NCCG.ORG, FAQ 359. New Testament Mainstream View of Passover

Q. I have a question about the Apostles recorded in the Bible as going to keep the Passover etc... Would that not denote that they were keeping the same calendar as the mainstream .. also do you see that Yah'shua (Jesus) was different ... i.e outside the mainstream .. yet went to Jerusalem to keep the Passover with the others?

A. The Judaism (if we can call it that) of the New Testament period, and especially that time during the ministry of Yah'shua (Jesus) when the apostles were taught the full Besorah (Gospel), was as factionalised as far as observances were concerned as Christianity and Messianism are today. There was no single 'mainstream' view of these things and at Passover time different groups observed the festival at different times and in different ways. It was not as 'standardised' as it pretty much is in contemporary Judaism.

From what the available historical records tell us, we can gather that there were at least three different calendars in operation with differences sub-factions as far as 'orthodox' observance was concerned. There was one calendar used by the Pharisees and Galileans, one by the Saducees and another by the Essenes (to mention only three). These theological schools differed among each other as to whether the day started at sunrise or sunset and as to whether each month began at the lunar conjunction (the 'Palestinian School') or first visible crescent (the 'Babylonian School).

The New Testament does not enter into a debate on which system is correct and we are forced to assume that Yah'shua (Jesus) taught His talmidim (disciples) the pure emet (truth) about these things. For the modern seeker-after-truth this means a careful (and often arduous) search through the evidence.

It is out belief that honest investigation of the facts will lead such seekers to the Creation Calendar, to new moon conjuction and to day's start at sunrise. With this information not only will the seeker know which system Yah'shua (Jesus) and the apostles used but also (as a result) which one to follow today.

As is often the case, the 'mainstream' view was probably wrong then as it is today in Judaism, Christianity and Messianism. And in the end times particularly, we should often expect the emet (truth) to be a minority-held position.

This page was created on 28 November 2012 Last updated on 28 November 2012