Still there are not wanting persons who assert that the preparation, mentioned by John, “Now it was the preparation about the sixth hour,” was really the third hour of the day. For they say that on that day before the sabbath day, there was a preparation of the passover of the Jews, because on that sabbath, they began the unleavened bread; but however that the true passover, which is now celebrated on the day of our Lord’s Passion, that is, the Christian not the Jewish passover, began to be prepared, or to have its “parasceue”, from that sixth hour of the night, when His death began to be prepared by the Jews; for “parasceue” means preparation. Between that hour therefore of the night and His crucifixion occurs the sixth hour of preparation, according to John, and the third hour of the day, according to Mark. What Christian would not give in to this solution of the question, provided that we could find some circumstance, from which we might gather that this preparation of our Passover, that is, of the death of Christ, began at the ninth hour of the night? For if we say that it began when our Lord was taken by the Jews, it was still early in the night, but if when our Lord was carried away to the house of the father in law of Caiaphas, where also He was heard by the chief priests, the cock had not crowed; but if when He was given up to Pilate, it is very plain that it was morning. It remains therefore that we must understand the preparation of our Lord’s death to have commenced when all the Chief Priests pronounced, “He is guilty of death.” For there is nothing absurd in supposing that was the ninth hour of the night, so that we may understand that Peter’s denial is put out of its order after it really happened.
It goes on: “And the superscription of His accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Reproduced in full. Translation: Oxford 1841 (Newman), public domain (Public domain).