A Palm Sunday Question

Q

In John 12:1 it says:”Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany…”, and then verse 12 says, “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast…” So, according to John 12:1, Jesus was in Bethany 6 days before the 14th of the month, that is He was there on the 8th of the month, and the next day is the 9th of the month, the day when the multitude went out to meet Him and cried out “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!”, and it was not on the 10th of the month.

A

We know Jesus entered Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday. John 12:1 says Jesus had come to Bethany six days before Passover, but it doesn’t say He had a big dinner that same night and left the next morning. Since Palm Sunday was the 10th, the ninth would have been a Saturday, which was the Sabbath, and the 8th, the day Jesus arrived, was a Friday. From sunset Friday to sunset Saturday no work was allowed, and that included travel. Therefore, since the dinner was given on the night before Palm Sunday, it had to have taken place on Saturday after sunset when the Sabbath ended.