What Happened In The Days Before Passover?

"That Rock was Christ"

Many have been misled into the anti-Christian error that the "Old Testament Passover" was merely something that the Israelites alone experienced, while the "New Testament" Passover (that the heathen Roman Empire's Church called "Easter" after the ancient Babylonian goddess of the east) is "Christian." But it was Jesus Christ, as "the LORD God" (see the Fact Finder question below) Who created Passover in Egypt, and then led the Israelites in the Exodus. Passover has always been 100% Christian.

"^10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; ^10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; ^10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; ^10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

^10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

^10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. ^10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. ^10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. ^10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. ^10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. ^10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. ^10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:1-12 KJV)

The days prior to the ultimate Passover Sacrifice (all of the true Christian Holy Days are prophetic; see Leviticus: The Prophecies Of Christianity) involved preparations, not merely the setting of a table, but the setting of a stage - multiple stages in fact. The Messiah (see A History Of Jerusalem: The Coming Of The Messiah), of course, knew far better than anyone that it was coming:

"^26:1 And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, ^26:2 Ye know that after two days is the feast of the Passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified [see also The Cross Of Christ, Or The Cross Of Men?]." (Matthew 26:1-5 KJV)

The de facto ("existing in fact whether with lawful authority or not"; see Is Your Religion Your Religion?) religious authorities also knew that it was coming, and when. In their obtuse manner (see also Why Did The Sadducees Fear The Messiah?), they sought to have the Messiah killed, prior to the first day of Passover/Unleavened Bread, for their own political reasons ("Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people"). The timing of their conspiracy nevertheless assured that the Lamb of God would be killed at exactly the right time - on the 14th of Nisan, when the Passover lambs were also being killed.

"^26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas [see Annas And Caiaphas], ^26:4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him.

^26:5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people." (Matthew 26:1-5 KJV)

The week leading up to the Messiah's Passover Sacrifice were filled with prophetic fulfillments, then and beyond - including one that you are fulfilling at this moment. Just in reading the verses quoted below, you are personally taking part in fulfilling a prophecy made by Jesus Christ that week i.e. "Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her."

"^26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, ^26:7 There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat.

^26:8 But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? ^26:9 For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

^26:10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. ^26:11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. ^26:12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. ^26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." (Matthew 26:6-13 KJV)

The traitor Judas also set the stage for the fate that he chose for himself (see Did Judas Iscariot Repent?).

"^26:14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, ^26:15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. ^26:16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him." (Matthew 26:14-16 KJV)

The resurrection of Lazarus was an object-lesson prophecy of what was about to happen to the Christ Himself (see When Was Lazarus Resurrected?).

"^12:1 Then Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. ^12:2 There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. ^12:3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

^12:4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him, ^12:5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? ^12:6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

^12:7 Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this. ^12:8 For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

^12:9 Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. ^12:10 But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; ^12:11 Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus." (John 12:1-11 KJV)

The "triumphal entry" was a prophecy that was recorded centuries before, but is yet to be fulfilled in an even greater way when the Messiah returns (see Two Very Different Triumphal Entries):

"^12:12 On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, ^12:13 Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.

^12:14 And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written, ^12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh [see A History Of Jerusalem: Zionism], sitting on an ass's colt.

^12:16 These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.

^12:17 The people therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of his grave, and raised him from the dead, bare record. ^12:18 For this cause the people also met him, for that they heard that he had done this miracle. ^12:19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, Perceive ye how ye prevail nothing? behold, the world is gone after him." (John 12:12-19 KJV)

Fact Finder: How and when did Passover begin? Who was "the LORD God" Who established Passover?
See Israel In History and Prophecy: Passover and The Kingdom Of The LORD God

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This Day In History, March 23

1324: German emperor Louis IV was excommunicated by Pope John XXII (see Emperors and Popes).

1400: The Tran Dynasty of Vietnam was deposed after 175 years of rule.

1534: Pope Clement declared that the marriage of King Henry VIII of England and Catherine of Aragon was still in effect. The marriage was ended in Britain the year before, and Henry had then married Anne Boleyn. To accommodate his repeated marriages and divorces, Henry eventually created the Church of England with himself as the head.

1568: The Peace of Longjumeau was signed, ending the second phase of the French Wars of Religion.

1657: France and England formed an alliance against Spain.

1801: Russian Czar Paul I was assassinated.

1808: Napoleon Bonaparte's brother Joseph took the throne of Spain.

1849: After the Austrians had been victorious at Novara, Charles Albert of Sardinia abdicated in favor of Victor Emmanuel II.

1877: John Doyle Lee, a Mormon fanatic, was executed by firing squad for masterminding the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre in which 127 Arkansas Methodists bound for California were killed by Mormon settlers and Paiute Indians.

1918: The immense German artillery gun, "Big Bertha," shelled Paris from a distance of 75 miles / 120 kilometers.

1919: Mussolini founded his Fascist Party.

1925: Tennessee banned the teaching of evolution in public schools in the state. Teacher John Scopes ignored the ban and was later tried in what became known as "The Scopes Monkey Trial" (listen to our Sermon Darwin's Theory of Evolution).

1933: The German Reichstag (Parliament) passed an "enabling law" that gave Hitler and the Nazi Party the sweeping dictatorial powers they had been seeking (see Presidential Quotes On War, Terrorism, Religion).

1966: Archbishop of Canterbury Arthur Michael Ramsey met Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in Rome - the first meeting between the heads of the two churches in 400 years.

1983: Dr. Barney Clark, a retired dentist, died 112 days after being the first human to receive a mechanical heart.

2001: The Russian space station Mir was brought down out of orbit after 15 years. It burned up in re-entry and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.