Follow Up to a FB Discussion

My question was:

If Y'shua and his Apostles ate the passover meal together on the 14th day at twilight, was he arrested and killed the next day ...the first day of Unleavened Bread.... ?

What caused me to do an earlier study on this very topic is that we find reference in Scriptures that Y'shua Messiah was/is called the Passover Lamb, along with the common belief  he was 'sacrificed' on the day of Passover, which is the 14th day of the first month according to our Creator's calendar.  I know that our Creator does not approve human sacrifices which helped me to view the death of Y'shua in a slightly different light: His death metaphorically relates to the blood of the lamb saving folks from death.  He wasn't sacrificed but was sentenced to death, hung on a Roman death device. He knew these things would befall him, and to fulfill this prophecy would bring glory to the Father.

I do not deny that Y'shua Son of YHWH is the Lamb of Elohim and has been referred to in Scriptures as the passover lamb.  I completely understand the origins of the passover meal and the days of Unleavened Bread.  In Exodus it is written that the blood of the lamb was painted onto the lintels and doorposts of the houses by those who spent the night inside as a sign to YHWH to protect them from the Angel of Death: the last plague before His people were set free.  This pattern clearly carries through to the shed blood of Y'shua Messiah. If we believe he laid down his life for our sake, that he obeyed the Father in all things and we choose to do likewise, we spiritually paint his blood on our minds and hearts as a sign to YHWH to save us from those eternal flames. We are set free from our past sinful nature and begin our journey on His Path of Righteous Living.

Yah's People have obeyed His Instructions for many, many years before His Son came on the scene.  We know that His Son came to do the will of the Father, and he and his followers obeyed Torah = Instructions; which include keeping the moedim, Yah's Set Apart times to be remembered and observed each year through all generations to come.  

Here are the Instructions given by YHWH for those believers in Egypt to prepare for the final plague which results in them being set free from Pharaoh (lightly paraphrased by me, please read Scriptures for the full details):

Exodus 12:3 ~ ... on the tenth of this month each family shall take a lamb into their household... a lamb without blemish, a yearling male from either the sheep or the goats. Keep watch over it until the 14th day; and then all the assembled congregation of the Israelites shall slaughter them at twilight. They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they are to eat it. They shall eat it the same night, roasted over the fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs. Do not leave anything left over until morning, but if there are leftovers, burn them. Be fully dressed and ready to leave before you eat and eat quickly: it is a passover offering to YHWH as protection, because that night He will go through the land of Egypt and strike down every first born, both man and beast; and He will mete out punishments to all the 'gods' of Egypt because He alone is Elohim.  The blood on the houses shall be a sign for you: when Yah sees it He will pass over you so that no plague will destroy you when He strikes the land of Egypt.

After this takes place, Yah tells them how to remember this momentous event in the years to come. He tells them the day will be one to remember and to celebrate it for all time.

Exodus 12:15 ~ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread... on the very 1st day (of the 7 days) you shall remove leaven from your houses... The first day and the seventh day are sacred occasions and no work is to be done, only whatever is to be eaten may be prepared. 

Exodus 12:17 ~ You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread for on this very day (the 15th day of the 1st month) I brought you out of Egypt, to be observed throughout the ages as an institution for all time. 

Exodus 12:18 ~ In the first month from the 14th day at evening you shall eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at evening. No leaven is to be found in your houses - whether one is a stranger or a citizen of the country you shall eat nothing leavened. 

Exodus 12:24 ~ You shall observe this as an institution for all time, for you and for your descendants. And when you enter the land that I will give you, as I promised, you shall observe this rite... And when your children ask why and what does it mean, you shall say, 'It is the passover sacrifice to YHWH Elohim because He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but saved our houses'.

In Leviticus the instructions are repeated:

Leviticus 23:4 ~ These are the set times of YHWH, the sacred occasions, which you shall celebrate each at its appointed time: In the first month, on the 14th day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to YHWH and on the 15th day of that month YHWH's Feast of Unleavened Bread... for seven days.

And again in Deuteronomy 16 we are given the details for keeping the feast in the years to come. It reads that a passover offering is made to YHWH and slaughtered in the place Elohim will choose to establish His Name - For 7 days no leaven shall be found among you. You cannot slaughter the sacrifice wherever you choose but at the place YHWH chooses to establish His Name. In the morning you may start back home - on the 7th day of Unleavened Bread hold a solemn gathering, do no work. 

His people are instructed to do this so they remember the day of their departure from the land of Egypt for as long as they live. The blood of the lamb was a sign to YHWH and saved them from death - they were set free from being slaves to Pharaoh. Our acceptance of the shed blood of His Son is also a sign to YHWH, and sets us free from our old sin-nature.

These quotes from Scripture establish the fixed time of when to observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which begins immediately after the the twilight meal of the roasted lamb: the passover offering. It was eaten as daylight dwindled into twilight of the 14th day, which became the 15th day after the sun went down.  Let me also point out the 14th day was the regular day of rest and this 15th day is a Shabbat, the first day of Unleavened Bread. Seven days later is High Shabbat because the last day of Unleavened Bread falls on the 7 day count for the regular day of rest.

Lets fast forward now to the final days of Y'shua as they are written in Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7 and John 13:1. The time frame is the beginning of the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread. The event is Y'shua gathered together with his disciples to eat the passover meal, observing the fixed time of YHWH as previously described.

But first a word about the Word:

I have learned in the course of this study that it was customary back in the day when folks spoke of this set apart time to interchange the words 'passover' and 'feast of Unleavened Bread' because the passover offering kicked off the feast of Unleavened Bread. All Set Apart believers knew what was being said and what was meant.  There was only one offering on the 14th day followed by the 7 days of Unleavened Bread. It seems that Passover was not really a feast day unto itself but the lead-in, the actions taken just before the Seven days of Unleavened Bread. It is mentioned in Mark 14:12 the 'first day of Unleavened Bread was when the lambs were slaughtered'. Yet, according to what we read earlier, Yah's Instructions are that the passover offering lambs were slaughtered on the 14th day, eaten at sunset, and the first day of Unleavened Bread began on the 15th day.  Mark knew that and was using the common language of the day in his report. 

The Passover Meal - one event recorded years later by four different Apostles:

1. Matthew 26:17 ~ Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples asked Y'shua where he wanted them to prepare the meal
2. Mark 14:12 ~ And in the first day of the Unleavened Bread in which the Yehudeans slay the (passover offering lamb) the disciples were asking Y'shua where to go to prepare to eat.
3. Luke 22:7 - And the day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread arrived... Y'shua sent Peter and John to make preparations.
4. John 13:1 - Now before the feast Y'shua had known the time that he would depart this world to his Father had arrived. He loved his own who were in this world and he loved them up until the end. :2 And when supper was done, Satan put in the heart of Judas to betray Y'shua...

Note it is written, 'when supper was done', referring to the passover meal just eaten. It has been established that they are keeping the set time of YHWH, in the first month of the year and eat the passover meal together, at twilight, on the 14th day of the month, which has been the practice of the Israelites ever since they were set free from Egypt. The lamb offerings for each household have been slaughtered, roasted and are eaten that evening. John adds that Y'shua knew his time had come, knew it even before the feast of Unleavened Bread was to take place.

I have come to terms that we in this modern age must be inspired by the Ruach haKodesh to use our common sense to realize when the Apostles say it was the "first day of Unleavened Bread" in the same sentence as "preparing a place to eat" that they are indeed referring to the 14th day when the roasted lamb is eaten before the sun goes down. They would not alter Yah's Instructions or substitute other behavior.  The 14th day is when the lambs would be taken to the temple and sacrificed by the priests on duty who handle offerings. Families would then take the lamb offerings to be roasted and eaten at home. Y'shua and his Apostles did not have a home to go to so therein is the need to prepare a place to eat. 

After this passover meal was eaten, Y'shua and his disciples took a walk to the Mount of Olives. The sun has already gone down, so according to Yah's perfect timing, it is now the 15th day of this month (still dark), this also being the 1st day of Unleavened Bread.

While they are at the Mount of Olives, Y'shua tells them things that will happen soon according to what has been prophesied and they can't believe they could ever be offended by him. He tells them there is sadness in his soul. They continue walking to the place called Gethsemane. The Apostles eventually fall asleep during the hour Y'shua is praying to his Father.

This record of events makes it possible to conclude that Y'shua was not killed during the time that the passover offering lambs were being slaughtered. Otherwise he could not have eaten with his beloved twelve, taken a walk and had more time in fellowship with those he loved. 

After they had arrived at Gethsemane, Judas came back and betrayed Y'shua to the chief priests and elders. After a scuffle all the disciples left their Teacher - they ran away. Those who seized Y'shua wanted to take him to Caiaphas (Matthew 26:50-59) but they could not find him. So they take him to Pilate.

We read in Matthew 27 when it was morning the chief priests and elders took Y'shua to Pilate, who tries to argue for his life as he finds no guilt with him. Pilate realizes the accusers of Y'shua do so out of envy. The angry mob wins. Y'shua is scourged with whips and delivered to be put to death on a stake. He dies around the 9th hour.

The 14th day at twilight the meal is eaten. They leave the place they have eaten and walk to the Mount of Olives where Y'shua tells his Apostles many things. They then walk on to Gethsemane where the Apostles eventually fall asleep while Y'shua is in prayer to his Father. Judas betrays him and he is carried off.  It wasn't until morning that he was taken to Pilate. Now it is the 15th day.

Matthew 26:57 ~ And those who seized Y'shua led him to the high priest Caiaphas, where the scribes and elders were gathered. They were seeking witnesses against Y'shua so that they might kill him, but none were found although many false witnesses showed up.
Matthew 27:1 ~ And when it was morning, the chief priests and the elders all took counsel against Y'shua, and bound him and delivered him to Pilate.

Mark 14:53 ~ Then they took Y'shua to Caiaphas the high priest, and the chief priests and scribes and elders were all gathered with him. The chief priests and all their assembly were seeking testimony against Y'shua so that they might kill him.

Mark 15 ~ And immediately in the morning the chief priests with the elders and with the scribes, all of the assembly took counsel and they bound Y'shua and led him away and delivered him to Pilate.

Mark 15:15 ~ And Pilate desired to do the will of the crowds and released Bar Abba to them. Then after Y'shua was scourged, he delivered him to be executed on a stake.

Luke 22:54 ~ Then they seized him and brought him to the house of the high priest. When the day dawned, the elders and the chief priests and scribes gathered and took him to their council chambers (and questioned him). In Luke 23:6 he reports that Pilate sent Y'shua to Herod because Y'shua was from Galilee. Herod was in Jerusalem in those days. Herod questions Y'shua but gets no answers, gives him back to Pilate to deal with.

Luke 23:13 ~ Pilate calls to the chief priests and rulers of the people and says to them: You brought me this man as a deceiver of your people - I have examined him and have not found any fault with him nor has Herod... nothing that is worthy of death has been committed by him. Pilate desired to let Y'shua go but the people were crying out and saying 'Nail him to the stake!' 

In John 18:28 the account is about the same, although some details are added that are not reported by the other three. Pilate tells the mob to take Y'shua and judge him according to 'their own' Torah and the Yehudeans reply, 'it is not lawful for us to kill a man' (it was a Shabbat, the 1st day of Unleavened Bread, so of course those religious men couldn't kill him that day.)

In John 19 Y'shua is scourged and mocked. At about the 6th hour Pilate turned him over to be executed. Matthew says Y'shua died about the 9th hour. (The 6th hour is equivalent to mid-day).

After examining the evidence provided in Scriptures, I conclude: 

The passover meal was eaten at twilight, the 14th day. The accounts agree it was morning, as the day dawned, when Y'shua was bound and brought before Pilate. It is now the 15th day. The 9th hour when Y'shua died is during the 15th day.