The Witness of the Centurion and Others

In John 19:31, we bump into the same problem with the term translated “preparation day,” and John’s statement about a “special Sabbath.” That day on which Jesus died, was the first day of Passover and the Week of Unleavened Bread. It was a very special Sabbath. The coming weekly Sabbath was about as regular an event as existed. The New American Standard gives the best translation, which says “…so the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day) …”

As to the reference to the “preparation,” Mark uses the same term and tells us it was the day before the weekly Sabbath. However, that Jewish Friday began with Thursday evening. So, it seems that as soon as the Passover Sabbath was over (Thursday evening) the priests quickly went to Pilate with their request.

Earlier, as the Romans mocked him, it became apparent that Jesus was about to be crucified that day. The fact that Pilate acted immediately on their request may have caught them off guard. They may have assumed, as they encouraged the mob, that Jesus would die later, rather than on this national holiday. Now, they wanted the bodies down as soon as possible, rather than having them as the center of attention.

Further, the standard view that Jesus died on Friday would have meant there was no preparation day for the weekly Sabbath. He died on the Sabbath beginning Passover week. If a Friday, the two Sabbaths would have been back-to-back, leaving no non-Sabbatical time for the activities that followed. The answer, however, is that he died on Thursday and that we lost that fact somewhere along the way.