Matthew 26:18

‘And he said, “Go into the city to such a man, and say to him, “The Teacher says, “My time is at hand. I keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.”

As they again probably expected (it would not be the first time) Jesus had already made arrangements for a house in the city in which to observe the Passover, and He thus gave directions accordingly. We learn in the other Gospels that Jesus had also made certain arrangements so as to ensure that no one, apart from two fully trustworthy disciples, knew in which house the celebration was to be held until the actual event took place (Mark 14:13), by which time it would no longer matter. The meal would be over before the information could leak out.

“The Teacher says, “My time is at hand. I keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.” This would appear to have been an arranged password. Jesus was often spoken of as ‘the Teacher'. Or it maybe that a friend had arranged it and informed Jesus that he had booked it in His name as ‘the Teacher'. ‘My time is at hand' would indicate to the houseowner that it was now time to prepare for the meal, but it had the double significance that the time was now drawing near when Jesus would fulfil His destiny (compare Matthew 26:2). This Passover was to be of especial importance (compare John 13:1).

‘Keep the Passover.' Compare ‘eat the Passover' (Matthew 26:13). The impression is definitely given that this is to be an ‘ordinary' Passover meal including all the accoutrements. This is thought by some to be a difficulty as they consider that John indicates that Jesus died on the same day as the Passover lambs were offered in the Temple (although he nowhere says so). Thus there are a number of views taken of the situation:

1). That the Synoptics were right and that John was strictly incorrect, and was rather portraying an ‘ideal' picture.

2). That John was correct and that the Synoptics were describing a pre-Passover meal, mistakenly thinking that it was the Passover.

3). That the Synoptics were right and that John's account can in fact be reconciled with this. This is the view that we think most probably correct.

Excursus on the Problem in John's Gospel.

Some have argued that the meal described in John 13 could not have been the Passover meal. They have argued:

1). A trial would not have been held on Passover night.

2). The disciples would not have borne arms on that night.

3). Simon of Cyrene would not have been ‘coming in from the country' the following morning.

4). Some Synoptic passages are inconsistent with it e.g. Mark 14:2.

However these arguments are not convincing. Passover time, while the pilgrims were still in the city, might be considered precisely the time when a ‘false prophet' should be arrested and executed in order that ‘all Israel might hear and fear' (Deuteronomy 17:13). Furthermore they would recognise that the whole affair would have to be carried out in haste because Judas' information made it possible for it to be done secretly and Jesus was there available. They dared not miss such an opportunity. They probably thought that dealing with this ‘blasphemer' at the Feast justified ignoring any doubts that they might otherwise have.

Mark 14:2 merely expresses the plan of the authorities, which was subject to alteration if circumstances demanded. Some have suggested translating ‘feast' as ‘festal crowd' rather than ‘feast day' which is quite possible.

There was in fact no prohibition of arms being carried at the Passover.

‘Coming in from the country' need not mean that Simon had been outside the prescribed limits, and indeed he may not have been a Jew. Besides it would always be possible that he had been delayed by some cause beyond his control so that he had arrived late for the Passover. Thus this vague argument carries little weight.

But this immediately faces us with a problem. The words in John 18:28 (‘they themselves did not enter the palace in order that they might not be defiled but might eat the Passover') might appear to suggest that Jesus died at the same time as the Passover sacrifice, otherwise they would not be able to eat the Passover.. That would mean that the scene in John 13 occurred on the night before the Passover feast. But as we have seen the other Gospels make clear that Jesus officiates at the Passover feast (Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7), and there can be no doubt that both are depicting the same feast.

However, what must be borne in mind is that John 18:28 may be speaking of ‘the Passover', not as meaning the Passover feast itself, but in a general sense as including the whole eight day feast (compare John 2:23 where ‘the feast of the Passover' is clearly the seven days of the feast and Luke's use in Luke 22:1), in which case ‘eating the Passover' may refer to the continual feasting during the week (unleavened bread had to be eaten throughout the week and there would be many thank-offerings as well), and especially to the second Chagigah (special peace-offering), and not to the actual Passover celebration, in which case there is no contradiction. We can compare with this how in 2 Chronicles 30:22 the keeping of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread (Matthew 26:13) which includes the Passover (Matthew 26:15) is described as ‘eating the food of the festival for seven days'.

Against this, however we should note that ‘to eat the Passover' does at least include eating the Passover supper in the Synoptics (Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12; Mark 14:14; Luke 22:8; Luke 22:11; Luke 22:15). That does not, however, necessarily tie the escorts of Jesus to using it in the same way after the Passover supper has passed.

Alternately it has been suggested that in fact the men involved had been so taken up with the pursuit of Jesus into the night as a result of Judas' unexpected offer to lead them to Jesus in a place where He could be taken without fear of the people, that they had not yet had time to complete their Passover meal. They would not have been disturbed until they were part of the way through it. We only have to consider the facts of that night to recognised how involved their night had been! They may well have been disturbed in the middle of their Passover meal with news that it was possible to catch Jesus and His disciples alone and have convinced themselves that such a delay was justified in order to deal with Jesus at what was clearly a crucial moment. Once they had dealt with Him they could go home to finish eating their Passover, which had been suddenly delayed for reasons of state, with contented minds.

After all any uncleanness perpetrated on the 14th of Nisan would only have lasted until the evening, and they would thus still have been able to ‘eat the Passover', although it is true that they would not have been allowed to approach the Temple to sacrifice during the day. But in that case why did John not say ‘sacrifice the Passover'.

In the same way his reference to ‘the preparation of the Passover' or ‘the Friday of the Passover' (paraskeue tou pascha) (John 19:14) can equally be seen as referring to the ‘preparation' for the Sabbath occurring in Passover week, i.e. the Friday of Passover week, as it certainly does in John 19:31, and therefore not to the preparation of the Passover feast itself. Basically the word paraskeue can mean ‘day before the Sabbath in preparation for it' and the term Passover (pascha) was used to describe the whole festival. If this be the case John gives no suggestion that Jesus died at the same time as the Passover lamb.

End of Excursus.

4). That John was right and that the Synoptics can in fact be reconciled with that fact, by for example suggesting that it was a pre-Passover event. Had Jesus wished it, He could have been arranged for such a meal to be very similar to a Passover meal by the offering of a lamb as a thank-offering, and treating it as a Passover lamb, or even by foregoing the lamb.

5). That the Passover was held on different days by different sections of the Jewish population (certainly the Qumranis had a different calendar from the Temple), with those whom Jesus favoured holding it a day earlier than the orthodox Jerusalemites. To some this connects up with a possible dispute as to what was the correct date of the Passover, which would depend on which night the 1st day of Nisan commenced, something which was at times disputable. There is then disagreement on whether the Passover lamb could have been offered if any of this were true. That would depend on how acceptable the difference interpretations would be to the priesthood (who would not necessarily all agree). Alternately a freewill offering could have been offered and then utilised as a Passover lamb. Some consider that the non-mention of the Passover lamb in any of the Gospel accounts favours this overall view. However this last can equally be explained by the new emphasis placed on the bread and the wine, with their new significance. The lamb had now ceased to be important because Jesus was the Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7). Were it not for the fact of 3). which makes it unnecessary, 5). could be a genuine possible explanation, for our knowledge of the Jewish history of this period is negligible.