Notes

1. Who is the "Son of David"?

   Jesus calls Himself this (Rev. 22:16) (note that link to the wedding again in v.17), though this doesn't mean that He is inferior to David (Lk. 20:41-44). Nevertheless, He is a son of David (Mt. 1:1) because Joseph (Yosef in Hebrew) was a descendent of David (Lk. 1:27, 2:4-5). A beggar recognised Jesus as such (Mk. 10:48) and, later, so did many others (Mt. 21:9).

2. Who is the "Angel of the Lord"?

   Zech. 12:8 associates the Angel with the Line of David and says that He is "like God". Who is like God but Jesus? (Jn. 1:1, 8:19, 2 Cor. 4:4, Col. 1:15). Note that "the Word" in Jn. 1:1 is God the Father's Son (Jn. 1:14) who created all things (Jn. 1:2, Col. 1:16). In addition, Zech. 3:1-4 describes the Angel of the Lord as One who takes away guilt and provides clean clothes. Again, who can this be but Jesus? It is He who takes away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29) so that we are no longer condemned (Rom. 8:1). Only He can forgive our sins (Mk. 2:5, 7, 10).

3. Who is the "Lamb of God"?

   John 1:29 refers to Jesus by this name. What does this mean? As prophesied in Is. 53:7, Jesus was sacrificed like a lamb (1. Pet. 1:19) at Passover (Jn. 19:14, 30-31, Mt. 16:2), just as a real lamb was sacrificed at the first Passover (Ex. 12:21).

4. Who is the "bridegroom" and who is the "bride"?

   The bridegroom is Christ (Jn. 3:29, Mk. 2:19-20) – the "Lamb" (Rev. 19:7-8). The bride is the new, heavenly Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2, cf. Is. 62:1, 4-5, Ezek. 16:2, 8-14). Gal. 4:26 tells us that the new Jerusalem represents those who are free, while Rev. 3:12 tells us that the citizens of the new Jerusalem will be those who are victorious. Who are the free? Those who believe in Christ and know the truth (Jn. 8:31-32). Who are the victorious? We are, because of what Christ has done for us (Phil. 4:57).

5. What is the significance of the clean clothes?

   The bridegroom is perfect (Heb. 5:9); the bride must therefore be perfect too (Heb. 10:14). In Is. 64:6, filthy rags represent sin (this is why the man is not allowed to attend the wedding in Mt. 22:11-13). In contrast, the bride's robe represents salvation in Is. 61:10, while Rev. 19:8 tells us that clean clothes represent righteous deeds.

6. Did Jesus really die on a Friday?

   The bible does not explicitly state that Jesus died on a Friday, only that it was the day before a Sabbath (Jn. 19:42), which has led to the widespread tradition that the crucifixion was on a Friday. Few seem to have noticed that there was also a special Sabbath to mark the beginning of the Passover feast (Lev. 23:5-7, Jn. 19:31), and this could fall on any day of the month.

   There is a discrepancy between the accounts of Jesus's promise to return from the grave. On the one hand, He said it would happen "on the third day" (Lk. 9:22, 18:33) and that He would be raised "in three days" (Jn. 2:19), yet He also said He would be "three days and three nights" in the tomb (Mt. 12:40). Both cannot be right.

   Some have suggested that Jesus may actually have died on a Wednesday or a Thursday (being raised on either the following Saturday or Sunday, respectively) in order to account for this. However, the only time Passover eve (Nisan 14) fell on a Wednesday was AD 30, which was the year that Jesus began His ministry, and then it didn't fall on a Wednesday again until AD 37, which would have put Jesus in His forties! And Passover eve didn't fall on a Thursday until after AD 80!

   Thus, the only day of the week that really fits the facts is the traditionally accepted Friday.

7. How can we account for the inconsistencies between the gospels?

   Whereas John's gospel states that Jesus died on Passover eve (Jn. 19:14, 31), the other (synoptic) gospels state that the Last Supper took place "on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread" (Mt. 26:17, Mk. 14:12, Lk. 22:7), i.e. at Passover itself, and that Jesus was crucified the following day. These accounts seem to be irreconcilable, unless three facts are considered:

   1. The Jews and the Romans measured days and times differently. Whereas the Romans used our modern technique, the Jews measured time from sunrise to sunrise, but they measured days from sunset to sunset!

   2. The Last Supper took place in the evening, and therefore probably after sunset (Mt. 26:20, Mk. 14:17, Jn. 13:2), and the crucifixion took place the following day, either at 9 a.m. (the 3rd hour), according to Mk. 15:25, or at noon (the 6th hour), according to Jn. 19:14. However, by the Jewish way of measuring days (i.e. from sunset to sunset), these events occurred on the same day.

   3. The phrase "Passover eve" in John's gospel could be translated in various ways:
      • "The day before Passover" (traditional, like "Christmas Eve"),
      • "The evening of Passover" (by Roman time-keeping),
      • "The day of preparation for Passover" (New International Version), or
      • "Friday in Passover week" (New English Bible footnote).

   Thus we see that certain ways of translating "Passover eve" would allow the phrase to mean the same as "the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread".

8. When was Palm Sunday?

   Remember that Christ was crucified at Passover (Jn. 19:31) and that this was Friday April 1st, AD 33. Jn. 12:1 tells us that Jesus came to Bethany "six days before the Passover festival" (i.e. on Saturday March 26th, AD 33) and that "the next day" (Jn. 12:12) Jesus was greeted with palm branches as He entered Jerusalem (i.e. on Sunday March 27th, AD 33).

9. Where does the idea of a prophetic year of 360 days come from?

   The 360-day year dates right back to the time of Noah’s flood. This can be determined from Gen. 7:11 where we are told that the flood started on the 17th day of the 2nd month, while Gen. 8:4 tells us that the flood ended on the 17th day of the 7th month, so the flood lasted for exactly 7-2=5 months. On the other hand, Gen. 7:24 says that the flood lasted for 150 days. Thus, according to Genesis, 5 months is 150 days, so one month (at that time) was 150/5=30 days and a year was 30*12=360 days.

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