To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 This may ring a bell it was used in a popular song Turn Turn Turn. It was the adaptation of Ecclesiasties 3 put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959. Seeger waited until 1962 to record his own version of it. Most people know the Byrds version. What I find interesting is how there was a time for every purpose mandated in advance for the death of Jesus.
When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem the week He was crucified it all happened with amazing timing to line up and correspond to prophecies and the Passover festival that all foretold of the event or was a picture of the event. The first event of the “Passion Week” or the Easter week is Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. This happened on March 29th in the year 33, if you are using the Julian calendar. It was Nisan 9 3793 by the Jewish calendar. So what makes that perfect timing? Well in the bible in Daniel 9:25-26 there is a claim that the messiah will come sixty-nine weeks after a command to restore and build the temple. The command to rebuild the temple was on March 4th 444 B. C. (See Nehemiah 2:1-8). So what does this sixty-nine weeks mean? It was referring to sixty-nine groups of seven years. Back then the Prophetic year was 360 days. If we multiply 7 by 69 and then by 360 we can get the number of days from the date of command to rebuild the temple. So it is 483 years or 173,880 days or March 29th in the year 33. Hey, how did Daniel do that? So you say Jesus knew this and planed it. I say yes, because it was God’s plan for Him He knew it. But could you plan that you would do miracles and people would follow and respond if you were not really Him?
The death of Jesus took place on Nisan 14 between the sixth and ninth hour. This is shown in in Luke 23:44. So what is significant about this time? This is the same hour of the day that the priests of the temple were to sacrifice the Passover lamb. This of course is celebrated in remembrance of the lamb they were commanded to kill in Egypt and place the blood at the doorstep of their homes, which lead to their freedom from Egyptian bondage. And we were set free from bondage to sin at this moment in time.
The burial of Jesus: The festival of unleavened bread began Friday evening (at sunset) what is even more interesting is what the people do at the Passover sadder or dinner. They take three pieces of bread (matzos), break the middle one and wrap it in cloth and hide it, and the children go looking for it. The symbolism is radical. The three pieces represent the Father the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. The middle one represents Jesus his broken body wrapped in grave cloth, placed hidden in a tomb.
It was during a Passover sadder (a day early) that Jesus proclaimed that the meal represented Him and that He was instituting the New Covenant, which was foretold by Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. The celebration of this covenant has become the ordinance of communion in the Christian Church. At the end of the meal, Jesus took the unleavened bread, broke it, and said that it represented His body. Then He took the cup of wine, which would have been the third cup of the Seder (cup of redemption). He said that it was the new covenant, His blood "poured out for you.” It is through the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are declared clean before God, allowing those of us who choose to accept the pardon, to commune with Him - both now and forevermore through the eternal life He offers.
What is interesting is Jesus and His disciples had their meal, the so called last supper early. Most of the people would have their Sadder while Jesus was in the tomb, thus the bread would be hidden at this time. For a time line and explanation of events these are good resources http://www.friktech.com/rel/passover.htm http://www.jesusfirst.org/free-downloads/articles/timeline.pdf
The resurrection: On Nissan 17 the people have the Feast of First fruits. First fruits is the first day after the Sabbath following Passover. This is when Mary went to the tomb and Jesus was no longer in the tomb. The risen Jesus Christ was seen that morning by Mary near the garden tomb. -John 20:10-18. As part of the festival, the Jews would take some of the grain - the "first fruits" of their harvest - to the Temple to offer as a sacrifice. In so doing, they were offering God all they had and trusting Him to provide. Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruits of those raised from the dead in 1 Corinthians. As such, Jesus represents the fulfillment of God's promise to provide the rest of the harvest - resurrection of those who follow the Messiah.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40 Jesus observed the Passover with His disciples on Tuesday evening. He was crucified and buried on Wednesday, Passover day. Thursday was the high day annual Sabbath. The women bought burial spices on Friday, prepared them, and then rested on the weekly Sabbath. On the first day of the week they came to anoint Jesus’ body but found the tomb empty because HE WAS RISEN!
