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Jesus Christ offered Himself as the supreme sacrifice of God the Father for the sins of mankind. Through His one perfect sacrifice, Jesus purchased redemption from sin for all time. The New Testament reveals that His death fulfilled not only the Passover sacrifice but all the animal sacrifices which were required by the laws that God had given to Moses. All were fulfilled when Jesus died on the Passover day. It was not obligatory that each of these sacrifices be fulfilled separately at the specific time commanded in the Law of God. For Jesus to fulfill every sacrifice on an individual basis would have required Him to die many, many times. But the apostle Paul tells us that Jesus offered “ONE SACRIFICE for sins forever” (Heb. 10:12). That one perfect sacrifice fulfilled ALL the required animal sacrifices and purchased everlasting redemption: “By Whose will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL” (Heb. 10:10).
Paul illustrates this truth in his epistle to the Hebrews by pointing out that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ fulfilled the sin offerings for the Day of Atonement (Heb. 9:24-26; 10:1-4). The Day of Atonement is the 10th day of the seventh month, but Jesus died on the Passover day, which is the 14th day of the first month. Although Jesus did not die at the set time for the atonement sacrifices, His death fulfilled the sacrifices which were offered on that day. Likewise, ALL the animal sacrifices that were offered at the tabernacle and the temple were fulfilled in the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
This Scriptural revelation by the apostle Paul has a great bearing on the timing of Jesus’ death. Although Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the Passover day, He did not die at the time that God had appointed for the slaying of the Passover lambs of Exodus 12. Some, who view His sacrifice only as a fulfillment of the Passover, claim that His death was timed to occur during the temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs. They believe that Jesus Christ died at the exact time that the Passover lambs were being slain by the priests. But Scriptural and historical records of the events which took place on that Passover day do not support this claim. To the contrary, the evidence indicates that no Passover lambs were being sacrificed at the temple at the time that Jesus died. Let us examine the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel Writers Confirm the Time of Jesus’ Death
The Gospel of Matthew clearly records the time that Jesus died: “And about the ninth hour [approximately 3 PM], Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli lama sabachthani?’ That is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ And some of those who were standing there heard, and said, ‘This one is calling for Elijah.’ And immediately one of them ran and, taking a sponge, filled it with vinegar and put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink. But the rest said, ‘Let Him alone! Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.’ Then another took a spear and thrust it into His side, and out came water and blood. And after crying out again with a loud voice, Jesus yielded up His spirit” (Matt. 27:46-50). For textual evidence to support Matthew’s record, see Appendix W.
Mark confirms that Jesus died toward the end of the Passover day: “And after crying out with a loud voice, Jesus expired. Now evening [sunset] was coming, and since it was a preparation (that is, the day before a Sabbath [the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread])...” (Mark 15:37, 42).
The apostle John is the third witness to confirm the time of Jesus’ death: “And so, when Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, ‘It is finished.’ And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit. The Jews therefore, so that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, because it was a preparation day (for that Sabbath [which would begin at sunset] was a high day [the 15th day of the first month, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread]), requested of Pilate that their legs might be broken and the bodies be taken away” (John 19:30-31).
The Gospel of Luke also confirms that Jesus died in the late hours of the Passover day. In addition, Luke’s account shows that the body of Jesus was placed in the tomb as the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was about to begin: “And behold, there came a man named Joseph, a member of the council, a good and righteous man, (he did not consent to the council and their deed) from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, and who was also himself waiting for the kingdom of God. He, after going to Pilate, begged for the body of Jesus. And after taking it down, he wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb hewn in a rock, in which no one had ever been laid. Now it was a preparation day [the 14th], and a Sabbath [the 15th] was coming on” (Luke 23:50-54).
There is no question that Jesus died at about the ninth hour, or 3 PM, on the afternoon of the 14th. By the sacrifice of His body and His blood, He sealed the New Covenant, through which all nations may become the children of Abraham by faith and receive the gift of eternal life. Remember that the promise of spiritual seed was given to Abraham at night, on the 14th day of the first month. The covenant that guaranteed this promise was sealed by the blood of an animal sacrifice, which Abraham was commanded to prepare on the daylight portion of the 14th. Abraham completed his preparations on the afternoon of the 14th—foreshadowing the very time that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would be completed. Jesus died at 3 PM in the afternoon of the 14th day of the first month, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and confirmed by the Gospel accounts of Mark, Luke and John. His one sacrifice on the Passover day fulfilled all the animal sacrifices that were offered at set times throughout the year.
Jesus Is Our Sin Offering
The early Hebrew Christians did not understand that the death of Jesus Christ had fulfilled the animal sacrifices that were commanded under the Old Covenant. They were still looking to the temple sacrifices for sanctification from sin. The apostle Paul wrote his epistle to the Hebrews to explain to them that these sacrifices for sin were no longer required. In his epistle, Paul shows that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ had fulfilled all the requirements of the Law for the sin offerings that were made at the temple. As the Law required, the body of Jesus had been offered outside the gates of the city. Paul writes: “We have an altar from which those who are serving the present earthly tabernacle do not have authority to eat; for pertaining to those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest for a sin offering, the bodies of all these are burned outside the camp. For this reason, Jesus, in order that He might sanctify the people by His own blood, also suffered OUTSIDE THE GATE” (Heb. 13:10-12).
The fact that Jesus died outside the gates of Jerusalem verifies that His body was a sin offering. The Law of God specifically commanded that all sin offerings be burned “outside the camp” (Lev. 4:1-2, 11-12, 21; 16:27). The bodies of the sin offerings were taken from the temple and across the Kidron Valley to a place high on the mount of Olives east of the city of Jerusalem. At this place was a special altar called the Miphkad Altar. This altar was located near Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. Martin writes: “...The Miphkad Altar and the sin offerings which were sacrificed on it was really a cardinal part of the Temple complex that existed in the time of Christ. This altar was not one with a ramp leading up to a square elevated area, but it is described in the Mishnah as a pit in which the animals could be burnt to ashes (Parah 4:2). The Miphkad Altar was located outside the walls of the Temple (as Ezekiel 43:21 states), but the roadway [the bridge across the Kidron Valley] leading up to the altar (and including the altar itself) were part of the ritualistic furniture associated with the Temple services....Christ was crucified near the Miphkad Altar...” (Martin, The Secrets of Golgotha, p. 41).
The location of this altar on the Mount of Olives offered a direct view of the entire temple area. On the Day of Atonement, those who stood at the site of this special altar could observe the high priest as he was standing near the veil of the temple, ready to enter the Holy Place. After the blood of the atonement sacrifices was offered, the bodies of the animals were taken to the altar on the Mount of Olives: “Even the bullock and the goat which were sacrificed on the day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) had to be killed near the Altar of Burnt Offering within the Temple and then their carcasses were required to be taken out the eastern gate to the Miphkad Altar at the Mount of Olives and there they were burnt to ashes (Leviticus 4)” (Ibid., p. 246).
Jesus Christ offered up His body on the Mount of Olives, near the altar where the bodies of all sin offerings were offered up to God. His death fulfilled not only the sin offering, but every animal sacrifice required in the Law, as symbolized by God’s command concerning the ashes from all these sacrifices. The ashes of all the animals that were burned on the altar at the temple were taken to the same place where the sin offerings were burned, and were mingled with the ashes of the sin offerings: “Besides that, all of the ashes of the animals killed and burnt in the Temple had to be taken to the area of the Miphkad Altar on Olivet and poured out at the base of the Altar (Leviticus 4:12, 21; 6:11) (where the ashes could descend through a conduit system into the Valley of Kidron below)” (Ibid., p. 246).
Besides the sin offerings, there were two notable exceptions to God’s command that all animal sacrifices be offered on the altar at the temple. The first exception was the sacrifice of the Passover lamb, which was instituted before any of the other sacrifices. The Passover was initially sacrificed by the children of Israel while they were still in Egypt, and was killed at the houses of the children of Israel. This ordinance of the Passover was never altered by God. The second exception was the sacrifice of the red heifer, which was slain “without the camp” (Num. 19:3). The red heifer was both killed and burned at the Miphkad Altar. The ceremonial ashes of its wholly burned body were used to sanctify everything at the temple, as well as those who were unclean for various reasons. (These unclean conditions are described in Leviticus 19:9-22.) The sacrifice of the red heifer was also fulfilled by Jesus Christ, Who alone can bring sanctification from sin and cleansing of the heart.
Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews clearly shows that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ fulfilled all the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. The fulfillment of these many sacrifices by His one death was foreshadowed by the animals themselves which were required for the different types of sacrifice. Every sacrifice that God commanded, with but few exceptions, included the offering of a lamb or kid goat, symbolizing the future sacrifice of the Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Even the exceptions, like the sacrifice of the red heifer, contained elements which pointed to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Is Our Passover Sacrifice
As the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ was sacrificed on the Passover day. The words of Paul confirm that His death fulfilled the sacrifice of the Passover lamb: “For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us” (I Cor. 5:7).
The sacrifice of the Passover lamb preceded all other sacrifices that were offered under the Old Covenant. Without the Passover, the Old Covenant could not have been established. The Passover is obviously of primary importance. When we examine Leviticus 23, we find the Passover listed before all of the annual Sabbaths with their sacrifices. All of these annual holy days are based on the sacrifice of the Passover.
Under the Old Covenant, the heads of the households were commanded to sacrifice the Passover lambs. This command of God shows that the observance of the Passover was an individual and personal renewal of the Old Covenant. God never altered His command that the Passover lambs be killed by the heads of the households. The children of Israel were to participate in the covenant renewal each year without the requirement of going to the tabernacle or temple.
Under the New Covenant, Jesus Christ has commanded His followers to individually renew their relationship with Him and the Father each year by partaking of the footwashing and the symbols of His body and His blood. The Passover of the New Covenant must be observed at the time and in the manner that Jesus commanded. Paul declares that the instructions of the Lord were to observe it “in that night” when Jesus was betrayed, which was the night of Nisan 14. Christians are to renew the New Covenant every year on that night—the same night that Jesus instituted it. According to the commands of Jesus Christ, they are to participate in the footwashing, and in partaking of the broken, unleavened bread and the cup of wine. It is a personal, individual renewal of the New Covenant: “...This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
The renewal of the covenant relationship by each Christian is essential to remain in fellowship with Jesus Christ and God the Father. The New Covenant sanctifies individual Christians to God, just as the Old Covenant sanctified the people of Israel to God. The New Covenant relationship must be renewed every year on the Passover day, as commanded by Jesus Christ. This annual renewal was obligatory for the physical descendants of Abraham under the Old Covenant, and it is obligatory for the spiritual seed of Abraham under the New Covenant.
As the Passover of the Old Covenant began the fulfillment of God’s promises to the physical seed of Abraham, so the Passover of the New Covenant began the fulfillment of the promises to the spiritual seed. On the Passover night, Jesus Christ instituted the symbols of His body and His blood, which would seal the New Covenant and initiate the fulfillment of God’s promises for the spiritual seed. His sacrifice was foreshadowed by the covenant sacrifice that Abraham offered and by all the sacrifices that were offered to God under the Old Covenant. To truly commemorate His sacrifice, we must observe it at the time that Jesus commanded. By obeying this command of Jesus, we can come to a full understanding of His sacrifice, which ended the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant. Through His one perfect sacrifice, He fulfilled not only the Passover, but all the animal sacrifices that were required under the Old Covenant. Jesus Christ was the complete sacrifice of God the Father to fulfill the promises of the New Covenant—the only covenant that offers redemption from sin and the gift of eternal life.
Why Jesus Christ’s Death Ended the Old Covenant
Why did the death of Jesus Christ bring the Old Covenant with Israel to an end? How could His death break this binding agreement between the Lord God and His chosen people? According to covenantal law, a covenant that has been sealed with a blood sacrifice cannot be altered or nullified. When God established the Old Covenant with Israel, it was sealed with the blood of animals: “And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the ears of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.’ And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you concerning all these words’ ” (Ex. 24:6-8). The Old Covenant was a binding legal agreement because the oath of the people was ratified by a blood sacrifice. The blood was sprinkled on the people to symbolize the death that the covenant would impose on each one who disobeyed.
When the people of Israel entered the Old Covenant, they vowed to remain faithful to Jehovah Elohim. In return, the Lord God promised to be their protector and provider. This special covenant relationship is likened to a marriage contract: “ ‘...And I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you,’ says the Lord GOD. ‘And you became Mine’ ” (Ezek. 16:8). God is described as Israel’s husband: “For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called” (Isa. 54:5).
As a wife vows to obey her husband, so the people of Israel had pledged to obey the laws and commandments of God. There were blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. (See Deuteronomy 28.) Like a marriage contract, the Old Covenant was binding on both parties—the Lord God and Israel—until the death of either.
When the people of Israel forsook God and broke their pledge of obedience, they came under the curses of the covenant, which included the penalty of death. But God did not choose to enforce the death of all the people of Israel. Rather, the Lord God (Jehovah Elohim) chose to become flesh and end the covenant through His own death. The apostle Paul shows how the death of Jesus Christ, Who was Jehovah Elohim in the flesh, brought the Old Covenant relationship to an end: “Are you ignorant, brethren, (for I am speaking to those who know law), that the law rules over a man for as long a time as he may live? For the woman who is married is bound by law to the husband as long as he is living; but if the husband should die, she is released from the law that bound her to the husband. So then, if she should marry another man as long as the husband is living, she shall be called an adulteress; but if the husband should die, she is free from the law that bound her to the husband, so that she is no longer an adulteress if she is married to another man.
“In the same way, my brethren, you also were made dead to the marriage law of the Old Covenant by the body of Christ [His death] in order for you to be married to another, Who was raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit to God....But now we have been released from the law [the marriage relationship of the Old Covenant] because we have died [by being conjoined in the death of Christ at baptism] to that in which we were held so that we might serve in newness of the spirit [under the New Covenant], and not in the oldness of the letter [as required by the Old Covenant]” (Rom. 7:1-6).
Because Jesus Christ the Maker of the covenant—was Jehovah Elohim in the flesh—He was able to terminate the Old Covenant with His death. By taking upon Himself “the curse of the law,” which required the death of all Israel, He ended the Old Covenant and released the people to enter the New Covenant. Through faith in His sacrifice, not only the people of Israel but all nations on earth may enter the New Covenant and become the Israel of God (Gal. 3:13-14; 6:15-16).
Those who enter the New Covenant through faith in Jesus Christ are called the new Israel because they are the spiritual seed of Abraham: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29). The spiritual seed of Abraham belong to Jesus Christ and are members of His body, which is the Church (I Cor. 12:27-28). Like the Old Covenant relationship of physical Israel with Jehovah Elohim, the New Covenant relationship with Jesus Christ is likened to marriage. The New Israel, which is the Church, is fulfilling the role of a wife by submitting to the commands of Jesus Christ and willingly obeying Him (Eph. 5:22, 24). Jesus Christ, as the Head of the Church, is fulfilling the role of a husband by nurturing and protecting the Church (verses 23, 25-27). At the present time the Church is betrothed to Jesus Christ, as Paul writes, “...Because I have espoused you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (II Cor. 11:2). The marriage of Jesus Christ and the Church will take place at His return (Rev. 19:7).
The future marriage of Jesus Christ and the Church would not be possible if Jesus Christ had not ended the Old Covenant. The death of Jesus Christ ended the Old Covenant marriage relationship between the Lord God and physical Israel, opening the way for the New Covenant relationship with spiritual Israel. Jehovah Elohim, the God of the Old Testament, died, as He had pledged in His covenant with Abraham. The death of Jehovah Elohim terminated the Old Covenant and opened the way for the New Covenant.
The New Testament names of God show that the New Covenant is based on a family relationship. Those who enter the New Covenant are the children of God and are able to call Him their Father. His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, is their Savior and future husband. This wonderful relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ is offered only through the New Covenant, which has replaced the Old Covenant with the physical seed of Abraham.
Significance of the Events at the Time of Jesus’ Death
The unparalleled events that took place during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ were a divine manifestation of the termination of the Old Covenant. While Jesus was dying on the cross in pain and agony, four spectacular events took place. These four events were:
1) Darkness covered Jerusalem and the entire geographical area.
2) The veil of the temple was ripped down the middle from top to bottom.
3) A great earthquake shook Jerusalem.
4) The huge brass doors of the Holy Place behind the veil were opened by invisible hands.
All these events had a great impact on the temple ceremonies which were scheduled for that day, including the traditional temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs. Matthew and Luke record the approximate time of these phenomenal events. The first event was a tremendous darkness, which blotted out the sun: “Now from the sixth hour [noon] until the ninth hour [approximately 3 PM], darkness was over all the land” (Matt. 27:45).
This great darkness was more than heavy, dark clouds covering the sun. It is recorded that darkness covered the land. The darkness must have resembled the blackness of night. This darkness ended at “about the ninth hour,” which was approximately 3 PM after Jesus had died. As we have previously learned, that was the time when the Passover lambs were scheduled to be slain at the temple for the traditional 14/15 Passover. The long period of darkness in the height of the afternoon must have caused great difficulty for those who were preparing for the temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs.
From a spiritual perspective, these were the darkest hours in the history of the world. God in the flesh was suffering the slow, agonizing death of crucifixion. While Jesus hung on the cross, dying a most ignominious death, there were those who were taking their Passover lambs to the temple for their sacrifices. Martin writes: “...the people who were carrying their Passover lambs to be killed in the Temple at the time of Christ’s crucifixion were turning their backs on the individual to whom they were intending to present those Passover lambs. This is because the roadway that led to the eastern gate of the Temple was descending from the top of the Mount of Olives. The people would have passed directly by Christ hanging on the tree of crucifixion. And while the worshippers were entering the Temple to pay tribute to the One sitting within the Holy of Holies (originally enthroned between two cherubim), the crowds were actually turning their backs on the real Christ from heaven...” (Martin, The Secrets of Golgotha, p. 263).
The phenomenal events that followed the period of darkness must have completely disrupted the scheduled killing of the Passover lambs. These events occurred at the same time that Jesus died—about the ninth hour. The word “about” implies that it was immediately before the ninth hour, just before the darkness ended: “And about [near] the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ That is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’....But the rest said, ‘Let Him alone! Let us see if Elijah comes to save Him.’ Then another took a spear and thrust it into His side, and out came water and blood. And after crying out again with a loud voice, Jesus yielded up His spirit. And suddenly the veil of the temple was ripped in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split...” (Matt. 27:46-51). See Appendix W.
The earthquake that struck the area of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus’ death was of such magnitude that it caused huge rocks to crack open. The powerful shaking of the earth opened the graves of many saints who had recently died. They were miraculously restored to life after the resurrection of Jesus by the power of God and appeared to many in the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 27:52-53).
The earthquake and the ripping of the veil occurred immediately after Jesus died, just before the lambs were scheduled to be killed at the temple. These phenomenal events had a significant effect on functions that were in progress at the temple. When the veil of the temple split, those who were assembling to kill their Passover lambs had to immediately leave the area because the Holy Place was exposed to their view.
No Passover Lambs Could Be Sacrificed at the Temple on that Day
With the veil ripped in two, and the open brass doors exposing the Holy Place to the view of all, the entire temple area must have been thrown into complete disarray. The Jews who were preparing to sacrifice their Passover lambs had to clear the temple area. It was impossible for the priests to begin the sacrifice of the Passover lambs. By law, the temple area was rendered ceremonially unclean and unfit for service from the time that the veil was ripped in two and the brass doors to the Holy Place were opened, exposing it to public view. Moreover, the violent earthquake had broken the huge stone lintel from which the veil was suspended, and some of the priests may have been injured by pieces of stone. If any injuries had spilled even one drop of human blood in the temple area, the entire area would have been unclean and unfit for any sacrificing to be performed.
From the moment the earthquake struck, all operations at the temple had to cease immediately until the damage could be repaired and the temple could be ceremonially cleansed and rededicated. The rededication alone would have required at least seven days. The temple service could not resume immediately after the earthquake, with all the damage remaining.
Consider the effect that the earthquake must have had on the Jews who were assembled in the temple area, waiting for the sacrifice of the Passover lambs to begin. They would already have experienced a sense of foreboding because of the hours of eerie darkness. When they felt the earth shake and saw the awesome sight of the veil being ripped in two as the huge stone lintel came crashing to the ground, they must have been filled with fear. There could be no doubt in their minds that this was the hand of God. A near hysterical mass exodus from the temple area must have taken place as the people fled in terror. (The author’s description of the people’s behavior during this terrifying event is based on his personal experience as a resident of California. The author lives near the San Andreas fault line and has witnessed the reactions of many people during earthquakes. His depiction of the people present at the temple during the earthquake which split the veil in two is not an exaggeration of the Scriptural events. It is a realistic portrayal of the events that took place at the temple when that earthquake of such a great magnitude struck without warning.)
To comprehend the magnitude of the force that split the veil of the temple, it is important for us to understand how this veil was made. It was not a thin, lace-like curtain, as many people have assumed. The veil of the temple was mammoth, as Rabbi Alfred Edersheim’s description shows: “The Veils before the Most Holy Place were 40 cubits (60 feet) long, and 20 (30 feet) wide, of the thickness of the palm of the hand [4-6 inches], and wrought in 72 squares, which were joined together; and these Veils were so heavy, that, in the exaggerated language of the time, it needed 300 priests to manipulate each. If the Veil was at all such as is described in the Talmud, it could not have been rent in twain [torn in two] by a mere earthquake or the fall of the lintel, although its composition in squares fastened together might explain, how the rent might be as described in the Gospel.
“Indeed, everything seems to indicate that, although the earthquake might furnish the physical basis, the rent of the Temple-Veil was—with reverence be it said—really made by the Hand of God” (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p. 611).
This beautiful, huge (30 x 60 foot) veil was hanging on the outside of the temple on the east side, over the entrance to the Holy Place. It hung from a tremendous stone lintel, which was approximately thirty feet long and weighed about thirty tons. This stone lintel was sixty feet (approximately six to eight stories) above the entrance to the Holy Place. Behind this thick (4-6 inch) veil were huge brass doors which opened into the Holy Place, the first part of the Holies. These brass doors were opened only once a day when the incense was burned on the incense altar. As soon as the priest went in, they were immediately closed until he was ready to come out after offering the incense. The only other occasion when they were opened was on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies. But at the moment of Jesus’ death, they were miraculously opened when the earthquake occurred. Here is Edersheim’s opinion of the historical records of those huge brass doors opening without human hands:
“That some great catastrophe, betokening the impending destruction of the Temple, had occurred in the Sanctuary about this very time, is confirmed by not less than four mutually independent testimonies: those of Tacitus (Hist. v. 13), of Josephus (War 6.5.3), of the Talmud (Jer. Yoma 43c; Yoma 39b), and of earliest Christian tradition. The most important of these are, of course, the Talmud and Josephus. The latter speaks of the mysterious extinction of the middle and chief light in the Golden Candlestick, forty years before the destruction of the Temple; 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] that had been previously closed, which was regarded as a portent of the coming destruction of the Temple. We can scarcely doubt, that some historical fact must underlie so peculiar and widespread a tradition, and we cannot help feeling that it may be a distorted version of the occurrence of the rending of the Temple-Veil (or of its report) at the Crucifixion of Christ” (Ibid., p. 610).
Speaking of Edersheim’s conclusions, Martin says, “This would be the logical conclusion because the doors were positioned directly in back of the curtain itself! For the tearing of the curtain to be a symbolic gesture that God the Father had now ‘destroyed’ the barrier into the Holy of Holies itself, then the symbol would have been meaningless had the doors behind the curtain remained closed. In fact, for the intended symbol to have had any relevance whatever, the two events would have had to occur simultaneously.
“So spectacular would both events have been (the tearing of the curtain and the opening of the doors) that it would have been most unusual for such circumstances to have happened at different times in the same year. Only a simultaneous occurrence makes any sense at all...” (Secrets of Golgotha, pp. 229-230).
Unlike Edersheim, Martin holds that the earthquake and the falling lintel were sufficient forces to rend the veil and to open the doors behind it: “...The two events would have had to occur at the same time. But how was it possible for the doors to the Holy Place to open? A Jewish Christian work of the early second century called ‘the Gospel of the Nazareans’ said that the large stone lintel which supported the curtain (which no doubt had the inner doors attached to it for stability) split in two when the curtain was severed (cf. Hennecke-Schneemelcher, The New Testament Apocrypha, vol. I, pp. 150, 153). Remember that there was a major earthquake at the precise time of Christ’s death, and this [the force of this upheaval] could have been the cause for fracturing the stone lintel. There is no reason to deny the possibility that the collapse of the overhead lintel (which was an enormous stone at least 30 feet long and weighing probably 30 tons) was the ‘natural cause’ of the curtain tearing in two. The fact that the curtain was severed from the top to the bottom also suggests that it was the force of the falling lintel that caused the curtain to rend. This collapse could also have been the means by which the inner doors next to the curtain were forced open. The crashing down of 30 tons of stone from the height of an eight story building could surely have opened the two doors that were directly next to the falling stonework” (Ibid., pp. 18-19).
Significantly, the earthquake and the ripping of the veil were seen by the centurion and other soldiers who were guarding Jesus at the time of His death. Although Jesus was crucified on the Mount of Olives, about a quarter of a mile from the temple, the view from the mountain offered a direct line of sight into the entire temple area. When the earth shook and the huge lintel broke and fell, the centurion and his troops could see the veil of the temple split from top to bottom. At the same time, the huge brass doors directly behind the veil were opened. So awesome was this sight that “...the centurion and those with him who had been keeping guard over Jesus, after seeing [and undoubtedly hearing] the earthquake and the things that took place [the falling lintel and the ripping of the huge veil at the temple of God], were filled with fear, and said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God!’ ” (Matt. 27:54.)
Edersheim gives this depiction of what was transpiring at the temple: “As we compute, it may just have been the time when, at the Evening- Sacrifice [which was always completed before the temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs began], the officiating Priesthood entered the Holy Place, either to burn the incense or to do other sacred service there. To see before them...the Veil of the Holy Place rent from top to bottom—that beyond it they could scarcely have seen—and hanging in two parts from its fastenings above and at the side, was, indeed, a terrible portent, which would soon become generally known, and must, in some form or other, have been preserved in tradition. And they all must have understood, that it meant that God’s Own Hand had rent the Veil, and for ever deserted and thrown open that Most Holy Place...” (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, pp. 611- 612).
Because the ripping of the veil and the opening of the brass doors to the Holy Place occurred before the ninth hour, when the killing of the Passover lambs was scheduled to begin, it is evident that no Passover lambs were killed at the temple on the day that Jesus died. God the Father openly intervened and repudiated the traditional temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs. God had never commanded it in the first place! The traditional 14/15 Passover did not honor God. It was a self-righteous tradition that the Jews were observing in place of the commands of God, and He rejected it in a powerful and dramatic way.
Whether through the earthquake or by direct intervention, it was the power of God that caused the collapse of the thirty-ton lintel, which crashed down on the court of the priests near the altar of burnt offering, resulting in extensive damage to the temple area. There is historical evidence that there was, in fact, damage to the judgment hall of the Sanhedrin, which was located in the temple near the court of the priests. Dr. Martin relates the following:
“But what has this [the tearing of the veil and the falling lintel] to do with the Sanhedrin having to abandon the Chamber of Hewn Stones in which they normally met? It has very much to do with it. If an earthquake of the magnitude capable of breaking the stone lintel at the top of the entrance to the Holy Place was occurring at the exact time of Christ’s death, then what would such an earthquake have done to the Chamber of Hewn Stones (a vaulted and columned structure) no more than 40 yards away from where the stone lintel fell and the curtain tore in two?
“There is every reason to believe, though the evidence is circumstantial, that the Chamber of Hewn Stones was so damaged in the same earthquake that it became structurally unsafe from that time forward. Something like this had to have happened because the Sanhedrin would not have left this majestic chamber (to take up residence in the insignificant ‘Trading Place’) unless something approaching this explanation took place.
“If this is actually what happened (and I have no doubt that it did), we then have a most remarkable witness that God the Father engineered every action happening on the day of Christ’s trial and crucifixion. It means that the judgment made by the official Sanhedrin against Jesus within the Chamber of Hewn Stones was THE LAST JUDGMENT ever given by the official Sanhedrin in their majestic chambers within the Temple! It would show that God the Father demonstrated by the earthquake at Christ’s death that the sentence of the Sanhedrin against Jesus would be the last judgment it would ever make in that authorized place!” (The Secrets of Golgotha, pp. 230-231.)
While this evidence of additional destruction at the temple is circumstantial, there is no question that the sacrificial area of the temple was rendered inoperable. It was ceremonially unclean by reason of the exposure of the Holy Place, which prevented the sacrifice of the Passover lambs on the day that Jesus died. God allowed no time for the traditional sacrifice of the lambs when He ripped the veil in two and opened the brass doors into the Holy Place. These awesome events, which occurred at the exact time of Jesus’ death, demonstrated that the temple and its priesthood were no longer needed. All the sacrifices and offerings that were required by the Old Covenant had been fulfilled in Christ!
Important Factors in the Timing of Jesus’ Death
The New Testament does not support the claim that Jesus’ death was timed to coincide with the temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs. To the contrary, the Gospel records make it quite clear that God repudiated this Jewish tradition and did not allow it to compete with the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. Remember that during this period in history, most of the Jews were observing a domestic Passover, with the lambs being killed at ben ha arbayim, or “between the two evenings,” at the beginning of the 14th. Although this was the commanded time for killing the Passover lambs, Jesus did not die at that time. Nor did He die while the temple sacrifice of the Passover lambs was taking place. He did not die when any Passover lambs were being slain.
The Scriptures reveal that Jesus Christ, as Jehovah Elohim in the flesh, died to fulfill the promises He had made when He covenanted with Abraham. Those promises were given on the night which began the 14th day of the first month—the same night that Jesus delivered the promises of the New Covenant. The sacrifice that sealed the covenant with Abraham was prepared in the daylight hours of the 14th and was completed in the afternoon— the same time that Jesus completed His sacrifice on the cross, which sealed the New Covenant (Gen. 15:9-11, Matt. 27:46-50).
The Scriptures reveal a number of reasons that Jesus did not die at the beginning of the Passover day, during the time that God commanded for slaying the Passover lambs: First, Jesus did not fulfill the Passover sacrifice alone, but all the sacrifices that were commanded under the Old Covenant (Heb. 10:5-9). For this reason, He did not die at the set time for any sacrifice. Second, it was essential for the New Covenant to be instituted on the Passover night (Matt. 26:28, Luke 22:20). Jesus could not have done this if He had been killed at ben ha arbayim, or “between the two evenings.” Third, Jesus had to die a public death and be displayed in notoriety before the world (Isa. 52:14; 53:4-12). There would have been few eyewitnesses if He had died at the same time that the lambs for the domestic Passover were being killed—at the beginning of the 14th, during ben ha arbayim.
Another question about the timing of Jesus’ death has been asked: Since God passed over the children of Israel at midnight on the Passover day, why was not Jesus killed at midnight? The first reason is that at midnight there would not be sufficient eyewitnesses for His death to be public. The second reason is that Jesus had to be tried by the Roman authorities, who did not hold court at midnight.
All questions about the timing of Jesus’ death are resolved when we understand that His death was foreshadowed by the sacrifice that sealed His covenant with Abraham. All the prophecies about Himself—His trials, scourging, suffering, crucifixion and death—were fulfilled during the very hours that Abraham had prepared the covenant sacrifice.
There is another very important reason that Jesus died in the afternoon of the day. In order to fulfill the sign of His Messiahship—that He would be in the tomb exactly three days and three nights—it was necessary that He die in the late hours of the day. His death in the afternoon allowed His body to be placed in the tomb at the end of the Passover day. If He had been placed in the tomb before the end of the day, He would not have fulfilled the sign of being in the heart of the earth for three whole days and three whole nights.
Although Jesus died on the Passover day, He fulfilled much more than the Passover sacrifice. The death of Jesus Christ was the ultimate sacrifice of God the Father. The timing of His death was determined by God the Father and foreshadowed by the covenant sacrifice that Abraham was commanded to prepare. His death was pledged in the days of Abraham and was pictured in all the sacrifices and offerings that were commanded under the Old Covenant. His one perfect sacrifice fulfilled them all. Now He is the resurrected Christ, seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven above as the living Savior, enabling all who accept His sacrifice to become the spiritual seed of Abraham and receive the gift of eternal life. He is the Mediator of the New Covenant—the immortal High Priest Who continually intercedes for the spiritual seed of Abraham before the throne of God the Father.
The promise of eternal life through the New Covenant was sealed by the beaten, scourged body of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of His blood on the Passover day. The ceremony that commemorates His supreme sacrifice for the sins of the world was instituted on the night He was betrayed. That is when His disciples partook of the symbols of His body and His blood, and that is when all His followers are commanded to partake of these symbols.
By partaking of the footwashing, the bread and the wine during the Christian Passover ceremony, true Christians are commemorating the death of Jesus Christ as the sacrifice that sealed the New Covenant, which offers forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life. Each Christian who takes part in this ceremony is confirming his or her acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and is renewing his or her commitment to live by the words of the New Covenant. The New Covenant can only be renewed at the time and in the manner that Jesus Christ instituted.
Each Christian who personally renews the New Covenant is able to receive continuing forgiveness and grace from God the Father, Who applies the blood of Jesus Christ to his or her sins (I John 1:7-9). This daily cleansing from sin allows Christians to remain in fellowship with God the Father, Who imparts strength and understanding to each one through His Holy Spirit. Every Christian who is led by the Holy Spirit will be growing in spiritual knowledge and godly character, and will ultimately receive the gift of eternal life in the kingdom of God (II Pet. 1:4-11). That is how the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ is fulfilling the promise of eternal life.
The Mystery of Godliness
God has revealed in His Word that His desre is to grant eternal life to all mankind. So marvelous is God’s purpose for man that the apostle Paul calls it “the mystery of godliness.” This great mystery of God is the very reason for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: “And undeniably, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was received up in glory” (I Tim. 3:16).
It was to raise up sons and daughters for God the Father that Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh. As the Lord God of the Old Testament, Who had created all things, He emptied Himself of His divine, eternal existence and was made in the likeness of man. He took upon Himself the same sinful flesh that all human beings have, in order to die as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. Through faith in His sacrifice, all mankind can receive the gift of salvation, with the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God. Jesus’ own words show that the desire and pleasure of God the Father is to grant eternal life in His kingdom to those who believe in His Son: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father delights in giving you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
Jesus Christ was the first of many who will rise from the grave as immortal spirit beings (Rom. 8:29). At the return of Jesus Christ, an innumerable number of Christians will be granted eternal life as the spirit sons and daughters of God the Father. They will share the same eternal existence and glory as Jesus Christ. Paul makes this very clear: “The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God. Now if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together with Him. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:16-18).
The apostle John confirms that the children of God will be like Jesus Christ. “Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God! For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is” (I John 3:1-2)
Like Jesus Christ, true Christians will be resurrected to glory and immortality, fulfilling the prophecy that He would raise up spiritual seed: “...You shall make His life an offering for sin. He shall see His seed; He shall prolong His days [as the resurrected Christ], and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper in His hand. He shall see [the result] of the travail of His soul. He shall be fully satisfied...” (Isa. 53:10-11).
As Paul shows, God’s plan of salvation, which was a mystery even to the angels, has been hidden from the world (II Cor. 4:3-4). But through the Holy Spirit, the mystery of salvation was revealed to the apostles and prophets of the early Church, who were used by God to enlighten many others. Paul writes: “How He made known to me [Paul] by revelation the mystery (even as I wrote briefly before, so that when you read this, you will be able to comprehend my understanding in the mystery of Christ), which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles might be joint heirs, and a joint body, and joint partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, of which I became a servant according to the gift of the grace of God, which was given to me through the inner working of His power. To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, was this grace given, that I might preach the gospel among the Gentiles— even the unsearchable riches of Christ; and that I might enlighten all as to what is the fellowship of the mystery that has been hidden from the ages in God, Who created all things by Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:3-9).
The mystery of godliness, which God has revealed to His saints, is the knowledge that Jesus Christ was God manifested in the flesh, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ dwells within each one whom the Father calls, enabling each believer to overcome the law of sin and death and to receive eternal life at the resurrection: “Even the mystery that has been hidden from ages and from generations, but has now been revealed to His saints; to whom God did will to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:26-27).
In describing the mystery of godliness, Paul declares that God not only was “manifested in the flesh” but also “was justified in the Spirit” (I Tim. 3:16). How was Jesus Christ, as God in the flesh, justified in the Spirit? Because Jesus Christ never sinned, He did not need justification from sin. How then was He justified in the Spirit? He was justified in the Spirit because He took upon Himself the same judgment that was pronounced upon Adam and Eve and all mankind, being made in the likeness of sinful flesh with the law of sin and death. Although He was tempted like all other human beings, He overcame the law of sin and death and Satan the devil, the author of sin, through the power of the Holy Spirit. He condemned sin in the flesh by living a perfect life, not once yielding to the pulls of the flesh, but always being led by the Holy Spirit of God the Father. That is how God was justified in the Spirit.
Because Jesus Christ, as God in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, He has opened the way for all things on earth and in heaven to be reconciled to God the Father: “Giving thanks to the Father, Who has made us qualified for the share of the inheritance of the saints in the light; Who has personally rescued us from the power of darkness [Satan the devil] and has transferred us unto the kingdom of the Son of His love [by giving us the power of His Holy Spirit]; in Whom we have redemption through His own blood, even the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; because by Him were all things created, the things in heaven and the things on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether they be thrones, or lordships, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and for Him.
“And He is before all, and by Him all things subsist. And He is the Head of the body, the Church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He Himself might hold the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, whether the things on the earth, or the things in heaven” (Col. 1:12-20).
Jesus Christ was the first fleshly human being to be resurrected from the grave as a glorified spirit being. Through His one perfect sacrifice, multiple millions will be added to the kingdom of God, sharing His glory and immortality as His brethren: “But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone; because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one [one Father]; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:9-11).
The hope of being glorified like Jesus Christ and living with Him forever in the kingdom of God brings true meaning to the observance of the Christian Passover. Every true Christian who shares this hope will be faithfully keeping this solemn ceremony each year on the night that Jesus instituted it. Each one will participate in the footwashing in order to have a part with Jesus Christ in this life and in His kingdom. Each one will partake of the bread and the wine in order to renew the New Covenant and remain under the blood of Jesus Christ throughout the coming year. Each one will determine to live by every word of the New Covenant through the power of the Holy Spirit in order to grow spiritually. This personal renewal of the New Covenant through the Christian Passover ceremony will enable each one to qualify for the glorious inheritance that awaits the children of God.
