Last update 26 December, 2016.

Contradictions and other problems

Yes, I’m aware that some of my statements below seem to contradict. Please keep reading until the plot :-) It’s the nature of the story that makes it seem to contradict. I just feel I must put all bits of info on the table and hold nothing back because that complicates things. All that’s in the Bible is relevant, so all should be taken into account.

The Last Supper wasn’t a Passover

Matt 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where will you that we prepare for you to eat the passover?

Matt 26:18 And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, The Master said, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.

Matt 26:19 And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover.

Mark 14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said to him, Where will you that we go and prepare that you may eat the passover?

Mark 14:13 And he sends forth two of his disciples, and said to them, Go you into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him.

Mark 14:14 And wherever he shall go in, say you to the manager of the house, The Master said, Where is the guest room, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

Mark 14:15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.

Mark 14:16 And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said to them: and they made ready the passover.

Luke 22:1 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover.

….

Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

Luke 22:8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

Luke 22:9 And they said to him, Where will you that we prepare?

Luke 22:10 And he said to them, Behold, when you are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he enters in.

Luke 22:11 And you shall say to the manager of the house, The Master said to you, Where is the guest room, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

Luke 22:12 And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready.

Luke 22:13 And they went, and found as he had said to them: and they made ready the passover.

Luke 22:14 And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

Luke 22:15 And he said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

John 18:28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

John 18:29 Pilate then went out to them, and said, What accusation bring you against this man?

…

John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he said to the Jews, Behold your King!

Exod 12:11 And thus shall you eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's passover.

What’s called ‘The Last Supper’ by most Christians is called Passover in the Bible:

- Matt 26:17-19 → Jesus called the ‘Last Supper’, Passover.

- Mark 14:12-16 → Killing and preparing a Passover lamb.

- Luke 22:1, 7-15  → Killing and preparing a Passover lamb.

Some may argue that it was Jesus’ intention to eat a Passover meal but He was arrested before He could. That’s easy to prove wrong:

- Jesus knew about His pending arrest, Matt 26:2, Luke 22:15.

- The lamb was killed, prepared and eaten directly afterward. Not prepared and after that stored for Passover on a later day. The whole Passover meal had a sense of hurry. Exo 12:11

As the above verses show the lamb was killed and prepared. We also know for a fact Jesus did have a meal before His arrest. So they ate what was killed and prepared earlier that day.  Ergo He ate the Passover meal.

So our Lord and His disciples were very clear, they ate a Passover. But that directly contradicts with what we read in John.

- John 18:28 → The high priest and his company don’t want to defile himself for the coming Passover.

- John 18:29 → Pilate has a custom of releasing a prisoner on Passover day.

- John 19:14 → Preparation for Passover is still going on.

So, we have a Passover before and after His arrest. That impossibility can be explained away in several ways:

- Jesus, Matthew, Mark and Luke were all wrong. → Jesus wrong? Impossible.
- The man with the pitcher and the master of the house

 didn’t knew either because they didn’t rebuke anyone.

- The Scriptures started out perfect but over the centuries copying mistakes crept in; causing the contradictions.

My solution is different. The Last Supper was a real Passover on the Divine-Calendar. The whole crucifixion day, including the trial before Pilate, was Passover day on the Pagan-Calendar. That solution means there are no copying errors in Scripture and nobody was mistaking when claiming it was a Passover day or meal. The two calendars -click-

The bread of the Last Supper
During the Last Supper some assumed Judas was sent away to get stuff for the next feast. The Passover meal as I will show.

John 13:29 Some were of the opinion that because Judas kept the money-bag Jesus said to him, Get the things we have need of for the feast; or, that he was to give something to the poor.

Just before Judas left He broke the bread. That shows it was before the feast John is referring to. Meaning they were already having their meal.

Matt 26:25 Then Judas, which betrayed him, answered and said, Master, is it I?  He said to him, You have said.
Matt 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

Artos - G740
Thayer Definition:

• 1) food composed of flour mixed with water and baked
• 1a) the Israelites made it in the form of an oblong or round cake, as thick as one’s thumb, and as large as a plate or platter hence it was not to be cut but broken
• 1b) loaves were consecrated to the Lord
• 1c) of the bread used at the love-feasts and at the Lord’s Table

2) food of any kind

Luke 22:1 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew near, which is called the Passover.

Azumos - G G106 → ‘unleavened bread’ is just one Greek word.
Thayer Definition:

• 1) unfermented, free from leaven or yeast
• 1a) of the unleavened loaves used in the paschal feast of the Jews
• 1b) metaphorically free from faults or the “leaven of iniquity”

So during the Last Supper they were eating leavened bread.

Exod 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
–
Exod 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

The above verses state that Passover is on the fourteenth and unleavened bread should be eaten.

Am I claiming Jesus ate leavened bread and for that reason the ‘Last Supper’ can’t be a Passover meal? No I don’t because Artos is a generic name for bread which also includes unleavened bread.

The pattern
Jesus was our Passover sacrifice. It would odd that He was sacrificed the day after the animal lambs were killed. It would break a pattern

1Cor 5:7 …. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

In War 6.423 Josephus wrote that the Passover lambs were killed in the Temple between 3-5 pm. That’s between the ninth and eleventh hour. The exact hour Jesus died.

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Mark 15:37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.

It would break a law
The day after the Passover was the first day of “The Feast of Unleavened Bread” (FUB). That would mean He and the two thieves were executed on a Holy day. That’s strictly forbidden. Also by Jewish manmade rules.

The feast was near
If Last Supper was Passover meal it means the Passover was followed by preparation day, because Luke clearly states He was put in the tomb on preparation day.

Luke 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on.

A preparation day, is a day to prepare food for the next day on which no work, which included cooking, was allowed. That would mean Passover Feast → Preparation day → Another Feast. That’s impossible because the day of the Passover meal was directly followed by the first day of FUB. And that feast was followed by several ordinary working days.  Passover → FUB → Working days.

 Exod 12:13  And the blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
–
Exod 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.

Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day you shall have an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.

So Exodus explains Passover is on the fourteenth, and Leviticus explains it’s directly followed by FUB on the fifteenth. No preparation day in between. It’s simple: The day time of Passover day (14) was the time to prepare food for both the Passover meal eaten in the evening (14) and for the first day of FUB (15).

Above I gave  a few easy bits of proof the Last Supper seems to be not the/a Passover meal. Now let’s move on to something more less simple.

Exodus
This is an argument from silence. Nowhere in Exodus (or elsewhere in the Bible) there is an official meal mentioned before the Passover meal. But I admit everyone is allowed to have a (special) meal whenever he/she likes.

The ‘contradiction’ - Matthew vs John

Matt 26:17 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where will you that we prepare for you to eat the passover?

The Greek word for ‘first’ can also be correctly translated as ‘before’.
The underlined words aren’t in the Greek text but added by translators.
So the verse can be rewritten as:

Matt 26:17 Now before the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, Where will you that we prepare for you to eat the passover?

Compare with John.

John 13:1  Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Matthew and John don’t give exact timing so they don’t contradict each other or Luke or Mark. Simply because ‘before’ can mean any number of days.

The ‘contradiction’ - Mark vs Luke

Mark 14:1  After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.
Luke 22:8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

Mark and Luke don’t contradict because they don’t have the same day as a starting point for their counts.

The ‘contradiction’  - Start of unleavened bread
The next part of the puzzle can be solved by comparing with God’s original commands.

Lev 23:5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover.
Lev 23:6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to the LORD: seven days you must eat unleavened bread.
Lev 23:7 In the first day you shall have an holy convocation: you shall do no servile work therein.

Those verses makes very clear statements:

• 14th = Passover.
• It’s not stated this is  a Sabbath day.
• It is  not because preparation of the Passover meal is work.
• 15th = Feast of Unleavened bread.
• This feast lasts 7 days. 15-21 Nisan.
• The first day, 15th, is a Sabbath day.

So Leviticus is a very helpful guide to understand  Matthew, Mark Luke and John. Let’s look at Luke again.

Luke 22:7 Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

A very confusing verse. Because it states that on the day of the unleavened bread the Passover must be killed.
As we see in Lev 23:5-6 the Feast of unleavened Bread is after Passover. Obviously it’s impossible to prepare something for the day before. Reading a bit closer solves the problem.
Leviticus 23:6 → feast of unleavened bread
Luke 22:7 → day of unleavened bread

The fifteenth is undoubtedly the start of the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” → FUB

Exod 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with you, neither shall there be leaven seen with you in all your quarters.

To fully comply to the command not to have leavened bread in the house during the seven days of FUB, it must have been removed before the FUB starts. That means the leavened bread must have been removed from the house a day before. At the start of that day  there was leaven in the house, that’s why it doesn’t count as a day of unleavened bread feast;  but still is very much connected to removing leaven.

Exod 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

So the fourteenth, preparation day, looks like this: Leaven was removed from the house. The lamb was killed, prepared and roasted.  Unleavened bread was baked. The lamb and unleavened bread were eaten during the evening. Contrary to what many think a Biblical day is sunrise-sunrise. Link So all those things took place on the same calendar day. That’s why that ‘preparation day’ was nicknamed ‘day of unleavened bread’.

The even bigger ‘contradiction’ - Luke vs John

Luke 22:15 And he said to them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

John 18:28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

In Luke we read Jesus calls Last Supper Passover. Jesus was fully aware of His pending arrest. (I must suffer); so He wasn’t talking about a few days into the future.
John tells us the eating of the Passover was after Jesus was arrested, not before. The contradiction is repeated several times in difference words but the problem stays the same.

The solution is very simple. Jesus was following a different calendar than the priests did. The Last Supper was Passover meal on Jesus’ calendar. Many other Jews had their Passover meal a day later. So there were 2 Passovers.
Luke writes about Passover on the official/Jesus’ calendar, while John writes about the other calendar. That’s the summary. The lengthy explanation can be read here.

I’m very well aware that a great many Jewish writing that survived (unedited) uses a sunset-sunset day. That’s even more proof of the two calendars because on this site you can read only the sunrise-sunrise day is Biblical.

Two Passovers?

Could it be that the Last Supper was Passover on Divine-Calendar and the day of His crucifixion the Passover day on the Pagan-Calendar?

John 11:55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem out of the countryside before the Passover, so that they might purify themselves.

Why “Passover of the Jews” and not simply “Passover”? John surely wasn’t assuming people would otherwise assume he was writing about a Roman passover. No, John used the word ‘Jewish’ to distinguish between the true and false Passover.

• True Passover as observed by Jesus Christ.
  Divine-Calendar.
  Mentioned by Mark, Matthew and Luke.
• False Passover.
  Babylonian Pagan-Calendar.
  Mentioned by John.

The exact difference varied from month to month and was 1-2 days.

When both calendars are fully understood that information can be used to narrow down the possible crucifixion years.

How many days of unleavened bread?

Exod 12:6 And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth 12-day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

…

Exod 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

…

Exod 12:15 Seven 12-days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first 12-day you shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whoever eats leavened bread from the first 12-day until the seventh 12-day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel

…

Exod 12:16 And in the first 12-day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh 12-day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.

…

Exod 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth 24-day of the month at even, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth 24-day of the month at even.

Exod 12:19 Seven 12-days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whoever eats that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land.

 

I’ve inserted “12-“ and “24-“ in the above verses to simplify my explanation. If the verses are read without those additions, it can lead to the false conclusion that there is a contradiction. For example v19 states 7 days while the date range in v18 states 8 days.
Evening is the ancient name of what we call afternoon.

12-day = the daylight portion of the day.

24-day = is a 24 hour long calendar day.

v15 states that on the 14th at night the first unleavened meal is eaten. Not during the 12-day.

V19 states there may not be leaven in the house for seven 12-days. That’s also correct because v15 states that in that same 12-day the leaven is removed from the house. Meaning that at the start of that 12-day there is leaven in the house. So God explained that unleavened bread should be eaten from the evening of the 14th until and including the evening of the 21st. Obvious all breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks in between are leaven free too, because v19 states that in the whole period there may be no leaven in the house.