Briefly, it works out like this. The "Passover" celebration is special period of eight days running from Nisan 14th through Nisan 21st. There were two special sabbath days during this celebration: the were the 15th and the 21st. Very important!
One thing that Christendom seldom realizes about sabbath is that the sabbath day is different from the usual weekday in that it begins about 1.5 hours (dusk) earlier than the normal weekday which did not begin until nightfall. Thus each sabbath day was LONGER than the usual weekday, and each day of "preparation" (which preceded any sabbath day) was thus a bit shorter than the regular weekday.
Some Christian organizations also don't understand how the Jews counted their hours. They essentially began counting their hours of the day from the BEGINNING of their day at nightfall and simply went around the clock. That is, the first hour ideally was at 7:00 p.m., the second at 8:00 p.m., the third at 9:00 p.m., etc. The eleventh hour was from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. and the twelfth hour after sunset, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Of course, there were two sets of 12 hours during each 24-hour day; one set going from 7:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., and the other from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. But now back to Passover.
DATE CHANGE, WHEN?: But there is one more important issue about this that must be understood. The Jews, like the Egyptians and us today, did not change their DATE until Midnight. Thus, even though the times of the day began around nightfall, perhaps varying somewhat in different seasons (and apparently it is not exactly known how this was done), their DATE still changed at Midnight. Thus each "fiscal" day was exactly 24 hours. This detail also helps us understand much better just how the Passover celebration worked.
THE ROUTINE: From nightfall of Nisan 13th until Noontime on Nisan 14th, all the leaven from the homes was removed. The Jews considered their "evening" to begin officially at Noontime and their "morning" (just like us) to begin at Midnight. The leaven was always removed before Noontime, however, since the sacrifice of the lamb was to be done during the "evening" and they did not want to chance mixing any leaven with the preparation of the lamb.
The Passover sacrifice, which took place around the "ninth hour" (3:00 p.m.) was the most important sacrifice of the evening and thus preempted the other daily sacrifices which also took place around the ninth hour. According to the Mishna, this special time of daily sacrifice went from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. So the daily sacrifices were always moved up to accommodate Passover occurring at the correct hour, which was mandated by scripture to take place "between the two evenings," that specific time being from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. as per Jewish custom.
If Nisan 14 fell on a sabbath day, however, wherein there was an additional sacrifices required, then the additional sacrifices were also moved up, but never before Noontime. This is so that they still remained an "evening" sacrifice.
All the Jews who came to Jerusalem, thus had to bring their paschal lamb sacrifices to the temple around the specified time for sacrifice. This is one reason why Jesus sent out TWO disciples to prepare for Passover; one to prepare the meal and one to take the lamb to the temple to be sacrificed at the temple by the priests.
After the paschal lamb was sacrificed at the temple (Josephus says the process in his day involving thousands of lambs, took from approximately the "ninth to the eleventh hour" (3:00-5:00 p.m.), the lambs were then taken to the individual homes or meeting places where 10-20 persons were gathered per lamb for the Passover "Seder" meal. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, IX,3).
The lambs could be prepared and cooked before sunset, but not eaten until sabbath began after sunset. Of course, sunset also began the special Passover Sabbath day of the FIRST DAY OF UNFERMENTED CAKES. The passover meal was called "Seder" and the meal could be eaten from sunset up until Midnight, but not beyond that. After Midnight, anything left remaining of the lamb was destroyed since nothing was to be left until "morning." In this case, the Jews interpreted "morning" in the strict sense, as technically beginning at Midnight (as we also do, i.e. 12:01 "in the morning.")
Of course, at Midnight, the date also changed officially from Nisan 14th to Nisan 15th. But this special Sabbath day continued on for the rest of that day until the day ended finally at its normal time at nightfall. Thus, there were always two special "evening meals" during the FIRST DAY OF UNFERMENTED CAKES, as with every sabbath day. Remember, every sabbath day which began at sunset but ended at nightfall the following day, would automatically include TWO evening meals periods.
The Jews continued to celebrate this special week with special meals without leaven from the 15th through the 21st when they ate the last meal that evening before nightfall. This special week thus ended officially at NIGHTFALL on the 21st when they no longer had to observe the no-leaven restriction. At Midnight, the date officially changed to Nisan 22nd.
When you understand this basic traditional ritual of Passover, it becomes completely clear why even though the celebration is technically EIGHT days and the Passover lamb is eaten on the "14th", there are still only SEVEN days of "unfermented cakes." This traditional orthodox ritual for celebrating Passover is completely consistent with the Scriptures, particularly Matthew, Mark and Luke which clearly indicate that Jesus sent his disciples out to prepare for Passover on Nisan 14, considered the "first day" of the festival, but did not eat that meal until after sunset. This meant that he didn't actually eat that meal until the "second day" of the festival (officially, the first day of "unfermented cakes"), which would have been Nisan 14/15th.
Also, that the Jews changed their date at Midnight is consistent with Numbers 33:3 which indicates that while the meal was eaten on the "14th" the Jews left Egypt later that very same night on the "15th". Thus, Christendom fails to realize in conjunction with Passover that technically, the actual celebration of "Passover" Seder meal and the first day of unfermented cakes, are one in the same event. But like every Jewish weekday, the DATE which changes at Midnight, means each weekday consisted of two different calendar dates; in this case, the "first day of unfermented cakes" falling partly on the 14th and partly on the 15th of Nisan.
Of course, this also means that Jesus was arrested on the 15th and thus could not have died that day. This brings up the critical issue, therefore, of determining exactly what day and date did Jesus actually die (see below). (end)
For more information and discussion as to when Jesus was arrested and when he died, please see article: "Jesus' Death on Nisan 20th - WTS in Denial"
For more information on other true and false teachings of Jehovah's witnesses, please see article: Jehovah's Witnesses Beliefs.
Last Updated - 9/13/97
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