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Six Days Before Yahushua’s Passover
Part 4 Session 1
Calendar Alternatives at Bethany and Jerusalem
Calendar Alternatives at Bethany and Jerusalem
Timeline of events
Thursday crucifixion in 30 CE

Transcribed from Video

https://www.answersoflife.com/

We are looking at the six days before Yahushua’s Passover labeled Part Four in an ongoing series. Part One was about our redemption by faith and that it was four hundred and thirty years to the very day when the Israelites left Egypt.

The Second Part was the exodus from Egypt and Part Three was about the Historical Passovers and this time we will discuss the Passovers of Yahushua, particularly the six days before the Passover. This will be in two sessions because new material has been added.

YHWH’s Plan of Salvation

Understanding YHWH’s plan of salvation by looking into the Holy Days is something that unfolds the true meaning.

YHWH’s Holy Days show us his plan of salvation and until you understand that and honor his Holy days it’s hard to understand the bigger picture of salvation that these days bring forth.

It’s somewhat of a misnomer to call the Spring Holy Days the “Spring Holy Days” and the Fall Holy Days “Fall” because Biblically there is only spring and winter, but in our vernacular the days that we are honoring happen in the springtime usually in March or April so we label them the “Spring Holy Days”. These were largely fulfilled during Yahushua’s first coming. The first fruits of the agrarian society took place in this period of time. The barley harvest was the first of the first and also the flax that went along in this same period of time. Some fifty days later as we get to Pentecost, the wheat harvest is what took place.

We wait throughout the entire summer season to get to the fall and the Fall Holy Days that generally will be fulfilled at Yahushua’s second coming although we can look forward to that and understand a lot about his second coming from studying them.

The Spring Holy Days which we honor are the First and Last Day of Unleavened Bread preceded by Passover on the fourteenth of Abib looked forward to Yahushua’s first coming which has been completed. The Fall Holy Days will look forward to his second coming.

Purpose and Meaning

• Passover is about Redemption (H6453 = Pesach = omission, exemption)
  • Israelites redeemed – Exodus 6:1-9
  • Redeem by a perfect lamb – Exodus 12:3-13
  • Redemption through Messiah – Ephesians 1:7-9
• First Day of Unleavened Bread is about Deliverance and Liberty
• Israelites liberated – Exodus 3:7-8
• Remember deliverance – Exodus 12:40
• Deliverance by Yahushua – Galatians 1:3-5

Purpose and meaning of these Holy Days was something that I went into in the early presentation about getting ready for Passover, the Spring Holy Days was about preparing ourselves. We went into depth on the meaning of the Passover and the First and Last Day of Unleavened Bread. We will just rehearse that briefly as a reminder that the Passover, and the Passover season frankly is about redemption. The Passover word in Hebrew that is used in the scriptures is H6453 Pesach and it means omission or exemption. The Israelites were exempted from the Death Angel on the first Passover outlined in Exodus chapter 12. Part of the topology of the Passover is that the Israelites were redeemed and we are redeemed by a perfect lamb. That redemption now is through Messiah. One of the scriptures that I have used in the past for this is in Ephesians.

In whom we have redemption ^{G629=ransom in full} through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: (Eph 1:7-9 KJV)

That mystery of his will is unfolded in these Holy Days. It’s amazing to see the mystery that unfolds when you examine the Holy Days. We have redemption through Messiah. This Pesach day is about redemption.

The First Day of Unleavened Bread is about deliverance and liberty. The Israelites were liberated from Egypt and as we have gone through the accounts previously in Exodus 12-14 but now we are delivered by Yahushua.

Grace be to you and peace from YHWH the Father, and from our Master Yahushua Messiah, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver ^{G1807=tear out, select, release} us from this present evil world, according to the will of YHWH and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Gal 1:3-5 KJV)

This day is about deliverance and liberty that we now have through Yahushua. We are going to focus on Yahushua on this day and the events that transpired just before his final Passover dinner and his crucifixion.

• Last Day of Unleavened Bread is about Hope and Salvation
• Hope of salvation – Exodus 14:5-13
• Salvation from YHWH – Exodus 15:1-6
• Hope through Yahushua Romans 5:1-4

The Last Day of Unleavened Bread is about hope of salvation and as the Israelites realized their hope and salvation by being taken through the Red Sea, our hope is through Yahushua.

Romans chapter 5 is says:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with YHWH through our Master Yahushua Messiah: (What a hope that is, we are justified by faith because we believe in Him) By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of YHWH. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (Rom 5:1-4 KJV)

Background Yahushua’s Passover Date

• Calendar Alternatives
  • Which calendar was in effect
  • Calendar considerations
  • What year?
  • Which day of the week?
• Six Days Before the Passover
• Chronological timeline
• Who is Lazarus?
• Is Bethphage important?

We will start by talking about the six days before Yahushua’s Passover with a bit of background and you will notice that my presentation of these events may be different than your understanding of the events. There have been many fine people who have researched this topic as well as what day of the week the crucifixion occurred, was the year 28, 30, 31 or maybe even 33 CE?

By going into a little bit of the specifics of this, in no way should it detract from the significance of what Yahushua has done. By talking about the calendar alternatives I have no intention of saying this is what is most important. It’s of interest and when you look into it, it unfolds more about Yahushua and YHWH.

We will briefly examine which calendar was in effect during this period of time. People that have studied the calendar know that there are two main alternatives. The calculated Hebrew calendar which the Jews use today in Judaism is a calendar based on the dark presence of the moon. They call that the molad and the new moon. There is also an alternative to that which is the first visible crescent. Which calendar was in effect back in this period of time?

We will look at the calendar considerations and what year the crucifixion took place. Many good scholars have looked at this and have drawn their own conclusions and there is lots of good evidence that people use to justify a particular year. I wanted to look for myself and the conclusions that I came up with were somewhat different than probably the mainstream understanding of this. And also, which day of the week it was. There are three main theories as to which day of the week the Passover and the subsequent days following the First Day of Unleavened Bread.

After that we will go into the six days before the Passover. It’s somewhat of a chronological timeline and you can stitch it together largely in the account in Mark chapters 11 through 14 or so. In the process we are going to uncover something today that has been fascinating for me to see in the scriptures and whether you agree with it or not is up to your study and your relationship with YHWH. Who was Lazarus? Who were Mary and Martha? How do the locations of Bethany and Bethphage figure into the six days and is there any topology or meaning into some of these accounts that mention these names?

Calendar Alternatives

A number of year’s back I wrote a study research paper on this subject titled “The Most Important Date in History”, and you can find that on my website under “In Depth Studies”. It’s a detailed look at these calendar alternatives, what day of the week, what year, and how do you come to understand. Do you just pick a year and think that’s when the crucifixion happened? I’ve done substantial research and looked at alternatives and was surprised at the outcome. I didn’t seek the outcome that I ultimately found and it was actually surprising that it came out that way. In looking at the calendar alternatives for when the Passover was and the year that Yahushua was crucified, l found there are three theories that are prevalent in the believing community.

Theory one is held largely by the Churches of God, particularly the Seventh Day Churches of God and they hold to the understanding and the theory that the Passover was on a Wednesday. The subsequent day of course the First Day of Unleavened Bread would have been a Thursday and Friday would have been a non-Holy Day but then Saturday would have been the Sabbath Day. Also, theory one pre-supposes that Yahushua was in the grave exactly seventy two hours. Matthew 12:40 is one of the anchors that they use and frankly it’s the only anchor.

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Mat 12:40 KJV)

Theory one proponents say that means exactly 72 hours. Consequently Yahushua was crucified on Wednesday, Abib 14, put into the grave Wednesday going into Thursday at sunset, exactly 72 hours as the weekly Sabbath was making the transition to the first day of the week on Sunday he was resurrected. It would mean exactly 72 hours later. Theory one is held by a wide range of groups particularly those who have a Worldwide Church of God heritage.

Jumping to Theory Three we see is by far what the largest group or Mainstream Christianity people believes. Theory Three says that the day of the crucifixion or Passover was on a Friday.

Two days and two nights later, Yahushua was resurrected on Sunday about dawn.

The scripture in Matthew 12:40 is not used in the backup for Theory Three but they advocate the hermeneutical view that says when something says three days and three nights really means that it’s an allegory. Friday was the day of the Passover, Sabbath/ Saturday was the first day of Unleavened Bread, also the weekly Sabbath and then Yahushua was resurrected on Sunday. Again, by far the largest bodies of mainstream Christianity hold to this theory.

Theory Two is in the middle and when I researched this I didn’t think Theory Two was an option. It was one of those things I discovered when I went to look. Passover was actually on a Thursday and that the First Day of Unleavened Bread was Friday. Yes, Yahushua was in the grave three days and three nights but it wasn’t exactly 72 hours. The three days and three nights are made up of the components.

Starting Thursday afternoon is one day and even though he was in the grave an hour or a number of minutes before sunset on that particular Thursday, that day counted as one. Three days and three nights literally fits into this equation by using the remnant of Thursday counted as day one. I hold to theory two, but you may hold to one of the other options. I will give a little of the background and explanation of why I have concluded this as well as the year.

We’ll talk about the actual year that this happened. Bear with me as I go through somewhat a detailed chart.

The crucifixion date and year has a lot of controversy about it. You have to be interested in calendar topics in order to sort through all of this. What this chart shows you is the main years that people promote of when the crucifixion took place.

I don’t think you will find anyone earlier than 28 CE so that is our starting point and it goes through 33 CE. I suppose there might be a small handful of people who think it is 34 CE but these are the year ranges that people associate with the actual crucifixion year when Yahushua was crucified in Jerusalem.

There are a couple of parts to this chart. The first are the two different calendar systems that could potentially have been in use at this point in time. Those that hold to the calculated Hebrew calendar also known as the Hillel II calendar was the method that the temple authorities used in the first century to calculate the new moon day and then associated with the new moon day fourteen days later of course is the Passover Day.

The calculated New Moon Day is easy to go forward and backwards with because it’s a mathematical formula that Hillel II came up with. Incidentally, he didn’t come up with it and publish it at least until the third century. It’s hard to understand why anyone would think that this calendar was in effect in the first century. But there are those that hold to that.

The Calculated Hebrew calendar associated with the day one New Moon Day, when you use the algorithm for the Calculated Hebrew Calendar comes up with, and it’s consistent with a number of calendar calculators so I’m comfortable and confident in these dates. As an example, if you use the Calculated Hebrew Calendar in 28 CE, day one of the New Moon would have been on a Tuesday, March 14^th.

Consequently, once you know when the New Moon Day One is, you can determine when the Passover Day is by the Calculated Hebrew Calendar and the first example, if the New Moon Day was March 14^th day one, the Passover Day would have been on a Monday. It’s important to note the day of the week depending on the year. That is what I did for all of the years throughout the sequence going to 33 CE.

I also integrated into this chart the years that had the potential to have a late barley harvest. The barley harvest is important particularly in the second calendar which is the First Visible Crescent Calendar.

You can read about it in the Mishnah and what Gamaliel, who was in charge of the Calendar. I don’t think there is any standing by anyone who gives this an honest look that the First Visible Crescent Moon Calendar was in fact, what was in effect in the first century. You can read about it in the Mishnah and what Gamaliel, who was in charge of the Calendar Court talked about in his proceedings and how they evaluated the witnesses that came in. There is a large body of evidence of this being how they were doing it in the first century, particularly in this timeframe when Yahushua lived and walked on the earth.

In contrast to the Calculated Calendar, I have also added a line for when the New Moon would have been if you used the First Visible Crescent Calendar. Associated with that, you can then determine when the Passover was and notice in the first example that in 28 CE the New Moon Day Calendar is one day different than the Calculated Hebrew Calendar.

Passover would have been on Tuesday if you were watching the moon versus it would have been on Monday if you use the Calculated Hebrew Calendar.

As previously stated, I integrated the years there would be for potential late barley, I don’t know if there is an answer to that or any records that show us for certain when these Passover dates were and no credible chronology or record of it that I have found. I wanted to look at the years the possibility existed from the First Visible Crescent prospective.

We had that situation in 2019 and it was interesting. There were some people that held that the barley is not ready so therefore Passover was the next month. Then, there were some that said the barley was or would be ready by Wave Sheaf Day.

With this amount of information, put all together on one chart is a lot to swallow but what’s important about the chart, and the reason I originally put it together was because I wanted to find out what days of the week the Passover occurred depending upon which year you think it was.

I started the presentation with three different theory groups, Theory One being a Wednesday Passover, Theory Three being a Friday Passover and Theory Two being a Thursday Passover. Now that I know this data on the chart, we can apply which theory goes with what year.

What is notable about it is that if you are a Theory Three person and you hold to a Friday Passover date, you only have one year available when the crucifixion could have occurred. That would have been in 33 CE. It’s notable that it doesn’t matter which calendar system you use as some months the calendar systems that I am talking about are the same and some months are different. It depends on how the Calculated Calendar comes out versus the First Visible Crescent occurs from Jerusalem.

If you are a Theory Three person, 33 CE has to be the year because that was the only year that there was a Friday Passover in this date range that I have looked at.

In contrast, if you are a Theory One person, you have quite a number of options on this chart. It’s notable that Theory Two option which is Thursday only has one option and it’s an interesting one. Without any other evidence, the only year that there could have been a Thursday Passover is 30 CE. Without any other evidence, that is what you would conclude from this chart. The Thursday Passover in 30 CE was dependent on the spotting of what would have a difficult to see New Moon on day one.

Those that follow watching the New Moon today know that in some months the New Moon is easily spotted over Jerusalem and some months it is difficult to see because the moon may be low on the horizon or there might be clouds, fog, or dust. Months that the moon is low on the horizon are difficult viewing months. Those that follow the New Moon today know that and you also know that sometimes those difficult months, the months that the moon is particularly low, the moon is spotted. That’s why we are asked by faith to walk with YHWH. By faith we look for these things.

The only year this would have been possible, and it would have been a difficult observation but it was possible to see was 30 CE on our Gregorian calendar which would have been April 4^th. That would have been the earliest possible.

Considerations

• Hasmonian Dynasty ruled 126 years 163 BCE – 37 BCE
  • Antigonus Mattathias deposed to Marc Anthony and executed (Ant 15.1-2)
• Reign and Death of Herod
  • 5 BCE Atonement eclipse (Ant 17.6.4)
  • Josephus framed Herod’s death with two historical events (Ant 17.8.1
    • Herod reigned 34 years from the death of Antigonus in 37 BCE
      • 37 BCE – 34 = 4 BCE (non-accession dating ^{year 1 starts day of reign})
    • Herod reigned 37 years since he was declared king by the Romans in 40 BCE
      • 40 BCE – 37 years = 4 BCE (non-accession dating)
• Succession of Herod’s sons (4 BCE)

A few of the considerations that I have looked at and other people have looked at other considerations, but a few of the considerations is of how you determine when Yahushua was born. When Yahushua was born starts the clock to his crucifixion and I would say it is most commonly understood that he was crucified when he was about 33 ½ years old and that seems to follow the chronology of his ministry and so forth. When you find out the year of his birth, you can move forward to find out the year that he was crucified.

We will start a few of the comments about this topic with the Hasmonian Dynasty that ruled from 163 to 37 BCE some 126 years. The family tree starts with Mattathias back in 166 BCE.

Mattathias was the father and goes back to the time when Antiochus Epiphanes IV was pillaging the land and had taken Jerusalem over and was defiling the Temple. This was the first example of the abomination of desolation where Antiochus Epiphanes was sacrificing pigs in the Temple and had suppressed the Jewish people.

The Maccabees were standing up and trying to get free from his reign. Mattathias was first, but the guy that overthrew Antiochus Epiphanes was his son Judas Maccabeus and was the High Priest starting in 165/164 BCE when Antiochus was thrown out of Jerusalem.

The Maccabees took over, and the dynasty of running and ruling the Temple through their non-Kohen priesthood. As this dynasty progressed in time, the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees came out the bottom of it. They were the religious authorities and it went from a priestly system to a two party system that were competing with one another. By the time we get to the bottom and the end of their rule.

The last guy standing was Antigonus Mattathias in 37 BCE and Herod the Great had him killed. Herod the Great enters into the picture because Herod wanted authority. By this point in time in 37 CE he had already been named a King of Rome, but he wanted to be the King of Judah and knew the only way he could do that would be to establish some connection to the tribe of Judah’s family tree. It turns out that these are all Judahites in this Hasmonian Dynasty. Mariamne who was the daughter of Alexander at the end of this dynasty married Herod. I should say Herod married her. That is how he made his connection into the Jewish community at that point in time.

Herod proclaimed, after he had married Mariamne, that his family tree came from Persia in the time that Cyrus had released the captives that were there in 539 BCE and Herod said that his family was one of the early ones that went in to re-establish the Temple and rebuild Jerusalem in 525 – 530 BCE along with the other captives that Ezra and Nehemiah have listed in their documents and scriptures.

Herod tried to make the case that he was a part of that movement and he married Mariamne. Of course this all didn’t work out so well because Herod was ruthless character. He ended up killing Mariamne and there is history that goes along with this.

Herod ruled from 37 – 4 BCE and 4 BCE is the important part of this. How we know it is 4 BCE is because of what is found in Josephus. Josephus has a lot of information during this period of time.

Now it happened, that during the time of the high priesthood of this Matthias, there was another person made high priest for a single day, that very day which the Jews observed as a fast. The occasion was this: This Matthias the high priest, on the night before that day when the fast was to be celebrated, seemed, in a dream, to have conversation with his wife; and because he could not officiate himself on that account, Joseph, the son of Ellemus, his kinsman, assisted him in that sacred office. But Herod deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood, and burnt the other Matthias, who had raised the sedition, with his companions, alive. And that very night there was an eclipse of the moon. (Ant 17.6.4)

You would need to read the previous three or four sections in Antiquities 16.6 to get the fullness of this. The summary is that in this period of time there was a Matthias that came with a group of rebels and tore down a statue of an eagle that Herod had placed in front of the Temple. Of course the priesthood, the Maccabean in this period of time wouldn’t want that so this rebel group led by a guy named Matthias came and tore it down and was a different Matthias that is being talked about as the priest Matthias.

The priest Matthias had a dream in the night about his wife and deemed himself unclean because of the dream. He needed to have a substitute for the service the next day which was the service of a fast day. That fast day points to the Day of Atonement known as Yom Kippur.

When Herod said that he deprived this Matthias of the high priesthood and burnt the other Matthias, the other Matthias he is talking about is the guy that helped take down the eagle. It says that “At that very night there was an eclipse of the moon”. Now when you go look at this, you say so what there was an eclipse of the moon, well, it turns out in all of Josephus’s writings, which are extensive, this is the only eclipse of the moon that he mentioned so I thought that must be notable. When could this have been?

Eclipse Data – Jerusalem

I found that NASA has a great technical website that helps with research of solar and lunar eclipses forward and backward as far into antiquity as you want to go. I’m not the only one to discover this; there are others that use this data. What I discovered, is that in 5 BCE there were two total eclipses. Actually, I looked for a range starting in 1 BCE the -1 is BCE and the -6 is BCE, so I went from a range of -1 BCE to -6 BCE and you can find when all the eclipses are. The “P” is for Partial, the “T” is for a total eclipse and the “N” is for a Penumbral eclipse which is a minor eclipse resulting from the shadow of the earth shining on the moon rather than the full eclipse of the earth shining on the moon.

There were only three eclipses in this period of time in Jerusalem that took place that were total eclipses. There are several partial and some of the research I have done on this, I noticed that people like to use the partial eclipse. The one that they pick on a lot is this partial eclipse is on March 13^th in 4 BCE. The reason for 4 BCE is picked on is because that is when Herod the Great died. He died in March of 4 BCE but we haven’t gotten to the bottom of that yet.

It’s notable that March 23^rd and September 15^th in 5 BCE are both Spring Holy Days and Fall Holy Days. The eclipses only happen on a full moon so it’s notable that there were two of those eclipses in that period of time. I will add, and it is conjecture, John the Baptist was born six months ahead of Yahushua and it is thought that John the Baptist and Yahushua were born in this particular year. I think this is the year and I have examined this in a great amount of detail and the paper I wrote on it is on my website https://www.answersoflife.com/ called “The Most Important Date in History”.

It appears to me that this total eclipse in March was the one during the time John the Baptist was born and the one in September was the time when Yahushua was born. It’s not provable; I’m just connecting some dotted lines together and that is the conclusion I have made.

The eclipse data is useful and if you are interested in the calendar and go research this, and find this exact chart on this NASA website, you will see that the date ranges are one year different. For example the minus 6 will say minus 5, minus 5 will say minus 4 and so forth and the reason is because NASA uses astronomical time. Astronomical time has a 0 year that separates BCE and CE. I have converted this to our Gregorian calendar so we have a level playing field and comparing apples to apples. If you take a look at this you will see that the actual astronomical time is one year different and you have to convert it to get it to the Gregorian calendar base.

The Gregorian calendar wasn’t in effect at this point in time but was the Julian calendar. The calendar systems present a real challenge because you need to keep everything on a level playing field. It is easy to get confused with what the Julian, versus the Gregorian, versus what the astronomical date was. I have taken all of that into consideration and adjusted accordingly.

Reign and Death of Herod

Josephus wrote about Herod in detail and if you look at Antiquities 17 you will find he has a lot to say about Herod, his life, what he did, and his last days. Josephus talks a lot about the people Herod had executed and that he died in Jericho. You can get a whole chronology through Josephus of Herod’s life and I must say his last six months were terrible. Herod was the one that called for the killing of the innocent ones. The innocent ones, two years and younger were killed because he didn’t want Yahushua to become King of the Jews because he thought he held that title.

And now Herod altered his testament upon the alteration of his mind (in other words he was going crazy); for he appointed Antipas, to whom he had before left the kingdom, to be tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, and granted the kingdom to Archclaus…..When he had done these things, he died ^{in Jericho}, the fifth day after he had caused Antipater ^{1st born son by Doris} to be slain; having reigned, since he had procured Antigonus (the last Maccabean) to be slain, thirty-four years; but since he had been declared king by the Romans, thirty-seven. (Ant 17.8.1)

What’s interesting about this is that you get two date markers. First you find out when Antigonus was slain and thirty four years later Herod died. If you can find out when he was named king by the Romans, thirty seven years later Herod died. That is easy to find out and if you do your homework you will find that Herod reigned thirty four years and Antigonus died in 37 BCE.

Thirty seven minus thirty four years BCE puts Herod’s death at 4 BCE. I will mention that there are calendar system details to pay attention to and this is the detail of whether there is ascension or non-ascension dating.

Fundamentally, the difference in non-ascension dating is that when a person starts his reign you count year number one from day one, versus an anniversary date which is usually a new year. That is all in play here when you research this.

Herod died in 4 BCE according to this calculation based upon thirty four years after he had Antigonus slain. You will also find that the Romans put him in power in 40 BCE, and again the calculation remains the same spot which you would expect which is 4 BCE.

Another interesting sidelight is Herod’s sons and when they started their reign and when the Romans put them in power. You find out in all cases that his sons, particularly Antipas who was the one, the Herod that was in charge during Yahushua’s time on earth. He reined from 4 BCE and Philip the Tetrarch reined in a different location but his reign started in 4 BCE.

Of side note about Antipas or Herod the Tetrarch, the one that was involved with Yahushua’s crucifixion, he lost his tetrarchy of Galilee in the second year of Caligula in 39 CE. You can see that in Antiquities 18. He was banished in exile to Spain so he didn’t end well where he died in 39 CE.

All of these markers point to Herod dying in the spring; you will find it was just before Passover according to Josephus. Herod died in 4 BCE. Of note, there are some considerations.

Considerations

• Birth of John the Baptizer ^{Zacharias course of Abiyah Luk 1:5} – spring
• Birth of Yahushua – fall
  • 5 or 6 BCE only possibilities (killing of the innocents)
  • 6 BCE birth calculates to 29 CE crucifixion
    • 29 CE Passover – Sat (Hebrew Calendar), Sun or Mon (visible new moon)
• Luke 3:1-2 – Co-regency of Tiberius – 15^th year from 12 CE (26 CE)
• Luke 3:23 – Yahushua is about 30 years old (26 CE)
• Luke 4:18-19 – Preach acceptable year of YHWH (27 CE late summer)
• John 2:19-20 – The Temple was 46 years in building (27 CE)
• Start date is 20 BCE
• Plus 46 years = 27 CE (add 1 year transition from BCE to CE)

Crucifixion day

• Luke 24:13-21 on the road to Emmaus – 3 days since crucifixion
• Rise from the dead the 3^rd day – 14 witnesses
• ^ReBuild the Temple in 3 days – 5 witnesses

One consideration is that Herod the Great was the one that put the decree in place to kill all of the babies that were born two years and younger. The killing of the innocent’s date when he did that proclamation isn’t clear but where it seems to fit most likely and logically is late in the year in 5 BCE. That likelihood tells you quite a bit though, assuming that it’s a correct assumption and that’s what it is. It looks like it is late in 5 BCE is when Herod made that proclamation.

Looking into the birth of John the Baptizer in the springtime, versus Yahushua’s birth in the fall we see that those that may have looked into John the Baptizer may know that there have been some quite good studies looking at the time that Zacharias was the priest of the course of Abiyah and you see that in Luke 1:5. You see about Zacharias and the situation and how he became speechless for a period of time and so forth. When you examine all of that and look at the courses and when his course would have served, you see there are several different interesting studies. One that comes to mind is Fred Coulter, and it is a useful bit of background on this calendar dating question.

What the studies have shown is that since we know when the course for Zacharias serving in the Temple, you can determine when his son John was born. The bottom line is that John the Baptist was born in the spring time at the Holy Day season in 5 BCE. From knowing that, you also know that Yahushua was born six months later, so he would have been born in the fall of 5 BCE. When you add to that, the consideration of the killing of the innocents, there were only two years that were possible for Yahushua to be born. 5 BCE or 6 BCE because two years would have gone back too far and Yahushua would have been born before the killing of the innocents if you go back to 7 BCE. There are only two possibilities of when Yahushua could have been born with all of this data so far, 5 or 6 BCE.

If you go back to the chart of the Passover and the First Day of the New Moon Chart on page 10, you will see that in 29 CE the Passover would have been on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday depending upon which calendar and depending if the new moon was visible. 6 BCE would not have been an option. Anyone that thinks Yahushua’s Passover was on a Sabbath/Saturday or Sunday or Monday, you get this narrowed down to 5 BCE with some degree of accuracy with a few of these facts.

A few things to consider on top of all that, in Luke 3 Tiberius is mentioned and it turns out that Tiberius had a co-regency that isn’t mentioned in the scriptures, but he was co-regent with Augustus. The scripture says in Luke 3 that it was his 15^th year. Most people that look into this year think it’s his 15^th year from his sole reign which started in 14 CE. What you don’t know unless you go look is that Tiberius was probably the one largely in charge because Augustus was old and sick starting in 12 CE. The records show clearly that the Romans put Tiberius in charge in a co-regency situation starting in 12 CE. When you add all of these things together that dates and makes Luke chapter 3 date to 26 CE. Also, in Luke 3 Yahushua is about 30 years old. Luke chapter 4 is an interesting chapter particularly verses 18 and 19, it’s two little verses where Yahushua got up in the Synagogue and preached the acceptable year of YHWH. He was quoting from Isaiah 61 which is a Jubilee proclamation type of chapter. That likely happened late in the summer of 27 CE and what’s interesting to look at are the sabbatical years that influenced what he would have said in Luke chapter 4.

During this period of time there are provable seven year sabbaticals dating back from the 2^nd century BCE forward to the 2^nd century CE.

You will find this list when you do the research of when the sabbaticals were. If you do the math on it you will see that these are all continuous and can be divided by seven. What this shows us is that the sabbatical was being kept.

The seven year sabbatical or the 49 year sabbatical cycle was being kept during this period of time particularly when Yahushua came with his ministry. You can see that the year he came with his ministry was 27 – 28 CE and when he made this proclamation in Luke 4:18 he was proclaiming the Jubilee Rest, or a Jubilee Reset.

What had happened as a result of the corruption of the Temple which started at the time of the Maccabees and continued on through this period of time until the Temple was taken out in 70 CE the scriptures and the Torah were becoming corrupted with the empty ritual and meaningless worship kind of practices. Yahushua, in 27 CE was proclaiming the Jubilee reset, they had forgotten about the fiftieth year of Jubilee and it happens to be exactly at the right point in time when the Jubilee would have been. The scripture in Luke 4:18 has some legs to it of what Yahushua was really doing and when you put the calendar to it you end up with quite a story of what was going on with the sabbatical.

This information all adds in to when Yahushua was born and when he was crucified. John chapter 2 has a scripture that talks about the Temple being 46 years in the building and Yahushua said that in three days he would raise it up again.

If you look this up you will find that Herod started his temple project in 20 BCE. Forty six years later would be 27 CE (add one year transition from BCE to CE) so we are getting anchors and benchmarks of when different dates happened. It turns out that they all interlink without any error.

On the crucifixion day, three days later, in Luke chapter 24 on the road to Emmaus there were two guys walking along, Cleopas and an unnamed associate. There was a third that came along who was Yahushua who had just been resurrected. Yahushua was talking to these two guys and Cleopas asked him if he knew what had happened here. Yahushua said that he didn’t and Cleopas told him they were talking about the big event, the crucifixion that had just happened and Cleopas said that it had been three days since these events.

When you look at Luke 24, you might just easily gloss over it but consider that Cleopas said it was the third day since these events. That was clearly the first day of the week. That is how Luke chapter 24 starts. If you back up from the third day, the previous day would have been the second day on the Sabbath and back up one day from that which would have been Friday. What do you get to? You get to Thursday or Friday but you can’t get to Wednesday. It’s impossible if the third day since the crucifixion was on Sunday, to have a Wednesday Passover and Wednesday crucifixion in any year, it makes no difference, it’s just not technically possible. To count backwards inclusively or exclusively, you get to Thursday or Friday.

Also, there are fourteen witnesses that talk about Yahushua rising on the third day in the New Testament that use that terminology and there are an additional five more witnesses that talk about building or re-building the Temple in three days.

I have put a bunch of dots on the wall and know that I haven’t connected all of them. This subject is more than just a half an hour or forty five minutes of dialogue to understand it but I want to give you some of the points of why I have concluded what I have concluded.

I have a comfort that says that Thursday was the crucifixion day and it was 30 CE as the chart shows and have done extensive research so it’s not just a random set of words, it has depth behind it and why it is.

With all of that in mind, we are now getting to the meat of the matter. Keep in mind that dates are dates and we know there isn’t salvation by dates but by Yahushua Messiah because he was crucified, died, buried and resurrected for us and that is what the focus of this is on. It’s all about Yahushua. It’s fascinating to be able to put a timeline on it and to know it’s accurate.

This particular timeline chart starting in Abib 8 is going to be our anchor for the rest of this study as well as Session 2. We are going to zero in on these six days Abib 8 to the 13^th.

Abib 8 – 6 days before Passover Yahushua came to Bethany

• Supper at Bethany, dinner served by Martha, Yahushua anointed John 12:1-4
• Woman with an alabaster box cf. Matthew 26:6-13

Starting with Abib 8, notice that it is on Friday and when we get into this, there is some background that makes it useful to understand the bigger picture.

Six days before Passover Yahushua came to Bethany and that will be our starting point but we will also note that Lazarus is there along with Judas Iscariot. Martha and Mary are there, and Simon is there. It is fascinating to see who these people are. The scriptures talk about these same characters in different places.

Then Yahushua six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat ^{G4873=from G345=to recline in company at a meal} at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment ^G3464=myrrh of spikenard ^{G4101=trustworthy, genuine, and G3487=from H5373=nard=aromic}, very costly, and anointed the feet of Yahushua, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment ^G3464=myrrh. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, (Joh 12:1-4 KJV)

In dissecting these verses, we look at the statement “Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him”, of note, the word “sat” isn’t like sitting in a chair, it’s more like to recline in company at a meal. Apparently this was the cultural pattern that they had for these events or special dinners at this period of time.

“Then took Mary a pound of ointment”, and the ointment was myrrh of spikenard meaning it was genuine and trustworthy. “Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him”. Notice it says Simon’s son.

We the harmony accounts of this in Matthew, Mark and Luke where there is an unidentified woman. It’s not identified as Mary, but she is identified with an alabaster box doing the same thing in Matthew 26.

Now when Yahushua was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, (Now we get more detail, this is Simon the leper, John calls him Lazarus.) 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. (Mat 26:6-7 KJV)

Are these two different events? It’s the same location, it has to be within a few days of the exact period of time and Matthew says she poured it on his head and in the John account says that she anointed his feet. I would say to add these scriptures together, this is the same account. The woman, whose name is Mary anointed Yahushua’s head, keep in mind Matthew was a good Hebrew boy and was a publican or a tax collector and his message was to the Jews. He would have had a Levitical prospective so pouring this precious ointment on Yahushua’s head doesn’t surprise me that Matthew would have it that way. That is what he observed even though John observed it being poured on his feet, which was all of the above.

I have seen some commentaries that try to make this into two separate events. I would be interested if you could make all of the rest of these parts and pieces match up. I don’t think it’s the right exegesis to make it two separate events. My perspective and the study that I have done on this shows me that this is one in the same and I think you will see why as we go through more of the detail.

Abib 8 – Background of Simon, Lazarus and Mary

• Dinner with Simon the Pharisee – Luke 7:36-47 – 28 CE
• Lazarus and the rich man Luke 16:19-31 (early 30 CE)
• Luke 16 – unjust steward – Serving two masters
• Greed of Pharisees
• Lazarus, Mary’s brother is sick – John 11:1-3, 18
• Woman anoints Yahushua at Simon the Leper’s house – Mark 14:3-10

We were just at 30 CE and need to go back a couple years in time to an account that is in Luke 7 which was dinner with Simon the Pharisee.

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Yahushua sat ^{G345=to recline as a corpse or at a meal} at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, ^G3464=myrrh And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Yahushua answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

• Uninvited woman comes in
• Simon was ashamed of her
• Why would Simon allow the woman in his house?

You may have thought of this account as unassociated, but there are two clues here that are obvious. One of them is Simon, and Simon seems to be a common name. Look what we have in common here. It was at dinner, and then a woman shows up with an alabaster box of ointment and anoints Yahushua’s feet. What’s going on? An uninvited woman comes in. Is she really a stranger to this household? I would conjecture that if she didn’t belong there, she would have been called out and someone would have said something that would leave you to believe that she didn’t belong, they didn’t say anything. It is presented that since this woman is here uninvited to our dinner, but she is coming in now.

My assumption and conjecture is that this uninvited woman actually lived there. Simon was also ashamed of her and why would he allow the woman in his house if she didn’t already belong there. I think there is some parsing out of this scripture that you have to put yourself in the situation to ask, who was this woman? It doesn’t give her name but it might be coming obvious. She was a sinner and obviously, a woman of the city. I think that means she was a prostitute. But she came and anointed Yahushua’s feet.

• ^Continuing Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. (Luk 7:36-47 KJV)
• Simon acknowledged the woman’s sins, not his own
• Homeowner provides for foot washing
• The woman would not perform foot washing as a guest

What do we see here? Simon is acknowledging the woman’s sins, but not his own. The homeowner would be the one that would be responsible to provide the foot washing. Simon didn’t offer it, and part of this family is the woman and she provided it. The woman would not perform foot washing as a guest, especially if she was just a walk in guest. That would not have been the social standard. The home owner or someone living in the house, or the servant of the house would provide the foot washing for somebody that would come in. By the way, it was not unusual, they walked with sandals and it was dusty. Putting your feet through a pan of water to wash off the dirt was as I understand it, a common practice of these days. It all fits that the unnamed woman was in fact Mary, who lived there with Simon. You will see why she would have been living with him as we get to the conclusion of this inspection.

Another part of this happened a year and a half or two years later and the account is in Luke chapter 16. A man became known as Lazarus and there is a parabolic type of account that includes a guy named Lazarus. As a note, Luke 16 has several parts to it and the first part is about the unjust steward and those that serve two masters. The middle part about it is the idolatry of the Pharisees and Scribes and the greed of the Pharisees. The third part is a parable and this is all seemingly unconnected but I think it’s all connected. Luke 16 goes from one subject goes to the next and they are all related. Keep in mind that the greed of the Pharisees is part of this chapter. When we get to the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we might start putting some of these pieces together and what is about to happen.

Keep in mind that this is a parable.

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luk 16:19-31 KJV)

This verse with commentary:

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

Those that have watched any of my previous presentations will remember that I believe this is direct reference to Caiaphas the High Priest, and everyone knew that this was a reference to him. Keep in mind the Pharisees were listening to Yahushua speak. Yahushua was talking to his disciples but the Pharisees were overhearing all of this and would have known who this rich man was. He was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day, that is how Caiaphas lived.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus,

I am guessing that at this point in time there was a guy whose name was Lazarus

which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

It doesn’t say that Lazarus was a leper here, but it says he was full of sores. What kind of medical condition do you have when you are full of sores? Well, it was common in this time and this culture that leprosy was a real curse so it was likely that this guy Lazarus had leprosy and it’s being described as full of sores.

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,

The rich man, referring to Caiaphas but he also notices that Lazarus is in his bosom. Lazarus ended up with YHWH and the rich man didn’t.

and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus,

Whoever the rich man was, knew that he had a father named Abraham. This would fall in line that this was part of the priestly succession that they knew that they went back to Abraham.

that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Keep in mind this is a parable but it’s a parable likely with some real circumstances that were going on in this period of time.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

Likely the Pharisees and the Scribes that were listening to this, I don’t know about the Sadducees but it certainly does say the Pharisees in the account earlier in Luke 16. It’s hard not to imagine that they didn’t know who was being talked about. Keep in mind the Sadducees didn’t believe in a hereafter, the Pharisees did. Their belief system goes into all of this also.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed:

This gulf is so wide, if you look at this great gulf fixed in the Greek it means that it’s such a wide chasm that it can’t be breached. In other words, you’ve got the guy that did well on the wrong side of the chasm and the guy that was sick and didn’t do so well on the right side of the chasm

so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

The rich man is saying I pray you Father; send this guy Lazarus to my Father’s House, who is the father of Caiaphas? His father-in law is Annas.

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

In other words if you raised someone from the dead and send them in to my sons, they will see that and recognize that you are the Messiah and they will repent. That is what is being said between the lines.

And he said unto him, (Yahushua speaking) If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (Luk 16:19-31 KJV)

• Setting up conditions for Lazarus resurrection

High Priests

• Annas or Ananus (6-15 CE)
• Eleazar the son of Ananus
• Caiaphas – properly called Joseph son of Caiaphas (18-36 CE)
• Caiaphas married the daughter of Annas (John 18:13)
• Jonathan the son of Ananus (36-37 and 44 CE)
• Theophilus ben Ananus (37-41 CE)
• Matthias ben Ananus (43 CE)
• Ananus ben Ananus (63 CE)

This is real key how this ends. Even if somebody is raised from the dead, your sons won’t get it. Backing up to Annas’ house that is mentioned, this was a dynasty of High Priests. Annas was the first of the bunch and actually bought his way into the High Priesthood if you read about him. He was ousted in 15 CE by a Pro Counsel of Rome for a series of violations that the Romans didn’t like. His son was Eleazar who only reigned for a year (16-17 CE). Caiaphas was the son-in-law, and was properly called Joseph son of Caiaphas (18-36 CE) and married the daughter of Annas and you see that in Joh 18:13. Johnathan was the second son of Ananus (36-37 and 44 CE) and Theophilus ben Ananus (37-41 CE) was the third and Matthias ben Ananus (43 CE) was the fourth and Ananus ben Ananus (63 CE) was the fifth. He had five sons that match up perfectly with this account and it’s interesting that it’s all talked about this way. Perhaps you haven’t heard this perspective of it and I may be wrong and perhaps there is another explanation, but it’s compelling to me to see what is going on here.

I think the bottom line of this is that this account is setting up the conditions for Lazarus’ resurrection. Keep in mind this was a parable. Lazarus was probably sick at this time but had not died. Keep in mind this is likely late 29 or early 30 CE. We only have a few months, six months or so before Yahushua is crucified. This fits in with the account now that we jump to in John 11.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, and (are these two Lazarus’ connected? When you analyze this, and look at a lot of commentaries, not very many commentaries say that these Lazarus’ are connected. I think they are so do your own homework. I know there is conjecture, assumption and coincidences happening with all of this but the scriptures are stitched together in an interesting way. Coincidence is an interesting word, if you really think about it, is there really such a thing as coincidence? I think the answer is no, coincidence is when YHWH is working undercover and incognito. That is what we have here, some number of coincidences that happen to be. ) Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Master with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Master, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Yahushua heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of YHWH, that the Son of YHWH might be glorified thereby. (Keep in mind how Luke 16 ended, It doesn’t matter if I raised someone from the dead, they still won’t believe.) Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs (a couple of miles or so) off:  (Joh 11:1-3, 18 KJV)

It says in John 11. Now there are a couple of possibilities and we know that John wrote this account looking in the rear view mirror and wrote this in 40 or 50 CE looking backwards to this thirty CE date and it’s possible he was referring to chapter 12 when he said it was that Mary that anointed the Master with ointment and wiped his feet. It’s possible he was looking forward but I would say it’s more likely he was looking to the account that we read about in Luke chapter 7 that he is referring to because the unnamed woman did the same exact thing and Simon was not sick with leprosy yet. It’s interesting to say that it was that Mary which anointed the Master with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair.

Jump to a parallel account in Mark 14. This gets us to the days immediately before Yahushua’s last Passover and the crucifixion.

After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people. (When you read through this you see that in the next event, you could associate with it being two days before the feast which would put it out of alignment as the same event that happens in John but I suspect this is a thematic insertion by Mark. He is giving us a general chronology of the events that went on, not necessarily in chronological order.) And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? (We saw in the John 12 account that it was Judas but it may have been more of a conspiracy with more than one of the disciples that made this statement. We see this potential conspiracy in a couple of places. Why was this waste of ointment made?) For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Yahushua said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. (That is what you are hearing right now, a memorial of this woman.) And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them. (Mar 14:1-10 KJV)

Abib 8 – 6 days before Passover Yahushua came to Bethany

• Supper at Bethany, dinner served by Martha, Yahushua anointed John 12:1-4
• Woman with alabaster box cf. Matthew 26:6-13

Then Yahushua six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat ^{G4873=from G345=to recline in company at a meal} at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment ^G3464=myrrh of spikenard ^{G4101=trustworthy, genuine, and G3487=from H5373=nard=aromatic}, very costly, and anointed the feet of Yahushua, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment ^G3464=myrrh. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, (Joh 12:1-4 KJV)

When we come full circle we can see the dots coming together with the parallel account in Matthew 26 with the woman with the alabaster box is talked about in a little greater detail.

Now when Yahushua was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, (And it’s myrrh. One of the uses of myrrh was for those that were dead. So this woman, who was Mary is preparing Yahushua for his death) and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. (Notice that the word sat in Strong’s is G345 and it means to recline as a corpse or at a meal. So notice this is a far leaning position that is being described when they were having this dinner) But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? (Notice that it says it was the disciples mentioned here again.) For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Yahushua understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. 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. (Mat 26:6-13 KJV)

Who is Lazarus?

• Name Lazarus – 15 matches in New Testament, only in Luke 16, John 11 and John 12
  • Luke 16 – Lazarus and the rich man
  • John 11 and 12 – Lazarus’s resurrection
• Lazarus was reduced to a position of begging when he became leprous
• Pharisees had no sympathy
• They regarded him as one condemned by YHWH – a cursed sinner, unclean
• John 12:1-6 – at supper in Bethany with Lazarus (Simon), Mary anoints Yahushua
• Location in Mark 14 and John 12 is identified as Bethany
• “Simon the leper” in Mark 14:1-3 identified as “Lazarus” in John 12:1
• The “woman” in Mark 14:3 is identified as “Mary” in John 12:3
• Spikenard Myrrh is used to anoint Yahushua’s head and feet
• Matthew 26:6 – in Bethany at Simon the lepers house (Lazarus), Mary anoints Yahushua
• Same account as John 12:1-6
• Simon humbled by Yahushua’s parable of the two debtors in Luke 7:14
• Contracted leprosy – Yahushua would heal him as a testimony of His Messianic credential to the Pharisees and Sadducees

The name Lazarus appears 15 times in the New Testament and it’s only in Luke 16 and John 11 and 12 so these are the accounts we have been focusing on. Luke 16 is where we saw Lazarus and the rich man. That is where it is focused on and in John 11 and 12 it’s focused on the resurrection and then this dinner with Lazarus.

The dots that connect for me on this are that Lazarus was reduced to a position of begging when he became leprous and the Pharisees didn’t have any sympathy for him. They regarded him as one that was condemned. They thought that YHWH condemned him and he was a sinner so the end result was that he contracted leprosy and he was unclean.

In John 12 we see that at supper with Lazarus (Simon) Mary anoints Yahushua. The location in Mark 14 and John 12 are both identified as Bethany so it’s the same place. In a worse case this is two separate events but all of the circumstances point to a single event. Simon the leper in Mark 14 is identified as Lazarus in John 12. Certainly we see that. The woman in Mark 14 is identified as Mary in John 12. The spikenard and myrrh is the same ointment used for Yahushua’s head and his feet. In Matthew 26 we see that the account is at Bethany at Simon the leper’s house who is Lazarus and Mary anoints Yahushua in the same account written with Matthew’s perspective. It is the same as John 12:1-6.

Simon was humbled by Yahushua’s parable of the two debtors in Luke chapter 7 and it goes all the way back to that original dinner. He contracted leprosy in the end result so that Yahushua would heal him as a testimony. It was a testimony of his Messianic credential to the Pharisees and Sadducees and that’s how Luke chapter 16 ended, that even if there was such a resurrection they wouldn’t believe it. Luke chapter 16 was setting up for the event that was about to happen as one of the final miracles that Yahushua would perform to show them the indeed he was Messiah.

Leper Etymology

• G2976=Lazarus=probably H499=Elazar=YHWH is helper
• 15 matches – always Lazarus (4 Luke, 11 John)
• H6879 = tsâra‛ tsaw-rah
• 20 matches
• A primitive root; to scourge, to be stricken with leprosy, leper, leprous
• Leper in Hebrew is tsâra‛ or zara
• Hebrew adds an “L” to indicate “to become”
• Become a leper would be translated as l’zara
• When translating into Greek, the suffix ‘us’ or ‘os’ is added
• The end result is “to become a leper” is Lzarus
• Lazarus is a common synonym for leper

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lazar http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Lazarus

The word leper is interesting to parse out. We look at it in the Greek and it’s the Strong’s number 2976 and it’s interesting because it says it’s “probably” H499 which means Elazar. What Strong’s has done in this case, and obviously you have to watch Strong’s because when it says “probably” it might be yes or it might be no. They took a phonetic similarity to Lazarus and made it Elazar and you see there is a phonetic similarity. That word “Elazar” means YHWH is helper. There are 15 matches of it; it’s always translated as Lazarus in Luke 4 and John 11. In the Hebrew tongue Strong’s shows us that it’s 6879 which is pronounced Tsaw-rah and it has 20 matches in the Old Testament.

Strong’s says it’s a primitive root: means to scourge, or to be stricken with leprosy, leper, or leprous. The word in Hebrew “tsâra‛” is clear it means to be a leper or to have that skin disease. Since leper in Hebrew is “”tsâra‛” or “zara”, the Hebrew adds an” L” to indicate “to become”, you end up to become a leper and would be translated as “l’zara”. When you are translating leper into Greek the suffix ‘us’ or ‘os’ is added and the end result is “to become a leper” is lzarus. It’s pretty amazing Lazarus, a common synonym for leper. If you look it up and do more homework you will see that Lazarus has a common etymology going back to leprosy.

Iscariot Derivation

• G2469 Iskariotes – Hebrew origin (probably H377 and H7149); inhabitants of Kerioth; Iscariotes (that is, Keriothite), an epithet of Judas the traitor
• H377 = to be a man, that is, act in a manly way, show oneself a man
• H7149= a city
• Hebrew “a man of Kerioth” or Carioth – a city of Judah (Joshua 15:25)Identified with the ruins of El-Kureitein – 10 miles south of Hebron
• Unproven – Judas’ surname is possibly corruption of Latin sicarius
• Means murderer or assassin
• Suggesting Judas Iscariot would have belonged to the Sicarii
• Radical Jewish group – some of whom were considered terrorists

Parsing out Judas Iscariot and looking at its derivation of this name is not as clear. As far as I have gotten with it the word in Greek is Iskariotes and again, it’s of Hebrew origin and it says it’s probably H377 and H7149, the inhabitants of Kerioth and an epithet of Judas the traitor. Certainly it’s an epithet of him. It can mean to be a man that is a man in a manly way and to show oneself a man in the Hebrew language. It is H377 and is also can refer to a city which is Strong’s H7149. There is a city that has been found that is identified as Kerioth or Carioth or El-Kureitein which is ten miles south of Hebron. (Joshua 15:25) it’s possible that this is the connection but it is unproven. I’ve seen the conjecture in several places that Judas’ surname is a corruption from a Latin term sicarius, and it means murderer or assassin and it’s a possibility although I can’t find any direct correlation it. It is similar phonetic structure suggesting Judas Iscariot would have belonged to the Sicarii and they were a Jewish radical group that were considered terrorists in this period of time.

Simon Lazarus

Simon Lazarus was the man who contracted Leprosy and he had sisters whose names were Mary and Martha and he had a son whose name was Judas.

That all puts the family tree pretty close together that Mary and Martha were aunts to Judas Iscariot and he was their nephew. You will have to decide you add these dots by putting the parts and pieces together. This focuses on the Messiah-ship and the Messianic credentials that Yahushua, in this final set of instances partook of and showed the Pharisees and Sadducees that he was the Messiah that was predicted to come from the Old Testament law and the prophets.

Abib 9 – People come to see Yahushua and Lazarus

• Many Jews come to be eye witnesses – John 12:9

The next day, Abib 9, which is the Sabbath Day, people came to see Yahushua. There isn’t much on this day in this timeline because it was the Sabbath and many Jews came to be eye witnesses of not only Yahushua but of Lazarus who had been known by this point in time to have been raised from the dead. This event seemed to happen in the last six months of Yahushua’s ministry. John 12 goes on to say that the dinner that we just looked at and all the players of the dinner at Lazarus’ house:

Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there: and they came not for Yahushua’s sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. (Joh 12:9 KJV)

There is plenty of opportunity to do your own homework on this. I know that there is circumstantial evidence that I have presented to you. You have to make up your own mind whether these things are so. It’s not about dates or time, but about Yahushua. He is the centerpiece intended to be focused on in this presentation and may it all be to His glory.

Do Your Own Homework

Prove ^{G1381=test, discern, examine} all things; hold fast that which is good.
(1Thess 5:21 KJV)

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched ^{G350=scrutinize, examine} the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
(Act 17:11 KJV)

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Master; walk as children of light: for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth; proving ^{G1381=test, examine} what is acceptable ^{G2101=fully agreeable}, well pleasing unto the Master.
(Eph 5:8-10 KJV)

Study to shew thyself approved unto YHWH, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing ^{G3718=make a straight cut} the word of truth.
(2Tim 2:15 KJV)

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