Jesus ate the Paschal lamb before he was crucified

[TonyChanYT]

Roman calendar day went from midnight to midnight. Jewish calendar day went from sunset to sunset. Here, I will stick to the Jewish tradition.

On Thursday Nisan 14, there were Passover preparations (or setup). Good News Translation, Matt 26:

17 On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, "Where do you want us to get the Passover meal ready for you?"

The term Festival of the Unleavened Bread is a bit confusing. A parallel account in Mark 14:

12 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, Jesus' disciples asked Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?"

It was Nisan 14, the beginning of an 8-day Feast/Festival.

Matt 26:

18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near. I will observe the Passover with my disciples at your house.”’” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had instructed them, and they prepared the Passover.

Technically speaking, the preparation (the sacrifice of the lamb) was done before the sun had completely set and the eating of the lamb and unleavened bread happened after the sunset (on Nisan 15).

Parallel account, Luke 22:

7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread, on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 So Jesusa sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.”

John 13:

1 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.

They sacrificed the Passover lamb before sunset and ate the Passover meal after sunset.

Matt 26:

20 When it was evening, he took his place at the table with the 12.

At this point, they ate the Passover lamb.

John 13:

2 The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, that he should betray Jesus.

They arrested Jesus. The Sanhedrin tried Jesus. Peter denied him. The rooster crowed.

Early on Friday morning, they took Jesus to Pilate. John 18:

28 Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters. It was early morning. They themselves did not enter the governor’s headquarters, so that they would not be defiled, but could eat the Passover

i.e., the general 8-day feast, not specifically the Passover lamb which they ate already.

Pilate sent Jesus to Herod. Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified.

They crucified Jesus at Golgotha. Luke 23:

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

English Standard Version John 19:

31 Since it was the day of Preparation,

i.e., the Friday before the Sabbath, not the preparation of the paschal lamb which occurred on Thursday

and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.

Gill:

for that sabbath day was an high day; it was not only a sabbath, and a sabbath in the passover week.

They buried Jesus before sunset (before Sabbath, Saturday).

After Jesus was buried, Matthew 27:

62 The next day [Saturday], the one after Preparation Day [Friday], the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate.

Again "Preparation Day" was a technical term meaning the day before the Sabbath Saturday.

65“Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

The chronological sequence of events:

1. Nisan 14, Thursday: Prepare or set up the meal for the paschal lamb.
2. The sun set.
3. Nisan 15: Jesus ate Paschal lamb in the evening. Confusingly, this was sometimes referred to as Nisan 14 evening.
4. Friday/Preparation Day/the day before a weekly Sabbath
5. They crucified Jesus in the afternoon and buried him before sunset.
6. Nisan 16: Saturday/Sabbath
7. The chief priests put a seal and posted a guard at the tomb.