The Passover coincides with the final days of Christ, his crucifixion, and resurrection. It is the picture of Christ being the true Passover Lamb, the sacrifice that liberates mankind from sin, as did God free the Israelites from the bondage in Egypt. The crucifixion of Christ took place as the Passover lambs were being sacrificed in the temple in Jerusalem. The Hebrew calendar starts its days from sundown to sundown, making its timing far different than the Gregorian calendar that we follow. The Pesach sacrifice (sacrifice of the Passover lambs) needed to be completed before sundown on Nisan 14 (which is Friday on the Hebrew calendar this year). The Messiah was nailed to the cross, suffered, and died before sundown on Nisan 14.
Christ entered Jerusalem on the 10thof Nisan, which is the day that the devoted Jews were choosing their Passover lambs. This is referenced in Matthew 21 where the great multitude spread their garments and branches on the way saying in verse 9, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.” Jesus went to the temple and overturned the money changers, his authority was questioned by the religious leaders, and he gave the great commandments, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…and the second one is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” He also sat with his disciples and taught the chronology of what would happen in the end of days. This is called the Olivet Discourse.
Christ stated to his disciples in Matthew 26:2, “Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified.” He then held an early Seder in which he spoke of the wine as his blood and the bread as his body. The events of the evening (sundown marking the beginning of Friday on the Hebrew Calendar) followed where Christ was taken in the garden, brought before the priests who sought a false witness to put him to death, but as Matthew 26:60 says, “But found none.” He was taken before Pilate who also could find no fault in him, but allowed the people to decide if he should be crucified. These events follow the examination of the Passover Lamb who had no blemish.
As the Passover lambs were being sacrificed, Christ was crucified. He was buried on Nissan 14 (still Thursday on the Hebrew Calendar this year) before the beginning of Shabbat (Friday on the Hebrew Calendar this year) and the Passover Feast. He remained in the grave until sometime after sundown (end of Nissan 16, Saturday on the Hebrew Calendar this year), the beginning of Nissan 17 and the dawn of the first day of the week (Sunday on the Hebrew Calendar this year). Matthew 28:1 “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. Christ is the true Passover Lamb as stated in 1 Corinthians 5:7, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,” and John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”
