Chart of the Problems of Passion Week

Copyright © 2005 Gerald Brown

The following chart shows the problems associated with the traditional teaching of the sequence of events of Passion Week. The first column is a listing of the date based on the Passover meal always being eaten on the 15th day of the month. The second column is merely a counting of the days before Passover as stated in John 12:1, which states that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before Passover.

The chief problem with the traditional teaching is that it requires Jesus to arrive in Bethany seven days before Passover in order to have the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday and the crucifixion on Good Friday. This scheme requires one extra day beyond the “six days before Passover” specified in John 12:1. Why does the traditional teaching need to add a day to this time period? A second problem is that the number of days between the anointing of the Messiah and the crucifixion does not match the prophecy in Exodus 12:3-6. The requirement expressed in this prophecy is that the Passover lamb is selected on the 10th day of the month, but the traditional teaching has the selection on the 9th day of the month. Moreover, in the typology of Exodus 12:3-6 the sacrifice of the lamb follows four days after the selection, while the traditional teaching has the Messiah, as our Passover lamb, crucified on Good Friday five days after the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. Why does the traditional teaching need to add a day to this time period? Since Jesus is the Passover sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7), the time element we find in the instructions regarding the selection and sacrifice of the Passover lamb has a prophetic and typological application to Jesus as our Messiah. He is the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world (John 1:29, Revelation 13:8) and the typology foretold in Exodus 12 was completed in the life of Jesus. The traditional teaching about the sequence of events of Passion Week is clearly different from scripture.

If we shorten the time to the six days specified in John 12:1, the result is a different type of error represented in the two options in the chart. In Option # 1, if we maintain that Jesus arrived in Bethany on Sabbath, had the dinner at Simon’s on Saturday night and the triumphal entry on Sunday, then the crucifixion must be four days later on Thursday, and Jesus must be in the tomb before sunset that begins Passover at the beginning of Friday. This requires that Jesus will be in the tomb for both Friday and Sabbath. This is clearly contrary to the traditional teaching of Passion Week.

In Option # 2, if we keep Passover on the weekly Sabbath and count backwards we have the crucifixion on Friday, but six days before Passover means Jesus arrived in Bethany on Sunday with the dinner at Simon’s home Sunday night and the triumphal entry on Monday. This gives us Palm Monday rather than Palm Sunday. This is clearly contrary to the traditional teaching regarding the sequence of events of Passion Week.

Indeed, the traditional teaching of the events of Passion Week has some very serious problems. Whichever anchor point one wishes to cling to makes no difference, the statement in John 12:1 leaves us one day short of the required number of days for the traditional teaching to be supported. In fact, when every aspect of the story of Passion Week as described in holy scripture is taken into account, the popular traditional teaching has impossibly serious defects. We are forced to recognize the possibility that there was no such thing as Palm Sunday or Good Friday as actual historical events. The entire sequence of events promoted by the traditional view is not supported by scripture, is dependent on error, and is totally without validity. None of the arrangements in favor of the traditional teaching complies with the description of scripture regarding the sequence of events of Passion Week.

These are serious problems because, if this is true, then God incorrectly predicted to Moses and the people of Israel that the Messiah, as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, would be selected on the 10th day of the month, when, according to the rendering of the traditional view, it apparently happened on the 9th day of the month and five days, rather than four days, transpired from the selection to the sacrifice. From this we can conclude with confidence that God cannot accurately predict the future – that He is no better than any other failed prognosticator. Christianity teaches that accurate prediction of the future is one of the distinguishing abilities of God. But the traditional view supports the argument that God cannot accurately predict the future since the typology He established through the sacrificial system turned out to be incorrect. Thus the popular traditions of Christianity have come to nullify the teachings of holy scripture. Of course, the way to correct one’s misunderstandings regarding these problems is to carefully study the scriptures regarding these events and not accept a superficial explanation of the sequence of events of Passion Week.

Click here for further study on the Sequence of Events for Passion Week