Why is Easter on a Different Date Each Year?

[Ron Amnsn]

Originally Posted By: Ron Amnsn

I don't need a document listing the dates of new moon sightings. I am simply telling you that your methods of determining when a month begins are non-biblical and non-historical.

That's not the issue. I was just pointing out that the full moon was an evidence not resorted to by those who based their notion on crescent sightings, for which no record exists and which you yourself acknowledged there is none.

Samie, we do have reliable historical documents telling us that the Jewish Sanhedrin of the Second Temple era used the sightings of the new moon crescent to determine when each month started. That we don't have access to a document listing the days of each new moon is disappointing, but the fact that we are missing that document does not give us permission to retroactively determine that their months started at the astronomical new moon, when we have reasonable documentation showing that they used a method of determining the day of the new moon that would cause their months to start a day or two after the astronomical new moon.

The fact that you are using non-Biblical and non-historical methods to try to determine the date that Jesus died means that you will very likely come up with the wrong dates for Passover and the wrong year for Jesus' death.

[Windsor]

Since the phases of the moon can be predicted pretty accurately, we can, with modern technology and computation, go backward or forward to find out the phases of the moon at any given month of any year.

So going back to the year AD 31, we get from reliable sources that the astronomical new moon in April occurred on the 10th of April at 11:32 a.m. The lunar Sabbatarians agree to this. Here is what they say:

The year was A.D. 31 and the first month of that year was April. Since N.A.S.A identifies the Gregorian 10th day to be the conjunction, all we must do is add a day to arrive at the first visible crescent as viewed in the night sky following sunset on the 11th of April. The following day April 12 is then New Moon day, which is also the first day of the lunisolar month of Abib/Nissan. Since we know from Scripture that Christ Yahushua died on the 14th of the lunisolar month of Abib/Nissan, then we simply count to 14 and, therefore, arrive at Wednesday April 25, A.D. 31, as the day of Christ Yahushua’s crucifixion.” (Kerrie L. French, The New Moon, When is it?; accessed on 12–30–13 at http://www. thecreatorscalendar.com/Articles/New_Moon_When_OLD/New_Moon_When/02_New_Moon_When.html)

Yes, the new moon in the first Jewish month was April 10th, but that is the new moon in conjunction. The biblical new moon, as they also say, is the crescent new moon. The lunar Sabbatarians have just added one day extra to arrive at the first visible crescent to be viewed in the night sky of April 11th.

Only the astronomical new moon can be found through calculations, not the crescent new moon. Does the crescent moon always appear in one day’s time? No!

Read what The United States Naval Observatory has to say about the crescent moon:

Although the date and time of each New Moon can be computed exactly (see, for example, Phases of the Moon in Data Services), the visibility of the lunar crescent as a function of the Moon’s “age” - the time counted from New Moon - depends upon many factors and cannot be predicted with certainty. In the first two days after New Moon, the young crescent Moon appears very low in the western sky after sunset, and must be viewed through bright twilight. It sets shortly after sunset.” (The United States Naval Observatory, Crescent Moon Visibility; accessed 12–30–13 at http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/crescent.php)

Again, The United States Naval Observatory says:

The sighting of the lunar crescent within one day of New Moon is usually difficult. The crescent at this time is quite thin, has a low surface brightness, and can easily be lost in the twilight. Generally, the lunar crescent will become visible to suitably-located, experienced observers with good sky conditions about one day after New Moon. However, the time that the crescent actually becomes visible varies quite a bit from one month to another. (Ibid.)

The United States Naval Observatory says that “the sighting of the lunar crescent within one day of New Moon is usually difficult,” yet the lunar Sabbatarians have added only one day from the astronomical new moon to the crescent new moon!

The lunar Sabbatarians also believe that it is not always possible to have a crescent new moon on a fixed day:

If the crescent is observed for just a minute or less before full dark and then disappears, it is considered too young to be a new moon. When this occasionally occurs, sighting is delayed until the following night. (Author not given, Crescent Moon Sighting Instructions, www.worldslastchance.com; page acces- sed for original publication, but no longer available at this website)

The Karaite Jews say this about the sighting of the crescent moon:

. . . the ancient Israelites would have been well aware of the Crescent New Moon. In ancient societies people worked from dawn to dusk and they would have noticed the Old Moon getting smaller and smaller in the morning sky. When the morning moon had disappeared the ancient Israelites would have anxiously awaited its reappearance 1.5-3.5 days later in the evening sky. Having disappeared for several days and then appearing anew in the early evening sky they would have called it the “New Moon” or “Hodesh” (from Hadash meaning “New”). (The Karaite Korner, The New Moon in the Hebrew Bible; accessed 12–30–13 at http://www.karaite-korner.org/new_moon.shtml).

We are told by this group of Jews that it takes up to three and half days from the astronomical moon to the crescent moon! Why does it take between one-and-half to three-and-half days between the astronomical new moon and the crescent new moon? That is because the speed of the moon varies due to the shape of its orbit.

The United States Naval Observatory says:

The Moon’s orbit is elliptical, and its speed is greatest when it is near perigee, least near apogee. If perigee occurs near New Moon, the Moon will appear to be moving away from the Sun in the sky at a greater than average rate. (The United States Naval Observatory, Ibid.)

We are not disputing the fact that the astronomical new moon in April AD 31 occurred on April 10th. We are questioning the credibility of adding just one day to the astronomical new moon as the lunar Sabbatarians have stated above should be done.

We are told by The United States Naval Observatory that sometimes even two days are too few to see the crescent new moon. The number of days depends on several factors. The Karaite Jews tell us that it could take up to three and a half days. There are no scientific records at all for the crescent moon appearances because there is no single parameter for its calculation.

However, the time that the crescent actually becomes visible varies quite a bit from one month to another. (Ibid.)

How can the lunar Sabbatarians conclude, as if it were a scientific fact that the crescent new moon in April AD 31 was on the twelfth? They have only added around one-and-half days to the astronomical moon, but we are told it can take any time between 1.5-3.5 days.

We are equally justified to add 3.5 days to the astronomical new moon and arrive at the fourteenth of April as the crescent new moon!

The Jewish month starts from the crescent new moon. The 14th day is the Passover.

In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD’S Passover.” (Leviticus 23:5)

The fourteenth day from April 14 is April 27, and it is Friday in the Gregorian calendar!

The lunar Sabbatarians may say that when Jesus died, it was the full moon because fourteen days after the crescent new moon comes the full moon, and The United States Naval Observatory records that April 25 in AD 31 was the full moon, not April 27. But let us not forget that the ancient Israelites did not have the advance of scientific knowledge that we have today. They were not going by astronomical new moons and astronomical full moons. They were going by the new moon and full moon visible to the naked eye, and the lunar Sabbatarians agree to this.

Ellen White also wrote that it was a full moon the day Jesus died:

In company with His disciples, the Saviour slowly made His way to the garden of Gethsemane. The Passover moon, broad and full, shone from a cloudless sky. The city of pilgrims’ tents was hushed into silence. (The Desire of Ages, p. 685)

Since it was not an astronomical new moon, it also was not an astronomical full moon. Is it possible to see the moon as broad and full for more than a single night? Try it out. You can never know the difference the day before the astronomical full moon, the day of the astronomical full moon, and the day after the astronomical full moon.

Here is a quote from the best of places:

Although Full Moon occurs each month at a specific date and time, the Moon’s disk may appear to be full for several nights in a row if it is clear. This is because the percentage of the Moon’s disk that appears illuminated changes very slowly around the time of Full Moon . . . The Moon may appear 100% illuminated only on the night closest to the time of exact Full Moon, but on the night before and night after will appear 97–99% illuminated; most people would not notice the difference. Even two days from Full Moon the Moon’s disk is 93–97% illuminated. (The United States Naval Observatory, The Royal Gazetteonline, Moon Phases; accessed 12–30–13 at http://www.royalgazette.com/ static/pdf/moon%20phases.pdf)

The prophet of the Lord was right calling it a sixth-day-of-the-week Friday crucifixion in AD 31.

So we have proved that it is possible to have an AD 31 crucifixion that falls on a Friday even in the Gregorian calendar!

http://www.clearbibleanswers.org/ad-31-and-the-friday-crucifixion.html?showall=1

[phkrause]

Great post Gregory, I'm in agreement.

[Ron Amnsn]

Interesting info, Windsor.

The Israeli New Moon Society has software they are developing to assist in determining new moon visibility. I don't know if it can be used for historical dates. https://sites.google.com/site/moonsoc/

Some months the sighting of the new moon can be delayed or prevented by clouds or smoke/smog in the western sky. Also, when using a calendar system that allows a maximum of 30 days in a month when weather conditions prevent sighting the new moon, the date of previous moon sightings or non-sightings can affect the date at which subsequent months begin.

In the story of Noah's flood in Genesis it tells us that five months contained 150 days. Although it is possible that before the flood the lunar cycle was exactly 30 days long, it is also possible that Noah was unable to see the new moons due to overcast skies. In such a situation, the Karaite Jews would have thirty-day months until it became possible to sight the new moon. Each consecutive month where the new moon is not sighted can cause the month to become about a half-day further out of sync with the new moon, if it were visible. Later when conditions allow a new-moon sighting, the month that is ending would be shorter than normal months.

Such a calendar system seems odd or bizarre to those of us who live in a business world that runs on Pope Gregory's calendar where we can plan ahead and predict the dates and holidays months and years ahead of time. I'm not convinced that God wanted people to be able to plan the future with the certainty that the Gregorian calendar system seems to allow. Genesis tells us that God put the Sun and Moon in place to regulate days, years, and his appointed times. Such an unpredictable calendar system is very compatible with what James wrote:

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

[Ron Amnsn]

The Passover connection to equinox does not come from the Catholics or from the writings of the Jewish sages such as the Talmud.

It comes from the Books of Moses. The Passover connection to equinox is IMPLIED.

Gerhard, it is implied only for those who have been educated to think that Spring starts at the vernal equinox.

The Books of Moses do not use a word that refers to the season of Spring. The word used is "Abib", which does not mean Spring at all, but rather it refers to the soft green grain heads of barley.

The first mention of Abib is in Exodus 9:31 after the plague of hail. "And the flax and the barley was smitten: for the barley was in the ear [abib], and the flax was bolled."

The month of Abib was tied to the development of the barley in the land. It was not tied to the equinox in any way. Depending on the weather, the barley could develop heads early, or it could develop heads later. It was the development of the barley heads that determined the month of Abib.

The ripened heads of barley were required to celebrate the Day of the Wave Sheaf, which came a few days after the Passover meal. Also, the Israelites were forbidden by God to use the barley harvest until after the Day of the Wave Sheaf (Lev 23:14).

If a person were to tie the month of Abib to the equinox instead of to development of the barley crop in the land it could cause major problems for the Israelites. On an equinox-tied calendar there could be some years when there was no barley ready to wave on the Day of the wave sheaf, and there would be some years when the barley crop came early (after the hungry months of winter), but the people wouldn't be allowed to eat it until the after-equinox Passover and Day of the Wave Sheaf rolled around a month later.

The main reason that Passover is not tied to the equinox is because God commanded the Israelites to celebrate Passover in the month of Abib -- the month of tender green ears of barley in Egypt and Israel.

[Gregory Matthews]

Gerhard said:

Quote:

It does not exist nor is it hinted at in the New Testament.

If you are telling us that in the time of Christ the Jewish people did not have a civil calendar which differed from the religious (festival) calendar, you are simply demonstrating your basic lack of knowledge of the situation in the time of Christ.

If you are telling us that the New Testament does not hint at such, you reveal a basic lack of knowledge of the New Testament. The NT has the purpose of revealing the activity of God in human life. The NT is not here to tell us every aspect of civil life and government. In the time of Christ, Rome ruled in Palestine. The NT does not tell us every aspect of life in Palestine under the rule of Rome.

The following is a partial answer. I will let you find more on the Internet as this is just simple basic stuff.

Quote:

When Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians during the seventh century BC (637 BC), the Israelites were brought to Babylon as captives. While there, they learned about the lunisolar calendar that their conquerors were using. They adopted it and when they returned to Jerusalem about 50 years later, they had two calendars in use—a lunar calendar and a lunisolar calendar. Both these calendars were used until the Hillel II reformed the Jewish calendar in AD 358/359 to a form still in use today. Hence, during the time of Jesus, the Israelites were using two kinds of calendars.

[phkrause]

Exactly Ron, and not only that, as has benn said on a number of occasions, Passover starts on the eve of Nisan 14, doesn't have anything to do with a full, half, new, old, green, red, etc., Moon!! Again a great post Ron.

[Gregory Matthews]

Pkause, the date for Passover has everything to do with a "full moon." Nisan 14 was determined by a lunar calendar, under one system of celebrating the Jewish festivals.

From Wikepedia:

Quote:

Of the disputes about the date when the Christian Pascha should be celebrated, disputes known as Paschal/Easter controversies, the Quartodeciman is the first recorded.

In the mid–second century, the practice in the Roman province of Asia was for the pre-Paschal fast to end and the feast to be held on the 14th day (the full moon) of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan,. . .

As a lunar calendar celebration, the actual date depended not on an astronomical calculation backwards from today, but from an observational calculation made on the spot at that time.

The citation above is only a partial answer. It does not address that Nisan 14 vs. Nisan 15 issue. There are other issues it does not address. But, it is clear, that as a lunar calendar celebration, as was celebrated by some Jews in the time of Christ, the full moon has much to do with a calculation of the actual date.

[Gregory Matthews]

Gerhard: If I recall correctly, you are not a member of the SDA Church. I believe that you have a history of going to other religious forums and arguing with them--I am thinking of a Baptist religious forum were it appears you wore your welcome thin.

Yes, as most people reading this forum know, I am SDA Clergy, alternately credentialed on the level of the General Conference and/or the North American Division.

The fact that you suggest that you have never seen SDAs make the arguments that I have made indicates that you have minimal knowledge of SDA beliefs and practices.

My expectation is: People who raise the issues that you raise should have the scholarly interest in learning the basics. You do not reflect that level of knowledge--you do not reflect a very basic level of knowledge.

The issues are complex. They divided the Christian church which led to the split off of the Orthodox from the Roman group. Some of the answers lie in a knowledge of that history.

There is more. You could learn it if you wished. It seems to me that you do not wish to do so. So, you come and argue. O.K. That is where you are.

[Gregory Matthews]

A basis issue is: If you are going to want to debate an issue based upon the Jewish festival calendar at the time of Christ, you must know something about the Jewish festival calendar at that time.

End of discussion, or probably the beginning of a fruitful discussion.

[Samie]

Pkause, the date for Passover has everything to do with a "full moon." Nisan 14 was determined by a lunar calendar, under one system of celebrating the Jewish festivals.

...

[phkrause]

Pkause, the date for Passover has everything to do with a "full moon." Nisan 14 was determined by a lunar calendar, under one system of celebrating the Jewish festivals.

From Wikepedia:

Quote:

Of the disputes about the date when the Christian Pascha should be celebrated, disputes known as Paschal/Easter controversies, the Quartodeciman is the first recorded.

In the mid–second century, the practice in the Roman province of Asia was for the pre-Paschal fast to end and the feast to be held on the 14th day (the full moon) of the Jewish lunar month of Nisan,. . .

As a lunar calendar celebration, the actual date depended not on an astronomical calculation backwards from today, but from an observational calculation made on the spot at that time.

The citation above is only a partial answer. It does not address that Nisan 14 vs. Nisan 15 issue. There are other issues it does not address. But, it is clear, that as a lunar calendar celebration, as was celebrated by some Jews in the time of Christ, the full moon has much to do with a calculation of the actual date.

Maybe my meaning didn't come across correctly! The reason I said it the way I said it, was because, the date doesn't change. Passover always starts on the evening of 14 Nisan, which is really 15th Nisan, first day of Passover per my family. Which is besides the point that the date of the 14th is important not the full moon. I say that because from the chart that samie supplied in one of his posts, it shows the full moon being on the 14th, 15th, or 17th and one date was almost a month off. If I were to ask my family what the full moon has to do with it, guess what? They'll tell me it doesn't have anything to do with it, the date is what is important.

[Samie]

For those who are NOT aware that lunisolar calendars have full moon on the evening of the 14th of the month, full moon is not an issue in the keeping of Passover.

[Gregory Matthews]

Quote:

Your statement is CORRECT as far as the Jewish national celebration of Passover is concerned. But why do you think Jesus ate Passover a day ahead of the Jews in AD 31?

My response should not be construed as either agreement, or disagreement, with your posts, or the above statement.

But, are you considering this: The Jewish festivals began at sundown on one day and ended at sundown on the next day. IOW, the Passover extended over two calendar days which began and ended at midnight.

Quote:

He, through Whom God made the worlds, including the moon, can NEVER lose track of when full moon would occur that paschal week. Therefore, the Savior ate Passover on the night the moon was full.

O.K. you are telling us that Jesus would have had the supernatural knowledge to know the astronomical date of the full moon. You are also telling us that Jesus would have been required to have celebrated the Passover on that date regardless of the date that the Jewish people in Palestine were celebrating the Passover. Inconceivable.

Remember, in the time of Christ, the Jewish leaders did not have the ability to calculate the astronomical date of the full moon. They determined that date by observational means. IOW. One went out at the accepted time, looked up into the sky and said: The moon is full tonight.

However, if the sky was cloudy, the one who went out to look up into the sky said: I do not see any moon tonight. I will look again tomorrow to see if I can see a full moon.

NOTE: There is some reason to believe that in the time of Christ the Passover was celebrated on two different dates which were held to be the correct date of two different sects of Judisiam

[Samie]

Quote:

Your statement is CORRECT as far as the Jewish national celebration of Passover is concerned. But why do you think Jesus ate Passover a day ahead of the Jews in AD 31?

My response should not be construed as either agreement, or disagreement, with your posts, or the above statement.

[Gregory Matthews]

Quote:

Are you saying the Lord Jesus Christ did NOT have then "the supernatural knowledge to know the astronomical date of the full moon"? He Who can read minds, resurrect the dead, walk on water, command the storm to keep calm, command a fish to look for a stater coin, keep it in its mouth and bite Peter's hook, did not then know when full moon would occur? Now, isn't your position becoming INCONCEIVABLE, Pastor?

Yes. In order to provide for our salvation, Christ gave up his powers as a member of the Godhead. He took on the life of the humans whom he came to save. In that life he had not inate power to read the minds of the people with whom he came in contact. In that life he did not have the supernatural power to know that astronomical date.

In living that life, Christ observed the Jewish festival days on the same terms as did the other Jews in his day.

If Christ had maintained any of those powers he could have been charged with a failure to overcome sin on the same basis as us. He would have failed in our salvation.

Quote:

It appears you are not yet addressing the question I asked.

It took you until now to realize that! Astounding! I have not addressed several of the fundamental questions that have been raised here. Those questions were not mine. I have narrowed my focus to an issue that affects the discussion regardless of the position one takes on the fundamental question.

No, I have not responded to certain questions raised here and I do not intend to respond to them. People on both sides of those questions have failed in their understanding of the calendars used in the time of Christ and that is the issue that I address.

[Gregory Matthews]

Quote:

So, how would they know if it was already the 10th of Nisan when they were supposed to take a kid from the flock and keep it until the 14th, kill it in the evening, roast and eat the flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs that full moon night?

Again. They operated on an observational calendar. They were not concerned with the astronomical calculation. When the Rabbi said the phase of the moon had been observed, that was accepted as fact. That is how they knew.

NOTE: The above is written in the context that there was not complete agreement on the above and as a result there was more than one calendar that was used.

[Gregory Matthews]

Quote:

Do you think the date I proposed is wrong? Why?

Do you think the nighttime after sunset of April 26, 31 AD, is a better choice? Why?

Those are not my issues. I have not addressed them. I do not intend to address them.

There is a lot of material available on the Internet on this issue. One can go to the Internet and get more on this question than has been given in this thread. Why would I want to say anything on this when it is freely available to anyone who wants to read it.

[Samie]

Originally Posted By: Samie

Are you saying the Lord Jesus Christ did NOT have then "the supernatural knowledge to know the astronomical date of the full moon"? He Who can read minds, resurrect the dead, walk on water, command the storm to keep calm, command a fish to look for a stater coin, keep it in its mouth and bite Peter's hook, did not then know when full moon would occur? Now, isn't your position becoming INCONCEIVABLE, Pastor?

Yes. In order to provide for our salvation, Christ gave up his powers as a member of the Godhead.

[Gregory Matthews]

I expected you would raise the issue of forgiving sins and you have a valid point which does not negate my major thesis.

As to reading minds, a statement that Christ knew what they were thinking does not gift him with the power to read minds. I do not have that power to read minds and I often know what people are thinking. If you are married, you wife often knows what you are thinking before you speak. Yet, she cannot read minds.

The fundamental issue of salvation is: Could Christ live the life of a human without sinning. People differ as to whether Christ had to live the life of Adam or of someone in the time in which Christ lived. I have not addressed that specific issue.

If you do not understand the basic issue of Christ living a human life in order to save us, you simply do not understand salvation and what it cost God.

[Samie]

I expected you would raise the issue of forgiving sins and you have a valid point which does not negate my major thesis.

As to reading minds, a statement that Christ knew what they were thinking does not gift him with the power to read minds. I do not have that power to read minds and I often know what people are thinking. If you are married, you wife often knows what you are thinking before you speak. Yet, she cannot read minds.

The fundamental issue of salvation is: Could Christ live the life of a human without sinning. People differ as to whether Christ had to live the life of Adam or of someone in the time in which Christ lived. I have not addressed that specific issue.

If you do not understand the basic issue of Christ living a human life in order to save us, you simply do not understand salvation and what it cost God.

Here is one who says he understands salvation and yet cannot accept what Scriptures say that Christ has both the power to forgive sins and read minds which the good pastor says Christ does not have because "In order to provide for our salvation, Christ gave up his powers as a member of the Godhead."

This "issue of Christ living a human life in order to save us" is off-topic in this thread, and it appears this is being brought up to veer attention away from the main issue for which the pastor's position is shown to be not in accord with what Scriptures say. The pastor says Christ did not have the powers Scriptures say Christ had, because if the pastor admits He had those powers then Christ knew when full moon occurred that paschal week.

The good pastor says "Christ observed the Jewish festival days on the same terms as did the other Jews in his day" yet Scriptures tell us Christ did not eat Passover in synch with the Jews.

The good pastor's position appears to be NOT in synch with what Scriptures say.

[Ron Amnsn]

But what is SURE is the fact that our Savior Who came to fulfill the law, ate Passover on a full moon night as required by the law.

Samie, I agree that Jesus fulfilled the Law. However, I have read the Law many times and have never seen where it says that Passover occurs at the astronomically calculated full moon, nor where it says one is required to eat Passover at the astronomical full moon. Where do you read about this full moon requirement in the Law?

[Ron Amnsn]

The good pastor says "Christ observed the Jewish festival days on the same terms as did the other Jews in his day" yet Scriptures tell us Christ did not eat Passover in synch with the Jews.

I think we need to clarify the definition of the term "Jews". Today that word is used to describe the whole group of people descended from the twelve tribes of Jacob. But the word "Jew" is not always used that way in the Bible. The word "Jew" refers to those from the tribe of Judah, or to those from the southern kingdom of Judah, or to those living in the land of Judea.

Jesus was from the tribe of Judah and was heir to the throne of the united kingdom of Israel (northern tribes) and Judah (southern tribes), so when Pilate placed the placard on the cross saying "King of the Jews" it was correct.

However, Jesus was called a "Galilean". There were some significant differences between the practices of the Judeans and the Galileans. My wife read a book by a Jewish scholar that described notable religious differences between the Galileans and the Judeans of Jesus' day. I don't remember what the differences were, but it is clear from verses like these that there were differences:

"After these things Jesus was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because the Jews [Judeans] were seeking to kill Him." (John 7:1)

At his trial Jesus and his disciples are referred to as Galileans, as opposed to the Jews or Judeans who put him on trial. The New Testament tells us that after Jesus' resurrection he appeared to Galileans and that they became his witnesses. (Acts 13:31)

According to the New Testament Jesus was in Galilee shortly before going up to Jerusalem in Judea for the Passover feast at which he died. It is quite possible that Jesus was in Galilee at the time the new moon was sighted to start the month of Abib. So what do you do when you see the new moon from Galilee at the first of Abib and then travel to Jerusalem and discover that Judea was overcast on that evening when you sighted the new moon in Galilee, so the Judeans are a day behind you in the month? Do you simply go along with the Jerusalem calendar for that month even though your month started a day earlier because you saw the new moon with your own eyes? Historically, devout Jewish people in the diaspora (scattered away from the land of Israel) have often observed two days for feasts, the day they think is the feast day and also the day that might be the feast day if the new moon was sighted differently in Jerusalem. In a situation where the new moon was sighted in Galilee before it was sighted or declared in Jerusalem, it is quite possible that the Galileans who traveled to Jerusalem would celebrate Passover privately on the Galilean date and celebrate the Passover publicly with the Judeans the next day.

[Samie]

Originally Posted By: Samie

But what is SURE is the fact that our Savior Who came to fulfill the law, ate Passover on a full moon night as required by the law.

Samie, I agree that Jesus fulfilled the Law. However, I have read the Law many times and have never seen where it says that Passover occurs at the astronomically calculated full moon, nor where it says one is required to eat Passover at the astronomical full moon. Where do you read about this full moon requirement in the Law?

[Gregory Matthews]

Again, the Full Moon was determined on the basis of observation. It was not determined by astronomical calculations. When the Rabbi said the festival feast is now, it was.

Also, some years had 12 months while other years had 13 months according to one calendar used by the Jews in the time of Christ. The 13 month year had more days than did the 12 month year which further affected the Passover date.

Some countries today still use a 13 month year for some purposes. I once lived in a country that required employers to pay their employees on a 13 month year. But in that country the 13 month year had the same number of days as did the 12 month year. In that country I hired a person to work for me. I paid that person, as required by their law, their monthly wage 13 times a year.