An “Appointed Time”

19. Why is it logical to link the Passover and the Lord’s Evening Meal?

¹⁹ Jesus had said: “I have greatly desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15) He thereafter outlined the Lord’s Evening Meal, which his followers were to keep as a memorial of his death. (Luke 22:19, 20) The Passover was held once a year. Hence, it is reasonable that the Lord’s Evening Meal be kept annually. When? Logically, in the spring at Passover time. That would mean when Nisan 14 (Jewish calendar) fell, rather than always holding to Friday because that was the weekday on which Jesus died.

20. Why are Jehovah’s Witnesses interested in Nisan 14?

²⁰ So Nisan 14 would be the date Paul had in mind when he wrote: “As often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.” (1 Corinthians 11:26) For the next two centuries, many Christians held to Nisan 14, they being known as Quartodecimans, from the Latin for “14th.” M’Clintock and Strong report: “The churches of Asia Minor celebrated the death of the Lord on the day corresponding to the 14th of the month Nisan, on which day, according to the opinion of the whole ancient Church, the crucifixion took place.” Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses keep the Lord’s Evening Meal annually on the date corresponding to Nisan 14. Some have noted, though, that this may differ from the date when Jews hold their Passover. Why?

21. When was the Passover lamb to be sacrificed, but what do Jews today do?

²¹ The Hebrew day ran from sunset (about six o’clock) to the next sunset. God commanded that the Passover lamb be killed on Nisan 14 “between the two evenings.” (Exodus 12:6) When would that be? Modern Jews cling to the rabbinical view that the lamb was to be slaughtered near the end of Nisan 14, between the time when the sun began to descend (about three o’clock) and the actual sunset. As a result, they hold their Seder after sundown, when Nisan 15 has begun.​—Mark 1:32.

22. What is a reason why the date for the Memorial may differ from the date when Jews hold their Passover? (Mark 14:17; John 13:30)

²² We have good reason, however, to understand the expression differently. Deuteronomy 16:6 clearly told the Israelites to “slaughter the passover sacrifice, in the evening, at sundown.” (Jewish Tanakh version) This indicates that “between the two evenings” referred to the twilight period, from sunset (which begins Nisan 14) to actual darkness. The ancient Karaite Jewsb understood it this way, as do Samaritansc down to today. Our accepting that the Passover lamb was sacrificed and eaten “at its appointed time” on Nisan 14, not on Nisan 15, is one reason why our Memorial date sometimes differs from the Jewish date.​—Numbers 9:2-5.

23. Why are months added to the Hebrew calendar, and how is this handled by modern-day Jews?

²³ Another reason why our date may differ from that of the Jews is that they employ a predetermined calendar, which system was not fixed until the fourth century C.E. Using this, they can set dates for Nisan 1 or for festivals decades or centuries beforehand. Moreover, the ancient lunar calendar needed to have a 13th month added occasionally so that the calendar would synchronize with the seasons. The current Jewish calendar adds this month at fixed points; in a 19-year cycle, it is added to years 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19.

24, 25. (a) In Jesus’ time, how were months fixed and the need for extra months determined? (b) How is the date for the Lord’s Evening Meal established by Jehovah’s Witnesses?

²⁴ However, Emil Schürer says that “at the time of Jesus [the Jews] still had no fixed calendar, but on the basis of purely empirical observation, began each new month with the appearance of the new moon, and similarly on the basis of observation” added a month as needed. “If . . . it was noticed towards the end of the year that Passover would fall before the vernal equinox [about March 21], the intercalation of a month before Nisan was decreed.” (The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ, Volume 1) The extra month thus comes in naturally, not being added arbitrarily.

²⁵ The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses establishes the date for the Lord’s Evening Meal in line with the ancient method. Nisan 1 is determined by when the new moon nearest the spring equinox can likely be observed at sunset in Jerusalem. Counting 14 days from that brings one to Nisan 14, which usually corresponds to the day of the full moon. (See The Watchtower of June 15, 1977, pages 383-4.) On the basis of this Biblical method, Jehovah’s Witnesses around the globe have been advised that the celebration of the Memorial this year will be after sunset on April 10.

26. What additional aspects of the Lord’s Evening Meal merit our attention?

²⁶ This date corresponds to Nisan 14, which was when Jesus held the last valid Passover.