Does Mark 14:12 indicate it being sunset?

Question

“On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples *said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭12‬ ‭

Q: Does Mark 14:12 start before sunset & the next day?

Q2: Did Jesus eat the Passover before the actual day of the Passover?

Seems to be confusing:

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him,

So after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.” ‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭30‬

Answer 1

The feast was prepared during the daytime of what we would call Thursday. The first day of the feast of unleavened bread, otherwise called Passover, was Friday.

And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover? (Mark 14:12, KJV)

The Greek verb translated here in the KJV as "killed" (it could be translated as "sacrificed") is in the imperfect active indicative tense, which indicates a past action, and it can also indicate an ongoing action. For example, if I speak of a past time in my life and say "I was eating vegetarian food" or "I ate vegetarian food," in English, both of these mean essentially the same thing: neither one requires that the action is happening at that very moment, merely that it is happening on an ongoing basis, as a habitual action.

So it is important not to overanalyze the translation to determine an exact time for when this occurred. The text already gives us the time as "the first day of unleavened bread." That is all we need to know.

The first day began at sunset. It continued throughout the following day, ending at sunset on what we call Friday (the preparation day for the Sabbath). It was during that day, Passover, that Jesus was crucified. So he ate the Passover meal with his disciples in the evening of the day, and during the "morning" of the same day, which follows evening, Biblically (see Genesis 1), Jesus died.

In John, the text is clear that when Judas went out, it was dark (night). That day would have started well before that when it was yet twilight--at sunset. However, it was before sunset that the disciples gathered in that room and made preparations for the evening meal.

Conclusion

Yes, Mark's account begins before sunset. But it was after sunset that their Passover meal was to begin.

Answer 2

The lamb is being slaughtered in afternoon of the 14th day in the first month, drained on blood and skinned then it's eaten at midnight and shall be eaten until the new day break forth. The first day of unleavened bread is the same day at even is the Passover it's the 14th to the 21st of the first month

6 and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. (Exodus 12:6 AKJV)

17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. (Exodus 12:17-18 AKJV)

Mark is talking of the day from a earlier point of view “On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”” while John put the whole day together in Chapter 13 (before the Feast of the Passover - During supper - after receiving the morsel he went out immediately; and it was night.")