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.
