BIBLE TEXT (LUKE 22:7-13)
The Preparation for the Passover
(Lk 22:7) Then came the feast of the Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. (8) So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and get everything ready for us to eat the Passover meal.” (9) They asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” (10) And he said, “When you enter the city, a man will come to you carrying a jar of water. Follow him to the house he enters and (11) say to the owner: ‘The master asks: where is the room where I may eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ (12) He will show you a large, furnished room upstairs, and there you will prepare for us.” (13) Peter and John went off and having found everything just as Jesus had told them, they prepared the Passover meal.
INTERPRETATION
INTERPRETATION
Background
Jesus spent the last week of his life in Jerusalem teaching in the temple area and staying at the Mount of Olives during the night. Early each morning, people used to come to the temple area to listen to him (Lk 21:37-38). Though the chief priests and the Scribes attempted to arrest Jesus, they could not do so because of the numbers of admirers around. The Jewish leaders bribed Judas Iscariot to help them arrest Jesus when he was free of crowds (Lk 22:1-6). Prompted by Satan, Judas agreed to the deal they struck with him. In the meantime, Jesus prepared for this last Passover celebration with his apostles.
The Preparation for the Passover
(Lk 22:7) Then came the feast of the Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed .
the feast of the Unleavened Bread
When God delivered the Israelites under the leadership of Moses, God asked them to celebrate the Passover. Since they had to leave Egypt immediately after in a hurry, they could not wait to leaven the bread. So, God asked the Israelites to celebrate annually the feast of the Unleavened Bread for one week to remember gratefully that historical event. “The fifteenth day of this month is the LORD’s feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread” (Lev 23:6).
Israel had to give up all their sinful ways in Egypt and follow the Lord to the Promised Land. Since leaven was a symbol of sin, part of Passover preparation was the scrupulous removal of all leaven from the house before the celebration.
on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed
Since Luke wrote for non-Jewish readers, he clarified the main content of the Passover celebration, which is the sacrifice of a Passover lamb. According to Paul, Christ is the paschal lamb sacrificed for us (1 Cor 5:7).
(8) So Jesus sent Peter and John saying, “Go and get everything ready for us to eat the Passover meal.”
Jesus sent Peter and John saying,
Jesus planned for his last Passover meal. He had sent two disciples to get the colt for his solemn entry into Jerusalem. Later, he sent probably the same disciples to prepare the Passover meal.
Peter and John
Jesus had seventy-two disciples like the elders of the Old Testament or the Sanhedrin, 12 apostles representing the 12 tribes of Israel, and the apostles Peter, James, and John as the inner circle. However, Jesus selected Peter and John for preparing the last Passover. That might have caused them to develop a good companionship.
The following are the combined activities of Peter and John recorded in the Bible:
1. Though the evangelists do not give the names of the two disciples Jesus sent to get the donkey for his solemn entry into Jerusalem, many believe that they must’ve been Peter and John (Mt 21:1; Mk 11:1).
2. Jesus assigned to both of them the task of preparing the Passover meal for him and his apostles (Lk 22:8).
3. When Jesus revealed during the last supper that one of the twelve would betray him, Peter nodded to John to find out whom he meant (Jn 13:21-24).
4. Peter and John accompanied Jesus to the high priest’s residence during the trial of Jesus (Jn 18:15).
5. Peter and John were the first apostles who went to the tomb of Jesus when Mary Magdalene told them about the empty tomb (Jn 20:3).
6. During the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee, John said to Peter, “It is the Lord” (Jn 21:7).
7. When Jesus told Peter with what kind of death he would glorify God, Peter’s concern was only about John (Jn 21:1822).
8. After Pentecost, Peter and John went to the Temple where Peter healed a crippled beggar (Acts 3:1-10), the Temple authorities confronted Peter and John at the preaching of Peter, put them in custody, and on the next day the Sanhedrin questioned them (Acts 3:11-4:22).
9. “When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who went down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:14-15).
These are signs of a special bond between Peter and John.
“Go and get everything ready for us to eat the Passover meal”
There were several items to be prepared for the Passover meal. The step-by-step preparations, along with how they apply for the sacrifice of Jesus as the Pascal lamb, are:
1. Selection of the lamb on the tenth of Nisan: Each family would select a one-year-old unblemished male lamb for sacrifice. In Jesus’ case, he stood in for the unblemished male lamb, whom the family of Israel had selected and brought to the Temple, and the priests approved him for slaughter. This happened on Palm Sunday that was the tenth of Nisan. The slaughter would take place in the Temple on the 15th of Nisan that starts at 6:00 pm on the 14th, according to the Gregorian calendar and ends at 6:00 pm on the 15th. According to the Jewish calendar, Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist, and the soldiers crucified him on the same date, 15th of Nisan.
2. Searching Leaven on 13th of Nisan: The family would check and remove any leaven in the house based on God’s commandment: “For seven days, no leaven shall be seen throughout your territory” (Deut 16:4). Jesus did this on Palm Sunday by expelling the unjust merchants who defiled the House of God and clearing their livestock from the Temple area.
3. Foot washing on 14th of Nisan: When the guests and members of the family arrived at the house for the Passover meal, a slave or servant would wash their feet. Since his disciples did not perform this, Jesus did this for them during the meal, which was unusual. It was to teach them how they should follow his ‘servant leadership’ in their ministry.
4. Table setting: The family sets the Passover table Charoseth (a sweet dark-coloured paste made of fruits and nuts), unleavened bread, vegetables, vinegar (karpas), four wine glasses, red and warm wine bottles, and several candles. The people would recline with the support of bolsters around a low table about 18 inches high. They would arrange seating according to the age or social position of the participants.
(9) They asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”
Jesus had used different houses or locations for his stay during his visit to Jerusalem. So, the question of Peter and John to Jesus implicitly was in whose house they had to prepare the Passover meal. The preparation procedure for the Passover lamb was: People brought the Passover lambs at the Temple Mount, and they killed their animals in the courtyard of the Temple. The priests collected the blood of the sacrifice in silver and gold basins and tossed the blood on the altar. After the sacrifice, the owners flayed the animal and took it home and roasted it (https://jewishroots. net/library/holiday-articles/passover-lamb-sacrifice-procedure. html).
“No bones might be broken either during the cooking or during the eating. The lamb was set on the table at the evening banquet, and was eaten by those assembled after all had satisfied their appetites with the ḥagigah or other food. The sacrifice had to be consumed entirely that same evening, nothing being allowed to remain overnight. While eating it, the entire company of those who partook was obliged to remain together, and every participant had to take a piece of the lamb at least as large as an olive” (https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11934passover-sacrifice).
Whether Peter and John offer a Passover Lamb for Jesus and the apostles is not clear. Most probably, they had offered a lamb and brought it as part of the Passover meal because it was an essential part of Passover observance. However, later, Jesus substituted himself as the lamb for the new Passover for Christians.
(10) And he said, “When you enter the city, a man will come to you carrying a jar of water. Follow him to the house he enters and …”
When you enter the city
Jesus stayed at Bethany with the other ten disciples while Peter and John went to prepare the Passover meal. It must be in Jerusalem because the Passover sacrifice could not take place anywhere else – “You shall offer the Passover sacrifice from your flock and your herd to the LORD, your God, in the place the LORD will choose as the dwelling place of his name” (Deut 16:2). So, the city Jesus referred to was Jerusalem, where the lamb had to be sacrificed and eaten with a Passover meal.
A man will come to you carrying a jar of water
With his divine vision, Jesus could foresee what would happen when the disciples enter the city. There was no running water in the houses. Usually, women went to fetch water from the nearby well or fountain. So, a man carrying a jar of water was an unusual sight. However, according to the Jewish custom, the master of the house had to draw the water on the 13th of Nisan before the stars appeared in the heavens, to knead the unleavened bread for the Passover. Most probably, the Passover was held in the upper room of the house of Mark (Acts 12:12) whose mother, Mary, was a follower of Jesus. The man who carried the water might be Mark, who is believed to be one of the 70 (72) disciples of Jesus. Hence, the master of the house was his father, Aristopolos.
Follow him to the house he enters
Since the man who carried the water was not the house owner, Peter and John must follow him to the house he entered and meet the owner. It was akin to Jesus sending two disciples to get the donkey (Lk 19:29-31). They believed and obeyed what Jesus told them to do.
(11) say to the owner: ‘The master asks: where is the room where I may eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’
People in Palestine used to have upper rooms for their houses allotted for prayer, gatherings, or for guests. Jesus might have used the upper room of that owner during his previous visits to Jerusalem. “Say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ (Mk 14:14) Jesus had previously arranged for the use of that room with the owner for his last Passover meal. Since Mark’s parents were rich, their upper room could accommodate those 13 people to recline and eat the food. Jesus’ team also had enough people to eat one Passover lamb (Ex 12:3-4).
(12) He will show you a large, furnished room upstairs, and there you will prepare for us.
Jesus was sure that the house owner would accept his request to allow his use of the upper room for his use. Jesus might have asked the house owner beforehand to set up the room for his Passover observance with the disciples. So, he was sure that the room was already furnished, and the disciples had only to prepare the Passover meal there.
The house should belong to a wealthy admirer of Jesus, like Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus. Many believe that it belonged to the parents of Mark. His family was wealthy, with at least one maidservant, Rhoda (Acts 12:13). Besides using the place for the Last Supper, the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to the disciples happened in this room. The early Christian community had used this upper room for prayer (Acts 1:13). The Holy Spirit came on the disciples in this room on the day of Pentecost. Peter preached to the people gathered on the day of Pentecost from here and converted 3,000 people (Acts 2:14-41). In effect, this became the first Christian house.
(13) Peter and John went off and having found everything just as Jesus had told them, they prepared the Passover meal.
Everything took place, as Jesus had told Peter and John. When they reached the city, they saw the man who came towards them carrying a jar of water. They followed him to the house and found the owner who showed them the upper room already furnished for the Passover meal. The apostles prepared for the Passover meal there, including the cooked Paschal lamb.
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