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Passion Week Timeline

Two Sabbaths, Three Days, and an Unfinished Seder

A day-by-day walk through the final week of Christ - from the Lamb set aside on Nisan 10 through the empty tomb. Every event mapped to Scripture, every detail anchored in the Passover calendar God established in Exodus 12.

Nisan 10 Nisan 11–13 Nisan 14 Nisan 15 Nisan 16 Nisan 17 Resurrection 3 Days & 3 Nights

Nisan 10 - Saturday (Sabbath)

The Lamb Set Aside
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Jesus Enters Jerusalem on a Donkey
The Lamb is presented to the nation for inspection. The Gospels do not explicitly connect this entry to the lamb-selection command in Exodus 12:3, but the typological pattern is striking: "On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb."
Matt 21:1–11 Mark 11:1–11 Luke 19:28–44 John 12:12–19

"Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.'"

Exodus 12:3 ESV
Note: The day count from John 12:1 may place the entry on Nisan 9 or 10 depending on inclusive or exclusive counting - debated but close.

Nisan 11–13 - Sunday through Tuesday

The Lamb Inspected
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Nisan 11 - Sunday
Curses the Fig Tree / Cleanses the Temple

"My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations. But you have made it a den of robbers."

Mark 11:17 ESV
Mark 11:12–14 Mark 11:15–19
Nisan 12 - Monday
Fig Tree Withered / Authority Challenged
The chief priests and elders challenge His authority. He responds with parables of judgment.
Mark 11:20–25 Mark 11:27–33 Matt 21:28–22:14
Nisan 13 - Tuesday
Every Authority in Israel Tests Him
Pharisees test Him on taxes. Sadducees test Him on the resurrection. A lawyer tests Him on the greatest commandment. He answers every challenge without fault.
Matt 22:15–22 Matt 22:23–33 Matt 22:34–40
Inspection Complete

"Nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions."

Matthew 22:46 ESV
Four days of public examination by every authority in Israel - Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, scribes, lawyers. No one finds fault. The Lamb is without blemish.
The inspection ends. The slaughter is next.
Olivet Discourse
Jesus teaches His disciples about the end of the age and His return.
Matt 24–25

"Your lamb shall be without blemish… and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month."

Exodus 12:5–6 ESV

Nisan 14 - Wednesday

Passover - The Lamb Slain
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Evening Prior (Tuesday Sunset)
The Last Supper
Jesus shares the Passover meal with His disciples - "This is My body… This cup is the new covenant in My blood." He washes their feet, identifies Judas, and delivers the Upper Room Discourse.
Luke 22:14–20 John 13:1–17 John 13:21–30 John 14–17
Seder Left Incomplete
The Fourth Cup Refused

"I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom."

Matthew 26:29 ESV
The seder is left unfinished. The Cup of Consummation remains untouched - still waiting for the Kingdom to come in its fullness.
Luke 22:18
Gethsemane

"My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will."

Matthew 26:39 ESV
He prays three times, then is arrested.
Matt 26:39 Matt 26:42 Matt 26:47–56
The Trials
Before Annas, then Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, then Herod - who finds nothing wrong with Him.
John 18:12–14 Matt 26:57–68 Luke 23:6–15
Inspection vs. Declaration
Pilate Declares Him Faultless - Three Times
The pattern of inspection Nisan 10–13 (religious authorities) followed by verdict Nisan 14 (civil authority) reflects a typological reading of Exodus 12. The Gospels record each examination but do not explicitly map them to the lamb-selection timeline. Yet the correspondence is remarkably precise: the Lamb is declared without blemish by every authority - religious and civil - on the very day He is slain.

"I find no guilt in Him."

John 18:38 ESV - 1st declaration

"I am bringing Him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in Him."

John 19:4 ESV - 2nd declaration

"I find no guilt in Him."

John 19:6 ESV - 3rd declaration
Herod concurs - Luke 23:15
Crucifixion
Crucified at the third hour (9 AM). Darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour (noon–3 PM). Sour wine lifted to His lips on hyssop - the same plant used to apply the blood in Exodus 12:22. No bones broken, fulfilling Exodus 12:46.

"It is finished." - τετέλεσται

John 19:30 ESV
Mark 15:25 Mark 15:33 John 19:29 John 19:33–36
Burial
Joseph of Arimathea requests the body. Jesus is buried before sundown - "because of the Jewish day of Preparation." This is the preparation for the High Sabbath (Nisan 15), not the weekly sabbath.
Matt 27:57–58 John 19:42 John 19:31

"In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the LORD's Passover."

Leviticus 23:5 ESV

Nisan 15 - Thursday

High Sabbath - First Day of Unleavened Bread
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The Key Text

"Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day)…"

John 19:31 ESV
This is not the weekly sabbath - it is the annual High Sabbath, the first day of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:6–7). A holy convocation. No ordinary work permitted. The women cannot buy or prepare spices.
Jesus in the Tomb
Night 1 (Wednesday night) and Day 1 (Thursday). The guard is posted at the tomb.
Matt 27:62–66 Lev 23:6–7

Nisan 16 - Friday

The Day Between Sabbaths
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Women Buy and Prepare Spices

"When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him."

Mark 16:1 ESV
This is after the High Sabbath (Thursday) but before the weekly sabbath (Saturday). A regular weekday between two sabbaths - and this is what resolves the apparent tension between Mark and Luke.
Harmonization
Mark says they bought spices AFTER the sabbath. Luke says they RESTED on the sabbath. This framework harmonizes the accounts by recognizing two different sabbaths that week: the High Sabbath (Thursday) and the weekly sabbath (Saturday). Several harmonizations of the Gospel accounts have been proposed by faithful scholars. This reading, which places the crucifixion on Wednesday, accounts for the full 72-hour sign of Jonah and explains the apparent tension between Mark and Luke. Other scholars place the crucifixion on Friday, harmonizing the accounts differently. All faithfully hold the Resurrection at the heart of the Gospel's timeline.
Jesus in the Tomb
Night 2 (Thursday night) and Day 2 (Friday). Also a day of preparation - but for the weekly sabbath. Two preparation days that week.

Nisan 17 - Saturday

Weekly Sabbath
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"On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment."

Luke 23:56 ESV
After preparing spices on Friday, the women rest on the regular weekly sabbath.
Jesus in the Tomb
Night 3 (Friday night) and Day 3 (Saturday). Three days and three nights complete at sundown Saturday - fulfilling the sign of Jonah.

"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Matthew 12:40 ESV

First Day of the Week - Saturday Sundown → Sunday

Resurrection - The Tomb Is Already Empty
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Hebrew days begin at sunset. The first day of the week begins at sundown Saturday. Jesus rises after sundown Saturday evening - the first day of the week by Hebrew reckoning. Three days and three nights complete.
The Women Arrive Before Sunrise Sunday Morning
They come expecting to anoint a body. The stone is rolled away. He was already gone.
Mark 16:2 Matt 28:1 Luke 24:1 John 20:1

"He is not here, for He has risen, as He said."

Matthew 28:6 ESV

"He has risen; He is not here."

Mark 16:6 ESV
Firstfruits
The day after the sabbath during Unleavened Bread - the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:10–11). Christ rose on the very day Israel was to present the first sheaf of the harvest to the Lord.

"But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

1 Corinthians 15:20 ESV

Three Days & Three Nights

1
Night 1: Wednesday night
Day 1: Thursday (High Sabbath)
2
Night 2: Thursday night
Day 2: Friday
3
Night 3: Friday night
Day 3: Saturday (Weekly Sabbath)
Resurrection: Saturday sundown - the first day of the week

"For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

Matthew 12:40 ESV

Key Texts Summary

Two Sabbaths

Leviticus 23:5–7 - Nisan 15 is an annual High Sabbath Lev 23:5–7
John 19:31 - "that Sabbath was a high day" (μεγάλη - megalē) John 19:31

The Day Between Sabbaths

Mark 16:1 - Spices bought AFTER the sabbath Mark 16:1
Luke 23:56 - Women rested ON the sabbath Luke 23:56
Both true only if two different sabbaths.

Three Days & Three Nights

Matt 12:39–40 - The sign of Jonah Matt 12:39–40
Wednesday burial to Saturday sundown = 72 hours

The Lamb

Exodus 12:3 - Selected Nisan 10 Ex 12:3
Exodus 12:5–6 - Inspected 4 days Ex 12:5–6
Leviticus 23:5 - Slaughtered Nisan 14 Lev 23:5
John 1:29 - "Behold, the Lamb of God" John 1:29

Pilate's Triple Declaration

John 18:38 - 1st: "I find no guilt in Him" John 18:38
John 19:4 - 2nd: "I find no guilt in Him" John 19:4
John 19:6 - 3rd: "I find no guilt in Him" John 19:6
Herod concurs Luke 23:15

Related Studies

Passover Fulfillment Map
Every element of the seder mapped to its fulfillment in Christ.
The Lamb's Journey
From selection to sacrifice - the Lamb's path traced through Scripture.
The Convergence
Every prophetic thread converging on a single week in Jerusalem.