Christ kept the Passover
(the real Passover, not the Jewish moon-month Passover)

From "The True Bible Sabbath", by Ronald Bierer (somewhat editted):

    Christ ate the Passover one day before the Jews ate their Passover. Abib one and Nisan one can never be the same day. Abib one is God's (Elohim's) first day of the year, which falls on the Vernal Equinox (March 20-21). Nisan one is the first day in the Babylonian year which falls on the first day after the new moon after the Vernal Equinox, therefore it can be from 1 to 30 days after Abib one. [from page 45.]

    Most people try to tell us "Abib" and "Nisan" are the same or synonymous. They are definitely not, although both are used in the Bible. One is God's (Elohim's) month; the other is Babylon's month.
    The word "Abib" (Strong's #24) is used a total of six times in the Bible and only in the books of Exodus and Deuteronomy, God's (Elohim's) books where the Law is given. Abib 1 falls on the Vernal Equinox.
    The word "Nisan" (Strong's #5212) is used only after Israel went into Babylonian captivity, then is used only in Nehemiah 2:1 and Esther 3:7. Nisan started the first day after the first new moon after the Vernal Equinox until Hillel II, the descendant of Hillel the first, who was born in Babylonia and was president of the Sanhedrin under Herod I from 30 B. C. to 9 A. D. Hillel II introduced definite rules for the calculation and fixing of the Jewish calendar, which are still the groundwork of Jewish reckoning. He changed the way of calculating Nisan one to fourteen days before the full moon after the Equinox. [from page 44.]

    There is always at least one day between Abib fourteenth, the preparation day for Israel, and Nisan 14th, the preparation day for the Jews, even if the first new moon happens two minutes after the Equinox. So go back to the year Christ died and we will find that Christ did not use the Jewish Passover day. The day He used was the day before the Jew's Passover that year. Jesus (YASHUA) ate the Passover on 15 Abib at even, or the beginning of the day of Abib 15th, because the Israel day starts at sundown in the evening. [from page 45.]

    Matthew 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 19) And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. 20) Now when the even was come He sat down with the twelve.
    Matthew:26:26 ¦ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. 27) And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; 28) For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

    Luke 22: 14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15) And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16) For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17) And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18) For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19) And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20) Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

    Now contrast this verse in the gospel of John:


    The Jewish Passover day had not come yet, it was still their preparation day until evening. In the next chapter we read:


    Then they crucify Jesus (YASHUA), as you will see in verse 31. The Jews were in a hurry to get Christ off the cross and buried before the Jewish Passover started.



    Just after Christ died on the cross we see in:

    Mark 15:42¦ And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43) Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.

    There are several more references in the New Testament to the two Passover days, but I have given enough to prove my point.  Jesus (YASHUA) ate the true Israel Passover 24 hours before the Jewish Passover, not because he was a law-breaker, but a keeper of the true laws of God (Elohim).

    As you can see from the last few pages, Abib 1 and Nisan 1 could never be the same day. The year Christ was killed they were one day apart, but could be as much as twenty-nine days apart.

[end excerpt]

The gospel of John shows that there was a distinct pasover kept by Jews.

John 6:4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

Clearly, the day Jesus was before Pilate was AFTER He had kept the true Passover (earlier thaat same Biblical day); the Jewish passover was the following day on that year. Mark 15:42 (above) shows that this day was known as the preparation day, and that the following day was a sabbath (the passover!). (By the way, many people debate whether Christ was crucified on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday or other day of the modern week. However, we cannot map our modern weekdays onto the Biblical calendar because they shift with respect to the calendar dates. Instead, we must learn the Biblical calendar to know that the passover is always on a weekly sabbath; in other words, Abib 15 is always a sabbath.)


Some have suggested that there was a custom in the city of Jerusalem to hold pasover over a few days in order to accomodate the crowds. I can find no support in the Bible for such a claim. More importantly, Jesus would never have broken a command of God to bow to a custom of man. Jesus castigated the Pharisees for making their own laws against God's, therefore He would never be hypocritical and ignore God's laws for any pretense.

There is ample evidence that there were two calendars kept at the time Christ was crucified. Christ, being perfect, must have kept the correct one. The other one, which is lunar, cannot be correct! It appears to me that Christ was keeping a solar calendar.

Was there a solar eclipse when Christ died?

King James Version (Online Bible):

Amos 8:

Matthew 27:45* Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
Mark 15:33 ¶ And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.
Luke 23: 44* ¶ And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45* And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

Annointed Standard Translation (Herrel Bros.); note the word "eclipsed."

Luke 23:44: And it was about the sixth hour, and darkness come over the land, until the ninth hour. 45 And the sun was eclipsed(1), and the veil of the temple was torn in the middle.

(1) Eclipsed is translated from <eklipontos> as opposed to the Textus Receptus's <eskotisthe´> or darkened. The former, however, enjoys much better attestation in the witnesses.
[Please excuse my lack of Greek font.]

What could have cause darkness for three hours over all the land? Merely clouds? I don't believe that. (A flying saucer hovering overhead? Not that either.)

There is an early pagan historian named Thallus who records that the darkness over the land was indeed a solar eclipse. See The writer of this aricle discounts Thallus' assertion because this is in contradiction with traditional Jewish lunar calendar and for various claims asserted to him by later writers; this does not for me detract from what is Thallus witness of a solar eclipse at the crucifixion.

What if the lunar calendar kept by the Pharisees started with the full moon, and after Christ's death was changed to start at the new moon? Isn't it hard to observe exactly when a new moon occurs? Wouldn't it be easier and more natural to watch for a full moon? Nehemiah appears to be keeping a lunar calendar - remember, he just came from Babylon - when he tells of going on a nighttime tour of the ruins of Jerusalem. Exra 7:9; Nehemiah 2:11-18. This indicates that he was guided by a near full moon on the fourth night. A lunar calendar of the Pharisees starting at the full moon would explain how an eclipse could have happened during the 14th day of a lunar month, and on the 15th day of first month of the solar calendar, on the day of Jesus Christ's crucifixtion, which lunar month the Pharisees - who without question hated Christ - changed to instead start at the new moon to commemorate their crucifixion of Him.

It has been suggested that the darkness was of divine origin, happening while there was a full moon, instead of during a new moon when solar eclipses sometimes occur. Did God miraculously bring a darkness over the sun in response to the crucifixion of His Son? Well I have to say He could have done that. But I do not believe that God takes the miraculous choice when a natural choice is available. God's ability to set the motion of the universe so that a natural event occurs at the perfect time is 'miraculous' enough. I do not believe the darkness was brought about by uncommon means. I believe rather that the Pharisees changed their calendar and propagated lies in order to hide truth.

    Looking at the United States Naval Observatory spring data for the years 25 BCE to 38 CE, one might guess the year to have been 34 A.D. with a lunar month starting at a full moon (or 30 A.D. for a lunar month starting at a new moon and reckoning the darkness to be something other than a solar eclipse by the moon).

Ps 18:9; Isa 5:30