Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. (Matt. 26:17-19).

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? And he sendeth forth two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he will shew you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us. And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. (Mark 14:12-16).

Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. (Luke 22:7-13).

Each of the three writers above provides details lacking in the other records. Mathew describes the circumstances only; Mark adds the curious instructions that the Lord gave when he called upon two of his disciples to follow the man with the pitcher of water; Luke tells us who the two were.

What was the purpose of the Lord in giving such curious instructions?

It was to preserve the secrecy as to where he would keep the Passover. Jesus knew that the upper room would provide the opportunity that Judas was seeking to betray him. It would defeat the purpose of the Lord if he were arrested and executed too early, for in order to fulfil the type, this had to take place at the same time as the Passover was slain. Therefore, for the moment, he had to keep the whereabouts of this room secret, lest Judas would tell the guard. After leaving the Temple, Jesus had hid himself from the Jewish leaders (John 12:36), and continued to do so until the moment when he gave himself up to them.

A Strange Mission For Peter And John

The thirteenth of Abib passed away and merged into the fourteenth.

Luke 22:7 declares: "Then came the day of unleavened bread."

The word he used, translated "came," indicated that it had just arrived, and as Jewish reckoning accounts the beginning of a day at 6 o'clock the night before, the time indicated is 6 o'clock on the 13th Abib when the l4th day commenced.

This was the day, comments Luke, "when the passover must be killed."

It would be killed between 3 and 6 o'clock on the morrow, so less than 24 hours remained before the Lord would be slain.

As indicated earlier, we believe that 14th Abib, in this year, fell on a Wednesday; so that the Passover was celebrated on the same day as it had been when Israel left Egypt!

This day was so called because preparation was made for the Passover on that day, by carefully excluding all leaven from the homes of Israelites, and by slaying the lamb which was eaten in the evening, when the 15th Abib commenced.

Every detail of the events of that significant day is important, and should be carefully considered by those who have put upon themselves the name of Christ, and celebrate "his feast" from week to week.

For example, as the Jews had a "day of preparation" before partaking of the Passover Lamb, so Christ's followers should prepare themselves to partake of the emblems of their Passover. Thought, prayer, and practical application of the requirements of God, should be made by each one before presenting himself before the table of the Lord.

Jesus taught that in the Sermon on the Mount. He declared:

"If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you; leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift" (Matt. 5:23-24).

As the Jews carefully searched their homes to remove therefrom any trace of leaven; we should search our hearts with a similar objective. Paul exhorted:

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened; for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor. 5:7-8).

It now being 6 p.m. on the 13th Abib, and the 14th having thus commenced, the Lord turned to Peter and John (Luke 22:8):

"Go and prepare us the passover that we may eat!" he commanded.

They replied to him:

"Where will you that we should go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?"

They were confident that the Lord would celebrate the Passover with them at 6 p.m. the following day, and in the meantime, it was necessary to prepare the room for the occasion.

We can imagine the excitement of Judas as he awaited the Lord's reply. This was just the occasion he required to keep his agreement with the Jewish leaders. Once Jesus disclosed the place where he would be on his own with the Apostles, Judas could have arranged to convey the information to the priests, who would have despatched the guard to arrest the Lord.

But to his bitter frustration, Jesus did not disclose the address of the place. Instead, he declared:

"Go into the city; and behold, when you are entered into it, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he enters in. And you shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master says unto you, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready!" (Mark 14:13-15).

It is obvious that all this had been arranged before. The man would meet them. In other words, he would be waiting for them. He would be carrying a pitcher of water, which would be most unusual, for this was normally a woman's job, so he would be easily identified. As Siloam was the only place where living water could be obtained in the city, it would be towards the pool that the Apostles would go. It is clear, too, that the owner of the guestchamber was a disciple of the Lord, for the Apostles were to tell him that "the Master says unto you. . . "

This had all been carefully prearranged, so that Judas might remain in ignorance of the locality of the house. To his annoyance he had to continue with the Lord into the guestchamber itself!

Meanwhile, Peter and John went on their way. They met the man, and were led to the house. The owner showed them the guestchamber which they found furnished with carpets and reclining couches, and there they proceeded to make ready for the passover in the manner customary on the day of preparation.