When Was the Old Testament Passover Lamb Slain? Part 5

As I said, today I want to continue my series on the Passover. Last time, looking at the period between the Old and New Testaments, we could see that that was a time when there was a lot of confusion taking place in a lot of different areas. We also saw last time all the Maccabees, after they reclaimed the temple from Antiochus Epiphanes, who desecrated in 168 BC, and then three years later they were able to get it back and get control of it again.

After they got control of it, they first made an alliance with the upcoming power of Rome. They could see that Rome was an upcoming power they were going to have to deal with, that they might be under some day. So they actually made an alliance with Rome around 165 BC or so. It's recorded in 1 Maccabees chapter 8 in the book of the Apocrypha, which is historically accurate. Then shortly after that, they also made an alliance with a King Demetrius, who was the Greek king of the Ptolemies, the king of the south at that time. That's recorded in 1 Maccabees chapter 11. So they thus secured an alliance with both the Romans and the Greeks.

They were under the Greeks at the time. They would be under the Romans. But they made an alliance with them, which guaranteed that the Jews would have religious jurisdiction over Jerusalem and over the temple at Jerusalem, up to and including the time of Christ, which would in turn then assure that the Jews would be observing the Passover at the time Christ would come to become the Passover Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

It was very important that that was in place. And so both the domestic Passover that we've been talking about and that temple, afternoon temple Passover, they're both extremely important Passovers to bring all this together to lead up to the time of Christ and to prepare the way for Christ to come. We also saw last time, as documented by two historians, Philo and Josephus, who lived contemporaneously with Christ at that time, that they documented that both Passovers were being observed in the first century AD at the time of Christ, as it was a domestic Passover being observed at the beginning of the night of the 14th.

And of course, there was an afternoon temple Passover sacrifice as well on the afternoon. And I guess, like I said, again, both Passovers are extremely important, and both placed a very important, I mean, both played, I should say, a very important role in leading up to the New Covenant Passover. Today, I want to look at both of those Passovers from the perspective of the New Testament. One would be changed and perpetuated. The other would come to an end, basically.

So my title for this sermon here this afternoon is the Passovers, plural, the Passovers of the New Testament, or the Passover Part 5 in this series. And I could cover a lot more than what I'm going to cover.

I don't want to get bogged down with a lot of questions that come up over certain issues regarding the New Testament Passover. So I just want to stick to some main things that are clear and focus on two areas. So first, I want to show you that Christ and His disciples, if you take the New Testament on face value, and there's a couple of complicated scriptures in there we'll have to clarify, but if you take it on face value, we can see that Christ and His disciples kept the domestic Passover at the beginning of the 14th, as instructed in Exodus 12, with one or possibly two exceptions, which we'll touch on later.

Secondly, then I want to go through the events surrounding the Temple Passover sacrifice, which occurred on that Passover day in the year in which Christ died. There's some major things that took place there, and I want to take a look at that. So first of all, then let's look at Christ's last Passover that He observed and kept with His disciples. Again, like I said, I don't want to get bogged down with a lot of questions that can arise surrounding this particular Passover.

I simply want to point out what is clear. So today we'll primarily just look at the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and briefly at John, just to see what they say and to clarify what they say regarding that Passover that Christ kept with His disciples before He died. And again, like I said, in all four of those accounts, actually, especially in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, there are some statements there that on the surface are quite confusing.

I want to look at those statements and clarify them for you. So first let's go to Matthew's account. We'll go to Matthew first, and then Mark and Luke, and then finally at John. That's the only four places we'll be today, so we'll have to be going all over the place. Let's go first to Matthew, chapter 26. I'll begin in Matthew 26, verse 1. It says, Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, that he said to his disciples, You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.

Now he told his disciples that very plainly, but they still didn't get it. They were still shocked when the things happened as they did. When he was taken and went through all the suffering and everything he went through leading up to being crucified, they were still shocked. They didn't get it. But Christ knew here, Christ knew in advance, that he had been predestined to die on the Passover day. That's very clearly indicated by verse 2 here in Matthew 26.

Let's drop down to Matthew 26, verse 17, which is again one of these statements. You look at this statement and say, Whoa, what does this mean? Matthew 26, verse 17 says, Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that means from the New King James, it's similar in the Old King James, but New King James says, Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?

Okay, now this is one of those statements that on the surface it doesn't make any sense. One thing we know for sure, this could not be the first day of Unleavened Bread. Christ died on the afternoon of the Passover day. He died before the first day of Unleavened Bread commenced. Now in the context of Matthew 26, this has to be sometime very late, as they're preparing for this Passover, has to be very late on the afternoon of the 13th or just before sunset, very late in the afternoon of the 13th leading up to the evening of the 14th, in the context of Matthew 26.

And we know that Christ initiated the New Covenant Passover service with his disciples at the beginning of the Passover day, that is that evening which began the Passover day in that year, beginning of the 14th. That was that night that he initiated the New Testament Passover service. So this then has to be prior to that, prior to sunset, just prior to sunset on that, that began the 14th or the Passover day.

So what then is the explanation for the first half of verse 17? Which says, now on the first day of un then bread, disciples came to him. Because this couldn't be the first day of un then bread. It had to be just before the Passover day began, or right as the Passover day was beginning, just prior to that. Well, note here in verse 26, excuse me, in verse 17, I should say, of Matthew 26, note that the words, day of the feast here in the New King James, it's slightly different than the Old King James, I'm reading from the New, but the New King James, the words, day of the feast, are in italics, which means they are not in the original Greek.

Also, just, you look this up in Strongs, but also the two English words, unleavened bread, are actually translated from one Greek word, the word azumos, a-z-u-m-o-s, which simply means, literally means unleavened. Now, obviously, when that word is used, the insinuation is unleavened bread, because that's what you unleavened. But the word literally means unleavened. Those unleavened bread is translated from one word, which literally means unleavened. It insinuates unleavened bread, but it literally means unleavened. So, a literal translation then, it would be, now, on the first of unleavened, that's what would literally be in Greek, the first of unleavened, or on the first of the unleavened.

Now, there's every certain phrase that we use today that makes sense to us, that probably 2,000 years from now, it's that phrase, somebody wouldn't understand what it meant. But, back 2,000 years ago, that Greek phrase that was used here would have been clearly understood by everyone who was living at that time.

And since unleavened bread, he had to be eaten with the Old Testament Passover meal, Exodus 12, verse 8. And since all 11 had to be removed before the Passover day ended, and before the first day of unleavened bread began, the Passover day was referred to as the first of unleavened, or the first of the unleavened. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the Passover day itself was a day of unleavened bread. But again, that would take a sermon to go through and clarify that.

But it simply meant here that Passover was the first day on which unleavened bread had to be used, and that all 11 had to be removed from their dwellings before the Passover day ended, and the first day of unleavened bread began. So in the first century AD, the Passover day was called the first of unleavened, or the first of the unleavened, which is the correct rendering of the first half of Matthew 26, 17 here. Now on the first of unleavened, as I would add, as the Passover day was about to begin, disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?

Now that's very clear. It's very clear to me that they said here they were preparing, Christ was getting disciples to prepare for all of them to eat the Passover. Would it be a domestic Passover meal that would be eaten in a home?

Verse 18. And he said, Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, the teacher or the master says, My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples. Now, if you stop and think about it, this has to be referring to the Old Testament Passover. Because the New Testament Passover had not yet been introduced. And when Christ introduced it, with beginning with the foot washing, as we'll see a little bit later, it totally took his disciples by surprise. Peter was totally taken by surprise. I'm not going to wash your feet.

What are you doing? What's this all about? They had no idea he was going to initiate a new covenant Passover service on that night. They were preparing to eat the Passover as they had previously. It was, we would call then, the Old Testament Passover. Because the New Testament had not yet been initiated, and Christ's disciples had no pre-knowledge that he was going to introduce that to them. Did Christ's disciples then do as he instructed them to do? Matthew 26, verse 19. So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover. They prepared the Old Testament Passover to take that with Christ.

And note in the next verses that they were preparing it for that very evening. Verse 20. And when evening had come, this would be the evening of the 14th. This is the 14th day. The Passover day began after sunset. When the evening had come, he sat down with the 12.

For what purpose? Well, to eat the Passover, and to keep the Passover with his disciples, verses 17 and 18. So Matthew then describes how Christ sent during this Old Testament Passover meal, how he instituted the New Covenant Passover with the bread and wine.

But let's end there for now. Let's go to Mark's account. To Mark chapter 14.

Oops.

Mark chapter 14. I'll begin in verse 12, which again, on the surface is a confusing verse. It doesn't seem to make sense.

Mark 14 verse 12. Now on the first day of unleavened bread, and this is an italic here.

So again, it'll require explanation. But this is on the first day of unleavened bread.

Then, when they killed the Passover lamb, on the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, so this indicates that they killed the Passover lamb, that they were going to eat on that Passover evening with Christ. On the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?

Again, this cannot be referring to the first day of unleavened bread.

Because the Passover lambs were never killed on the first day of unleavened bread by anybody's reckoning. The Passover lambs were always killed on the 14th day of the first month on the Passover day. Like I said, none of these words here in this particular verse are in italics, but again, the English words unleavened bread are translated from just one Greek word, from the Greek word azumos, which means unleavened. Thus in Greek, this phrase here is very similar to the one used in Matthew 26, 17, and can be literally translated now on the first of unleavened, or on the first of the unleavened. Very similar to what we just read in Matthew 26. And if you look up the word day here in Strongest and Cordon's, there is no Greek word for day in this verse, where it says first day, that word is not there. It's really the first of unleavened. So it simply reads in Greek now on the first of unleavened, or the first of the unleavened, which is referring to the Passover day, not the first day of unleavened bread. But again, notice the question posed by Christ disciples. They posed the question, where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?

You may eat the Old Testament Passover, as we would call it today, because that was that was what they would have understood as the Passover. That was the only Passover they did understand.

The new had not been initiated yet. And of course, that included them eating the Passover lamb, which they had to kill first. Now, notice something else here in this verse becomes very important when we understand that the first of the unleavened, or the first of unleavened, here is referring to the beginning of the fourteenth, to the very beginning of the Passover day, which began at sunset. It then says here, now on the first of unleavened, or on the first of the unleavened, referring to the Passover day, at the very beginning of the nine of the fourteenth, it says, they killed the Passover lamb, indicating that they killed it at the nighttime portion, right after sunset, on the beginning of the Passover day, when you understand the Greek and how this all comes together. So this indicates that the Passover lamb eaten by Christ and his disciples was killed right after sunset at the beginning of the fourteenth, or between the two evenings, that is, between sunset and darkness as the Passover day began. It then indicated that they then ate it on that same night, on the evening of the fourteenth, after everything had been prepared in advance. Now, the Odyssey found the room and prepared that room in advance, before the Passover day began, and before they killed the lamb. But, as it tells us here, of course, what's going on here, Mark 14, let's go on in verse 13. He sent out two of his disciples, then, but just prior to this, to prepare everything in advance, and said, Go into the city, and a man will meet you, carrying a pitcher of water, following him. I'm sure they were wondering what that was all about, because they had no idea he was going to initiate foot washing at some point during this Passover meal he was having with them. And he said, Wherever he goes in, say to the master of the house, the teacher says, Where is the guest room, in which I may eat the Passover with my disciples? So Christ is obviously looking forward to eating the Passover with him on this night. Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared, there make ready for us. Verse 15. So his disciples went out and came to the city, and they found it just as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. In the evening he came with the twelve.

You know, it's interesting, verse 16, it says, his disciples went out, they came to the city, found it as he had said, and they prepared the Passover for that night. They prepared it. And note that the disciples gave no indication here of being, this being abnormal in any way whatsoever. It's not like, Well, wait a minute, why are we doing this on the 14th? Don't we do this on the 15th?

There's nothing here to indicate that this was abnormal or something that was changed over the way they'd done it before. Because obviously they'd kept the Passover with Christ before, even though it's not recorded. So in the 14th, after the Passover Lamb had been killed, Christ then came with his twelve disciples to eat the Passover with them. So it's very clear, it's very apparent to me that Christ ate the Old Testament Passover meal with his disciples on the night of the 14th. Finally, let's go to Luke's account. Luke 22. We've touched on this before, but let's look at it again. Luke 22 verse 1, which gives us an idea of some of the things that, how things are being terminated back then at that time, how they called certain things. Luke 22.1, it says, excuse me, now on the Feast of Unleavened Bread, I should say, now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, excuse me, which is called Passover. So again, here it says that the Feast of Unleavened Bread back then was called Passover.

Again, like already covered, by this time some of the Jews were calling the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread, they were calling it Passover, even as some Jews do today. As I was mentioning this morning in Bellevue, they have a really moving advertisement that they advertise. You see quite often, if you've been watching television at all, where a Jew comes on there, he's a rabbi, and he's actually trying to get people to donate $25. So Jews and Russians, Iberians, so on, how they can have $25 for their Passover set or meal. And while that advertisement is taking place, they just put up up there, it says Passover, and then it gives the dates for the Passover this year. It says Passover April 19th to April 25th. April 19th to April 25th are the dates for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover is the 18th, but again, even today, when they say the Passover, they're referring to the days of Unleavened Bread, not the Passover day as we would think of it. Let's drop down to verse 7, which again becomes another verse that doesn't make sense on the surface. Luke 22 verse 7.

Then came the day of Unleavened Bread when the Passover must be killed.

Now, some people look at that and say, okay, that's proof that the Passover is the day of Unleavened Bread, but that doesn't have to mean that. See, the Passover lands were never killed on the first day of Unleavened Bread, so I can't be talking about the first day of Unleavened Bread as we would think of it. The only day in which the Passover lands were ever killed again was on the Passover day. So this day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed, had to be the Passover day itself. Now, the whole confusion is cleared up when we realize that the Greek expression used in Matthew, Mark, and here in Luke as well, literally means the day of Unleavened, or the day of the Unleavened. It was a phrase used by the Greeks in the first century AD, which really referred to the Passover as being the first of Unleavened. It's referring to the Passover day. That was the term they used. In all three cases, that Greek expression referred to the Passover day as being the first of Unleavened, or the first of the Unleavened. Again, because the Passover was the first day in which Unleavened Bread had to be used with the Passover meal, and because the Passover day was the day on which all Unleavened had to be removed from their homes. Now, the time sitting here in Luke 22.7, as it was in Matthew 26.17 and Mark 14.12, is the end of the 13th, the very beginning of the 14th, that the sun was about to set here at the beginning of the 14th. That's the time setting overall, which is precisely when the Old Testament Passover lamb had to be killed from the position we've been covering it here. At Ben-Ha'aba-Rim, or between the two evenings, that is between sunset and darkness at the beginning of the 14th. Now, Matthew, Mark, and Luke clearly indicate, when properly understood, that this is precisely when Christ and His disciples had their Passover lamb killed, and when they ate their Old Testament Passover meal at the beginning of the 14th. Christ and His disciples were observing the Passover precisely as instructor in Exodus 12. As I said, only with one, maybe two, exceptions. One exception is given to us here. We know for sure. In Exodus 12, on that first Passover, they had to remain in their houses until morning, and they had to put the blood of the lamb on their derpos. Why? Because on that night, the death angel was going to Passover to bring judgment on all of Egypt by killing all the firstborn in Egypt. That was a one-time event. That only happened once. After that, it would not have been necessary for them to have to remain in their houses for the entire night. And it probably, I'm just assuming here, but I don't know, it probably was not necessary to have to put blood on the derpos either, necessarily, but they may have. I'm not saying one way or the other. But we know for sure they didn't. Christ and His disciples did not remain in that house that whole night, because Matthew 26.30 says, when they had sung of Him, they went out to the Mount of Balaise, and that would have been in the middle of the night.

But note the next few verses here in Luke's account, which clearly tells us they were observing the Old Testament Passover.

Luke 22, verse 8. He sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat, that we may eat the Passover.

So He said to him, Well, where do you want us to prepare?

He said to them, Behold, when you have entered into the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house which he enters.

Then you shall say to the master of the house, The teacher says to you, Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?

So it's very clearly here that Christ was going to be eating the Passover with His disciples, what we would call the Old Testament Passover. Then He will show you a large, furnished upper room there, make ready. Make it ready for Christ and His disciples to eat the Passover. Verse 13, So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. And when the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. And He said to them, With fervent desire, this is amazing verse here, really, With fervent desire I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. Now again, at this point, the disciples had no idea what Christ was going to go through that night and the next day. They had no idea He was going to be seized, taken, you know, all the suffering He was going to go through, scourging and everything, and that He was going to be crucified about nine o'clock the next morning. They had no idea. They were in shock. You read the other count, they were in shock. They scattered. They had no idea what was happening. Peter denied he even knew Him. He was afraid it might happen to Him. They didn't realize that was going to happen, even though he had told them. So they didn't realize that he was about to suffer and die, and this would be his last Passover with them. They didn't realize that.

But Christ knew who He was, and He knew who He would become. He knew what His destiny was. He knew that He would become the Passover Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, as we read in Revelation. And Christ says here He'd been looking forward to this moment, since the foundation of the world are going all the way back, we could say, to the Garden of Eden.

Why? Well, because Christ was about to undo everything that Satan had done.

He was about to redeem mankind from Satan, and He was about to give mankind direct access to His Father. So all could then become literal sons and daughters of God, become members of God's family.

He was about to save mankind from Satan and to save them from death, and the penalty of death.

Going on here in Luke 22 there, verse 15, He said, With fervent desire I've desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, before I suffer and die. For I say to you, verse 16, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

So Christ was about to open the door to eternal life into the kingdom of God for His followers and for all of mankind. So this particular Passover then had to be different, because Christ was making a new covenant with them in this Passover. And it would make a new covenant for the spiritual house of Israel.

A new covenant that would later that Passover day be sealed and ratified by the shedding of Christ's own blood and by His broken body, by the suffering He would go through.

The new covenant would be sealed and ratified by Christ Himself.

And it would be sealed and ratified by Christ alone. But precisely at 3 p.m. the following Passover afternoon, He would become the Passover lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Now, Christ would later, after first making this new covenant with His disciples, He would later ratify that new covenant with His own blood.

So it could never be changed, and so it could never be rescinded. It was going to stand for all time, for all of mankind, whenever they were born, whenever they lived.

They could have that assurance that through Jesus Christ they have access to God the Father and to God's Kingdom and to eternal life. He guaranteed that by the laying down of His own life as the Son of God. So that then was Christ's last Passover with the disciples, according to Matthew Mark and Luke's account, which took place at the beginning of the 14th as originally instructed in Exodus 12 and is planned from the very beginning. Because this was a precise time, Christ had to make a new covenant with all of His two followers before He would ratify that covenant with His death the following afternoon.

Which is precisely what Christ did on that Passover night. He made an initiated new covenant with His disciples and all His future disciples and followers as well. Let's just turn briefly to John's account. John 13. I just want to explain it from this perspective I'm giving you here this afternoon. In John 13 verse 1, which again can on the surface can be a little confusing when you stop and think about it. Because we know in the setting time sitting here, John 13, it's the Passover night. It's that night of the Passover. He's having the Passover meal with His disciples and during the meal He intervenes and starts washing His disciples' feet. It starts out here in John 13.1. It says, Now before the feast of the Passover.

Now as we know, as I just said from the context, this was actually the evening of the Passover, and this was before the Feast of Unleavened Bread. But remember the Feast of Unleavened Bread by this time was called Passover by many of the Jews, as we just read in Luke 22 verse 1. So in reality, this is the night of the Passover and before the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was called Passover. That's one way of looking here and understanding John 13 verse 1.

Now before the Feast of Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come, that He should depart from this world to the Father. Having loved His own, who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

And supper being ended, or as my margin says, and during supper, because this was the Passover supper meal that He was having with them, so it really should be during supper. And during supper, the devil, having already put it into the heart of Jesus' chariot, Simon's son, to betray Him. And Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things in His hands, that He had come from God and was going to God, He rose from supper, laid aside His garments, took a towel, and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.

So basically then, He's beginning now the New Covenant Passover service with foot washing, which totally took His disciples by surprise. You know the story here, I won't read all of it, but Peter said, well, wait a minute, what are you doing? You're not going to wash my feet. And Christ said, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part with me. He said, well, then wash me all over. He said, no, you just need to wash your feet. But the disciples were taking off. They didn't understand what was happening here. They had no inkling that this was going to take place.

I'm going to drop you on down to verse 13. So begin the New Covenant Passover with the foot washing, dropping down to verse 13. He says, you call me teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and teacher, your Lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.

He then, of course, added after that, he had the New Covenant symbols of the bread and wine. Let's just turn back to Matthew's account and read that quickly. Matthew 26 verses 26 through 28.

Matthew 26, and as they were eating, as they were eating the Old Testament Passover meal, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to these disciples and said, take eat. This is my body. This represents my body, which is going to go through a great deal of suffering and be, in that sense, broken for you. First, oh, and then his bones were broken, but his body was broken and very much bruised and beaten. Verse 27. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many, for the remission or forgiveness of sins. So Christ then concluded this particular Passover by making a New Covenant with all of his followers, with initiation of the foot washing and the bread and the wine. A New Covenant with the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. And that's alluded to in verse 29, where he says, But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until the day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Because that's what this New Covenant means. It means to be able to receive the gift of eternal life in God's kingdom as little sons and daughters of God. God's family. And again, in verse 30, he says, And when they had sung of him, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So that then concludes Christ's last Passover with the disciples. It was the last Old Covenant Passover, and it was the first New Covenant Passover. And this New Covenant was made between Christ and his disciples, between Christ and his followers. All of his followers would be whoever they'd be down through time. And it was made at the precise time God had intended at the beginning of the Passover, on the night of the Passover, on the night of the beginning of the 14th, the night of the Passover.

Because first and foremost, and this is important to understand, first and foremost, the Passover is a covenant. It's a binding agreement between two parties. That's what a covenant is.

It's a binding agreement here between Christ and all of his followers, then and down through the centuries. So one question then remain, how would this new covenant be ratified, and how would it be guaranteed? Who's going to guarantee it? That's a big promise. The promise of eternal life in God's kingdom. How would this new covenant be ratified and guaranteed, and who would ratify it to guarantee that it would be fulfilled? Which then leads us to the events of the afternoon temple Passover, or the afternoon Passover sacrifices at the temple. Now, I was quite interested to look at what happened on that particular Passover in that afternoon.

See, what happened on the afternoon of the Passover in the year Christ died?

Paul tells us, and I'll just refer to this, I won't turn there, but Paul tells us in Hebrews 10, verses 1-2, he said, The old covenant sacrifices, including the sacrifice of the Passover lambs, could never make those who approach God perfect. Sacrificing animals, sacrificing Passover lambs, that could not make the people who offered those sacrifices or who they're offered on behalf of, could not make them perfect. As Paul adds in Hebrews 10, verse 2, For then would they not have ceased to have been offered? If they could have made them perfect, they'd still be offering them. It took a different sacrifice to bring people to perfection, to bring people to spiritual maturity, to be like God the Father and like Jesus Christ, to be made into their spiritual image and likeness. Now, when did the temple Passover sacrifices first cease to be offered?

I'm just telling that as a question. I want you to think about it.

See, it's very significant the temple Passover sacrifices were offered originally about probably around three in the afternoon. The edition has it.

The very precise time that Christ died, that's very significant.

Because we know Christ died about three in the afternoon. He died on the ninth hour, which was the ninth hour after sunrise, about three in the afternoon. We're told that in several places, but one reference is Matthew 27, verse 46, and also verse 50 in Matthew 27.

And I think all that was by God's design, that even there was a temple Passover sacrifice that was offered by the time that Christ died, and that was by God's design as well.

But what happened on that particular Passover afternoon in that year that Christ died?

Did God frustrate the temple Passover sacrifices? And did the sacrifice of Jesus Christ replace those sacrifices in the year that Christ died?

So once and for all time, Christ could become the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

I was interested to go to Josephus, and Josephus confirms that in the first century A.D. at the time of Christ, when in regards to the afternoon temple Passover sacrifices, that people would bring hundreds and sometimes even thousands of lambs to have them sacrificed on that Passover afternoon. And to have time to do that, they began around noon. Sometimes it would take between noon and sunset to do that, because they had a lot of them to do. You couldn't do it just a short period of time.

So they could start doing those Passover Lamb sacrifices probably around between noon and sunset, which is probably how the Jews came to interpret between the two evenings as between noon and sunset on the afternoon of the 14th. But they have documentation that that's what they did. They had to begin around noon, and they did that for as long as it took between noon and sunset. But here's what's interesting in regards to that. I find fascinating.

On the afternoon of the 14th, in the year that Christ died, there were four monumental and four miraculous events that took place. What was the first monumental and the first miraculous event that took place? And when did it occur? It tells us precisely when it occurred and what it was.

And I find this very, very fascinating. Let's read it for ourselves. Let's go to Mark 15.

Mark chapter 15.

We'll look first at verse 25.

Mark 15 verse 25. Mark 15 verse 25.

That was the third hour, and they crucified him. The third hour would be the third hour from sunrise, or about 9 a.m. It was crucified at about 9 a.m. that Passover morning.

Let's drop down now to verse 33.

And when the sixth hour had come, the sixth hour would be about noon, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, until about 3 that afternoon. Of course, that ninth hour is when Christ died.

Sixth hour to the ninth hour would have been from noon to 3 p.m.

And during that time, from noon until the time Christ died, it says, the whole land in and around Jerusalem became darkness.

And interestingly, it began at noon. So suddenly and miraculously, at noon on that Passover day, day became night.

Now, remember, they didn't have any electricity back then.

No artificial lights. All they had, they had candles and oil lamps. And you think about it, they wouldn't have taken out with them during the day. They would have taken candles and oil lamps with them because it was daylight. They wouldn't need them. They wouldn't need them until night. They wouldn't need them until night.

So when it suddenly became dark at noon there, it was dark.

There's no sunlight. It was like it was nighttime.

And it had been very, very difficult to see.

No one would have been able to see well.

Everything would have been obscured in darkness. And this darkness lasted for three hours up until the very time Christ died.

Now, I have to ask the question, why did it begin at noon?

It doesn't tell us, but it's an interesting question to ask.

Because what else normally began at noon on the afternoon of the Passover?

Normally at noon on the afternoon of the Passover, when they began sacrificing their Passover lamps at the temple.

And this darkness that occurred beginning at noon would have made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the priest to offer their Passover lamps on that Passover afternoon.

At the very least, this darkness would have frustrated that purpose and those sacrifices.

And more likely than not, it eliminated it altogether.

At least that's a good possibility in my mind.

Because on this Passover, the real Passover lamb would be slain once and for all to forever replace the old covenant Passover lambs.

Then at the precise time Christ died, three additional, very monumental and very miraculous events took place and occurred.

Let's go to Matthew's account for that. Matthew 27.

And you have to stop and think of what took place. I have a lot of things that took place.

And you have to wonder, did they have any Passover sacrifices at the temple with all this going on? With this darkness and everything else we're going to read of now. Matthew 27. Let's go down and begin in verse 45.

Matthew 27, 45. Now again, from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, from noon until three o'clock that afternoon, there was darkness over all the land. It became dark. It became night.

In verse 46, about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, about three in the afternoon, he said, Eli, Eli, la mas a lactini, that is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Christ is going to have to ratify this new covenant by himself.

He's got to do it alone.

And if I get to the one final sermon, I'll answer that. And if I get to the one final sermon, I can show you why.

Or an example of that, leading up to that.

Dropping then down to verse 50, then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. He died.

So it's now about 3 p.m. that afternoon.

What happened next at that precise time?

Verse 51.

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

Because as we know, the veil of the temple separated the holy place from the holy of holies.

But let me give you a little bit of statistics here. The veil was 30 feet wide.

It was 60 feet from top to bottom. That's a little taller than this building here, I think. I don't think that's 60 feet.

That's pretty high, isn't it? 60 feet.

And here's the other statistic.

It was somewhere between 4 and 6 inches thick.

It was at least 4 inches thick.

So it was extremely heavy.

It was impossible to tear.

Now, there's something else that I'll just throw in here, this addition to that that's very interesting and fascinating.

This was Herod's temple.

Herod had begun reconstructing the temple in about 20 BC.

And it took all the way up to like 60 AD to finish it. But they were still working on it at the time of Christ, at the time he died. But they'd made a lot of progress. A lot of it had been redone. And one thing that they did, that Herod did, to separate the holy of holies from the holy place, addition to the veil, they had two huge brass doors.

30 feet wide and a 60 feet high. Huge brass doors.

So to make way between the holy place and the holy of holies, in addition to that veil tearing, to really open that up, those doors would have to be opened as well.

Now, this is very interesting because here's what Alfred Edersheim, Alfred Edersheim says on page 610 of the life and times of Jesus the Messiah. He talks about these doors, the thickness of the veil, and about these huge doors that were made by Herod in Herod's temple.

And he talks about here how he's going to give accounts that at the moment Christ died, these doors were actually opened at the same time the veil was torn.

Here's what he says on page 610 of the life and times of Jesus the Messiah.

That some great catastrophe, betoking the impending destruction of a temple, had occurred in the sanctuary about this very time, at the time Christ died, is confirmed by not less than four mutually independent testimonies.

Those of Tacitus, Josephus, the Talmud, and of earliest Christian tradition.

The most important of these, of course, are the Talmud and Josephus.

And the latter, Josephus speaks of the mysterious extinction of the middle and chief light in the golden candlestick. And he talks about this happening 40 years before the temple was destroyed.

And both he and the Talmud refer to a supernatural opening by themselves of the great temple gates the huge brass doors behind the veil, right in front of the veil, that had been previously closed, which was regarded as a poor tent of the coming destruction of the temple.

We can scarcely doubt that some historical fact must underline so peculiar and widespread a tradition about these doors opening, that we cannot help feel that it may be a version of the occurrence of the rending of the temple veil at the crucifixion of Christ. It occurred at the same time.

Same time the veil toward these doors were opened because there's all kinds of there's quite a few traditions and also some historical documentation that that occurred at the same time. And of course that would have had to occur to actually make the way from the holy place to the holy of holies opened up and be readily available. In addition to the veil tearing, those doors would have had to open as well. But this splitting of the veil was a monumental and miraculous event that could only be attributed as being an act of God. What also happened at the same time? Again, verse 51 to Matthew 27, then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked and the rocks were split.

And the Greek word for rocks here is petra, and it indicates massive rocks were split. Huge boulders were split. Undoubtedly, large crevices of the earth opened up there in some places.

Undoubtedly, there's also some damage done to the temple. I can't imagine that kind of bionic bionic earthquake that would cause big rocks to split open, and that wouldn't cause some damage in the area of the temple as well. And again, remember it's still dark when all this took place.

And this earthquake and this darkness and everything that was happening would have sent people into a panic, at least to a degree, and many would have probably been scrambling for their lives. And again, all this is by the hand of God as a powerful witness to testify that Jesus was precisely who he said he was, that he was the Son of God. The Son of God had just died to save mankind, and that was accompanied by all these miraculous events to testify to that. And with all that going on, when you stop and think about it, with all that going on, it's very unlikely that the priests were offering any of their Passover lambs at the temple at that time.

It's just very unlikely, in my mind, that that would be taking place on that particular afternoon.

In my mind, those temple Passover sacrifices on that afternoon would have been totally disrupted. And it's very unlikely that, I should say, it's very likely, I should say, that the only lamb sacrificed on that Passover afternoon was Jesus the Christ. I believe he was the only lamb sacrificed on that afternoon. That's my opinion. But with all these events that took place, I think that's probably historically accurate. So he could become the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And the total focus would be on Jesus Christ as that lamb. That's the only lamb that was sacrificed on that afternoon. Now, there was yet one more monumental event, an extremely miraculous event, that occurred right after this. And that event demonstrated what the death of the Son of God would mean for all of mankind. Going on in verse 52, it says, this happened next at the same time, or just right after this, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of their graves, after His resurrection, they went into the city and appeared to many. And it says, when all this happened, this earthquake and all this stuff was put into the veil and the grave being opened, it says, when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that happened, they feared greatly, saying, truly, this was the Son of God. It had to be. This is not just some prophet. He was who He said He was. He was the Son of God. The Son of God just died.

They had no doubt. They were there. They were witnessing all these things taking place. Those into the events which took place on the afternoon of the Passover, on which Christ died, and His death at the time of the Passover lands were sacrificed, thus ratified the New Covenant Passover. It ratified the New Covenant Passover, and it guaranteed the fulfillment of the New Covenant. It guaranteed that. Christ's death guaranteed that mankind now had direct access to God the Father, so we could become sons and literal sons and daughters of God and have an opportunity to be in God's family for all eternity. It guaranteed the door to eternal life in the kingdom of God was now open to all mankind. So I'll conclude there for now. Like I see, there's one other sermon that could tie this all together, which I might give. I'm not going to give that next week. Next week, I want to give a sermon that focuses on preparing for the Passover itself. So if I give that final sermon, it would be in a couple weeks or so. But there is one more that could kind of tie this all together, so I might give that in a couple of weeks. But I'll end there for now. That indeed was miraculous events, and it's very interesting to focus on all those things that took place on that Passover day as we prepare now to take that New Covenant Passover here in just a couple more weeks.