Passover.—2001Translations Commentary-+ JW’S Memorial- The Lord’s Evening Meal Plus Open
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Biblical days
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The Passover and
The Lord’s Evening Meal
When we first started this document, we thought that
we knew quite a bit about the Passover, but after much research and many
letters from readers, we realized that few of us actually understood the times,
dates, and significances involved.
What most call ‘the day of Passover’ isn’t really a day at all; it’s a
seven-day festival. For notice the first instructions from God on this, as
found at Exodus 12:2, 3, 5-8 (LXX), ‘This will be your first month. It is to be
the first one [in your] year. So tell the whole gathering of the children of
Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man should select a lamb
(depending on the size of his family) for his household … So, choose a perfect
male, yearling lamb from [your herd] of lambs and kids, and keep it nearby until
the fourteenth day of this month. Then the whole group of the children
of
And we read in verses 15
and 16, ‘Now, you will eat yeast-free bread for seven days. And starting
on the first day, you must remove all yeast from your homes. And if someone
eats yeast between the first and seventh days, that person must be destroyed in
So from the above, we can
see that the Passover started after sundown on Nisan 14, and that’s when the
Israelites were to start eating a meal with yeast-free bread, which they were
to do every day for seven days. However, the lamb was to be taken to the
Thereafter, God’s people
apparently gave names to each of these days, and Nisan 15 was called Passover,
but Nisan 14, which was the ‘holy day,’ was referred to as the Day of Preparation
(of the lamb). It was on this day that Jesus instituted his ‘evening meal,’ and
he as ‘God’s Lamb’ was slaughtered. We can clearly see this from the following
scriptures:
Matthew 27:62-27:63–
Then the next day, after the Preparation, the Chief Priests and
Pharisees gathered and came before Pilate, saying, ‘Lord, we remembered that
while he was alive that impostor said, Yet,
in three days I will be raised.’
John 18:28–
Early the next morning, they led Jesus from Caiaphas’ [home] to the Governor’s Palace,
but they didn’t go inside, because they didn’t want to become unclean (so
they could eat the Passover).
John 19:14 Now, it was about the sixth hour of the
day of Preparation for the Passover. And [Pilate] said to the Judeans,
‘See, your King!’
Yet, the accounts in
Matthew, Mark, and Luke would seem to contradict the above scriptures and
indicate that the day Jesus told his disciples to prepare for the Passover, was in fact the day of Preparation. However,
notice that no lamb was mentioned as being slaughtered, and the accounts don’t
speak of a lamb being eaten at the meal, for Jesus himself was to become the
lamb that was to be slaughtered on the following afternoon.
Also, remember that the day
of Preparation was the holy day, and thus a Sabbath; so Jews would typically
prepare for this first meal of yeast-free bread, bitter herbs, and wine on the
previous afternoon, and that was when they were to remove all the yeast from
their homes.
But why did Jesus say at
Luke 22:15 ‘I
really wanted to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,’ if the
Passover was the following day? Because this was the first Passover meal of
seven that would be eaten that week… it just wasn’t the one that involved
eating a lamb. For, due to a lack of refrigeration, meat wasn’t common at all
meals back then. However, eating bread with some sort of ‘sop’ (olive oil?) was
apparently common.
So, notice that this
understanding hasn’t really changed anything, it just gives us a better idea
why the first day of Passover (Preparation) was a ‘holy day,’ why no lamb was
mentioned as being eaten during Jesus’ last supper, and why it was appropriate
for him to be slaughtered on the following afternoon (when the Passover lambs
were slaughtered). Therefore, the appropriate day for memorializing Jesus death
remains Nisan 14, though perhaps there is a case for celebrating it every
evening from Nisan 14 -21.
But
why this date (or these dates)? Because Paul wrote at 1
Corinthians 5:7,
‘Clean out that old yeast so you can be something new that isn’t fermenting,
because the Anointed One (who is our Passover) has been
sacrificed.’
So, as Passover was the
week during which God accepted Israel as ‘His inheritance;’ and when He saved
their firstborn with the blood of a lamb; and when He saved them from Egypt;
the blood of the ‘Lamb of God’ was shed to inaugurate the New Sacred Agreement.
And Jesus himself selected the first day of Passover to celebrate the Memorial
of his sacrifice.
For more information on the
Lord’s evening meal and who should partake, please see the link The New Covenant.
A Second Passover Date
Of course, attending the
Passover Festival was a life-or-death matter for
So we must assume that, as
with the Passover, celebrating the Lord’s Evening Meal at the proper time is
very important for Christians.
However, unlike the pagan
peoples who lived around them, the Israelites were not worshipers of the gods
of astrology, so they weren’t as involved (as were other ancient peoples) in
making celestial observations. And so; since the calculations to arrive at the
correct Passover date (the 14th day of their first lunar month) can be
difficult to determine at times (as is testified to by the different dates
selected by different religious groups in our day), there was apparently some
allowance for error.
And also; when people were
unable to observe the Passover – as when they were ceremonially unclean, away
on a trip, or whatever – they were allowed to celebrate it 28-days later, on the evening of the full moon. Instructions
concerning this are found at Numbers 9:10-12,-(Compare-Open searchgodsword.?
nu+9:10 + MQFR-w93-2-1-w03-1-1.htm) where we read: ‘Tell the
sons of Israel that whenever a man among you or your descendants has become
unclean because of touching a dead body, or is far away on a journey, he must
still keep the Passover to Jehovah, but he must
do it on the evening of the fourteenth day of
the second month. [The Passover sacrifice] must be offered then, and
eaten with yeast-free bread and bitter herbs. They must not leave any of it
over until the next day, nor may they break any of its bones. They must offer
the sacrifice just as they would on the Passover.’
As the result; when
circumstances don’t allow a Christian to celebrate the Memorial of the
death of Jesus on the 14th day of Nisan on the Jewish calendar (which appears
to be a most appropriate time for doing so); as was true of the Passover in
ancient Israel, this may be celebrated twenty-eight days later, according to
ancient custom and the Law. However, this apparently doesn’t disallow
Christians to meet together and to partake of the sacred bread and wine on
other occasions, as appears to be true of the Love Feasts of the First Century
Christian congregation (see Jude
12, and 1
Corinthians 11:20, 26).
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In rare cases some unforeseen
circumstance, such
as illness or travel complications, might prevent a Christian from attending as
he or she had planned. What should be done in such a situation?
During the
celebration unleavened bread and red wine are passed, and those who have been
anointed with God’s holy spirit and chosen for life in
heaven partake. (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:28-30) If one who has each year been
partaking is this year confined to a sickbed at home or in a hospital, elders
of the local congregation will arrange for one of them to take some of the
bread and wine to the sick one, discuss appropriate Bible texts on the subject,
and serve the emblems. If an anointed Christian is away from his home
congregation, he should arrange to go to a congregation in the area where he
will be on that date.
In view of this, it
would only be under very exceptional circumstances that an anointed Christian
would have to celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal 30 days later (one lunar month),
in line with the command at Numbers 9:10, 11 and the example at
2 Chronicles 30:1-3, 15.
Those who are of
Jesus’ “other sheep” class, with the hope of everlasting life
on a paradise earth, are not under command to partake of the bread and
the wine. (John 10:16) It is important to attend the annual
celebration, but they do not partake of the emblems. So if one of them is sick
or is traveling and thus not with any congregation that evening, he or she
could privately read over appropriate scriptures (including the account of
Jesus’ instituting the celebration) and pray for
Jehovah’s blessing on the event worldwide. But in this case there is no need
for any additional arrangement for a meeting or a special Biblical discussion a
month later.
Full Article
Questions From Readers
If a Christian is sick or
is traveling and thus not able to
be at the Memorial celebration, should
he celebrate it a month later?
In ancient
Notice that this did
not establish two alternative dates for the Passover (Nisan 14 or Ziv 14), with
any Israelite or household free to choose, depending on convenience. The
provision of a Passover meal in the second month was limited. It was an
exception for an Israelite who was ceremonially unclean on Nisan 14 or was at a
great distance from where the regular celebration was held.
The only recorded
instance of this being widely used was at the time when faithful King Hezekiah
revived the observance of the Festival of Unfermented Cakes. There was no time
to get ready for the first month (the priests not
being ready nor the people gathered), so it was held on the 14th day of the
second month.—2 Chronicles 29:17; 30:1-5.
Other than such
exceptional circumstances, the Jews kept the Passover on the date that God
designated. (Exodus 12:17-20, 41, 42; Leviticus 23:5) Jesus and his
disciples celebrated as the Law required, not treating this date casually. Luke
reports: “The day of the unfermented cakes now arrived, on which the passover victim must be sacrificed; and [Jesus] dispatched
Peter and John, saying: ‘Go and get the passover ready for us to eat.’”—Luke
22:7, 8.
On that occasion
Jesus instituted the annual celebration that Christians know as the Lord’s
Evening Meal. The value of Christians’ attending cannot be overemphasized. This
is the most important event in the year for Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jesus’
words show why; he said: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)
Thus, each of Jehovah’s Witnesses should plan months ahead to keep the date of
the celebration free of any other appointments. The Lord’s Evening Meal will be
celebrated on
In rare cases some
unforeseen circumstance, such as illness or travel complications, might prevent
a Christian from attending as he or she had planned. What should be done in
such a situation?
During the
celebration unleavened bread and red wine are passed, and those who have been
anointed with God’s holy spirit and chosen for life in
heaven partake. (Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 22:28-30) If one who has each year been
partaking is this year confined to a sickbed at home or in a hospital, elders
of the local congregation will arrange for one of them to take some of the
bread and wine to the sick one, discuss appropriate Bible texts on the subject,
and serve the emblems. If an anointed Christian is away from his home
congregation, he should arrange to go to a congregation in the area where he
will be on that date.
In view of this, it
would only be under very exceptional circumstances that an anointed Christian
would have to celebrate the Lord’s Evening Meal 30 days later (one lunar
month), in line with the command at Numbers 9:10, 11 and the example at
2 Chronicles 30:1-3, 15.
Those who are of Jesus’ “other sheep” class, with the hope of everlasting life on a paradise earth, are
not under command to partake of the bread and the wine. (John 10:16) It is
important to attend the annual celebration, but they do not partake of the
emblems. So if one of them is sick or is traveling and thus not with any
congregation that evening, he or she could privately read over appropriate
scriptures (including the account of Jesus’ instituting the celebration) and pray for Jehovah’s blessing on the event worldwide. But in this
case there is no need for any additional arrangement for a meeting or a special
Biblical discussion a month later. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Evening
Meal—From The FaithfulAndDiscreetSlave.htm
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