God's Final Passover

God’s Final Passover

Jesus Christ, God’s passover lamb, was slain and is the ultimate and final sacrifice for us. Who has redeemed us to God by his innocent blood. Only God could have foreordained before the foundation of the world the precise hour that would miraculously coincide with the slaying of the yearly passover lamb by the high priest on the altar. At that exact moment the Son of God was nailed to the cross and pierced with a spear of death. And there was darkness over the whole land.

1 Corinthians 5:7 ...For Jesus Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.  

Tradition has confused many events during the final week of Jesus Christ’s life and death. The truth has become cloudy about the infamous Last Supper that Jesus had with his apostles. It was Jesus’ desire to prepare a place and partake in the yearly ceremonial passover feast with his beloved followers. However, it became clear to Jesus via revelation from God this was not to be and his final hour was near.

Matt: 26: 2
You know that after two days is the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.

It is a week long ceremony but the passover, the preparation and slaughter of the lamb, was on the 14th of the month of Nisan. The actual feast would take place that evening which was after 6 p.m., the 15th of Nisan. That hour of evening began the new day which would be like our midnight. So he revealed this to his disciples on the 12th of Nisan. His fate and time of death was written in the word and in the stars. The Last Supper was not the passover meal. The Last Supper took place that same evening after sunset, the 13th of Nisan.

Matt 26: 20, 21
Now when the even was come he sat down with the twelve and they did eat…

A day later, after hours of torture without sleep, he stood in front of Pilot for judgement. Pilot questioned the people.

John 18: 38, 39
…I find no fault in him at all. But you have a custom that I should release unto you one at the passover. Do you want me to release unto you the King of the Jews?

Clearly it was before the passover, the 14th of Nisan. A short time later it was noon when Pilot saw him again.

John 19: 14
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour…..

Again, the passover had not taken place therefore the Last Supper was not the passover meal.

To place a time of the crucifixion and death we have two verses.

Mark 25:25
And it was the third hour ( 9:00 a.m.) and they crucified him.

Matt 27:47 ; 50
And about the ninth hour ( 3:00 p.m. ) Jesus cried with a loud voice…
with a loud voice he gave up the ghost.

“As with all lambs sacrificed on the altar, the Passover lamb had to be perfect, without spot, flaw , or blemish. Jesus, our Passover Lamb, was spotless, unblemished by sin. At 9: 00 on the morning of the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the Passover lamb was bound to the altar in the temple and put on public display . At the same time, our Passover Lamb was nailed to a cross and put on public display on Calvary.
At exactly 3:00 in the afternoon of that high holy day, the high priest ascended the altar and, to the sound of the shofar, cut the throat of the Passover lamb , declaring, “ It is finished.” At that same moment, on Calvary, our Passover Lamb declared “It is finished!” and gave up his spirit. “It is finished” means “ It is paid in full.” Our sin debt was paid in full with the blood of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, who was sacrificed for us.”*

∑ * The Hidden Power of the Blood of Jesus by Mahesh Chavda pg 39
∑ According to the historian Josephus the practice in the first century A.D. was to begin slaughtering the Passover lambs at the ninth hour, our 3p.m.

John 19: 31; 42
The Jews because it was the preparation sought to remove the bodies as they could not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath day was a high day)…
There laid they Jesus because of the Jews preparation…

John 19 :31 proves that he was crucified on the 14th of Nisan, the high sabbath day, the passover.

These are some of the verses that make it very clear that Christ died on the preparation of Passover Day and that the Last Supper had taken place before. They would be considered unclean and could not participate in the actual feast had they not handled their dirty deed before hand. ( Num 5; 9-12 ) The religious leaders obviously had someone else handle the bodies.

Here are a few unclear verses mainly due to translation.

Matt 26 :17, 18
Now that 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?
…The Master says ,” My time is at hand; I will ( “I desire to” is the text ) keep the passover at thy house with my disciples.”

Here the word day and feast of is not in the text as they are italicized in the King James. It more accurately should be translated “the time of preparation” which indicates it took place over a period of time.

Mark 14 :12
And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where do you desire us to go and prepare that you may eat the passover?

Ever try to find a restaurant to eat for New Years Eve right before midnight in New York City or San Francisco.? This is Jerusalem. It’s packed. If this were the actual day of passover they would not find a place. Again, it’s the beginning, the first of the preparation week and the word day is an error in translation or interpretation. It’s the 12th of Nisan.

Luke 22:7
Then came the day ( time ) of unleavened bread when the passover must be killed (prepared for sacrifice).

Again, the word day in Aramaic and Greek can also be translated time. It was the time of preparation of the seven day feast. Jesus and the disciples were not ignorant. They knew they had to prepare and find a place before hand, not at the very moment.
In verse 11 the word is might eat , not shall. And verse 15 reads more accurately “ At one time I most heartedly desired” to eat this passover with you before I suffer.

Matt 13:17
…I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not here it.

The same word applies here. Jesus desired to partake of the Passover meal but it was not to be. Here are a few observations that would indicate that the Last Supper was not the Passover .

They sat down to eat: Matt 26:20; Mark 14:18; Luke 22:14. The Passover meal was to be eaten standing up. Ex 12:11. The bread mentioned in Matt 26:26 as well as the other gospels at this meal was not unleavened bread . The Greek word used here is artos. The Greek word for unleavened bread is azumos. Further evidence that this was not the Passover meal which was to be eaten with unleavened bread. (The feast of unleavened bread and the Passover feast are two separate events that happen to overlap). Also, there is no mention of the Passover’s lamb being eaten. Had this been the Passover meal it most likely would have been mentioned.

They also plotted to kill him before the feast (15th of Nisan) because they feared the people.

Matt 26: 4,5; Mark 14:1,2 Luke 22:1,2

This in no way negates the significance and magnitude of the Last Supper. Many tremendous truths are revealed during that time. Read John 13 and 14.

Here is a verse that clearly separates the two events.

John 13:1,2
Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father…and supper being ended…!!

What supper ended? The last supper of our Lord Jesus Christ here on Earth. Long before his death was foretold, God put into place the stars and planets to measure time. Years of time that were now narrowed down to a final hour. THE FINAL HOUR of his death and the salvation of mankind. Before this supper Jesus knew the approximate time but now God revealed to him that he would not partake of the passover but was to be our Passover for all time. To be crucified at the very moment the sacrificial lamb was killed for the sins of the people. Time means nothing to God but timing is everything. For centuries the Passover foreshadowed and covered the Jews sins on the outside. But Jesus Christ , OUR PASSOVER, was sacrificed for us and cleansed all our sins on the inside that the world through him might be saved. That’s world history and that’s timing that no man or science could ever match. Only a matchless God could accomplish these events. God, who gave his Son for our sins that he might deliver us from the present evil world to live eternally in the new heaven and new Earth.