The Passover – Part 1 (Lk 22.7-23)

This lesson covers the preparation for the Passover and the first few events of that historic night.

Luke 22:7-23

Jesus and His Disciples Prepare the Passover

Luke 22: 7-23

7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."

9 So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"

10 And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.  11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"'  12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready."

13 So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

Jesus Institutes the Lord's Supper

14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;  16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God."

17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves;  18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes."

19 And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."

20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.  21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table.  22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!"

23 Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.

In this passage and the parallel accounts in the other three Gospels we read about the Passover. It is a meal or a Kiddush (a simple meal of preparation either for a Sabbath or for a festival at which, after religious discussion, a cup of wine mixed with water was blessed and drunk and a benediction pronounced over bread).

The Jewish day runs from sunset to sunset the Hours of the day – e.g., the 3^rd hour – designate the numbers of hours since sunrise. The 3^rd hour represents 9 A.M., the 6^th hour noon, and so on. The Passover on the 14^th day of the Jewish Nisan began when the sun set and ended roughly 24 hours later with the next sunset.

The lamb to be eaten was to be killed at twilight – literally between the two evenings – on the 14^th of Nisan. This probably corresponded to the afternoon on the 14^th of Nisan. According to Josephus (Wars 6.50) the lambs were slain at Herod’s Temple between the 9^th and the 11^th hours of the day. The lamb was then roasted and it had to be completely consumed that night, probably before midnight on the 15^th of Nisan

At sunset of the day when the lamb was killed and roasted, the Feast of Unleavened Bread began. So the eating of the Passover lamb overlapped the 1^st day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The 1^st (and the 7^th) day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread was a holy convocation on which no customary work was to be done (Ex 12:16) - the scribes, priests, and Pharisees had elaborated on the Mosaic Law to produce a list what constituted work.

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke refer to a Passover meal and the meal happens on the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb must be killed (twilight on the 14^th of Nisan which is March or April – depending on leap years) Jesus crucified the on the following day on 15^th of Nisan. Much of what is described corresponds to the NT seder however neither the Passover lamb nor the bitter herbs are mentioned. The timing of this meal and the activities around the meal raises some questions. The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread was a holy convocation on which no customary work was to be done. However, Jesus’ arrest (involving the priests, temple guards, and Sanhedrin) was on this day. Jesus’ burial preparations and the purchase of Jesus’ linen burial shroud and embalming spices, happened then. Also Simon of Cyrene was traveling or working on a holy day (Luke 23:26)

The account of John’s Gospel has a slightly different sequence. John 13:1 – sets the Last Supper before the Feast of the Passover, in John 18:28 – Jesus is led before Pilate; the Jews (high priests) do not enter the Praetorium, Pilate’s official residence, so they wouldprepara not be defiled (unclean) and therefore unable to partake of the Passover. Defilement was a serious matter (Lev 15:31) and could result in a person being ceremonially unclean for several hours or several days, depending on the type of uncleanness, until they had been cleansed. In Number 19:2 is was until nightfall, Lev 5:3 it is until a sin offering was made, Lev 22:6 it is until washed, and in Lev 15:24 it is until seven days have passed.

In John 19:14 Jesus is displayed to the crowds by Pilate at the sixth hour of the Preparation Day of the Passover.  In John 19:31 Jesus is crucified and dies on the cross on the Preparation Day and taken down so that He would not hang on the Sabbath. In John 31:42 Jesus’ body is laid in the tomb on the Jews’ Preparation Day

In a broader sense, the Greek word translated “Passover” can also refer to the ceremony or the eating of the Lamb or it could mean the Feast of Unleavened Bread which follows the Preparation Day of the Passover, or it could refer to the Preparation Day before the Sabbath of that Passover week. Taken in this broader sense it would mean that questions about the arrest of Jesus, His embalming and burial, and Simon of Cyrene disappear.

The preparations for the Passover celebration during this last week of Jesus’ life are important, the location of the upper room is selected supernaturally, probably in the morning (based on the carrying of water). Part of the preparation was the killing of the Passover lamb (implied), probably at the Temple between 3 and 5 P.M.

The preparation of the Passover meal items (implied) include the lamb would be roasted in the courtyard below the upper room, the purchase of the bitter herbs, wine, and unleavened cakes. Among the disciples, Judas carried the money bag so he may have been involved.

During the Passover celebration the washing of the disciples’ feet occurred (only John’s Gospel preceding the meal). An illustration of Jesus’ teachings in Luke 22:24-30 – probably the complete account of this passage and we will spend more time on this passage next week

The institution of the Lord’s Supper occurred during this last supper. The ancient Passover meal as detailed in Exodus 12:8-11 was simple:

8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire — its head with its legs and its entrails. 10 You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. 11 And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.

We do not know for sure what the Passover meal included in Jesus’ day. The seder (the order of the Passover ceremony) was written down in the Haggadah (“the telling”) sometime during the 3^rd or 4^th century A.D. Passover was intended by God to remind the Children of Israel about their past. Twice in Exodus 12 this point is made explicitly, Exodus 12:14-15, Exodus 12:24-27:

Passover was to remind them:

1. What their lot in Egypt had been – they had been slaves,
2. Who God was, and
3. What He had done for them – these are summarized by God’s promises in Exodus 6:6-9.

The modern seder consists of:

1.   Kadeish  – recital of blessing and drinking of the first cup of wine (for God’s 1^st promise of deliverance: “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians”)
2.     Urchatz  – the washing of the hands
3.     Karpas  – dipping of the vegetable in salt water, vinegar, or charoset  (the salt water may symbolize the salty tears cried in captivity in Egypt, the vinegar the bitterness of slavery, and the charoset the mortar used by the Jews to build the storehouses in Egypt)
4.     Yachatz  – breaking the middle of the three matzah; the larger piece becomes the afikoman (literally, that which comes last or the coming one - Messiah!?); the matzah symbolize the unrisen bread they took on their journey
5.     Maggid  – retelling the Passover story, including the recital of "the four questions" and drinking of the second cup of wine (for God’s 2^nd promise of deliverance: “I will rescue you from their bondage”)
6.     Rachtzah  – second washing of the hands
7.     Motzi  Matzo  – (literally “who brings forth” matzah)blessing before eating the matzah
8.     Maror  – eating of the maror (bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery in Egypt)
9.     Koreich  – eating of a sandwich made of matzah and maror
10. Shulchan oreich – (literally "set table") the serving of the holiday meal
11. Tzafun – eating of the afikoman (literally, “that which comes last” or “the coming one”)
12. Bareich – blessing after the meal and drinking of the third cup of wine (for God’s 3^rd promise of deliverance: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments”)
13. Hallel  – recital of the Hallel, traditionally recited on festivals; drinking of the fourth cup of wine (for God’s 4^th promise of deliverance: “I will take you as My people, and I will be your God”)
14. Nirtzah  – say "See you in Jerusalem again!" a farewell perhaps expressing a Messianic hope    

The Lord’s Supper gives traditional Passover elements new meaning. The bread was probably the unleavened cakes served before the meal. Notice that in Luke 22, Jesus shares two cups of wine with His disciples, one before the bread, the other afterwards. The first cup shared was likely the 1^st cup of the seder, the cup of deliverance, used during the initial blessing. (In Matthew and Mark, the bread is first). Scholars believe the second cup Jesus shared was the 3^rd cup of wine (the cup of redemption). This is consistent with what Jesus says about the shedding of His blood in Matthew 26:27-28.

However Jesus appears to have refused the 4^th cup, or the cup of consummation. We have our position of being a child of God now and we have the promise of eternal life but we will not physically be with Him or receive eternal life until we are in heaven.

The bread and wine of the Passover are reminders to believers of Christ’s broken body and spilt blood, the price of our redemption. In Luke 22 Jesus says to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him after breaking the bread; however, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul records that Jesus said this in conjunction with both the bread and the wine.

This is a new covenant done in remembrance. It was Jesus’ fervent – or burning - desire [Luke 22:15] to eat Passover before He suffered, He wanted the opportunity to be with His friends this last time. It is His Last Passover with His friends on earth He will no longer eat Passover until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God probably at the wedding feast of the Lamb described in Revelation 19. It shows His love for us and He tells His disciples what is going to happen.

Food for thought - are believers to observe Passover or only Communion? We know Jesus kept the Passover during His life (Luke 2:41-2 & John 2:13-14, 23) Yet Christ is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:6-8), suggesting that this has been fulfilled. However in that same passage, Paul tells us to keep the Passover feast and Paul in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-21) keeps the Passover. Yet does it matter? The kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking (Rom 14:16-23)

Also during this last supper is the prophesy of Christ’s betrayal by one of His disciples. The other passages, other than Luke, include Matthew 26:20-30, Mark 14:17-26, John 13:1-30, and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.