According to Luke (and the other Synoptics), Jesus ate the Passover meal. This means that Passover occurred the day before his trial, crucifixion, and death (Luke 22:7-20 and Luke 23).
According to John, Jesus had been betrayed and arrested. After this, when the Jews are bringing Jesus before Pilate, they refrain from entering the governor’s residence so that they will not become defiled- which would disqualify them from partaking of the Passover meal that evening (John 18:28-30).
At this point it seems to me that John is in conflict with the other Gospels. The Synoptics claim that Jesus died the day after Passover, while John indicates that Jesus died on the same day as Passover. Anyone have thoughts?
Here are the Bible verses I referenced:
Howdy Josh,
ReplyDeleteI did a little research tonight. It looks like Passover is a catch all term for an 8 day long event that starts with the Passover meal and is directly followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Cf Luke 22:1. Also see Leviticus 23:5-8. It looks like Jesus ate the Passover meal which begins the feast week. Some Jews eat a two day Passover feast where the second day is the Feast of Unleavened Bread. I think that what happened is that the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover meal were viewed as one, two day long meal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder
Hi Pete!
ReplyDeleteThanks a ton for your comment!
You are absolutely right. No discrepancy!
In fact, this one is so obvious that I have lost a significant amount of respect for Dr. Ehrman (I am examining the list of 'discrepancies' he rattled off in his debate with William Lane Craig). Someone as well educated as Dr. Ehrman has no excuse for overlooking the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
Thank you very much for this, Peter! No discrepancy here!