Posts tagged Church

The Search for a Church Growth Hermeneutic

May10
2011 Written by Warner Smith

Michael Green has said that “most evangelists are not very interested in theology: most theologians are not very interested in evangelism.”1 Unfortunately, Green’s statement could easily be restated, “Most church growth theorists are not very interested in theology: most theologians are not very interested in church growth theories.” The discipline of church growth has long been beset with criticism for its lack of a consistent theological anchor. Influenced by J. Waskom Pickett’s Church Growth and Group Conversion,2 Donald McGavran, founder of the Church Growth movement, accepted a favorable view of pragmatism. Hence the credo in church growth circles has arisen: “if it is not unbiblical, and if it contributes to the growth of the church, then do it.”3

This philosophy of pragmatism4 has contributed to a discipline that has at times been unbalanced between methodology and theology. This lack of a single theological thrust, however, actually helped to popularize the church growth movement. Eddie Smith points out in Balanced Church Growth,

Christians and groups with varying views of the millennium, differing ideas of the manner of baptism and church government, and opposing concepts of the meaning of God’s sovereignty could all accept and employ Church Growth methods. There is ‘a’ theology for church growth but not ‘the’ theology.5

This inconsistent relationship between church growth methodologies and theology may cause many problems. Since a theology is present in every church growth methodology, one wishing to pursue a new, innovative methodology must take great care in examining it for its underlying theological presuppositions prior to its implementation. There is no consistent framework which church growth theorists utilize to test the veracity of new methodologies. Most give lip service to the claim that all methodologies must be biblical; few, however, have explored in detail how one determines what is and what is not biblical. This examination for underlying theological presuppositions is the work of hermeneutics which is an area lacking sufficient attention in church growth circles.

Wagner defends himself and other church growth theorists for having put off the erection of a theological matrix by stating,

Systematized theological work usually is developed from a movement, not vice versa. For example, Jesus never wrote anything, much less a theology. The book of Romans, the most systematized theological development of Jesus’ gospel in the Bible, was written 30 years after the preaching of the gospel began. Luther and Calvin did not systematize the theology of the Reformation until after it had begun.6

Wagner’s point reveals a serious flaw in his and many church growth theorists’ epistemology. He begins with the event and then works himself back to theology. His point should not be well-taken with regards to the Reformation’s or Jesus’ theology. Jesus did not need to write a theology as his words are theology. If one accepts Grant Osborne’s assertion that the purpose of a systematic theology is “to contextualize [the biblical message] in developing theological dogma for the church,”7 then Jesus’ earthly ministry was theology.8 Second, to suggest that Romans is merely a systemizing of Jesus’ teaching written thirty years following his death is to deny or discount the Holy Spirit’s role of inspiring the biblical authors. Third, to assume that Luther and Calvin got their theology from their experiences in the Reformation is to overlook the reference which the reformers raised as their sole source, sola scriptura.9These statements reveal the phenomenological nature of Wagner’s and many others’ hermeneutic in the church growth movement.10 To be fair one must hasten to add that Wagner’s theological precepts, following his acceptance of many Pentecostal ideas, are less and less representative of church growth theorists.11

This lack of a solid theological mooring causes the discipline of church growth to be in dire need of a consistent biblical hermeneutic. In Church Growth and the Whole Gospel Wagner discusses the tension between “the ‘Ought’ and the ‘Is.’” He lists “the solid bedrock of a ‘verbally inerrant’ Scripture,” and a subordination of the social sciences to “the rigorous evaluations of the Scripture,”12 as the two criteria on which the church growth movement must be based. The problem arises, however, when one attempts to systematize a means of striking the proper balance between the two (Y). Wagner offers a model of the “ought – is” spectrum in which a pendulum swings between the theological ‘ought’ on the one hand and the phenomenological ‘is’ on the other.

?William Beckham, a church growth theorist who advocates cell churches, in The Second Reformation sees the dilemma as needing to balance God’s transcendence and immanence. In his “two-winged church” model, Beckham insists that “the advantage of the cell church is found in theology, not structure.”13 Beckham, like Schwarz, is seeking to bring about a new reformation through striking the proper balance in the practice of theology. Schwarz’s neo-orthodox view of revelation, however, when mixed with McGavran’s pragmatism, curtails the Scripture’s ability to correct and reprove methodological or doctrinal excesses.

Excesses in contextualization from the field of missiology have caused many evangelicals to see the need for a hermeneutic that will supply the balance between what one experiences and what the biblical texts teach. The most glaring example of this excess of contextualization is Charles Kraft’s acceptance of polygamy and infanticide, while pointing to the Bible for support, as peripheral matters14 that should be accepted among newly reached peoples. Wagner’s statement that the hermeneutic for church growth is phenomenological opens it up for further misuse. Thom Rainer insists that

Church growth . . . must affirm a hermeneutic that captures the tension of being in the world but not of the world. A hermeneutic that attempts to isolate the text from modern culture will not speak to the world. However, a hermeneutic constantly seeking the favor of culture, even if numerical growth results, may gain relevancy while losing true disciples.15

One example of why evangelicals need to speak to these hermeneutical issues is demonstrated by Cecilio Arrastía’s article “The Church as a Hermeneutic Community.” Arrastía demonstrates how the New Hermeneutic has influenced the thinking of persons within the church growth movement internationally. He presents a methodology for the church to create a committee that works with the pastor to assist him in determining what the community believes a text says prior to his study. Following the sermon the committee meets with him to discuss their perceptions of his interpretation. Thus, some Spanish-speaking churches have accepted the concept of the community being the final arbiter of truth. 16Aside from Rainer’s treatment of a theology for church growth, little of substance had been written on the subject of theology and church growth until Schwarz’s Paradigm Shift was released. Schwarz should be commended for presenting a theological treatment for his Natural Church Development methodology. He could have remained silent and not affected his sales, and perhaps eventually allowed NCD’s popularity to quiet his critics. 17

End Notes

1. Michael Green. Evangelism In The Early Church, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 7.

2. Rainer, Thom S.  The Book of Church Growth: History, Theology, and Principles. (Nashville: Broadman & Holman), 29.

3. Ibid.,  30.  Church growth advocates today embracing pragmatism commit the logic fallacy of ignoratio elenchi which is simply an irrelevant conclusion.  An irrelevant conclusion gets the focus off the point to be proved by substituting a related, but logically irrelevant point for it.  Specifically described as operat ergo veritat, “It works, therefore it is true.”  Results have never been a guarantee for truth.  For example, Christianity is true, regardless of what works, and the propositions that support its truth are not based on personal testimonies.

4. C. Peter Wagner. Church Growth and the Whole Gospel (New York: Harper Row, 1981),72.  Wagner lists three sources of the church growth’s pragmatism. First, cultural sources emanating from the “American intellectual [who] ‘has been consistently pressed to show the utility of his ideas and theories.’”  Second, historical sources founded in the disciplines attempt to observe how God works and then create a methodology around the observed phenomena. The earliest demonstration of this is in J. Waskom Pickett’s Christian Mass Movements in India. Third, the pragmatism of Church Growth is based on theological sources within the Scriptures.  Wagner notes Nehemiah, Hebrews depiction of Jesus’ going to the cross as a pragmatically determined action, and the pragmatic statement of Paul in I Cor. 9:19-22, “that I might by all means save some,” as biblical examples.

5. Eddie Smith. Balanced Church Growth. (Nashville: Broadman Press), 50.

6. C. Peter Wagner. Strategies for Church Growth: Tools for Effective Mission and Evangelism, (Ventura CA: Regal, 1989), 37.

7. Grant R. Osborne. The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation.  (Downer’s Grove: Inter Varsity Press), 1991.

8. See Jn 8:28-29, 10:38, 15:15, 17:6, Rom. 16:25-26.

9. Robert Logan the lead Natural Church Development consultant in the United States would also disagree with Wagner’s point.  Logan has stated, “The first reformation was a reformation of theology by Martin Luther and companions.  The second reformation was a reformation of spirituality. [Phillip Jakob Spener] The third reformation, building on the first two, is a reformation of structures.  Natural church development is a reformation of putting the wonderful insights of Reformation and Pietism into practice.”  Robert E. Logan, first lecture of the Natural Church Development Consultant Training in Calgary, May 1999.  Quoted in David C Choi “Growing a Healthy Church: The Concept and Proposed Training Program of Natural Church Development” (D. Min. diss., Western Seminary, 2000), 23.

10. Wagner, Strategies for Church Growth, 37.

11. Rainer, The Book of Church Growth, 45.  See C. Peter Wagner. Look Out! The Pentecostals Are Coming (Wheaton IL: Creation House, 1973).

12. Wagner. Church Growth and the Whole Gospel, 150.

13. William A. Beckham.  The Second Reformation: Reshaping the Church for the 21st Century. (Houston: Touch Publications1995), 83.

14. Charles H. Kraft. Christianity in Culture: A Study in Dynamic Biblical Theologizing in Cross-Cultural Perspective. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979), 364.  “By first transforming such a core concept as the people’s understanding of and commitment to God, such peripheral matters as polygamy and infanticide will be dealt with in due time, and with a minimum of trauma, under the leading of God — mediated, frequently, through the helpful counsel of aware and understanding outsiders. Meanwhile, though, the people of God will follow him according to their own intelligible customs. In polygamous societies the people of God may not only include but be led by Christian polygamists (just as in the Old Testament) until such a time as changing the custom becomes a Spirit-led priority item of God’s people. Without the interference of the static caused by outside pressure to change such a peripheral custom, then, the message of God will be heard as good news concerning salvation rather than as bad news concerning polygamy.”  Kraft can hold such a position because he views the Scripture’s revelation to be almost open-ended. “The Bible, the source of the data that we are attempting to analyze, is a more wonderful book than evangelicals have often realized. It has been customary to look to it as the source of the message we are to proclaim. That message we regard as inspired. There is, however, more to the Bible than just its message. It shows also the method of God in dealing with that life-transforming message. That method is always personal, interactional.”

15. Rainer, The Book of Church Growth, 91.

16. Arrastía, Cecilio, “La Iglesia Como Comunidad Hermenéutica.” Apuntes 1 (Spring 1981), 7-13. “. . . in view of renewing and redefining the homiletic task, the local Church becomes, by way of a representative group of the same, a hermeneutic community that participates in the labor of reflection previous to the weekly preaching of the pastor.  Said in another way, the Church has been called a ‘Community of Faith,’ ‘of grace,’ ‘that worships,’ ‘of hope.’  We propose without discarding those beautiful characterizations, that one more function be added, and that it be called a ‘hermeneutic community.’

17. Schwarz’s NCD has taken the church growth field by storm. This popularity is due in no small part to bold claims like “this study developed into the most comprehensive research project of the causes of church growth ever undertaken,”Schwarz. Natural Church Development, 18.

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40 Days of Preparation Day 33

Apr13
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

Today, Wednesday April 13, 2011, is the thirty-third day of preparing our hearts, souls and minds for the most high of all Christian holy days, Easter Sunday. Today I need to “put off” being inhospitable and “put on” hospitality. I know it may be hard for some to believe, but one of the most hospitable places on earth is the middle east. Those who travel there speak of the wonderful hospitality which they experienced while traveling and meeting those people who inhabit these sometime inhospitable lands. In America those of us who live in th south have taken pride in “southern hospitality.”

The biblical culture valued hospitality and severely punished those who were inhospitable. In the Old Testament the Ammonites and the Moabites, were cursed to the tenth generation for having been inhospitable to the nation of Israel when they came to the promised land, although they were distant relations.

3 “No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, 4 because they did not meet you with bread and with water on the way, when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you. 6 You shall not seek their peace or their prosperity all your days forever. Deuteronomy 23:3–6 (ESV)

It is important for the authentic practice of our Christianity that you and I “put off” being inhospitable and “put on” hospitality. It is with the seriousness of this cultural value for practicing hospitality that Peter’s admonishes Christians to practice hospitality to one another.

8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 1 Peter 4:8–10 (ESV)

We are not to grumble as we are hospitable but are to genuinely care for the comfort and support of each other. It is about this attitude of being exuberant as we practice hospitality that Paul speaks to the Romans.

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:9–13 (ESV)

At the risk of alienating you I want to share my observation that in America today we are becoming more and more inhospitable.  In the biblical world being hospitable related to two distinct classes of people: the traveler and the resident alien.

In the original biblical languages these words are sometimes used interchangeably. A stranger, foreigner, alien, sojourner, wayfarer, or gentile are those who do not belong to a particular community or group. In Israel, the law protected the resident alien, a foreigner who had settled permanently in the land. While he could not own land, he could participate in communal activities. The traveler, however, was extremely vulnerable and depended solely upon the hospitality of strangers.

We need to consider Peter and Paul’s admonitions toward our practicing hospitality and our attitudes toward the transients and illegal aliens who live in or pass through our communities today. We may not have invited them but our genuine acts of hospitality could be used by the Holy Spirit to lead them to faith in Jesus.

One thing is certain our being inhospitable to them, or making disingenuous attempts at being hospitable will not positively impact them for Christ.  You and I need to “put off” being inhospitable and “put on” hospitality toward one another, and the transients and illegals in our society.

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40 Days of Preparation Day 31

Apr11
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

Today, Monday April 11, 2011, is the thirty-first day of preparing our hearts, souls and minds for the most high of all Christian holy days, Easter Sunday. Today I need to “put off” hypocrisy and “put on” sincerity. When asked, those who choose routinely not to attend church, always place the hypocrisy of Christians among their top reasons not to attend. If the church is ever to regain her prominence in the eyes of the average American then we who attend church regularly must examine our own lives for every instance of hypocrisy and put it off!

Websters defines a hypocrite as any “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion” or a “person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” Sincerity on the other hand is “the quality or state of being sincere; honesty of mind; freedom from hypocrisy.”

The word “hypocrite” combines the Greek prefix “hypo” meaning “under” and the verb “krinein” meaning “to sift or decide.” So the original meaning implied a deficiency in the ability to decide. Such a deficiency, regarding beliefs and feelings, forms the current meaning.

This idea is best illustrated by the nation of Israel as they tried to serve both God and Baal. We need to heed the prophet Elijah challenge to his nation to decide which God they will serve before he challenges the priests of Baal to show down between his God and their false god Baal.

21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 1 Kings 18:21 (ESV)

Unlike the children of Israel Christians need to answer, decisively and sincerely (without hypocrisy).

Many preachers have given the church a bad name.  We who handle the Word of God must speak honestly concerning our own short comings and limitations. It so easy to allow people to think we are more virtuous than we are actually, which is hypocritical. Each of us need to be more like Paul when he said;

3 Our appeal to you is not based on error or impure motives, nor do we try to trick anyone. 1 Thessalonians 2:3 (GNB)

The problem with making hypocrisy apply primarily to ministers is to overlook the fact that every Christian is a minister. There are no class divisions among Christians.

28 In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28 (NCV)

The ground at the foot of Calvary’s cross is level. There are no big “I’s” and little “you’s” in Christ’s church. You and I need to “put off” hypocrisy and “put on” sincerity because there is no room for dishonesty in the body of Christ. Instead we all need to be able to honestly say what the apostle Paul said that;

12 We are proud that our conscience assures us that our lives in this world, and especially our relations with you, have been ruled by God-given frankness and sincerity, by the power of God’s grace, and not by human wisdom. 2 Corinthians 1:12 (GNB)

You and I need not simply to say that we are sincere, I need to be sincere.  Notice that Paul states that his life, not simply his speech, is sincere. Paul says that his life and his relations with the Corinthians (a church with which he had much conflict) have been ruled by God given honesty and sincerity. As a Christian we need to be honest with God and one another. To be capable of such honesty I need to “put off” hypocrisy and “put on” sincerity.

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40 Days of Preparation Day 22

Apr02
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Warner Smith

Today, Saturday April 2, 2011, is the twenty-second day of preparing our hearts, souls and minds for the most high of all Christian holy days, Easter Sunday. Today I need to “put off” conformity to the world and “put on” transformation in my life. One of the greatest examples of how conformed the average American Christian has become to a worldly lifestyle rather than to living a Christian lifestyle which is transformational is represented by the rising divorce rate among confessing born again Christians.

Why is divorce among Christians a big deal? Sanctity in the marriage relationship is critical to the practice of Christianity. Why? Because marital relations illustrate Jesus’ relationship with His bride the church.

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:22–33 (NASB)

The relationship of a husband with his wife is supposed to demonstrate how Christ loves His bride the church, for those who do not believe. The relationship of a wife toward her husband also models the necessary submission which the church must practice to Christ.

Rising rates of divorce within the Christian church reveal that husbands are not loving their wives as Christ loves His church, and that wives are not submitting to their husbands as unto Christ. This results in those who are lost perceiving Christians as hypocrites whose lifestyle is no different from their own. This is the definition of conformity. This is why you and I need to “put off” conformity to the world and “put on” transformation in our lives.

A startling and shocking fact which has much to say about the depths of conformity in American Christianity today has been mined from census data.

The Associated Press analyzed divorce statistics from the US Census Bureau. They found that Massachusetts had the lowest divorce rate in the U.S. at 2.4 per 1,000 population. Texas had the highest rate at 4.1 per 1,000. They found that the highest divorce rates are found in the “Bible Belt.”

The highest divorce rates in America are found in the “Bible belt?”  The lowest divorce rates in America are found in one of the most “liberal” states Massachusetts? Conservative Christians perceive Massachusetts to be among the least Christian states in America. Something is seriously wrong with this picture!

According to the Boston Globe: “The AP report stated that ‘the divorce rates in these conservative states are roughly 50 percent above the national average of 4.2 per thousand people.’ The 10 Southern states with some of the highest divorce rates were Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. By comparison nine states in the Northeast were among those with the lowest divorce rates: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.”

The higher divorce rates in the Bible Belt may be due to the lower percentage of Roman Catholics in the South (Catholics do not recognize divorce). Other reasons may be more cultural than religious:

  • Couples in the South enter their first marriages at a younger age.
  • Family incomes in the South are lower.
  • Educational attainment is lower in the South: One in three Massachusetts residents have completed college, while only 23% of Texans have.

What the statistics reveal is actually worse.

Denomination (by decreasing divorce rate) % who have been divorced
Non-denominational
 34%
Baptists 29%
Mainline Protestants 25%
Mormons 24%
Catholics 21%
Lutherans 21%

Divorce is higher among conservative and evangelical Christians than liberal Christians. Something is wrong with the accepted Christian lifestyle among the church. If the Christian home is a primary tool for demonstrating the morality and authenticity of the Christian lifestyle, then we clearly see the effects of sin and Satanic influence in the Christian home and church.

Religion % have been divorced
Jews 30%
Born-again Christians 27%
Other Christians 24%
Atheists, Agnostics 21%

I believe that the lowest rates of divorce being found among atheists may reveal that Satan attacks those who do not believe with less frequency and vigor than he does God’s chosen people.

During the 1950′s something significant changed in America among my father’s generation (the builders) with regard to their Christian lifestyle which continues to impact our society.

Age group % have been divorced
Baby boomers (33 to 52 years of age) 34%
Builders (53 to 72 years of age) 37%
Seniors (above 72 years of age) 18%

To counter the conformist Christian lifestyle that is currently in vogue among conservative Christians in today’s church requires that you and I to “put off” conformity to the world and “put on” transformation in our lives. We have failed to heed Paul’s lesson.

1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2 (NASB)

We “put on” transformation by renewing our mind.  We need to change our worldview!  Rather than thinking that life is all about me, every Christian must accept that the Christian life is really all about Christ! If I cannot maintain the most basic relationship I have with my wife, then the odds are that I will also neglect my relationship with Christ.  Positively maintaining each of these relationships requires me to change my thinking from a worldly selfishness to a Christlike selflessness.

When I do this I prove that God’s will is good, acceptable and perfect. Lets prove God’s will to be good, acceptable and perfect and “putt off” conformity to the world and “put on” transformation in our lives.

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An Easter Story Part 1

Mar31
2010 Written by Warner Smith

When is Good Friday and Easter Sunday actually? The answer to this question may seem obvious to you, its answer, however, is not as simple as you might assume.  First, the Jewish calendar is very different from our own.  The Jewish day begins at sunset rather than midnight. In Genesis we read:

And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.  Genesis 1:5

From this text Jews infer that a day begins with evening, or sunset. Therefore 6 p.m. in the evening is the “zero hour” for the following day.

The Jewish calendar is based on the rotation of the Earth on its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon around the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth around the sun (a year). Because these three phenomena are independent of each other, Jewish calendars appear complicated and strange to our Western minds. The moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days on average. The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days.  There are 12.4 lunar months in one year. Months are either 29 or 30 days and the Jewish years may have either 12 or 13 months. Years of 13 months are referred to “a pregnant year.”

Why is all this important? Jesus was Jewish!  The Gospels record the timing of His crucifixion in relation to the Jewish Passover.  To accurately determine the actual time for the Christian holidays of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter we must refer to the Jewish method for measuring time and not our own. Precision in locating the time of Jesus’ death Biblically is further complicitated by a discrepancy between the account of Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Gospels and that of John. John gives us the time of Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection most clearly.

1 It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. 2 The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; 4 so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. . . . 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.    John 13:1–5; 12-16

There is a great difference in ones ability to be ritually pure between the 14th day of Nisan also referred to as the “Day of Preparation” and the 15th day of Nisan. At approximately 10 a.m. on the 14th of Nisan you would have to quit eating or being around any leaven (yeast).

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.     John 18:28 (ESV)

This delivery of Jesus to Pilate occurred very early on the 14th of Nisan.  That this incident occurs before Passover is evident from Pilate’s offer to release Jesus to them in the future on the day of Passover the 15th of Nisan.

39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”     John 18:39 (ESV)

Jesus was sent to be crucified on the “Day of Preparation”or Nissan 14th at the sixth hour or midday.

14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”     John 19:14 (ESV)

How do we determine that the day Jesus was crucified on was also a Friday? The day of Preparation is said to be the day before the Sabbath.  The Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday.  The rush to get Jesus and those crucified with him off of the cross before the Sabbath lets us know that He died on Friday.

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”    John 19:31–37 (NIV)

The rush to bury Jesus also helps us to place the time of His burial on the Friday, Nisan 14.  His burial would have been a rushed affair, because everyone would have wanted to not be ritually unclean to eat the Passover meal with their families that evening.

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.     John 19:38–42

John’s timing coincides with the time when the paschal lambs (those slain to be eaten for Passover) were being slain. The male lamb which was to be “without spot or blemish” (Exodus 12:5) was slain on the eve of the Passover, in the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan, at three o’clock, or, if the eve of the Passover fell on Friday,( as it did with Jesus) at two o’clock.  John clearly intends to present Jesus symbolically as the Passover sacrifice.

29 . . . John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Tomorrow we look at the timing of Jesus’ betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection from the viewpoint of the Synoptic (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Gospels.

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