Why We Keep the 14th Passover

Many events surrounding this Festival Season

Fred R. Coulter—March 11, 2023

- Video | - PDF | Audio | [Up]

Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services, from rain soaked Central California!

Here we are coming close to the Passover time. Today we're going to answer the question:

• Why does the Church keep the Passover on the 14th, but the Jews keep it on the 15th?
• What are they missing?

We know that in Lev. 23 it says clearly that the Passover is on the 14th day of the 1st month between the two evenings. Now, between the two evenings as we covered from Exo. 16 is from sunset unto dark. That's when they were to kill and to roast; not to boil at all any of the flesh in water.

So, the 14th is a separate day as it begins between the two evenings! We are going to see the description of this in Exo. 12, so we can see something to compare to it to find out what is going on.

For the Passover service itself, here's the way that God told them to tell their children:

Exodus 12:24: "And you shall observe this thing as a law to you and to your children forever. And it shall be when you have come to the land, which the LORD will give you, according as He has promised that you shall keep this service. And it will be, when your children shall say to you, 'What does this service mean to you?' Then you shall say, 'It is the sacrifice of the LORD'S Passover… [notice that it doesn't say offering; it's a sacrifice] …Who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our houses.' And the people bowed their heads and worshiped" (vs 24-27).

Then it says that Israel went and did what they should do. We also learned what God told them that they needed to do that night, all that night. Everything was to be finished between 'between the two evenings' and sunrise! They were to eat the roasted flesh, roasted with fire, and not boiled at all with water.

I'm emphasizing that because of what are called Passover Offerings vs Passover Sacrifice.

Verse 22: "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"—Hebrew: 'boqer'—that's important!

After that happened, then they began to gather at Rameses. Here's where we have the two-day sequence, the 14th and then the beginning of the 15th; just like we had with the covenant promise and sacrifice between Abraham and God in Gen. 15, it was a two-day sequence. So, here we have the same thing.

The children of Israel got the spoil from the Egyptians, and all gathered at Rameses to leave. They left the next night! Keep that in mind.

Verse 40: "Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years."

We have a chart on that: The Sojourning of Israel and Literal Time in Egypt (the difference in the 400 and the 430 years)
{https://www.cbcg.org/images/books/Letter-March-2021-Special-Chart.pdf}

Verse 41: "And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, it was even on that very same day, all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed to the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt…. (vs 41-42).

Remember the instruction concerning the Passover: stay in the house until sunrise! This is their exiting, not God's passing over.

"…This is that night of the LORD to be observed by all the children of Israel in their generations" (v 42). Then He gave instruction concerning the Passover.

Here they are, all gathered there at Rameses and ready to go at sunset as the 14th day, the Passover day, was ending and the 15th day, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was beginning.

Exodus 12:17: " And you shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for in this very same day I have brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall keep this day in your generations as a law forever. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at sunset… ['ba erev' meaning that this ends the 14th, which begins the 15th] …you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at sunset" (vs 17-18)—ending the Feast of Unleavened Bread! That's important!

Verse 19: "Seven days there shall 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. You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread"' (vs 19-20). That's the command for the seven days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread!

There was another ceremony that was to take place on the day portion of the 14th. This is important to understand because that will help you realize what is occurring with Deut. 16 and 2-Chron. 35.

Verse 51[note this is really the first verse in Exo. 13]: "And it came to pass the very same day, when the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies."

Exodus 13:1: "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying."

Listen carefully and remember on the night of the 14th all the firstborn of man and beast of the children of Israel were spared death. Let's read what God says about that:

Verse 3: "And Moses said to the people, 'Remember this day in which you came out of Egypt, 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). They started going out just as the sun was setting!

Verse 5: And it shall be when the LORD shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. 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. And there shall be no leavened bread seen with you, nor shall there be leaven seen with you in all your borders" (vs 5-7).

What they did was collect all the leaven. We will see that they did that even before the Passover Day when we get to the New Testament to understand that.

One of the most important things that we have is the Sabbath and Unleavened Bread, and Passover pictures the covenant of eternal life through Jesus Christ for all of us. We will see that! It's important that we understand all of these details and what was actually going on.

Verse 9: "And it shall be a sign to you upon your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the LORD'S Law may be in your mouth…"

That's the whole meaning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread; you do everything God's way!

• you don't bring in you own ideas
• you don't bring in your own practices
• you don't worship other gods

You understand the Law of God!

Where do we find a similar quotation of that in the New Testament? Heb. 10; talks about the body that God prepared for Jesus. That by one offering of Jesus and His shed blood, there's forgiveness of sin so that God will not remember our sins and lawlessness anymore. But that the Laws of God and His commandments will be written in our heart and mind (Heb. 10:16).

That's the whole purpose of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and He wants it to be simple to understand. That's why it's unleavenedness vs leavenedness, because you don't realize how easily sin comes in!

Verse 10: "You shall, therefore, keep this law in its season from year to year."

What is the Law that He is going to give? He already gave the Law concerning the Passover! This is not talking about the Passover ceremony to be observed at the beginning of the 14th in the night of the 14th. He's talking about the preparation that they were doing on the day portion of the 14th assembling in Rameses to leave.

Verse 11: "And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites… [this was not to start until they got into the land of Canaan] …as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the womb…" (vs 11-12).

The law of the firstborn; the firstborn is very, very special. Jesus was the Firstborn of God the Father through Mary when He was born in the flesh, and when He was raised from the dead He was the Firstborn from the dead.

Sidebar: Is it not true that the greatest majority of abortions that have taken place in America are the abortion of what would have been the firstborn? So, you see the great sin and the great penalties that are coming, we're experiencing them now, because the firstborn is special to God, the father and to the mother. God must be honored! Every life that is born is a creation of God! He says so many times in the Prophets: I have formed you in the womb! That is through the process of procreation.

Verse 12: "You shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the womb and every firstborn that comes of any animal, which you have; the males shall be the LORD'S." They belong to God! There are times when the firstborn is female.

Sidebar: That firstborn female of animals and so forth was to be used for Festivals in honoring God.

Verse 13: "And every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb. And if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck.… [How important is that? ] …And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem."

How did they redeem them? With the offering of the lamb or calf!

Verse 14: "And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, 'What does this mean?'…. [that's different from what the Passover means] …you shall say to him, "The LORD brought us out of Egypt by the strength of His hand, from the house of bondage'"

That's what this day pictures! But the preparation for the leaving of it we will see involved a lot of offerings (Deut. 16).

Verse 15: "And it came to pass when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animals. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD all that opens the womb that are males…."

They were taken directly to the priests or the Levites, and they were to offer them.

"…But all the firstborn of my sons I redeem" (v 15).

So, what day would be the day to redeem with a sacrifice a firstborn son? Remember the situation with Hannah and Hilkiah? Hannah didn't have any children and she would dedicate her child to God if God would give her a child. That's how Samuel was born. She took care of him and nursed him and when the nursing was done—generally about 3-years-old—she took Samuel and gave him to Eli the priest to be his assistant. Dedicated for life to God! That's how important the firstborn is.

Verse 16: "And it shall be for a token upon your hand, and for frontlets between your eyes, for the LORD brought us out from Egypt by strength of His hand."

That's what it's all about. He spared the firstborn on the Passover at night when they had the Passover service, but on the day portion now you thank God as the living firstborn that you weren't killed! You and the animals.

Let's cover one other thing about the Passover to help answer the question:

• How did the Jews come to have a 15th Passover?

or

• How come the Feast of Unleavened Bread is called Passover?

The tabernacle was dedicated on the first day of the first month of the second year. They were out in Sinai. In the first chapters of the book of Numbers shows what they did, the offerings that each tribe would bring, and it was an identical offering to give to the priesthood.

Then they counted all the Levites, and they counted all the firstborn. The difference between the two they had special offerings for. All of that was taken care of before the Passover in the first month of the second year. Let's see what they did.

Think about this: with the tabernacle there, the sacrificial system already setup, the altar made the Holy of Holies; everything was done. If God wanted the Passover Sacrifice lamb to be offered at the temple or tabernacle, they had the tabernacle. But they didn't do it, even when the tabernacle was setup, they still kept it according to the instructions of Exo. 12!

Numbers 9:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 'Let the children of Israel also keep the Passover at its appointed time'" (vs 1-2).

What is the appointed time? Between the two evenings and that night! That's the appointed time!

Verse 3: "In the fourteenth day of this month, between the two evenings, you shall keep it in its appointed time. You shall keep it according to all its statutes, and according to all the ceremonies of it."

Nothing to say that it was done at the tabernacle. So, later on when they had the Passover at the temple, it wasn't really the Passover that should have been kept in the individual homes or when they were in the wilderness at their tents the way that God said.

The 14th Passover, as it was given, was never meant to be a daytime ceremony. However, let's understand something else here, too.

Verse 5: "And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month between the two evenings in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, the children of Israel did."

Then there were certain men that couldn't keep the Passover, because they were unclean. God gave what they should do:

Verse 8: "And Moses said to them, 'You wait here, and I will hear what the LORD will command about you.' And the LORD spoke to Moses saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "If any man of you or of your generations shall be unclean because of a dead body, or in a journey afar off…"'" (vs 8-10).

That becomes important, because it means that if they are outside of the geographical area of Israel they couldn't keep a 14th Passover. But they could keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Verse 11—when they get back into the land, or they're clean: They shall keep it the fourteenth day of the second month between the two evenings, eating it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any bone of it. According to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it" (vs 11-12).

Verse 13: "But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey… [or in another country] …and holds back from keeping the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people…."

Meaning that God's blessing upon that person will be removed! Cutoff!

"…Because he did not bring the offering of the LORD at its appointed time, that man shall bear his sin. And if a stranger shall live among you, and will keep the Passover to the LORD, he shall do according to the law of the Passover, and according to its ordinance. You shall have only one Law, both for the stranger and for him that was born in the land"' (vs 13-14).

Deut. 16 is where the Jews say that they keep the Passover beginning on the 15th day of the month. They call the whole thing the Passover. This was a very key thing when I was researching on how to answer Grabbe & Kuhn in their paper: The Passover of the Bible and the Church Today

This is where they started to subvert the Church of God. Where did they strike? Right at the Passover!

Deuteronomy 16:1: "Keep the month of Abib… [another name for Nisan] …and observe the Passover to the LORD your God.…"

He doesn't have to repeat all the same instructions here, because those are there and should be kept starting between the two evenings as the 14th day was beginning.

"…For in the month of Abib, the LORD your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night" (v 1)—the second night! Right here in v 1 there are two distinct things!

Verse 2: "And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover Offering…"

Notice that it's not called the Passover Offering in Exo. 12; it's called the Sacrifice of the Passover to be kept and observed in the home.

• What does a Passover Offering mean?
• Does this mean that they were keeping the Passover?

Let's read it and we will understand the true meaning of this.

"…sacrifice the Passover Offering to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd…" (v 2).

When you read Exo. 12, the instructions are from the flock—a lamb or a kid goat—nothing to do with the herd. There is nothing in the Bible that says that you keep the Passover with a 'Passover calf'! compare the size of a little lamb or kid goat with a calf. They were to eat the whole thing and leave nothing till morning, and to burn anything that was left, which would be the skin, guts and the bones. That's what everyone was told to do.

If they were to offer a calf, that's probably three times as big as a little kid. They could not possibly have eaten it in that night and burned all the remaining flesh and bones. What does this mean: of the flock and herd? 

"…in the place, which the LORD shall choose to place His name there" (v 2)—at the tabernacle or temple, not in the home!

What are we talking about here?

Verse 3: "You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it…"

That's the Feast of Unleavened Bread! What was the preparation for the Feast of Unleavened Bread when they were to come into the land?

Let's read it again, because this is the key. Originally, all these Passover Offerings were the redemption of the firstborn of man and of beast. In a large population you're going to have a lot of sacrifices.

Exodus 13:11: "And it shall be, when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the LORD all that opens the womb, and every firstborn that comes of any animal, which you have; the males shall be the LORD'S" (vs 11-12).

So, they had to bring all of them to the temple. When they were in the land and had their priest cities and their Levitical cities, they could bring them there to the priest or Levites so that that would be theirs. But it belongs to God; it's His!

Verse 13: "…And all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem."

How would they redeem them? They would redeem them with a lamb or with an offering! You don't sacrifice your own firstborn. That's what's done today with abortion. Think about how God looks upon what's going on.

What we had when the temple was setup, because this was not to be done until they got into the land. When they got there then they had to redeem all the firstborn of man and of beast with many, many sacrifices on the day portion of the 14th[transcriber's correction] …in preparation for the Night to be Much Observed beginning at sunset. That's what was going on.

Deuteronomy 16:2: "And you shall, therefore, sacrifice the Passover offering… [for the redemption of the firstborn] …to the LORD your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place, which the LORD shall choose to place His name there. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of affliction, for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste, so that you may remember the day that you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life" (vs 2-3).

We're going to find out something else:

Verse 4: "And there shall be no leaven seen with you in all your borders for seven days. Nor shall any of the flesh, which you sacrificed in the first day… [of the Feast of Unleavened Bread] …at sunset remain all night until the morning. You may not sacrifice the Passover Offering within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you" (vs 4-5).

The Jews read that and they say that God changed the Passover here. NO! He didn't change the timing of it at all! They were to eat the Passover in their homes on night of the 14th, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the 15th. They were to come to the temple on the day portion of the 14th, they were to have the offerings all ready to go in preparation for the Night to be Much Observed.

Verse 5: "You may not sacrifice the Passover Offering within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you. But at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place His name in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover Offering at sunset, at the going down of the sun, at the time that you came out of Egypt" (vs 5-6).

That's the beginning of the 15th. Verse 7 is the key, because there were so many sacrifices they couldn't put them on the altar. So, they had other places where they could boil them. This is where there's a mistranslation in the KJV.

Hebrew for boil is 'bashal'—it doesn't means to roast. But that's what's in the KJV. I have verified this many, many times over: the Hebrew is boil!

The Passover that is to be kept at home, they were to roast it with fire. They had specific instructions, and this is the Passover Sacrifice. We're talking about Passover Offerings or offerings made on the day portion of the Passover in preparation for the Night to be Much Observed, and in observing the redemption of the firstborn, as God commanded!

Exodus 12:9: "Do not eat of it raw, nor boiled at all with water…"

Therefore, Deut. 16 cannot mean the Passover Sacrifice. But it is an offering made on the Passover Day, after the Passover night in preparation for the Night to be Much Observed.

(break@43:15)

Let's rehearse all of this; it's a little complicated. But I think we can straighten it out. I did misspeak about when the Passover Offerings of Deut. 16 were given. That is on the day portion of the 14th.

• the Passover was to be kept in the homes
• it was to be roasted with fire
• it was not to be boiled at all with water
• everyone was to stay in their houses until sunrise
• at midnight God passed through and killed all the firstborn of the Egyptians—man, woman and beasts
• on the day portion of the 14th the children of Israel came and gathered at Rameses
• while at Rameses, God gave the instruction for the full seven days of Unleavened Bread which would start at sunset as they were leaving Egypt
• then God gave the instructions about what to do about the redemption of the firstborn, which is entirely different from the Passover
• He gave those instructions were to be accomplished when they got into the land where the tabernacle was setup and all of those were to be offered on the day portion of the 14th

Let's read it again, and remember:

• the Passover Sacrifice was for the home
• the Passover Offering was the redemption offerings for the firstborn of man and beast

Those were given on the day portion of the 14th in preparation for the Night to be Much Observed, which began at sunset beginning the 15th day of the 1st month.

Deuteronomy 16:4: "And there shall be no leaven seen with you in all your borders for seven days."

Do you know how the Jews handle that today? They don't get rid of it, they cover it with a blanket so they can't see it! This doesn't mean to keep it and cover it so you can't see it. It means that it must be removed!

"…Nor shall any of the flesh, which you sacrificed in the first day… [Feast of Unleavened Bread] …at sunset remain all night until the morning" (v 4).

Same thing, but they had many, many people. They had great crowds there.

Verse 5: "You may not sacrifice the Passover Offering within any of your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, but at the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place His name in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover Offering at sunset, at the going down of the sun, at the time that you came out of Egypt" (vs 5-6)—ending the 14th and beginning the 15th!

Verse 7: "And you shall boil and eat itin the place, which the LORD your God shall choose.…"

This has to be the redemption offering for the firstborn. It cannot be the Passover taken the night of the 14th in the house.

"…And in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread.…" (vs 7-8).

This is after this first day of Unleavened Bread you have six more to go; it's the only place that says six days. All of that is explained in The Christian Passover book.

"…And on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the LORD your God. You shall do no work" (v 8).

All of these Passover Offerings were for the redemption of the firstborn, and had nothing to do with the Passover to be kept in the home.

Mark 14—we're going to see something very interesting here. Here again, the translators of the KJV get it all mixed up and cause a great deal of confusion.

Books you need {truthofGod.org}:

• A Harmony of the Gospels
• The Day that Jesus the Christ Died

In these you can see the flow of events for all the time before the Passover beginning six days before the Passover, and then leading up to the Passover.

Mark 14:1: "Now, after two days was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how they might stealthily lay hold of Him and kill Him. But they said, 'Not during the Feast, lest there be a riot among the people.' Now He was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper; and as He was sitting to eat, a woman came carrying an alabaster flask of ointment of pure spikenard worth a great price; and after breaking the alabaster flask, she poured it on His head. But some were indignant within themselves and said, 'Why has this ointment been wasted? For it was possible for this to be sold for over three hundred silver coins, and to give to the poor.' And they were criticizing her" (vs 1-5).

Verse 6: "But Jesus said, 'Let her alone; why are you causing her trouble? She has performed a good work toward Me. For you have the poor with you always, and you are able to do good for them whenever you desire; but you do not always have Me. She did what she could for Me. She came to anoint My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this Gospel shall be preached in all the world, what this woman has done shall also be spoken of for a memorial of her." (vs 6-9).

Verse 10: "Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order that he might deliver Him up to them. And after hearing this, they were delighted and promised to give him money…. [30 coins, the price for a dead slave] …And he sought how he might conveniently betray Him" (vs 10-11).

Jesus did something that was really quite important. We're going to discover several things right here. This is a literal translation:

Verse 12: "And on the first day of the unleaveneds…"

The KJV says 'on the first day of the Feast of…'—which begins at the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th.

"…when they were killing the Passover lambs…" (v 12).

It didn't say that they were killing them at the temple, because the whole area there had all of the pilgrims coming to keep the Passover. So, they were keeping the 14th Passover and the tents were all around Jerusalem. They were keeping a 14th Passover, and it was at the beginning of 'between the two evenings,' the sun was just going down.

"…they were killing the Passover lambs…" It didn't say the priests or Levites were killing them. This is keeping the 14th there in Jerusalem at the beginning of the 14th.

"…His disciples said to Him, 'Where do You desire that we go and prepare, so that You may eat the Passover?'" (v 12).

He didn't tell them!Why? Because He didn't want Judas to know! Later Judas came with Jesus. He didn't want them coming to arrest Him on the Passover night, before the time that He should be arrested. So, He didn't tell them when or where until this very moment.

Verse 13: "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.'"

When you read all of these things on that Passover Day, beginning right here, everything was being carried out and there were probably angels making it happen at the time it needed to be happening so that it would occur when it should.

That's some instruction! No one would know where that was, so there they went. It was Peter and John who went. They followed the man.

• What do you suppose the pitcher of water was for?
• What did Jesus do to the disciples that Passover night? He washed their feet!

So, the man is bringing the water! The owner of the house undoubtedly had already slain the lamb before the disciple had come.

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?'"

Very interesting! Nobody knew! Only Jesus knew!

Verse 15: "'And he shall show you a large upper room, furnished and ready. There prepare for us.' 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" (vs 15-16).

Everything was all ready, the Passover lamb killed and already being offered between sunset and dark. Here they come in the evening, so between the two evenings: the first evening is sunset, the second evening is when darkness comes upon you. That's when Jesus came.

Verse 17: "Now after evening had come, 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.'" (vs 17-18).

They didn't know; they couldn't understand about Judas. This is an important thing to realize: Whenever there are subversives that come in, they may appear to be the real thing, but they're not! Judas wasn't. The disciples couldn't tell the difference. That's a good lesson for all of us!

Verse 19: "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. 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 19-21).

Matt. 26—Here we are, the Passover beginning, and this has to be at the end of between the two evenings and getting into the night. What we have after this we'll see exactly what occurred.

Let's first go to John 13—the foot-washing. There are some people who believe—because there's a mistranslation here—that it was the end of supper. NO! It was at the beginning of supper that foot-washing began.

John 13 is a real key, and this was the first thing to happen because foot-washing was always done when you first came into the house. Jesus then added a special ceremony for the foot-washing. We will go through John 13 and then we will see when Judas left.

John 13:1: "Now, before the Feast of the Passover, knowing that His time had come to depart from this world to the Father, Jesus, having loved His own who were in the world, loved them to the end. And during supper… [right there at the beginning of it] …began (the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, that he should betray Him)" (vs 1-2).

This is the only time that Judas knew where they were keeping the Passover, because he came with the rest of the 12 with Jesus.

Verse 3: "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 and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel, which He had secured" (vs 3-5).

That's probably the water that the man was carrying in to where they were going to have the Passover.

Verse 6: "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 6-8).

• What's one of the first things that the Protestants have done in destroying all knowledge of the Passover and calling it the Lord's Supper? They eliminated foot-washing!
• What does that tell you? If you eliminate and you don't have it, you have no part with Christ!

If you have to take the Passover alone, you can't wash your own feet, but you can pray about it so that you understand it and you know that Christ will take care of it, even though you can't do at this particular time, because you're by yourself.

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?'" (vs 9-12).

Then we get this command again. The first part of it is that if you don't do it you have no part with Christ.

Verse 13: "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 13-14). That means it is absolutely necessary!

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, nor a messenger greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them" (vs 15-17). That's why we will have the foot-washing!

Now we come to the time of Judas going; this is before the bread and the wine.

Verse 18: "I am not speaking of you all; for I know whom I have chosen, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled: 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.' I am telling you at this time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM" (vs 18-19).

Of course that 'ego eimi' meaning I AM going clear back to Exo. 3 where the Lord told Moses to tell the children of Israel that 'I AM has sent you.'

Verse 20: "Truly, truly I tell you, the one who receives whomever I send is receiving Me; and the one who receives Me is receiving Him Who sent Me."

That's very important! This is also important to understand. Anyone who is speaking or presenting or giving messages needs to realize:

• you must speak the Word of God truthfully
• you are representing God

So, it must be the words of God! That's what it has to be, always!

Verse 21: "As He was saying these things, Jesus was troubled in spirit, and testified, saying, 'Truly, truly I tell you, one of you shall betray Me.' Then the disciples looked at one another, wondering of whom He was speaking. Now one of His disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was leaning on Jesus' chest. And so, Simon Peter motioned to him to ask who was the one of whom He was speaking. Then he leaned back on Jesus' chest and asked Him, 'Lord, who is it?'" (vs 21-25).

Verse 26: "Jesus answered, 'It is the one to whom I shall give a sop after I have dipped it.' And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, Simon's son."

Some people say that you can't do a sop with unleavened bread. Well, have you ever had nachos? unleavened corn chips? You dip it into something and put it in your mouth? He put unleavened bread and made sure that He got a morsel with some juice and gave it to Judas Iscariot.

Verse 27: "And after the sop, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, 'What you do, do quickly.' But not one of those sitting at the table knew why He said this to him" (vs 27-28).

Matthew 26:26: "And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread and blessed it; then He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body.'"

That's symbolism of the unleavened bread. What is another name for Jesus? He is the Word! Unleavened Bread pictures the body of Christ, and His sinless self. Plus it also pictures that He is the Bread of Life and we only have life through Him, the Truth and the Spirit of God.

He was beaten and scourged for the sacrifice, for the sin of the world! There are some people who think that Jesus committed suicide. NO, He didn't! He laid His life down; He was the sacrifice!

Verse 27: "And He took the cup; and after giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, 'All of you drink of it; for this is My blood, the blood of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins" (vs 27-28). Then He says that He's not going eat of it again until He returns!

They were having problems in the Church at Corinth because they were wanting to have a meal with their Passover. The only reason there was a meal with the Passover with Jesus and the disciples is for this reason:

• Jesus had to finish the Old Covenant with that meal by eating of that lamb
• Jesus introduced the new emblems of the bread and the wine after the foot-washing

So, when we come to 1-Cor. 11 we see some other difficulties and understanding coming up, which shows that:

• the Passover must be in the night that He was betrayed
• it must be with the (unleavened) bread and with the wine

Which followed the foot-washing! Foot-washing was first, then the bread and the wine. Let's see what they were doing in Corinth.

1-Corinthians 11:17: "Now in this that I am commanding you, I do not praise you, because when you assemble together, it is not for the better but for the worse. 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 17-19).

One of the very tests to test whether the one is sent from God and teaching the Word of God is if they do it God's way. That's what Paul is saying.

Verse 20: "Therefore, when you assemble together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's supper."

In the Greek this is the strongest negation! It is not! You don't eat that!

Verse 34: "But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home… [before he comes] …so that there will be no cause for judgment when you assemble together…."

There is not to be a meal in conjunction with the Passover!

• foot-washing
• (unleavened) bread
• wine
• the reading of the Scriptures

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. WHAT!…. [in the strongest terms] …Don't you have houses for eating and drinking?…. [it's not to eat the Lord's Supper; you eat before you come] …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!" (vs 21-22).

Then Paul tells them exactly what it should be, that he received from the Lord.

Verse 23: "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night… [that is a limiting factor] …in which He was betrayed took bread; 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).

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.' 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).

As often is a very difficult thing! You can't find this in the English. There is a little Greek word 'an' pronounce on and whenever that is in the Scriptures and written there—which it is here—'an' means there are limiting factors involved. It doesn't mean literally anytime you want as often as you want. That's is not true. The limitation is in night that He was betrayed!Bread and wine in the night. We know foot-washing from John 13.

They were expecting Christ to return, even in their lifetime (1st &2nd Thess.). God had not yet revealed to the apostles how long in the future it would be before Jesus would come. That wasn't given until the book of Revelation. All of the apostles except John died not knowing when Jesus would return. But every year when they kept the Passover, as often as they did, once a year, until the Lord come.

It doesn't mean whenever you want to, as often as you want to in whatever you are doing.

Verse 27: "For this reason, if anyone shall eat this bread or shall drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, he shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup accordingly" (vs 27-28).

That's what we are to do. That's why we have the Feast of the Passover first, then of Unleavened Bread getting rid of leaven. Only during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is leaven pictured as sin. God is using that to show us how common and how often that sin is. It's everywhere, and it's easy to get involved in, and you don't even know it. All of these things are part of what the Passover is.

Now let's see the reason that we keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Note that the Corinthians were Gentiles. Wherever Paul went he went first into the synagogue. Then there would be a group come out of the synagogue a mixture of Jews and Gentiles.

• they knew the Law of God
• they kept the Law of God

Now they are learning how it is expressed in the New Testament. Now we have it better than they did because we have it all written down. That's a great thing for us that we know.

So when they had this great sin in their midst where they were 'gigglingly approving' of the man who was having sexual relations with his step-mother. They didn't get rid of him! So, Paul said, 'Put him out!' You can't have people living in gross sin and be with the brethren of God. So, Paul tells them:

1-Corinthians 5:6: "Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?"

That's the whole thing of the Feast that we see!

• we can't allow sin
• we can't allow deviations from the meaning of the Word of God
  • in what we think
  • in what we believe
  • how we practice our lives

we are to have

• the Unleavened Bread of Christ
• the sinlessness of Christ
• the mind of Christ

Verse 6: "Your glorying is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore, purge out the old leaven…" (vs 6-7).

You have to get rid of the sins in your life, just like you have to get rid of the leaven out of your home.

"…so that you may become a new lump… [showing that salvation is a process] …even as you are unleavened…." (v 7).

You unleaven your homes, but if you don't unleaven your life, what good is it? It's no good! You've got to unleaven your life through the sacrifice of Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit with the Word of God.

"…For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us" (v 7).

• to cover our sins
• to forgive our sins
• to get rid of our sins
• to remove them far from us, as far as the east is from the west

Verse 8: "For this reason, let us keep the Feast, not with old leaven… [he's saying keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread] …nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of Sincerity and Truth."

That's what God wants, and that is how we need to live our lives! This is why we have the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread every year!

I hope that these things help you to understand that there are complicated difficulties to understand concerning the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. But we can understand them!

Let's look forward to this time that is coming with great anticipation and willingness to come to God and lay aside all of the things that are problems and difficulties and our sins and put them under the blood of Jesus Christ.

Scriptural References:

• Exodus 12:24-27, 22, 40-42, 17-20, 51
• Exodus 13:1, 3-7, 9-16
• Numbers 9:1-3, 5, 8-14
• Deuteronomy 16:1-3
• Exodus 13:11-13
• Deuteronomy 16:2-6
• Exodus 12:9
• Deuteronomy 16:4-8
• Mark 14:1-21
• John 13:1-28
• Matthew 26:26-28
• 1 Corinthians 11:17-20, 34, 21-28
• 1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Leviticus 23
• Exodus 16
• Genesis 15
• 2 Chronicles 35
• Hebrews 10:16
• Exodus 3

Also referenced:

Chart: The Sojourning of Israel and Literal Time in Egypt {https://www.cbcg.org/images/books/Letter-March-2021-Special-Chart.pdf}

Paper: The Passover of the Bible and the Church Today by Lester L. Grabbe and Robert L. Kuhn
{https://www.cbcg.org/holy-days/the-passover-of-the-bible-and-the-church-today.html}

Books by Fred R. Coulter {truthofGod.org}:

• The Christian Passover
• A Harmony of the Gospels
• The Day that Jesus the Christ Died

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/15/23

Copyright 2023—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.