countdown to calvary

Jesus At Bethany

Joh 12:1  Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 
Joh 12:2  So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 
Joh 12:3  Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.  ESV

It is six days before Passover, on Saturday,  the day before the triumphal entry into Jerusalem; the ninth day of the first month, and in six days will be the evening that begins Passover.  Count 1.  Saturday, 2. Sunday, 3. Monday, 4. Tuesday, 5. Wednesday, 6. Thursday. Thursday at noon Jesus will be crucified. 

Triumphal Entry

Joh 12:12  The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 

Joh 12:13  So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" 

Joh 12:14  And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 

Joh 12:15  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt!" 

Joh 12:16  His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ESV

Jesus Cleanses The Temple

Sunday, tenth day of the first month, is the day that the Passover Lamb is to be selected. The rulers of the Temple decide to kill Jesus.
Exo 12:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 
Exo 12:2 "This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. 
Exo 12:3 Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. ESV

Rulers Decide To Kill Jesus

Mat 26:3  Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas, 

Mat 26:4  and plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 

Mat 26:5  But they said, "Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people."  ESV

Monday and Tuesday, 11th and 12th days of the first month, Jesus  teaches, travels back to Bethany at night. Wednesday night, just after sundown, they gather in the upper room for the Zadok priest sanctioned Passover meal, with bread representing the lamb. This is the 15th of the first month by the Essene Jubilee calendar, the 14th by the official calendar.

Mat 26:26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."Mat 26:27 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you,

Mat 26:28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Mat 26:29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." ESV

Jesus Washes Disciples Feet

Joh 13:3  Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 

Joh 13:4  rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 

Joh 13:5  Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

Joh 13:6  He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" 

Joh 13:7  Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand."

Joh 13:8  Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me."

Joh 13:9  Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 

Arrest In Garden

Joh 18:1  When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. 

Joh 18:2  Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 

Joh 18:3  So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 

Joh 18:4  Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, "Whom do you seek?"

Joh 18:5  They answered him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I am he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 

Joh 18:6  When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground. 

Joh 18:7  So he asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." 

Joh 18:8  Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go." ESV

The fourteenth day of the first month, by the official Jewish Calendar, Wednesday night, Jesus is taken captive. From here begins the series of hearings and trials before various officials, leading up to the decision to crucify Jesus, delivered by Pilate on Thursday morning, the fourteenth of the first month, the day of preparation for the Passover. The fourteenth is the day that the Passover Lamb is to be slain in mid afternoon. The fifteenth, the first day of the feast of unleavened bread, is a special Sabbath, with all the rules of the seventh day Sabbath rest.

Joh 19:13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 

Joh 19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 

Joh 19:15 They cried out, "Away with him, away with him, crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar." 

Joh 19:16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

Friday, the fifteenth of the first month of the official Jewish calendar, is a High Sabbath, so the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross and buried about sundown Thursday, with the Passover beginning at evening, when the first stars appear at sunset. 

Jesus' body was in the tomb for  consecutive Sabbath days, Friday and Saturday, and was raised the third day. God arranged two days of rest during His Son's burial. This demonstrates power beyond comprehension, and love beyond understanding.