was tried by the Priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the lawyers, the scribes, the Herodians, the Romans and the Kings. Nobody found fault, sin or a crime in Jesus. Therefore Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. He was acceptable to God. He became God’s Passover lamb. As John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

Day 4

(Wednesday)

12:00 noon

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement. It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

The sixth hour is noon. The day is getting late and the Passover will begin in six hours. They’ve got to do something quick.

John 19:12-13

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

John 14-16

Day 4

(Wednesday)
12:00 noon – 3:00 PM

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.

Matthew 27:45

Mark 15:33

Day 4

(Wednesday)
3:00 PM

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:30

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

It was a special Sabbath. Not the normal weekly Sabbath. Instead, it was a Feast Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Passover.

John 19:31-34

Mark 15:42

Day 4

(Wednesday)

around 5:00 p.m; before twilight and after 3:00 PM

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body.

Matthew 27:57-58

Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph.

Mark 15:44-45

Day 4

(Wednesday)

Preparation Day for the Jerusalem Sabbath of Passover

Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin

Luke 23:53-54

The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.

Leviticus 23:4-8 and Numbers 28:16-18 forbid working on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the day after the Passover.

Luke 23:55-56

Day 5

(Thursday)

Dusk to Dawn

6:00 PM – 6:00 AM

Jesus in the grave.

Night 1 of “three days and three nights”

Beginning of the Jerusalem Passover

Day 5

(Thursday)

Dawn to Dusk

6:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Jesus in the grave.

Day 1 of “three days and three nights”

Day 5,

(Thursday)

The Jerusalem Passover

On Passover Day, the day after Jesus was crucified, the Jews asked Pilate to put a seal on the tomb and a guard around it. (Jesus was crucified Passover Night, which starts at 6:00 PM. Passover Day is the daylight hours after the night until 6:00 PM.) It was the Sabbath - the Passover - and the Jews must not do work; so they asked the Romans to guard the tomb.

The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. “Sir,” they said, “we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.”

“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

Matthew 27:62- 66

Day 6

(Friday)

Dusk to Dawn

6:00 PM – 6:00 AM

Jesus in the grave.

Night 2 of “three days and three nights”

Beginning the Feast of Unleavened Bread

Day 6

(Friday)

Dawn to Dusk.

6:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Jesus in the grave.

Day 2 of “three days and three nights”

Also, Preparation Day for the weekly Sabbath (Saturday)

Day 7

Dusk to Dawn

(Saturday)

6:00 PM – 6:00 AM

Jesus in the grave.

Night 3 of “three days and three nights”

Day 7

(Saturday)

Dawn to Dusk.

6:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Jesus in the grave.

Day 3 of “three days and three nights”

Day 7

(Saturday)

Just before twilight eve

Jesus rises from the dead!
If Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday morning, then he would have been in the grave 3 days and 4 nights. Instead, on Sunday morning he was discovered to have risen.

Day 1

after Triumphal Week

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

This Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. We know that because the next day is the first day of the week. This Sabbath is not the Passover or feast; it is Saturday, the weekly Sabbath.

Why didn’t Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb on the fifth or sixth day, Thursday or Friday? Thursday was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened bread, another holy day on which no work must be done. Besides that, the tomb was sealed and guarded.

When the women went, it was past the third day, past the time Jesus said he would be raised from the dead. Now the seal could be removed and the guard could be dismissed.

Matthew 28:1

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

Mark 16:1-4

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

Jesus was already raised from the grave, because he rose after 3 days and 3 nights, which would have been near twilight of the previous evening. And now, Jesus was already on his way to Galilee, as he said he was going go.

Galilee is about 65 miles away, 2½ days walking.

Mark 16:5-7

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.

The angel said, “Why are you looking...? He said he was going to rise on the third day.” This was obviously past the third day, so that was a legitimate question.

If the other story were true that Jesus had died on “Good Friday,” then the women would have no reason to believe that Jesus was already raised, and the angel’s question would have been illegitimate.

Luke 24:2-8