Matthew 26:19

Verse Matthew 26:19. And the disciples did] The disciples that were sent on this errand were Peter and John. See Luke 22:8.

They made ready the passover] That is, they provided the lamb, c., which were appointed by the law for this solemnity. Mr. Wakefield justly observes, "that the Jews considered the passover as a sacrificial rite Josephus calls it θυσιαν, A SACRIFICE; and Trypho, in Justin Martyr, speaks of προβατον του πασχα θυειν, SACRIFICING the paschal lamb. But what comes nearer to the point is this, that Maimonides, one of the most eminent of the Jewish rabbins, has a particular treatise on the paschal sacrifice; and throughout that piece, speaks of the lamb as a victim, and of the solemnity itself as a sacrifice. And R. Bechai, in his commentary on Leviticus 2:11, says that the paschal sacrifice was of a piacular nature, in order to expiate the guilt contracted by the idolatrous practices of the Israelites In Egypt." It was highly necessary that this should be considered as an expiatory sacrifice, as it typified that Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. For much more on this important subject than can, with propriety, be introduced into these notes, see a Discourse on the Eucharist, lately published by the author of this work.