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Solving the problems of mistranslations of the Gospels
Fred R. Coulter—February 27, 2021
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Here we are at Sabbath services and we're four weeks away from the Passover Day, which is from Friday night sunset to Saturday night sunset. That comes around about every five years.
When that happens, which it does this year, that means that Passover is Friday night, the Night to be Remembered or Observed unto the Lord is on Sabbath night, then on Sunday is the first Holy Day.
Whenever that happens the question comes up: When is the Wave Sheaf Offering? Some people say that it's after the 7th day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Holy Day, which is also on a Sabbath.
What's wrong with that first day of the week in counting toward Pentecost? It's a week late! Why? The Wave Sheaf Offering has to be on the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which this year it's the first Holy Day after the Passover Day. When you look at the calendar, Pentecost is going to look like it's coming up really fast on us, but it's right on time.
All of these things become very important so that we can understand when and how we do what we need to do in keeping the Sabbath and Holy Days and everything like that.
There are enough details in all of this that some people can't put it together. I've covered some difficult things lately, so let's see if we can just summarize it. That's what all the 'techies' like; they like a summary. So, we'll do a summary. But remember that details are important!
What two tragedies can you think of that emphasizes that details are important? Two air crashes! Two 737-As in taking off there was a little detail in the program that turned the plane down automatically and it crashed. It took Boeing a long time to find out what that detail was and they had to ground all the 737-As for about nine months.
In all of these Holy Days, God puts His presence. How do we know that? Can you think of a Scripture that tells that? Maybe not exactly in those words, but how do we know?
- What is God offering us? Eternal life!
- Do we want eternal life? Yes!
The appointment for the Sabbath is so important that we need to keep it because God puts His presence in it so we can learn of His way. Lev. 23 is the crown of all the appointed times, and the only place in the Bible where every single Holy day, beginning with the Sabbath, is stated and dated. However, it is just the framework. It doesn't tell you very much as to:
- what it means
- what's the significance
- how important it is
Leviticus 23:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying." These are the words of God!
Remember the three words that we are to do for God: obey My voice! Here it is written down:
Verse 2: "…'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "Concerning the appointed Feasts of the LORD…"'"
What does this tell us? God owns them! If He owns them and has a purpose for them, we need to pay attention to it!
"…which…" (v 2) when Jesus comes you need to discard. It doesn't say that, but that's what the Protestants and Catholics believe.
"…which you shall proclaim to be Holy convocations…" (v 2).
What makes a convocation Holy? God's presence! And we have God's Spirit! So, the two together bring us the kind of instruction that God wants us to have, provided that those who are teaching also understand it and prepare so that they will be teaching the words of God!
What happens then? God will inspire the one who is speaking and inspire the ones who are hearing!
"…even these are My appointed Feasts…. [the first one is the Sabbath] …Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of rest, a Holy convocation. You shall not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings" (vs 2-3).
- What is a big misnomer today?
- What do they call the Sabbath?
- The Jews' Sabbath!
It's NOT the Jews' Sabbath! Did you know that the Jews like to say that Abraham was a Jew? He wasn't!
Then it lists all the rest of the Holy Days. Which verse do we have that tells us how a day is reckoned, specifically the Sabbath Day? It's the key to unlocking many difficulties in the Scriptures. What verse is it? Atonement!
- Why should Atonement be especially noted on the timing of observing the day?
- Why should that be?
- Cutoff from God: Yes, you'll be cutoff from God if you don't observe it, that's true
- It's a fast day
Men have interpreted it this way:
- from midnight to midnight
- some Jews do it from late afternoon until the time you can see three stars at night
Which is a variance of about five hours, so you're not right on schedule. You're either too early or you're too late
Verse 32: "It shall be to you a Sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at sunset…"
What is the Day of Atonement? The 10th day! If He says:
"…In the ninth day of the month at sunset from sunset to sunset, you shall keep your Sabbath" (v 32).
The Hebrew there is 'ba erev'—sunset ends the day and when the sun goes below the horizon the new day starts!
What is the first period of time after the sun goes down? 'ben ha arbayim' which is between the setting times, or between the two evenings! That is a time from sunset until dark.
- How do we know that?
- Where is the one place that God uses those two phrases? Exo. 15!
- How do we know that proves that 'ben ha arbayim' is after sunset until dark?
The Jews proclaim it to be from late afternoon. They have even said that whenever they had the Passover Day on a Sabbath Day, like it is this year, that they would start killing the lambs at the temple at 1pm.
- How close is that to evening?
- How do we know for sure?
We have already established that 'ba erev' ends the day, when you have a numbered day; from the 9th day of the month, from evening to evening, and that defines the 10th day. So, you can take that principle and apply it to any day.
When we come to the 6th day of the week from sunset to sunset is the 7th day. God made it easy; it's not complicated. Even the youngest child who has a little bit of speech can look at and say, 'Daddy, the sun is going down.'
Where did God use the term 'ba erev'—sunset—followed immediately by 'ben ha arbayim'—from sunset until dark? Exo. 16!
- Does God keep His own Sabbath? Of course!
- Why would He command us to have a Holy convocation if He didn't put His presence in the Sabbath?
- What if He decided to put it in a different day of the week every week?
- How would you know which day is the Sabbath?
It's an appointed time and God is the One Who has set the appointment! We are to meet the appointment! That's the appointment that God set!
- When did God send the quail? We know that this day was on a Sabbath! He sent the quail at sunset!
- Why? Because the Sabbath ended!
- Where did He drop the quail? Right on the camp!
- Why? So they wouldn't have to go out and look for it!
The time that God said that they would eat flesh was after sunset, because you can't eat quail that haven't arrived! When they came at sunset, then 'ben ha arbayim' began. They ate flesh like God said, 'ben ha arbayim'!
With that, this gives us a good understanding of Exo. 12. We know that this is the first month and God instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel to select the lamb, a kid from the goats, or a lamb from the flock.
- They were to select it on which day? The 10th day of the 1st month (Exo. 12)!
- When were they to kill it?
- How long were they to keep it? Until the 14th day!
They would kill it 'ben ha arbayim'; so that means they killed it right as the 14th day began. 'Ben ha arbayim'—since God counts time from sunset to sunset—begins each new day!
- How were they to cook it? Roasting it by fire!
- How were they not to cook it? Boiling it!
That's important to understand when you get to later things in the book of 2-Kings and 2-Chronicles.
- When did the destroyer pass over? About midnight!
- What did that do? Spared the firstborn—man and beast—of Israel!
Now let's jump forward to the time of Christ. On the Passover night of His last Passover, it was about midnight that He was arrested. God did not pass over Jesus. He was the offering for the sin of the world!
That's interesting; same night, same effect: one protection, one starting the death walk. This should help us understand another very important thing:
The reason that I'm going through this is so you can understand, though it sounds complicated—because we're not used to these terminologies in everyday life—that it is not difficult to understand. I know if you're brand new and haven't heard of it before, it is a little difficult, but you can get The Christian Passover book and read it.
Exodus 12:21: "Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them…"
How did they get the message out to all the children of Israel? They had all the elders come, they had the instruction! They went back to their areas where they should be, and they had the elders there come together and they would go tell all the heads of household what they were to do. Here was the instruction:
"…'Draw out and take a lamb for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip in the blood that is in the bowl, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood in the bowl. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until sunrise'" (vs 21-22).
In the paper—The Passover in the Bible and the Church Today by Lester Grabbe & Robert Kuhn—it says that the children of Israel were able to go out of their houses right after the death angel passed. They call that time of night morning, because that's how it's listed in the King James.
Why do I bring this up? From this point of view:
If you look back at the history of the Church, if you look back at what happened when it was taken down, what preceded the taking down of the Church? Have you ever thought about that?
It was preceded by dumbing down the people! How did they do that? They emphasized things of Christian living—which we need—but they never covered doctrine in detail!
So, when these new ideas came in, and with the poor translation of the King James Version, they subverted the Church. The first thing to subvert is the Passover! Why? Because that is a covenant day! You're either in covenant with God—because you keep the Passover properly—or you're not!
That's how they first started it!
When they said that Pharaoh called for Moses, Moses didn't go. Why did he not go? Two reasons:
- Moses told Pharaoh that 'you're not going see my face again'; so the message was sent.
It's translated called for but it means sent a message toMoses and Aaron that they could leave. But:
- they couldn't go out of the door of their house until sunrise!
I just wanted to cover that!
I want you to understand how many different forms of a supposed 'Lord's Supper' do the various 'Christian' churches have. Remember the movie that Mel Gibson did The Passion of the Christ. It was really pretty good, but do you know what they did almost every hour? They had a Mass! One day they had 12 Masses.
For the New Testament, how often should we partake of the Passover? One day! But there's a tricky little Scripture, and there's something missing in the translation and missing in the launching.
1-Corinthians 11:17: "Now in this that I am commanding you… [not a suggestion] …I do not praise you, because when you assemble together, it is not for the better but for the worse."
Have you ever been in one of those meetings? They are bad!
Verse 18: "For first of all, I hear that there are divisions among you when you are assembled together in the Church, and I partly believe it. For it is necessary that heresies be among you, so that the ones who are approved may become manifest among you" (vs 18-19).
One of the greatest inclinations of human nature with the Word of God is that they have an idea and it sounds really, really good! So, they like to bring it out.
Verse 20: "Therefore, when you assemble together in one place, it is not… [Greek: 'ook'—the strongest negation possible, not possible] …to eat the Lord's supper."
- What do they call it today? The Lord's Supper!
- How persuasive were Grabbe and Kuhn with Garner Ted Armstrong that he accepted that the Passover was on the 15th and Jesus kept a 'pre-Passover Passover' and started calling the Passover the Lord's Supper'?
- Why would you call it the 'Lord's Supper' when the Scripture says that "…it is not to eat the Lord's supper'?
- He ate it Himself, so you can't eat it
- v 34: "But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home… [you're not to have a supper with it] …so that there will be no cause for judgment when you assemble together…."
I remember a district superintendent who said—concerning 2-Cor.—'I don't understand why they're in the Bible. We don't have any of these problems.' A few years later, we had all these problems!
Verse 21: "For in eating, everyone takes his own supper first; now on the one hand, someone goes hungry; but on the other hand, another becomes drunken."
Can you imagine what kind of Passover service that must have been?
Verse 22: "WHAT! Don't you have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the Church of God, and put to shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you!"
Paul is very specific in the instructions; v 23: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread."
What night was that? The Passover night! Judas actually got his 30 coins of silver two days before.
Verse 24: "And after giving thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body, which is being broken for you…. [showing that this is an ongoing covenant for everyone who takes all down through time] …This do in the remembrance of Me.'"
How often is a remembrance? Once a year!
Verse 25: "In like manner, He also took thecup after He had supped, saying, 'This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do…'"
Here's the phrase! All of fake Christianity looks at this and says, 'Read this.' So, we will!
"'…as often as you drink it… [What does that mean?] in the remembrance of Me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you solemnly proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes" (vs 25-26).
Unless you know something about the Greek, you don't have a clue as to what is missing.
- 'an'—pronounced in Greek on; 'an' is a particle that is used within an expression to indicate that there are conditions attached to the statement
- 'posakis'—the word for often as
What do they do? Here are the three places where often as are used:
Revelation 11:6—speaking of the 2 witnesses: "These have authority to shut heaven so that no rain may fall in the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they will."
'posakis' in the Greek; there is no 'an' to show that there are limiting conditions
But since the 'an' is untranslatable, you have to figure out what does Paul really mean in 1-Cor. 11:25).
Today the Catholic Church has the Sacrifice of the Mass every day. On Sunday they have it sometimes as many as four times. They turn to this is and say 'as often as you eat this or drink this.'
I know this gets a little technical, but remember that in any contract that you sign you have to read the fine print. Our contract with Christ is a covenant. That's stronger than an agreement. What is the first limiting condition that Paul wrote of?
1-Corinthians 11:23: "…that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread… [Passover night; 14th day of the 1st month!] …and after giving thanks, He broke it and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body, which is being broken for you. This do in the remembrance of Me'" (vs 23-24)—same word for memorial!
So, the only night that you remember Him is the Passover night, because that's a limiting factor.
Verse 25: "In like manner, He also took thecup after He had supped, saying, 'This is the cup of the New Covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in the remembrance of Me.'" Again, the night; not any other night!
Verse 26: "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you solemnly proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes."
When did He die? On the day portion of the 14th! But everything about that last Passover with Jesus started with the Passover meal. Then at midnight, when He was arrested, began the false trial. In Egypt, God spared al the firstborn of men and beast of the children of Israel, but killed all of those of the Egyptians.
When it comes time for 'the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world' then what? He does not pass over Jesus!
- At what time did God slay the firstborn in Egypt? Midnight!
- What time was Jesus arrested? About midnight!
(break)
There's one more set of difficult problems that are presented in the King James Version that have to be solved concerning the Passover. What this does, when we look at it in the KJV is reveal to us how little the translators of the KJV knew of the meaning of the days of God, nor the practices.
I don't know if you've been presented with this problem before or not, but since even a lot of pastors don't like to get involved in technical things in the Bible, maybe you have never heard of this. But it's written of in The Christian Passover book. There are whole lot of other details in there that you need to know. Why do you need to know them? So that if the doctrine is attacked you know the right answer!
The Passover is always the first thing to come under attack! Why is that? Because that is the covenant day between God the Father, through Jesus Christ, and us! That's very, very important.
The first time I read Matt. 26:17 I couldn't understand it. So, before we read it, let me ask you:
- Passover Day is what day of the 1st month? 14th!
- What day is the Feast of Unleavened Bread? 15th, the day after!
Matthew 26:17 (KJV): "Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the Passover?"
- What's wrong with that translation in v 17? You have the 15th day before the Passover!
That presents a problem!
- Did Jesus keep the Passover on the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread? You can't keep the Passover on the 1st day of Unleavened Bread!
- Why? Because the 1st day of Unleavened Bread comes after the Passover!
Luke 22:7 (KJV): "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed."
Wait a minute! If this is the Feast of Unleavened Bread, they're killing the Passover on the wrong day!
Then you have another problem: In John 19 we find that the Pharisees kept the Passover the day after Jesus kept it. One simple way to remember when the Passover is: The day before the Jews say it is! That's the simplest way. What would this mean?
- If Jesus and the disciples kept the Passover on the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that would be the 15th!
- If the Jews kept it the next day, they would be keeping it on the 16th.
There's no way that the Jews would ever keep it on the 16th!
Mark 14:12 (KJV): "And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover?
Those are three very difficult verses! So, how do you solve it? Remember the instructions that we covered in the Old Testament!
When were they to kill the Passover lamb? Right after sunset on the 13th beginning the 14th!
Let me read it in a proper translation, which we have not only in the Bible, but in A Harmony of the Gospels, all three in parallel. The word feast was added by the translators, thinking they were clarifying it; but what they did is confuse it!
Here is a literal translation:
Matthew 26:17: "Now, on the first of the unleaveneds…" The word 'day' is not there!
What instructions in the Old Testament would this imply? Exo. 13—remember that their keeping of the Passover and Unleavened Bread was for the whole community, not like us today.
This problem dawned on me when we had prospective member when I was pastoring Torrance and Santa Monica in Southern California, and we had a baker who owned a bakery. He wanted to know how he could keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread since he owned a bakery.
That became the problem. What would it take to deleaven a whole bakery? He never did come along, but I told him that maybe he could make unleavened bread and help sell it to the Jews and to the Church members. He never did come along, because that was too much for him.
These were the commands that Jesus was keeping, not the traditions of the Jews:
Exodus 13:3: "And Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt… [the 15th] …out of the house of bondage; for the LORD brought you out from this place by the strength of His hand. There shall be no leavened bread eaten. On this day you are going out, in the month Abib" (vs 3-4).
Verse 6: "You shall eat unleavened bread seven days, and in the seventh day there shall be a Feast to the LORD. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days…." (vs 6-7).
Notice the next sentence because this is important, and this different than what we have to do, but more like that poor baker trying to deleaven his bakery, and he had a big bakery! What do you think would happen to his business? All of a sudden for a little over a week, once a year, all of his customers couldn't get the fluffy bread they wanted, and he couldn't make 'hot cross buns' for Easter. A dilemma!
"…And there shall be no leavened bread seen with you, nor shall there be leaven seen with you in all your borders" (v 7).
They had to get rid of all leaven, everybody everywhere had to get rid of all leaven—leaven bread and leaven! We do that with our homes today. What they did was have someone come around with a special cart and you would put all your leaven in it, and they would take it out and burn it. This was done before the beginning of the 14th! Why? Because you have to have unleavened bread for Passover!
What are they talking about in Matt. 26, Luke 22 and Mark 14? Here's the translation again:
Matthew 26:17: "Now, on the first of the unleaveneds…"
That's when they were unleavening in preparation for the Passover, because Jesus and the disciples had not yet had the Passover. So, "…the first of the unleaveneds…" is not talking about the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, but the first day in which they're getting rid of leavened, unleavening their homes and making unleavened bread.
Luke 22:7: "Then came the day of the unleaveneds in which it was obligatory to kill the Passover lambs."
- When was it "…obligatory to kill the Passover lambs"?
- What do we find in Exo. 12?
- When were they to be killed?
'ben ha arbayim' at the beginning of the 14th!
Mark 14 is discernable only if you know the Greek, and here is the correct translation:
Mark 14:12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds, when they were killing the Passover lambs…"
When we understand that when the people came to Jerusalem, very few had the Passover lambs killed at the temple. That was done in the afternoon of the 14th. In the Passover book we calculate how many could be killed given the space and the number of priests and the number of Levites.
"…when they were killing…"—present tense. It didn't say when they were killing the Passover lamb at the temple.
What one verse do you know that tells us that there were no Passover lambs required to be sacrificed at the temple? There's one verse that tells us that in the Old Testament! Killing them at the temple was a tradition of the Jews!They would kill it late in the afternoon and then have their Passover on the 1st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread! They would also have a Seder meal. They always said that the Passover they kept commemorated… What do they always say? You probably ill hear it on television. They say, 'it commemorates their coming out of Egypt.' That can only be true for the 15th!
What were they to do on the 14th? Stay in their houses until sunrise, then they all had to assemble at Rameses before they could go!
- What one verse do we have, by the command of God, that does not require any Passover lambs to be sacrificed at the temple?
- What is given in Num. 28? All the required temple/tabernacle sacrifices!
In the first part we the morning offering and the evening offering:
Numbers 28:4: "The one lamb you shall offer at sunrise, and the other lamb you shall offer between the two evenings"—after sunset! Not before!
What would happen? You would have two sacrifices on the day portion and nothing to cover the night! So, 'between the two evenings' is after the sun has gone down. This burnt offering was to be burning all night. Then it lists the other things that go with it.
Verse 9: "And on the Sabbath Day two lambs of the first year without blemish… [v 10]: this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath… [v 11]: And in the beginning of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, and one ram, seven lambs of the first year without blemish."
Then we have the flour, wine that goes with it and then the grain offering, and the drink offering. You would have one kid of the goats for a sin offering (vs 12-15).
Verse 16: "And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the LORD."
- How many offerings are commanded?
- Do you see any?
Verse 17: "And in the fifteenth day of this month is the Feast. Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten."
There is not one sacrifice required for the Passover at the temple. That is a later Jewish institution and tradition!
Where was Jesus crucified? Outside the camp! He was crucified on the Mt. of Olives. Jesus Christ is our Passover sacrificed for us on the 14th!
How do we solve this problem in Matthew, Luke and Mark? You will have to get the Passover book and you will see that the domestic Passover was the one that most of the people kept! When they came to Jerusalem to keep the Feast, the city of Bethany and Bethphage were just over the top of the Mt. of Olives. The priests lived in the city of Bethphage. Believe it or not, the priests kept the domestic Passover.
So, here on the Mt. of Olives, it's all terraced out and you had places for tents. They would come for the Passover and they would bring the kid with them: the lamb or the kid goat. Since they are born about a month before Passover, they're very small and the people would bring them with them.
Sidebar: Why did Jesus not tell them where they were going to keep the Passover? Because He knew Judas had already betrayed Him, and had collected the 30 pieces of silver! He was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. So, Jesus did not tell them one word about where they were going to keep the Passover.
Jesus knew where it would be and this was all arranged—and I'll just have to say by the angels and Jesus knew this—but He didn't want Judas to know. So, the troops from the priests would not come to that place and arrest Him and all the disciples at the same time.
So, here's the scene:
Mark 14:12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds, when they were killing the Passover lambs…"
What did they see? All the pilgrims wherever their little tents were! They were killing the lambs, and they didn't know. 'Lord where are You going to keep the Passover?'
"…His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You desire that we go and prepare, so that You may eat the Passover?' And He sent two of His disciples, and said to them, 'Go into the city, and you shall meet a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him'" (vs 12-13).
- Why do you suppose that he was carrying a large pitcher of water?
- What would that be necessary for? Foot washing!
The instructions were to 'go in to the city and you're going to see a man carrying a pitcher of water.' How were they to arrive at the right point at the right time to see the right man carrying a pitcher of water? The angels had to work it out!
Verse 14: "And whatever house he shall enter, say to the master of the house that the Teacher says, 'Where is the guest chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?' And he shall show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. There prepare for us" (vs 14-15).
Verse 16: "And His disciples went away: and when they came into the city, they found it exactly as He had said to them; and they prepared the Passover."
What do you suppose that the owner of the house had to do? He had to have the place unleavened! He didn't know who was coming, and God prevented anyone else from going there so that Jesus and the disciples could keep the Passover at his house.
The master of the house had probably already killed the Passover lamb and had it ready to roast.
- How long does it take to roast one of those lambs; very young, very small. Two hours!
- How long is it from sunset until it's dark enough for Passover? An hour and a half or two hours!
Perfect timing! God had all this worked out.
I also suppose that there were a lot of demons around there, as well, and Satan there, too. This was their day to kill Jesus! There's a lot going on.
Verse 17: "Now after evening had come…"
Think about this: Sunset ends the day and you have 'between the two evenings.' So, that's about an hour and a half.
"…He came with the twelve. And as they sat and were eating, Jesus said, 'Truly I say to you, one of you shall betray Me, even he who is eating with Me.' And they began to be extremely sad, and said to Him one by one, 'Is it I?' And another, 'Is it I?' But He answered and said to them, 'The one who is dipping a morsel into the dish with Me, he is the one of you twelve'" (vs 17-20). He didn't name him directly!
Now, we get a little more detail of this in John 13, and this is foot-washing. Here again is another mistranslation in the King James! To this day every year I get a question that reflects this mistranslation. Some of them even put the foot-washing off until after the Passover ceremony is over.
John 13:2 (KJV): "And supper being ended…"—completely wrong translation!
If you want a detailed explanation, I have a special write up on it. See Foot Washing—John 13! {https://www.cbcg.org/passover/foot-washing-john-13.html}
"…the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him" (v 2)
(FV) 13:2: "And during supper began…"
The Greek indicates that it's right after they just sat down and it was ready to start.
"…(the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, that he should betray Him), Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper and laid aside His garments; and after taking a towel, He secured it around Himself. Next, He poured water into a washing basin" (vs 2-5).
Remember the man carrying the water and went into the house? There it is!
"…and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel, which He had secured. Then He came to Simon Peter; and he said to Him, 'Lord, are You going to wash my feet?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but you shall know after these things.' Peter said to Him, 'You shall not wash my feet, not ever.' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me'" (vs 5-8).
Think about that! What's one of the first things that they always drop off? Foot-washing! Always!
If you were a Protestant, did you have foot-washing? Nobody here! That's applies to us, as well!
Verse 9: "Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.' Jesus said to him, 'The one who has been washed does not need to wash anything other than the feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all.' For He knew the one who was betraying Him; this was the reason He said, 'Not all of you are clean.' Therefore, when He had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and had sat down again, He said to them, 'Do you know what I have done to you? You call Me the Teacher and the Lord, and you speak rightly, because I am. Therefore, if I, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also are duty-bound to wash one another's feet'" (vs 9-14).
Sidebar: We have a little problem with many people being alone. You can't wash your own feet. So, when you come that portion when you take the Passover alone, you pray about it and put it into God's hands and He understands that you're not able to have your feet washed.
If you can make arrangements for your feet to be washed… If your husband/wife understands what you're doing, and he/she is not against it, that would be acceptable. Or one of your older children could do it IF they understand it!
Otherwise, it's required!
Verse 15: "For I have given you an example, to show that you also should do exactly as I have done to you. Truly, truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord… [here's a great lesson] …nor a messenger greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (vs 15-17).
In other words, washing the feet is a commitment to humility in your attitude toward each other! Think of this in relationship to the hierarchies we've all been used to. If Jesus did this, why was there a hierarchy?
Mark 14:20—regarding the one who is betraying Jesus: "But He answered and said to them, 'The one who is dipping a morsel into the dish with Me, he is the one of you twelve. The Son of man indeed goes, just as it has been written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born'" (vs 20-21). We all know that it was Judas Iscariot!
- What is the penalty for being complicit in murder? The death penalty!
- Who was going to carry out the death penalty upon Judas?
- Would the priests? No! They paid him to do the job!
When Judas came to his senses and ran back to the temple and took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the temple and said, 'I betrayed innocent blood.' So, he had a temporary change of mind, but he is still called 'the son of perdition' who is lost.
Now, notice, misplaced righteousness. They were treacherous enough to take out of the treasury of God 30 pieces of silver to pay him to betray Jesus. Then Judas came back and threw them into the temple. What did they say? We can't put into the treasury! So, they bought a plot 'the field of blood' where they buried Judas.
How did Judas die? He had to die, because he betrayed Jesus! One of the disciples couldn't do it, Jesus couldn't do it. That's why Judas hung himself! He had to die! So, he hung himself; that's the only way that death penalty could be executed against him.
Verse 22: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread; and after blessing it, He broke it and gave it to them, and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.'"
We will cover that very thoroughly on the day portion of the Passover Day.
Verse 23: "And He took the cup; and after giving thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank of it. And He said to them, 'This is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many'" (vs 23-24).
Here we have all of these difficult Scriptures that come along and cause people problems. If on top of that all the brethren are 'dumbed down' then when they're challenged with difficult Scriptures, they won't know what to do.
That's how Worldwide Church of God got taken down! They didn't know what to do! They were taught that 'this is the Government of God'—the ministry—and you must obey! So, they said, 'How can we argue with that when they tell you that this is new understanding.' It's not! It's old heresy!
I won't get into anymore complicated things for a while, but those things come along and they need to be approached.
Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted)
Scriptural References:
- Leviticus 23:1-3, 32, 27
- Exodus 12:21-22
- 1 Corinthians 11:17-20, 34, 21-26
- Revelation 11:6
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
- Matthew 26:17
- Luke 22:7
- Mark 14:12
- Matthew 26:17
- Exodus 13:3-4, 6-7
- Matthew 26:17
- Luke 22:7
- Mark 14:12
- Numbers 28:4, 9-11, 16-17
- Mark 14:12-20
- John 13:2-17
- Mark 14:20-24
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Exodus 15; 16
- John 19
- Numbers 28:12-15
Also referenced:
Books:
- The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
- A Harmony of the Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
Paper: The Passover in the Bible and the Church Today by Lester Grabbe & Robert Kuhn {truthofGod.org}
Study: Foot Washing—John 13! {https://www.cbcg.org/passover/foot-washing-john-13.html}
Chart on 400 and 430 years
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/4/21
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