The cycle of Temple-festivals appropriately opens with 'the Passover' and 'Feast of
Unleavened Bread.' For, properly speaking, these two are quite distinct (Lev 23:5,6; Num
28:16,17; 2 Chron 30:15,21; Ezra 6:19,22; Mark 14:1), the 'Passover' taking place on the
14th of Nisan, and the 'Feast of Unleavened Bread' commencing on the 15th, and lasting for
seven days, to the 21st of the month (Exo 12:15). But from their close connection they are
generally treated as one, both in the Old and in the New Testament (Matt 26:17; Mark
14:12; Luke 22:1); and Josephus, on one occasion, even describes it as 'a feast for eight
days' (Antiq. ii. 15, 1; but comp. iii. 10, 5; ix. 13, 3).
Its Peculiarities
There are peculiarities about the Passover which mark it as the most important, and,
indeed, take it out of the rank of the other festivals. It was the first of the three
feasts on which all males in Israel were bound to appear before the Lord in the place
which He would choose (the two others being the Feast of Weeks and that of Tabernacles
[Exo 23:14; 34:18-23; Lev 23:4-22; Deut 16:16]). All the three great festivals bore a
threefold reference. They pointed, first, to the season of the year, or rather to
the enjoyment of the fruits of the good land which the Lord had given to His people in
possession, but of which He claimed for Himself the real ownership (Lev 25:23; Psa 85:1;
Isa 8:8; 14:2; Hosea 9:3). This reference to nature is expressly stated in regard to the
Feast of Weeks and that of Tabernacles (Exo 23:14-16; 34:22), but, though not less
distinct, it is omitted in connection with the feast of unleavened bread. On the other
hand, great prominence is given to the historical bearing of the Passover, while it
is not mentioned in the other two festivals, although it could not have been wholly
wanting. But the feast of unleavened bread celebrated the one grand event which underlay
the whole history of Israel, and marked alike their miraculous deliverance from
destruction and from bondage, and the commencement of their existence as a nation. For in
the night of the Passover the children of Israel, miraculously preserved and set free, for
the first time became a people, and that by the direct interposition of God. The third
bearing of all the festivals, but especially of the Passover, is typical. Every reader of
the New Testament knows how frequent are such allusions to the Exodus, the Paschal Lamb,
the Paschal Supper, and the feast of unleavened bread. And that this meaning was intended
from the first, not only in reference to the Passover, but to all the feasts, appears from
the whole design of the Old Testament, and from the exact correspondence between the types
and the antitypes. Indeed, it is, so to speak, impressed upon the Old Testament by a law
of internal necessity. For when God bound up the future of all nations in the history of
Abraham and his seed (Gen 12:3), He made that history prophetic; and each event and every
rite became, as it were, a bud, destined to open in blossom and ripen into fruit on that
tree under the shadow of which all nations were to be gathered.
Special Nature of the Passover
Thus nature, history, and grace combined to give a special meaning to the
festivals, but chiefly to the Passover. It was the feast of spring; the spring-time of
nature, when, after the death of winter, the scattered seeds were born into a new harvest,
and the first ripe sheaf could be presented to the Lord; the spring-time of Israel's
history, too, when each year the people celebrated anew their national birthday; and the
spring-time of grace, their grand national deliverance pointing forward to the birth of
the true Israel, and the Passover sacrifice to that 'Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
of the world.' Accordingly, the month of the Passover, Abib, or, as it was called in later
times, Nisan, * was to be unto them 'the beginning of months'— birth-month of the
sacred, and at the same time the seventh in the civil year.
* Abib is the month of 'sprouting' or of 'green ears.' Esther 3:7;
Nehemiah 2:1.
Here we mark again the significance of seven as the sacred or covenant number.
On the other hand, the Feast of Tabernacles, which closed the festive cycle, took place on
the 15th of the seventh month of the sacred, which was also the first in the civil, year.
Nor is it less significant that both the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles fell upon
the 15th day of the month; that is, at full moon, or when the month had, so to speak,
attained its full strength.
Origin of the Name
The name of the Passover, in Hebrew Pesach, and in Aramean and Greek Pascha,
is derived from a root which means to 'step over,' or to 'overleap,' and thus points back
to the historical origin of the festival (Exo 12). But the circumstances in which the
people were placed necessarily rendered its first celebration, in some particulars,
different from its later observance, which, so far as possible, was brought into harmony
with the general Temple practice. Accordingly, Jewish authorities rightly distinguish
between 'the Egyptian' and the 'Permanent Passover.' On its first institution it was
ordained that the head of every house should, on the 10th of Nisan, select either a lamb
or a kid of the goats, of the first year, and without blemish. Later Jewish ordinances,
dating after the return from Babylon, limit it to a lamb; and it is explained that the
four days previous to the slaying of the lamb referred to the four generations that had
passed after the children of Israel went down into Egypt. The lamb was to be killed on the
eve of the 14th, or rather, as the phrase, is, 'between the two evenings' (Exo 12:6; Lev
23:5; Num 9:3,5). According to the Samaritans, the Karaite Jews, and many modern
interpreters, this means between actual sunset and complete darkness (or, say, between six
and seven p.m.); but from the contemporary testimony of Josephus (Jew. Wars, vi. 9,
3), and from Talmudical authorities, there cannot be a doubt that, at the time of our
Lord, it was regarded as the interval between the sun's commencing to decline and his
actual disappearance. This allows a sufficient period for the numerous lambs which had to
be killed, and agrees with the traditional account that on the eve of the Passover the
daily evening sacrifice was offered an hour, or, if it fell on a Friday, two hours, before
the usual time.
Institution of the Passover
In the original institution the blood of the sacrifice was to be sprinkled with hyssop
on the lintel and the two doorposts of the house, probably as being the most prominent
place of entrance. Then the whole animal, without breaking a bone of it, was to be
roasted, and eaten by each family—, if the number of its members were too small, by two
neighbouring families— with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, to symbolise the
bitterness of their bondage and the haste of their deliverance, and also to point forward
to the manner in which the true Israel were in all time to have fellowship in the Paschal
Lamb (1 Cor 5:7,8). All who were circumcised were to partake of this meal, and that
arrayed as for a journey; and whatsoever was not consumed was to be burnt on the spot.
These ordinances in regard to the Passover were afterwards modified during the journey in
the wilderness to the effect, that all males were to appear 'in the place which the Lord
shall choose,' and there alike to sacrifice and to eat the lamb or kid, bringing at the
same time also another offering with them (Exo 34:18-20; Deut 16:2,16,17). Lastly, it was
also ordered that if any man were unclean at the time of the regular Passover, or 'in a
journey afar off,' he should celebrate it a month later (Num 9:9-11).
Directions in the Mishnah
The Mishnah (Pes. ix. 5) contains the following, as the distinctions
between the 'Egyptian' and the 'Permanent' Passover: 'The Egyptian Passover was selected
on the 10th, and the blood was to be sprinkled with a sprig of hyssop on the lintel and
the two door-posts, and it was to be eaten in haste in the first night; but the Permanent
Passover is observed all the seven days'; i.e. the use of unleavened cakes was, on its
first observance, enjoined only for that one night, though, from Israel's haste, it must,
for several days, have been the only available bread; while afterwards its exclusive use
was ordered during the whole week. Similarly, also, the journey of the children of Israel
commenced on the 15th of Nisan, while in after-times that day as observed as a festival
like a Sabbath (Exo 12:16; Lev 23:7; Num 28:18). To these distinctions the following are
also added (Tos. Pes. viii): In Egypt the Passover was selected on the 10th, and
killed on the 14th, and they did not, on account of the Passover, incur the penalty of
'cutting off,' as in later generations; of the Egyptian Passover it was said, 'Let him and
his neighbour next unto his house take it,' while afterwards the Passover-companies might
be indiscriminately chosen; in Egypt it was not ordered to sprinkle the blood and burn the
fat on the altar, as afterwards; at the firs Passover it was said, 'None of you shall go
out of the door of his house until the morning,' which did not apply to later times; in
Egypt it was slain by every one in his own house, while afterwards it was slain by all
Israel in one place; lastly, formerly where they ate the Passover, there they lodged, but
afterwards they might eat it in one, and lodge in another place.
Later Celebrations
But the inference that the Passover was only celebrated on the occasions actually
mentioned in Scripture seems the less warranted, that in later times it was so
punctiliously and universally observed. We can form a sufficiently accurate idea of all
the circumstances attending it at the time of our Lord. On the 14th of Nisan every
Israelite who was physically able, not in a state of Levitical uncleanness, nor further
distant from the city than fifteen miles, was to appear in Jerusalem. Though women were
not legally obliged to go up, we know from Scripture (1 Sam 1:3-7; Luke 2:41,42), and from
the rules laid down by Jewish authorities (Jos. Wars, vi. 9-3; and Mishnah Pes.
ix. 4, for ex.), that such was the common practice. Indeed, it was a joyous time for all
Israel. From all parts of the land and from foreign countries the festive pilgrims had
come up in bands, singing their pilgrim psalms, and bringing with them burnt- and
peace-offerings, according as the Lord had blessed them; for none might appear empty
before Him (Exo 23:15; Deut 16:16,17). How large the number of worshippers was, may be
gathered from Josephus, who records that, when Cestius requested the high-priest to make a
census, in order to convince Nero of the importance of Jerusalem and of the Jewish nation,
the number of lambs slain was found to be 256,500, which, at the lowest computation of ten
persons to every sacrificial lamb, would give a population of 2,565,000, or, as Josephus
himself puts it, 2,700,200 persons, while on an earlier occasion (AD 65) he computes the
number present at not fewer than three millions (Jew. Wars, vi. 9, 3; ii. 14, 3). *
* These computations, being derived from official documents, can
scarcely have been much exaggerated. Indeed, Josephus expressly guards himself against
this charge.
Of course, many of these pilgrims must have camped outside the city walls. *
* It is deeply interesting that the Talmud (Pes. 53) specially
mentions Bethphage and Bethany as celebrated for their hospitality towards the festive
pilgrims.
Those who lodged within the walls were gratuitously accommodated, and in return left to
their hosts the skins of the Passover lambs and the vessels which they had used in their
sacred services. In such festive 'company' the parents of Jesus went to, and returned from
this feast 'every year,' taking their 'holy child' with them, after He had attained the
age of twelve— in accordance with Rabbinical law (Yoma, 82a)— He
remained behind, 'sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them
questions' (Luke 2:41-49). We know that the Lord Himself afterwards attended the Paschal
feast, and that on the last occasion He was hospitably entertained in Jerusalem,
apparently by a disciple (Matt 26:18; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-13), although he seems to
have intended spending the night outside the city walls (Matt 26:30,36; Mark 14:26,32:
Luke 22:39; John 18:1).
The Preparations for the Passover
But the preparations for the Passover had begun long before the 14th of Nisan. Already
a month previously (on the 15th of Adar), bridges and roads had been repaired for the use
of the pilgrims. That was also the time for administering the testing draught to women
suspected of adultery, for burning the red heifer, and for boring the ears of those who
wished to remain in servitude— short, for making all kinds of preliminary arrangements
before the festive season began. One of these is specially interesting as recalling the
words of the Saviour. In general, cemeteries were outside the cities; but any dead body
found in the field was (according to an ordinance which tradition traces up to Joshua) to
be buried on the spot where it had been discovered. Now, as the festive pilgrims might
have contracted 'uncleanness' by unwitting contact with such graves, it was ordered that
all 'sepulchres' should be 'whitened' a month before the Passover. It was, therefore,
evidently in reference to what He actually saw going on around Him at the time He spoke,
that Jesus compared the Pharisees 'unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful
outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness' (Matt 23:27).
Then, two weeks before Pesach, and at the corresponding time before the other two great
festivals, the flocks and herds were to be tithed, and also the Temple treasury-chests
publicly opened and emptied. Lastly, we know that 'many went out of the country up to
Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves' (John 11:55). It is this practice
which finds its spiritual application in regard to the better Passover, when, in the words
of St. Paul (1 Cor 11:27,28), 'whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the
Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.'
The Three Things
We have already explained that according to the Rabbis (Chag. ii, 1; vi. 2),
three things were implied in the festive command to 'appear before the Lord'—'Presence,'
the 'Chagigah,' and 'Joyousness.' As specially applied to the Passover, the first of these
terms meant, that every one was to come up to Jerusalem and to offer a burnt-offering, if
possible on the first, or else on one of the other six days of the feast. This
burnt-offering was to be taken only from 'Cholin' (or profane substance), that is, from
such as did not otherwise belong to the Lord, either as tithes, firstlings, or things
devoted, etc. The Chagigah, which was strictly a peace-offering, might be twofold. This
first Chagigah was offered on the 14th of Nisan, the day of the Paschal sacrifice, and
formed afterwards part of the Paschal Supper. The second Chagigah was offered on the 15th
of Nisan, or the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. It is this second Chagigah
which the Jews were afraid they might be unable to eat, if they contracted defilement in
the judgment-hall of Pilate (John 18:28). In reference to the first Chagigah, the Mishnah
lays down the rule, that it was only to be offered if the Paschal day fell on a week-day,
not on a Sabbath, and if the Paschal lamb alone would not have been sufficient to give a
satisfying supper to the company which gathered around it (Pes. vi. 4). As in the
case of all other peace-offerings, part of this Chagigah might be kept, though not for
longer than one night and two days from its sacrifice. Being a voluntary offering, it was
lawful to bring it from sacred things (such as tithes of the flock). But the Chagigah for
the 15th of Nisan was obligatory, and had therefore to be brought from 'Cholin.' The third
duty incumbent on those who appeared at the feast was 'joyousness.' This expression, as we
have seen, simply referred to the fact that, according to their means, all Israel were,
during the course of this festival, with joyous heart to offer peace-offerings, which
might be chosen from sacred things (Deut 27:7). Thus the sacrifices which every Israelite
was to offer at the Passover were, besides his share in the Paschal lamb, a
burnt-offering, the Chagigah (one or two), and offerings of joyousness— as God had
blessed each household. As stated in a previous chapter, all the twenty-four courses, into
which the priests were arranged, ministered in the temple on this, as on the other great
festivals, and they distributed among themselves alike what fell to them of the festive
sacrifices and the shewbread. But the course which, in its proper order, was on duty for
the week, alone offered all votive, and voluntary, and the public sacrifices for the whole
congregation, such as those of the morning and the evening (Succah v. 7).
Special Preparations
The special preparations for the Passover commenced on the evening of the 13th of
Nisan, with which, according to Jewish reckoning, the 14th began, the day being always
computed from evening to evening. *
* The article in Kitto's Cyc. (3rd edition), vol. iii. p. 425,
calls this day, 'the preparation for the Passover,' and confounds it with John 19:14. But
from the evening of the 14th to that of the 15th is never called in Jewish writings 'the
preparation for,' but 'the eve of, the Passover.' Moreover, the period described in John
19:14 was after, not before, the Passover. Dean Alford's notes on this passage, and on
Matthew 26:17, suggest a number of needless difficulties, and contain inaccuracies, due to
a want of sufficient knowledge of Hebrew authorities. In attempting an accurate chronology
of these days, it must always be remembered that the Passover was sacrificed between the
evenings of the 14th and the 15th of Nisan; that is, before the close of the 14th and the
beginning of the 15th. The Paschal Supper, however, took place on the 15th itself (that
is, according to Jewish reckoning— day beginning as the first stars became visible).
'The preparation' in John 19:14 means, as in verse 31, the preparation-day for the
Sabbath, and the 'Passover,' as in 18:39, the whole Paschal week.
Then the head of the house was to search with a lighted candle all places where leaven
was usually kept, and to put what of it he found in the house in a safe place, whence no
portion could be carried away by any accident. Before doing this, he prayed: 'Blessed art
Thou, Jehovah, our God, King of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by Thy commandments,
and commanded us to remove the leaven.' And after it he said: 'All the leaven that is in
my possession, that which I have seen and that which I have not seen, be it null, be it
accounted as the dust of the earth.' The search itself was to be accomplished in perfect
silence and with a lighted candle. To this search the apostle may have referred in the
admonition to 'purge out the old leaven' (1 Cor 5:7). Jewish tradition sees a reference to
this search with candles in Zephaniah 1:12: 'And it shall come to pass at that time that I
will search Jerusalem with candles.' If the leaven had not been removed on the evening of
the 13th, it might still be done on the forenoon of the 14th of Nisan. The question what
substances constituted leaven was thus solved. The unleavened cakes, which were to be the
only bread used during the feast, might be made of these five kinds of grain—,
barley, spelt, oats, and rye— cakes being prepared before fermentation had begun.
Anything prepared of these five kinds of grain— only of these— come within range
of the term 'leaven,' that is, if kneaded with water, but not if made with any other
fluid, such as fruit-liquor, etc.
Time of its Commencement
Early on the forenoon of the 14th of Nisan the feast of the Passover may be said to
have begun. In Galilee, no work was done all that day; in Judea it was continued till
mid-day; the rule, however, being that no new work was to be commenced, though that which
was in hand might be carried on. The only exception to this was in the case of tailors,
barbers, and those engaged in the laundry. Even earlier than mid-day of the 14th it was no
longer lawful to eat leaven. The strictest opinion fixes ten o'clock as the latest hour
when leaven might be eaten, the more lax eleven. From that hour to twelve o'clock it was
required to abstain from leaven, while at twelve it was to be solemnly destroyed, either
by burning, immersing it in water, or scattering it to the winds. To secure strict
obedience and uniformity, the exact time for abstaining from and for destroying the leaven
was thus made known: 'They laid two desecrated cakes of a thank-offering on a bench in the
porch (of the Temple). So long as they lay there, all the people might eat (leavened);
when one of them was removed, they abstained from eating, but they did not burn (the
leaven); when both were removed, all the people burnt (the leaven)' (Pes. i. 5).
Choice of the Lamb
The next care was to select a proper Paschal lamb which, of course, must be free from
all blemish, and neither less than eight days, nor more than exactly one year, old. Each
Paschal lamb was to serve for a 'company,' which was to consist of not less than ten, nor
of more than twenty persons. The company at the 'Lord's Passover Supper' consisted of
Himself and His disciples. Two of them, Peter and John, the Master had sent early forward
to 'prepare the Passover,' that is, to see to all that was needful for the due observance
of the Paschal Supper, especially the purchase and sacrifice of the Paschal lamb. Probably
they may have purchased it in the Holy City, though not, as in the majority of cases,
within the Temple-court itself, where a brisk and very profitable traffic in all such
offerings was carried on by the priests. For against this the Lord Jesus had inveighed
only a few days before, when He 'cast out all them that sold and bought in the Temple, and
overthrew the tables of the money-changers' (Matt 21:12,13), to the astonishment and
indignation of those who would intensely resent His interference with their authority and
gains (John 2:13-18).
Slaying of the Lamb
While the Saviour still tarried with the other disciples outside the city, Peter and
John were completing their preparations. They followed the motley crowd, all leading their
sacrificial lambs up the Temple-mount. Here they were grouped into three divisions.
Already the evening sacrifice had been offered. Ordinarily it was slain at 2:30 p.m., and
offered at about 3:30. But on the eve of the Passover, as we have seen, it was killed an
hour earlier; and if the 14th of Nisan fell on a Friday— rather from Thursday at eve to
Friday at eve— `63 hours earlier, so as to avoid any needless breach of the Sabbath.
On the occasion to which we refer the evening sacrifice had been slain at 1:30, and
offered at 2:30. But before the incense was burned or the lamps were trimmed, the Paschal
sacrifice had to be offered. *
* According to the Talmud, 'the daily (evening) sacrifice precedes that
of the Paschal lamb; the Paschal lamb the burning of the incense, the incense the trimming
of the lamps' (for the night).
It was done on this wise:— First of the three festive divisions, with their Paschal
lambs, was admitted within the Court of the Priests. Each division must consist of not
less than thirty persons (3 x 10, the symbolical number of the Divine and of
completeness). Immediately the massive gates were closed behind them. The priests drew a
threefold blast from their silver trumpets when the Passover was slain. Altogether the
scene was most impressive. All along the Court up to the altar of burnt-offering priests
stood in two rows, the one holding golden, the other silver bowls. In these the blood of
the Paschal lambs, which each Israelite slew for himself (as representative of his company
at the Paschal Supper), was caught up by a priest, who handed it to his colleague,
receiving back an empty bowl, and so the bowls with the blood were passed up to the priest
at the altar, who jerked it in one jet at the base of the altar. While this was going on,
a most solemn 'hymn' of praise was raised, the Levites leading in song, and the offerers
either repeating after them or merely responding. Every first line of a Psalm was repeated
by the people, while to each of the others they responded by a 'Hallelujah,' or 'Praise ye
the Lord.' This service of song consisted of the so-called 'Hallel,' which comprised
Psalms 113 to 118. Thus—
The Levites began: 'Hallelu Jah' (Praise ye the Lord).
The people repeated: 'Hallelu Jah.'
The Levites: 'Praise (Hallelu), O ye servants of Jehovah.'
The people responded: 'Hallelu Jah.'
The Levites: 'Praise (Hallelu) the name of Jehovah.'
The people responded: 'Hallelu Jah.'
Similarly, when Psalm 113 had been finished— 114:
The Levites: 'When Israel went out of Egypt.'
The people repeated: 'When Israel went out of Egypt.
The Levites: 'The house of Jacob from a people of strange language.'
The people responded: 'Hallelu Jah.'
And in the same manner, repeating each first line and responding at the rest, till they
came to Psalm 118, when, besides the first, these three lines were also repeated by the
people (vv 25, 26):
'Save now, I beseech Thee, Jehovah.'
'O Jehovah, I beseech Thee, send now prosperity'; and
'Blessed be He that cometh in the name of Jehovah.'
May it not be that to this solemn and impressive 'hymn' corresponds the Alleluia song
of the redeemed Church in heaven, as described in Revelation 19:1, 3, 4, 6?
The 'Hallel'
The singing of the 'Hallel' at the Passover dates from very remote antiquity. The
Talmud dwells on its peculiar suitableness for the purpose, since it not only recorded the
goodness of God towards Israel, but especially their deliverance from Egypt, and therefore
appropriately opened (Psa 113) with 'Praise ye Jehovah, ye servants of Jehovah'— no
longer of Pharaoh. Hence also this 'Hallel' is called the Egyptian, or 'the Common,' to
distinguish it from the great 'Hallel,' sung on very rare occasions, which comprised
Psalms 120 to 136. According to the Talmud, the 'Hallel' recorded five things: 'The coming
out of Egypt, the dividing of the sea, the giving of the law, the resurrection of the
dead, and the lot of the Messiah.' The Egyptian 'Hallel,' it may here be added, was
altogether sung on eighteen days and on one night in the year. These eighteen days were,
that of the Passover sacrifice, the Feast of Pentecost, and each of the eight days of the
Feasts of Tabernacles and of the Dedication of the Temple. The only night in which it was
recited was that of the Paschal Supper, when it was sung by every Paschal company in their
houses, in a manner which will hereafter be explained.
Completion of the Sacrifice
If the 'Hallel' had been finished before the service of one division was completed, it
was repeated a second and, if needful, even a third time. The Mishnah remarks, that
as the Great Court was crowded by the first two divisions, it rarely happened that they
got further than Psalm 116 before the services of the third division were completed. Next,
the sacrifices were hung up on hooks along the Court, or laid on staves which rested on
the shoulders of two men (on Sabbaths they were not laid on staves), then flayed, the
entrails taken out and cleansed, and the inside fat separated, put in a dish, salted, and
placed on the fire of the altar of burnt-offering. This completed the sacrifice. The first
division of offerers being dismissed, the second entered, and finally the third, the
service being in each case conducted in precisely the same manner. Then the whole service
concluded by burning the incense and trimming the lamps for the night.
When all had been finished in the Temple, the priests washed the Great Court, in which
so much sacrificial blood had been shed. But this was not done if the Passover had been
slain on the Sabbath. In that case, also, the three divisions waited— first in the
Court of the Gentiles, the second on the Chel, and the third in the Great Court— as not
needlessly to carry their burdens on the Sabbath.
But, as a general rule, the religious services of the Passover, like all positive
religious injunctions, 'made void the Sabbath.' In other respects the Passover, or rather
the 15th of Nisan, was to be observed like a Sabbath, no manner of work being allowed.
There was, however, one most important exception to this rule. It was permitted to prepare
the necessary articles of food on the 15th of Nisan. This explains how the words of Jesus
to Judas during the Paschal (not the Lord's) Supper could be misunderstood by the
disciples as implying that Judas, 'who had the bag,' was to 'buy those things' that they
had 'need of against the feast' (John 13:29).
Our Lord's Celebration of the Feast
It was probably as the sun was beginning to decline in the horizon that Jesus and the
other ten disciples descended once more over the Mount of Olives into the Holy City.
Before them lay Jerusalem in her festive attire. All around pilgrims were hastening
towards it. White tents dotted the sward, gay with the bright flowers of early spring, or
peered out from the gardens and the darker foliage of the olive plantations. From the
gorgeous Temple buildings, dazzling in their snow-white marble and gold, on which the
slanting rays of the sun were reflected, rose the smoke of the altar of burnt-offering.
These courts were now crowded with eager worshippers, offering for the last time, in the
real sense, their Paschal lambs. The streets must have been thronged with strangers, and
the flat roofs covered with eager gazers, who either feasted their eyes with a first sight
of the Sacred City for which they had so often longed, or else once more rejoiced in view
of the well-remembered localities. It was the last day-view which the Lord had of the Holy
City— His resurrection! Only once more in the approaching night of His betrayal was
He to look upon it in the pale light of the full moon. He was going forward to 'accomplish
His death' in Jerusalem; to fulfil type and prophecy, and to offer Himself up as the true
Passover Lamb—'the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' They who
followed Him were busy with many thoughts. They knew that terrible events awaited them,
and they had only a few days before been told that these glorious Temple-buildings, to
which, with a national pride not unnatural, they had directed the attention of their
Master, were to become desolate, not one stone being left upon the other. Among them,
revolving his dark plans, and goaded on by the great Enemy, moved the betrayer. And now
they were within the city. Its Temple, its royal bridge, its splendid palaces, its busy
marts, its streets filled with festive pilgrims, were well known to them, as they made
their way to the house where the guest-chamber had been prepared for them. Meanwhile the
crowd came down from the Temple-mount, each bearing on his shoulders the sacrificial lamb,
to make ready for the Paschal Supper.
