When is 14 Nisan 2024?
UPDATE 2024-04-03
Would you like to celebrate the Lord's Supper (also known as the Holy Communion or the Memorial) on the exact anniversary of Jesus' Last Supper? Theo you may want to find out when the 14th of Nisan is this year.
The Jewish Passover begins on the 14th of Nisan, and on this evening our Lord Jesus celebrated his last supper with his disciples.
Nisan is the Hebrew month of spring and lies partly in March and partly in April.
When is Nisan 14, 2024?
Jehovah's Witnesses celebrate their commemoration of Jesus' death on March 24, 2024, based on the ancient Jewish method of calculation according to a Protestant theologian from 1901.
The Catholic and Protestant equivalent of Nisan 14 is Maundy Thursday. In 2024, Maundy Thursday is on March 28.
The Jewish Passover festival with the Seder evening (beginning of the 14th Nisan) is on April 22 in 2024.
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Which date is correct and which is incorrect?
Maybe the question is posed wrong.
Perhaps there is no wrong date at all.
Why can we say that?
We are told about the very young Christian community:
"And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."
(Acts 2:42 ESV)
Footnote in the NBH Bible: Breaking of bread: They did what Jesus commanded his disciples to do at the Last Supper, see Luke 22:14-20"
An interesting detail is added in verse 46:
"And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,"
(Acts 2:46 ESV)
Does this mean that the first Christians celebrated the Lord's Supper every day? It would seem so! And the next verse also provides a plausible explanation for this:
"praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."
(Acts 2:47 ESV)
Think about it: If so many believers were added so soon after Pentecost — how long would these new ones have had to wait until they could have celebrated the Lord's Supper on the exact anniversary? Up to eleven months!
But the Lord's Supper meant confessing Jesus and proclaiming his death (1 Corinthians 11:26). Celebrating the Lord's Supper means life, even eternal life, for Jesus said:
"Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, UNLESS you eat the flesh of the Son of Man [= communion bread] and drink his blood [= communion wine], you have NO life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
(John 6:53, 54 NIV)
It can therefore be assumed that the rapidly growing Christian congregation celebrated the Lord's Supper again and again so that the newcomers could also be accepted into Christ's covenant straight away.
Whenever you celebrate the Lord's Supper:
It is important that you actually "eat and drink" and not just observe!
Read the biblical reflection on this:
"Is the Memorial an Invitation For Everyone?"
