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The Day After the Preparation

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THE DAY OF THE PREPARATION

Matthew states that the tomb was secured with the Roman governor's seal and guarded at the request of the Jewish leaders on the day after the 'Preparation.' If that day was the regular Jewish Saturday Sabbath why did Matthew not simply say it was done on the Sabbath day?

Every use of the word 'preparation' (i.e. the Greek word paraskeuh) in the New Testament is given here:

Matthew 27:62 Now the next day, that following the Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together to Pilate,
Mark 15:42 And now when the even was come, because it was the Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
Luke 23:54 And that day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew on.
John 19:14 And it was the Preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he said to the Jews, Behold your King!
John 19:31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation, the Jews pleaded with Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, because the High day was that kind of day for resting [Greek: hn gar megalh h hmera ekeinou tou sabbatou].
John 19:42 Therefore they laid Jesus there because of the Jews' Preparation; for the sepulchre was near at hand.

In each case it refers to the day when the Lord Jesus ate the 'last' supper, was betrayed and crucified. It was during that supper that Judas left the upper room to betray the Lord. The following day was a High Day , a 'Holy Convocation' in which they were not to do any servile work It was observed as a Sabbath and it was a feast day. [ See "Chronology of the Hebrew Passover"]

Exodos 12:16 And in the first day there shall be an Holy Convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an Holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

Leviticus 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD: ...

This explains why some of the apostles thought that the Lord had sent Judas had to buy something for the feast.

John 13:29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of for the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor.

Matthew refers to that day as 'the next day, that following the Preparation' [Matthew 27:62]. If it was, as many claim, the regular weekly Sabbath, why did he not simply say as any Jew would. 'on the Sabbath day.' Matthew only uses the word Sabbath after the resurrection:

Matthew 28:1 At the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre.

Referring to the High Day as 'the next day, that following the Preparation' distinguished it from the regular weekly Sabbath. They were not the same day. That year the Holy Convocation Sabbath was the day before  the regular weekly Sabbath. The Lord's body was placed in the tomb on the Preparaion day for  the Holy Convocation Sabbath. His body was in the tomb for the whole of the Holy Convocation Sabbath then for the whole of the regular weekly Sabbath and he arose before sunrise on the first day of the week. [See 3 Days and 3 Nights]

According to Sir Robert Anderson in AD 30 the Passover was on a Thursday so the High Day Sabbath was on a Friday, the day before the regular Saturday Sabbath. AD 30 is the year the Lord was crucified. [see "Jubilation!"]

The following is copied from Usshers' "The Annals of the World" revised and updated by Larry and Marion Pierce. ISBN:089051-360-0, Master Books, www.masterbooks.net:-

<Paragraph 6504>
(Sir Robert Anderson gave the dates for the passover from 22 AD to 37 AD. {*Anderson, The Coming Prince, 1:104} Note that the passover would start at sundown on the previous day and end at sundown for the date shown. The passover meal would be eaten the previous evening. These dates are:

<Paragraph 6505>
Anderson independently confirmed the date that Ussher computed for the passover for 33 AD. Hence we assume his other calculations are equally accurate. In his book, he stated at length how these were done, so it appeared he did his homework well. The day of the week was calculated independently by the editor using the Online Bible Calendar program and was not included with the original material by Anderson.

NOTE

Some who insist that the Lord was crucified on a Friday claim it happened in AD 33 because the  Passover was on a Friday that year. However according to The  Dictionary of the Bible, [W. Smith] 'Herod the Great'  restored the temple between BC20-BC18 but additions were still going on when the Jews said to the Lord Jesus "this temple has been under construction for fortysix years" [John 2:20]. It appears then that this remark was made  in AD 26 [46-20=26]. The Lord Jesus' ministry was about three and a half years. So he could not have been crucified later than AD30 [26+3.5=29.5].

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See - The Lord Was Crucified on a Thursday -

"Chronology of the Hebrew Passover"

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