The Crucifixion of the Church    73 

A Synoptic Problem: The Passover 

    Some claim that the Gospels disagree as to whether Jesus died on the 

preparation day of the Passover or on the first day of the Passover. Some 

even doubt that Jesus celebrated a Passover meal with His disciples. The 

Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke make it clear that Jesus celebrated the 

Passover with His disciples: Matthew 26:17 19, Mark 14:12 16 and Luke 

22:7 13. 

     Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the passover lamb 

had to be sacrificed. So Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, `Go and prepare 

the passover for us, that we may eat it.'   (Luke 22:7 8). 

    That night, after celebrating the Passover with His disciples, Jesus was 

taken prisoner by the chief priests. The next morning, Pilate passed 

sentence. Jesus died on that same day. 

    That evening (on the day that Jesus died) was the beginning of the Jewish 

Sabbath. (The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at 

sundown on Saturday.) That is why the Jews were anxious not to have the 

bodies remain on the crosses after sundown (John 19:31). They did not want 

any crucifixions to take place on the Sabbath, especially on that Sabbath 

which occurred during the holy days of Passover. 

    The day that Jesus died is called the  day of Preparation  by all four 

Gospels (Mt 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54 and John 19:42). The Jews 

needed to prepare for the Sabbath since they could do no work on that day. 

The day of Preparation is Friday. Jesus died on a Friday. 

    The dispute concerning whether Jesus celebrated the Passover comes 

partly from a passage in John's Gospel. The Jews who accused Jesus before 

Pilate are described as having not yet eaten the Passover.  Then they led 

Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the praetorium. It was early. They 

themselves did not enter the praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, 

but might eat the passover.  (John 18:28). 

    These Jews had not yet eaten the Passover on Friday morning, yet the 

synoptic Gospels clearly describe Jesus celebrating the Passover (often called 

the Last Supper) the previous evening (on Thursday). 

    Jesus had already celebrated the Passover, but many Jews had not yet 

celebrated it. The solution to this apparent contradiction is found in Blessed 

Anne Catherine Emmerich's visions of the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus. 

She states that, since so many Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate the 

Passover, they could not sacrifice the large number of lambs required all on 

the same day. It had therefore long been the custom for Jews from the region 

of Galilee to celebrate the Passover a day sooner than the others. 

 Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea ... proved from ancient documents