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Arrangements for the Passover meal:
v. 17. Now the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto Him, Where wilt Thou that we prepare for Thee to eat the Passover?
v. 18. And He said, Go into the city to such a man and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with My disciples.
v. 19. And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the Passover.
The Passover was also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Luk_22:1, and since all leaven was removed from the homes of the Jews on the afternoon of the 14th
of Nisan, in preparation for the Passover sacrifice and meal, this day of preparation was simply regarded as one of the festival days, especially since it merged into the 15th
, the Passover beginning with sundown, approximately six o'clock in the evening at that time of the year. Jesus had had the custom of celebrating the feast with His disciples, which explains their question as to the place in which they would have their supper. The preparations for the Passover consisted in procuring a lamb which measured up to the qualifications of God's institution, in having this slain by the priests in the court of the Temple, in providing the unleavened loaves and the other requisites for the feast, in having the lamb roasted, and in preparing the table, the sofas, and the pillows for the dining-room. Two of the disciples, Peter and John, were commissioned to attend to this work, Jesus giving them another bit of evidence as to His omniscient power. They were to go to a certain place, which Christ designated very exactly, to a man whom He also described to them, and give him a message. The Lord's time was near, even at hand, that time to which His entire life converged, the time when He would be taken up into glory through suffering and death. With him, in this certain man's house, He would celebrate the Passover with His disciples. It is likely, as has been suggested, that this man was a disciple of Jesus in secret, just as Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were. The disciples carried out the wishes of the Master in every detail, acting as the representatives of the householder in making all arrangements for the evening.