From Passover to the Lord’s Supper (Part 1)
Matthew 26:17-25
In Matthew 26:1-16, we saw four preparations for the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. His death came by God’s predetermined plan (Matt. 26:1-2); The Jewish leaders plotted to kill Him (Matt. 26:3-5); Mary perfumed by anointed Jesus (Matt. 26:6-13); and Judas prearranged to betray Jesus (Matt. 26:14-16).
In today’s passage, we see how Jesus Himself made some final preparations before the cross. He celebrated the last Passover feast with His disciples, and He instituted the first Lord’s Supper. Each of the Gospel writers emphasize different aspects of this last supper of Jesus with His disciples, but Matthew especially focuses on the plan of God. God was working out His sovereign plan of salvation as Jesus moved toward the cross.
Jesus’ death on the cross was no accident. It was a divine appointment. Our Lord was in absolute control over the events that surrounded His betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion. It all occurred under His sovereign authority, and in perfect obedience to His Father’s will.
I. Jesus Celebrates the Last Passover (Matt. 26:17-25).
A. Preparations for the Passover (Matt. 26:17-19).
Matthew 26:17 says, “Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?“
that is, on the first day of that sacred feast of the Jewish people that commemorated their deliverance from bondage in Egypt through the leadership of Moses.
Passover is the oldest of the Jewish feasts. It commemorated their deliverance from bondage in Egypt and their deliverance from the final plague, the death of the firstborn. It was to be the first feast of the calendar year, commemorated on the evening of the 14th day of Abib (Lev. 23:5; Ex. 23:15). The day following the Passover began the feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6) which lasted for a week. The combined eight-day celebration of these two feasts could be called either “Passover” or “the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” The terms were commonly used interchangeably.
On the night that they were to depart from Egypt, God gave instruction as to what they were to do to commemorate that great deliverance. The LORD said,
3 “Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. 4 And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.’ “ (Exodus 12:3-8).
Four days prior to the Passover meal, each family was to select a male unblemished lamb and keep it until the fourteenth day of the month (Exo. 12:3-5). Because the events of this passage take place on Thursday of the Passion Week, Jesus and the disciples had doubtlessly already done this on Sunday or Monday just after the Triumphal Entry. On the day of the Passover, the lambs were taken to the priests at the temple and slain at twilight (Exo. 12:6).
God goes on to explain the meaning behind the meal,
11 ‘And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. 14 So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance. ‘ (Exodus 12:11-14).
God instructed the Jewish people to commemorate this sacred event every year at this time (Exo. 12:17). And so, our Lord was celebrating the beginning of the Passover with His disciples on this first night of the feast of unleavened bread.
All the Gospels indicate that Jesus died on the cross on Friday, the preparation day for the Sabbath. If you were with us when we studied through the Gospel of John, you may remember that John indicates that “lest they be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover” (John 18:28), the chief priests would not go into the Praetorium early Friday morning when they delivered Jesus over to Pontius Pilate to be condemned. Thus, in John, Jesus died as the Passover lambs were being slain for the Passover. But in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus had celebrated the Passover with His disciples the night before. Bible scholars point out that the Pharisees as well as all the Galilean Jews counted days from sunrise to sunrise while the Sadducees and the Judean Jews counted their days from sunset to sunset. Therefore, 14 Abib (or Nisan) fell for Galileans on Thursday and for the Judeans on Friday. The slaughter of the lambs took place on both Thursday and Friday. Thus, Jesus could celebrate the Passover with His disciples on Thursday and also die as the Passover lamb on Friday.
Knowing they needed to prepare the Passover meal, Jesus’ disciples came to Him and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” The city was teeming with as many as 2 million people. Every place that could seat at least ten men would be used by residents and visitors to Jerusalem for the feast. And here’s where our Lord’s sovereignty is put on display before us. In answer to their question, Jesus then told them, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples”’ (Matt. 26:18).
Mark (14:13) and Luke (22:10) tells us that the man would be “carrying a pitcher of water.” This would be an odd sight, for women normally carried water. The man would be easy to spot in the crowd. They were to say to him, “The Teacher says, ‘My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”
Why didn’t Jesus just tell them the name or address of the place? Why this secretive approach? Probably it was because Jesus knew that Judas was already looking for an “opportunity to betray Him” (Matt. 26:16). Jesus wanted to ensure He could eat this final meal with His disciples undisturbed before His arrest. Because Peter and John went on this task alone (Luke 22:8), Judas could not alert the chief priests where it was. Jesus sovereignly controlled every detail.
Observe specifically that Jesus said, “My time is at hand” (Matt. 26:18). On previous occasions Jesus had said, “My time has not yet come” and words to that effect (Jn.7:6,8 etc…). Now the time had come. John 13:1 says, “Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
Jesus said, “I will keep the Passover.” This was no normal Passover, but a pivotal moment in Jesus’ ministry and in redemptive history. In Luke 22:15 Jesus emphasizes its significance, saying, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”
Matthew 26:19 says, “So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.” But it was clear that Jesus had already made Passover preparations for them! He chose the time and the place of the Last Supper. Jesus has been anticipating this meal and has already worked out all the details. He tells the disciples exactly who to contact and exactly what to say. He knows exactly where they will eat and all that will happen. Could you imagine what that must have been like for Peter and John to see all these things unfolding before them—just as the Lord had told them?
Jesus’ sovereignty over the preparation for the feast teaches us that He was sovereign over the meaning of what was about to happen on the cross. He was willingly giving Himself to us as the fulfillment of everything that the Passover was meant to represent. He Himself was the Lamb who was to be slain. It was His blood that was to provide the satisfaction of God’s wrath for sin, and that would allow Him to ‘pass-over’ us in judgment.
B. Jesus Announces His Betrayal (Matt. 26:20-24).
Matthew 26:20 says, “When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.”
“Sat down” means “to recline.” For the disciples and other Jews, Passover was a joyous holiday occasion, much like Thanksgiving for us. The meal began with a serving of wine from a common cup. This was the first of 4 cups to be passed. Tradition has it that they watered down the wine to keep anyone from desecrating the meal in drunkenness.
Next, there was ceremonial washing in which the washing of hands symbolized the need for the spiritual cleansing of the heart. Luke 22:24 records that at the supper there arose “a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.” John records that Jesus Himself “rose… and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself… poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and to wipe them with the towel…” (John 13:4-5).
It seems the disciples were too proud to serve each other in this way. So, the Son of God washed the dirty feet of men. It was both an act of pure humility and a strong rebuke to the arrogance of the disciples. He said, “For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (Jn.13:15).
Next, was the eating of the bitter herbs. The herbs and unleavened bread were dipped into a dish of charoseth, a substance made of pomegranates, apples, dates, figs, raisins and vinegar. It was symbolic of the brick mortar the Jews used in their slave labor in Egypt.
Next would come the singing of psalms. Traditionally the Hallel psalms (Psalms 113-118) were sung.
Then the roasted lamb would be brought out and served. The head of the house would again wash his hands and break the unleavened bread to be passed and eaten with the roasted lamb.
It was probably at this or some other early point in the feast that Jesus said something that caused a chill to run up each disciple’s spine. Matthew tells us, “Now as they were eating, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.”” (Matt. 26:21). Several times before, Jesus had told His disciples that He would be betrayed. But this is the first time He lets them know that it will be one of them. One of the Twelve will do the betraying.
“Betray” is from a Greek term that meant “the handing over of a prisoner for punishment.” Matthew 4:12 uses the same word to describe John the Baptist thrown in prison.
The disciples are stunned. One of them? How can that be? It wounded them deeply to think that a betrayer was among them. Instead of pointing fingers at each other, it seems that each man began to examine his own heart: “And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, “Lord, is it I?”” (Matt. 26:22). Judas has hidden his treachery well, so well that each of the disciples examines his own heart rather than immediately pointing the finger at Judas. The only thing worse than one of their number betraying Jesus would be if they were the betrayer themselves.
Jesus then answered them, “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me,” (Matt. 26:23). In the Middle East, to eat a meal with someone is to proclaim a solemn friendship. They all had dipped their hands into the same dish as He had sometime during that evening. I suspect Jesus said this because it was fulfilling scripture. David, lamenting the traitorous act of his own friend, wrote in Psalm 41:9,
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me
(Psalm 41:9).
In another Psalm, David wrote,
12 For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me;
Then I could hide from him.
13 But it was you, a man my equal,
My companion and my acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together,
And walked to the house of God in the throng.
(Psalm 55:12-14).
Judas’ betrayal did not come as a surprise at all to Jesus. He knew that it was the fulfillment of scripture. Assuring them that this was all part of His sovereign plan, referring to those prophetic Psalms, Jesus says, “The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him …” (Matt. 26:24a). This was not just because of the trickery of Judas or the plotting of the Jews, but because redemptive history was being played out according to the plan of God.
Jesus then added, “… But woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born” (Matt. 26:24). Here, we see a mysterious aspect of our Lord’s sovereignty. The Lord must be betrayed; because this is the promise of Scripture. But Judas, the one who did the betraying, remains utterly responsible for his vile action. Yes, this was all part of God’s plan, but Judas was a willing participant. No one forced him to betray Jesus. Judas did it willingly from the darkness of his own heart. Judas’ future in hell was so horrific that it would have been better off for him to have never been born (Heb.10:26-29).
C. The Betrayer Leaves the Passover (Matt. 26:25).
Judas, ever the charlatan, pretended innocence by asking, “Rabbi, is it I?” He tries to disguise his betraying heart by asking the same question all the other disciples asked. But there’s one significant difference. The other disciples all asked, “Lord, is it I?” (Matt. 26:22). I suspect that Judas cannot quite bring himself to call Jesus Lord, and so he asks, “Rabbi, is it I?” (Matt. 26:25).
Judas had been one of the twelve. He had seen the Lord’s miracles. He had heard the Lord’s teaching. He had been with the other eleven apostles. He was among those who had gone out preaching that people should repent. He was among those who had the greatest privilege imaginable—to be with the Word of God in human flesh for three and a half years. And yet, already, Judas had begun to draw himself away from the Lord that he was about to betray.
But Matthew tells us that it was this Judas “who was betraying Him,” using the present tense of the verb. Judas had already set in motion the wheels of Jesus’ betrayal. He had already gone to the chief priests, and they had already offered money to him. He had already been watching and waiting for the opportune moment (Matt. 26:14-16).
But notice also that nothing was hidden from the Lord. Jesus said to him, “You have said it” (Matt. 26:25). Long before this time Jesus had spoken to the twelve and said, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70). We’re told that, in saying this, “He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve” (John 6:71). Jesus is the sovereign Lord, who already knew His betrayer long before the betrayal had ever even begun.
From John’s Gospel, we know that our Lord gave Judas permission to leave, and, indeed, to get on with his mission: “What you do, do quickly” (John 13:27).
Judas could not get out of that room fast enough. He could never go back. Jesus knew him to be His betrayer, and he could not be certain that the disciples might not figure it out. Whatever he did, he must do it quickly. And so, Judas left the room and went immediately to the Jewish leaders to betray the Lord Jesus.
We dare not miss the significance of what we have just read. Our Lord’s revelation (to Judas at least) of the identity of His betrayer forced him and the Jewish leaders to revise their plans. They had earlier resolved that the arrest and murder of Jesus would not be during the feast (Matt. 26:5). Now, if Judas were to earn his blood money, Jesus would have be arrest tonight, during the feast. Judas could never return to our Lord’s inner circle of disciples. Judas must act now or never, and act he did.
Jesus has an appointment with the cross, and by identifying His betrayer, Jesus set in motion the events that will lead to His arrest that night and to the cross the following day. All of the things that were about to happen to Jesus were under the sovereign control of the Lord Himself. And when we see that, it reminds us that His death was a deliberate act of immeasurably great love.
Let me leave you with three thoughts[i]:
- Trust the sovereign Lord. Marvel at the plan of God. We see so much sin and evil in this world, yet God is still working out His sovereign plan. God in His providence works all things together for good, even Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. If God can take even the worst action ever committed by any human being (Judas), and use it for good in his plan, then we need to trust God’s sovereignty in our lives as well.
- Fear hell. Sin is not just in the world out there. Sin is in here, in each and every one of us. Just as there was a time appointed for Jesus’ death, so there is a time appointed for judgment. Jesus said it would have been better for Judas not to have been born than to betray Jesus. There are some things worse than never being born. You may never betray Jesus, but if you reject Jesus as Lord you also will face eternal punishment in hell.
- Repent and believe in Christ. There is forgiveness of sins at the cross of Jesus. What should we do with Jesus Christ who so willingly and lovingly gave Himself to suffering and death for us but to willingly and lovingly give ourselves to Him in return?
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[i] Ray Fowler, Foreshadowing of the Cross, https://www.rayfowler.org/sermons/lead-me-to-the-cross-condensed/foreshadowing-of-the-cross/
