25 

Players in the Drama of the Cross
(Mark 14:1–16) 

Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away; and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.” While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time. On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. (14:1–16)

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ have always been the focal point of Christianity, the key to salvation, and the heart of the gospel. The cross represents the apex of redemptive history, the ratification of the new covenant, the final atonement for sin, the epitome of divine mercy, the necessary object of saving faith, and the only hope of eternal life. It is there that the perfect justice of God met both His unmerited grace and infinite wisdom. Recognizing its unparalleled importance, the apostle Paul declared that he would not boast “except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). As he later told the church in Corinth, “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor. 1:23), and “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (2:2; cf. Gal. 6:14).

As the central theme of Scripture, Jesus’ substitutionary death is repeatedly foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament: in the promised deliverer of Genesis 3:15; in the animal God killed to provide a covering for Adam and Eve (3:21); in the acceptable sacrifice offered by Abel (4:4); in the ram caught in a thicket that took Isaac’s place on Mt. Moriah (22:13); in the Passover lambs that were slain in Egypt (Ex. 12:6); in the entire system of Levitical sacrifices (cf. Heb. 10:1–13); in the bronze serpent lifted up in the wilderness for healing (Num. 21:8–9; cf. John 3:14–15); and in the concept of the kinsman-redeemer (cf. Ruth 4:14). The cross was also foretold by prophets like David (Ps. 22:1–18), Isaiah (Isa. 53:1–12), Daniel (Dan. 9:27), and Zechariah (Zech. 12:10). In keeping with his predecessors, John the Baptist, the last of the old covenant prophets, declared of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).

The cross remains central in the New Testament, where it is the focus of all four Gospels (Matt. 26:47–27:58; Mark 14:43–15:45; Luke 22:47–23:52; John 18:2–19:38). The book of Acts traces the proclamation of the cross throughout the world, as the gospel sounded forth from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8; cf. 2:23; 5:30; 10:39; 13:29). The Epistles are replete with the profound theology of the cross and its practical implications for believers (cf. 1 Cor. 1:17–18; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:16; Col. 2:14; Heb. 12:2; 1 Peter 2:24, etc.). In its sweeping, prophetic summary of the future, the book of Revelation likewise looks back to Calvary, portraying the Lord Jesus as the perfect Lamb who was slain to make redemption possible by His blood (5:6, 12; cf. 13:8).

The cross is the central theme of the final section of Mark’s gospel (chapters 14–16). From the Olivet Discourse (13:5–37), in which Jesus foretold the glories of His second coming, the narrative transitions to focus on the hallowed culmination of His first coming. The central figure in the unfolding drama of the cross is unarguably the Lord Jesus Christ. But as the account unfolds (in 14:1–16), Mark introduces a full cast of additional characters, each of whom played a vital role in that climactic event. They include God the Father, Jesus’ bitter foes, His loving friends, His treacherous false disciple, and His faithful followers.

THE FATHER

Now the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away (14:1a)

Though not directly named in this passage, God the Father was clearly at work as the divine director behind the scenes, sovereignly orchestrating everything happening to the Son according to His foreordained plan of redemption. The Father’s providential involvement is implied in the opening statement, where Mark explains that the Passover and Unleavened Bread were two days away. Far from being incidental, that chronological marker demonstrates that the divine timetable was running precisely according to schedule. On that specific Passover, in the very year that the prophet Daniel had predicted (Dan. 9:25–26), on the same day and at the same time when Passover lambs were being killed in the temple, the Father had purposed that the spotless Lamb of God would be slain.

The Passover was celebrated each year on the fourteenth day of the Jewish month Nisan (in late March or early April). It commemorated the night in Egypt when the angel of death passed over the houses of the Israelites who had killed a lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorposts and lintels (Ex. 12:22–23). The Feast of Unleavened Bread began the next day and lasted a full week (from the fifteenth to the twenty-first of Nisan). It commemorated Israel’s exodus from Egypt, and was named for the flat bread that the Hebrew people took with them when they made their hasty escape (Deut. 16:3). Because the two celebrations were so closely intertwined, the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread eventually came to be interchangeable terms (cf. Matt. 26:17; Luke 22:1). Together, they made up one of Israel’s three major feasts, along with Pentecost (known as the Feast of Weeks in the Old Testament; cf. Ex. 34:22; Acts 2:1) and the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths (Lev. 23:33–43; Deut. 16:16; 2 Chron. 8:13).

That the Passover was yet two days away indicates that it was still Wednesday. Jesus knew, in keeping with the Father’s perfect plan, that the time had come for Him to die (cf. Matt. 26:18, 45; Mark 14:35; John 12:23; 13:1; 17:1). As He told His disciples in Matthew’s parallel account, “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion” (26:2). Jesus had spoken of His death on a number of earlier occasions (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33; 12:7; cf. Matt. 27:63), demonstrating that throughout His entire ministry He was operating according to a supernaturally ordained and controlled timetable, in order to fulfill His ultimate purpose for coming, “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Over the previous three and a half years of His ministry, Jesus’ adversaries had repeatedly attempted to take His life (Mark 3:6; Luke 4:28–30; 19:47–48; John 5:18; 7:1, 25, 32, 45–46; 10:31). Even when He was an infant, King Herod sought to murder Him in a slaughter of male babies (cf. Matt. 2:13–21). But those attempts did not succeed because they did not fit the Father’s design. Because Jesus operated in full submission to His Father (cf. John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; Phil. 2:8), He would not lay down His life until the appropriate time had come (cf. John 7:6, 8, 30). As He explained in John 10:17–18, “I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” Later, when Pilate claimed to have the authority to kill Jesus, the Lord informed the pagan governor, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:10–11).

The Father’s redemptive plan was that the Son would die at a precise time on a specific date. Thus, Jesus could tell His disciples, on the night before His death, “The Son of Man is going as it has been determined” (Luke 22:22). Nearly two months later, Peter echoed those words on the day of Pentecost, telling the crowd that Jesus was “delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23; cf. 1 Peter 1:19–20). The Lord Jesus went to Calvary as the perfect Passover lamb (cf. 1 Cor. 5:7), according to the schedule preordained by His Father (cf. 1 Peter 1:19–20), just as the Old Testament prophets predicted He would (Acts 3:18; cf. 8:32–35). His death was no unplanned accident, as some skeptics claim (see chapter 16 of this volume). Rather, as noted above, it accomplished the very purpose for which He had been sent (cf. John 3:14–16).

From a human standpoint, the crucifixion of Christ represents an unparalleled miscarriage of justice because He was perfectly innocent in every respect. The Lord Jesus was falsely accused and wrongly condemned to a degree infinitely greater than anyone else in all of history. Yet, in that most heinous act of human injustice, the justice of God was at work. The most evil act ever perpetrated by sinful men was simultaneously an infinitely loving act performed by a holy God. The Father punished the Son for sins He did not commit (cf. Isa. 53:10–12), so that sinners might be clothed with a righteousness they could never earn (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). Like a dowry paid for a bride, the cross was the means by which the Lord Jesus purchased sinners “from every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9), so that He might “purify for Himself a people for His own possession” (Titus 2:14). All of this was in keeping with the Father’s perfect, eternal plan of redemption.

THE FOES

and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to seize Him by stealth and kill Him; for they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.” (14:1b–2)

On the divine level, God the Father was sovereignly working to accomplish His redemptive purposes through the death of His Son. But that reality does not exonerate the wicked actions of those who, on the human level, orchestrated Jesus’ crucifixion. Motivated by their own pride, envy, and stubborn unbelief, the fully culpable Jewish religious leaders had willfully rejected their Messiah and actively sought to destroy Him (cf. John 1:11). On Wednesday of Jesus’ Passion Week, apparently at the same time He was speaking to His disciples about the glories of His second coming, the Jewish religious leaders met together to plot His murder.

According to the parallel text in Matthew 26:3, this meeting of the chief priests and the scribes took place in the courtyard of the house of Caiaphas the high priest. Representing the elder statesmen of Israel’s religious elite, the chief priests and the scribes are mentioned together in the Gospels on several occasions (cf. 14:43; 15:1; Matt. 27:41; Luke 9:22; 22:66). The chief priests were primarily Sadducees. Their numbers included the high priest, the captain of the temple (who assisted the high priest), and other high-ranking priests. The scribes, who were mostly Pharisees, were experts in both Old Testament law and rabbinic tradition. Together, the Sadducees and Pharisees comprised the apostate leadership of Israel, and the Lord Jesus warned His disciples to avoid their hypocritical practices (cf. Matt. 16:6).

Their meeting had a single purpose: they were seeking how to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. A short time earlier, after the resurrection of Lazarus, the religious leaders had organized a similar meeting. John 11:47–52 recounts the details of that event:

The leaders of both the Sadducees and the Pharisees were afraid that Jesus’ popularity with the people might spark a revolt (cf. Mark 11:9–10; John 6:15), provoking a military response from Rome and causing them to lose their privileged positions of authority. (The ruling Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, comprised of both Sadducees and Pharisees, operated under the jurisdiction and tolerance of the Roman government.) As those who controlled the temple operation, the chief priests and Sadducees especially hated Jesus because He had cleared the temple twice, severely disrupting their moneymaking operations on high income occasions (Mark 11:15–18; cf. John 2:13–16). The scribes and Pharisees, on the other hand, detested Jesus because He openly denounced their elaborate system of legalism, hypocrisy, and unbiblical tradition (Mark 3:4; 7:1–13; cf. Matt. 23:1–36). Though the Sadducees and Pharisees represented rival sects with significant differences, they were unified by their opposition to the Lord Jesus.

In their scheming against Him, they sought to arrest Him covertly, so as not to antagonize the crowds with whom He was still very popular (cf. Mark 11:8–10). Apparently, their plan was to seize Jesus secretly and then wait to murder Him until after the feast was over and the hundreds of thousands of Jewish pilgrims visiting Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover had returned home. Thus, they were saying, “Not during the festival, otherwise there might be a riot of the people.”

From the perspective of the religious leaders, Passover was the worst time to kill Jesus. They desperately wanted to wait until after the festivities had ended. But their evil schemes could not postpone what God the Father had providentially designed. Over the previous three and a half years, there were multiple occasions when they wanted to murder Jesus in a fit of violence but were thwarted. At this point, their cold calculations led them to postpone His death. Again they did not succeed because they were not in control. When they finally achieved their goal of crucifying Jesus, they did so at the exact moment they were hoping to avoid. Clearly, their plans were superseded by the sovereign providences of God (cf. Prov. 19:21).

THE FRIENDS

While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” (14:3–9)

Mark interrupts the narrative at this point with a flashback to the previous Saturday, six days before the Friday of Passover (John 12:1), when the Lord arrived in Bethany just east of Jerusalem (Mark 11:1; cf. Matt. 21:1). In stark contrast to the religious leaders, who hated Jesus and wanted Him dead, the woman featured in this short vignette exhibited profound and sacrificial love for her Savior. Though this episode is out of chronological order, its theme fits perfectly in the final section of Mark’s gospel, where the focus is on preparations for the death of Christ. It is a window of love in a wall of hate.

The setting for this brief account was the home of Simon the leper, where Jesus and His disciples were eating supper (cf. John 12:2). Simon obviously had been healed, otherwise he would not have been able to host a dinner party. Lepers were societal outcasts who were not allowed any close interaction with people (cf. Lev. 13:45–46). Since leprosy was incurable in the ancient world, it is almost certain that Simon had been miraculously healed by Jesus (cf. Mark 1:40–45; Luke 17:11–19). This meal was Simon’s way of demonstrating his gratitude to the Lord. According to John 12:1–3, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus also attended.

As Jesus and His disciples were reclining at the table, a customary posture for eating meals in first-century Israel, there came a woman, whom John 12:3 identifies as Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. A short time earlier, Mary had watched Jesus raise her brother Lazarus from the dead (John 11:32–45). She had always been particularly attentive to Jesus’ instruction (cf. Luke 10:39), and on this occasion, seemingly recognized the reality of the Lord’s imminent death better than any of the Twelve.

With humble reverence, Mary approached Jesus with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. Mary’s actions, which undoubtedly startled the other dinner guests, were an unmeasured act of love and adoration for her Lord. She had no concern for the cost of the perfume, nor was she worried about how others might respond. Her only aim was to express honor and worship to Christ by anointing His head with very costly perfume. (It might be noted that this episode should not be confused with the events recorded in Luke 7:36–50, when a different woman in Galilee similarly anointed Jesus’ feet. (For more on that account, and its distinction from this one, see John MacArthur, Luke 6–10 The MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 2011], chap. 18.)

A typical alabaster vial, carved from a variety of fine Egyptian marbles, had a long neck with a small opening from which small drops of liquid could be poured out. But Mary did not limit her expression of praise to a few drops of precious perfume. Rather, she broke the bottle, adding to the expense of her offering to Christ, and began effusively pouring its aromatic contents over Jesus’ head. The parallel passage in John 12:3 indicates that she also poured some of the perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then “wiped His feet with her hair.” John further notes that the amount of perfume Mary used was one Roman pound, which corresponds to approximately twelve modern ounces. The fragrant oil nard, extracted from a plant native to northern India, was imported the long distance to Israel at great expense. That Mary used pure nard, meaning it was undiluted, identified it as even more costly. As a result of her lavish offering to Jesus, “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (John 12:3).

The scene was stunningly dramatic, and the response from the other dinner guests was mixed. Some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted? For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” Though neither Mark nor Matthew mention the names of the detractors, John’s account explains that the primary instigator was Judas. According to John 12:4–6,

As the scent of Mary’s perfume filled the room, Judas, and apparently a few of the other disciples whom he managed to persuade in the moment, began scolding her. They became indignant, insisting that the fragrant oil had been wasted. It could have been sold for three hundred denarii, a sizable sum of money, and its proceeds given to the poor. (A denarius equaled a day’s wages for a common laborer, making this nearly a year’s salary for the average worker.) Of course, Judas had no real interest in the poor. He was a thief who had been embezzling money from the other disciples. He wanted the perfume sold, not so that money could be donated to the poor but so that he could pilfer it.

What a contrast Judas was to Mary. Judas was full of bitterness and hatred toward Jesus, wanting only to get all he could and actively searching for an opportune moment to betray Him (see the discussion regarding v. 11 below). But Mary, motivated by gratitude and love toward Jesus, wanted to give all she could and enthusiastically looked for an opportunity to demonstrate her attitude of heartfelt worship. In spite of Judas’s protest, Mary’s actions symbolized the affection that characterizes all who genuinely love the Lord Jesus Christ. She could not limit her act of lavish devotion.

Jesus corrected the misguided indignation of the disciples by saying to them, Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to me. Mary’s behavior constituted a beautiful act of kindness and worship. It was not at all a waste. Referencing Deuteronomy 15:11, the Lord reminded the disciples that they would always have the poor with them, and whenever they might wish they could do good to them. But His remaining time with them was very short. As Jesus reminded His disciples, You do not always have Me. His clear point was that the disciples’ priority should have been to worship Him like Mary was doing. Worship is always the ultimate priority. While loving one’s neighbor by caring for the poor is noble and necessary, loving the Lord is more important (cf. Mark 12:30–31). That was an especially poignant truth in light of events that would transpire over the next six days. Jesus would be crucified less than a week later. In light of that, this was no time for charity but for worship.

Mary had the right priorities. As on a prior occasion, she had “chosen the good part” (Luke 10:42). Unlike the Twelve, who seemed oblivious, Mary apparently had some understanding of Jesus’ impending death. Consequently, He said of her, She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Though Mary could do nothing to prevent her Savior’s death, she was able to demonstrate her love for Him in a lavish and sacrificial way. Knowing her heart, the Lord commended her on account of her expression of worship. As He explained, Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her. Though two millennia have passed, the testimony of Mary’s sacrificial worship still stands as a perpetual memorial of her love for Christ. Her heartfelt gesture—looking to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ—provides a compelling example of the kind of selfless, extravagant praise that honors the Savior.

THE FALSE DISCIPLE

Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Him to them. They were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. And he began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time. (14:10–11)

No name in all of human history is more infamous than Judas Iscariot. Though he was one of the twelve, constantly in the presence of Jesus for more than three years, he squandered that unique privileged opportunity and chose instead to betray the Son of God to His killers. Judas was the only member of the twelve disciples from outside Galilee. Iscariot means “man of Kerioth,” indicating that he came from that village located nearly twenty-five miles south of Jerusalem. Though he followed Jesus for selfish and materialistic reasons, he managed to deceive the other disciples to the extent that none of them suspected him of being a hypocrite and a traitor (cf. John 13:22). But Judas could not deceive the Lord Jesus, who knew the condition of Judas’s wicked heart from the outset, even referring to him as a devil (John 6:64, 70–71).

After the Saturday supper at Bethany, Judas went off to the chief priests in order to set a plan in motion to betray Jesus to them. The religious leaders were glad when they heard this, and promised to give him money. For thirty pieces of silver (Matt. 26:15), the price of a slave (cf. Ex. 21:32), they bribed an eager Judas to sell out his Master. From that point forward, throughout the entirety of Jesus’ Passion Week, the traitor began seeking how to betray Him at an opportune time. Judas knew the prime opportunity would be when Jesus was apart from the multitude (Luke 22:6), and could be arrested in private. Though the other disciples were oblivious to Judas’s devious plans, the Lord knew exactly what he was plotting. As Jesus told them in the upper room, “I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosem; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me’” (John 13:18).

Because Judas had hardened his heart against Jesus, God gave him over to Satan (cf. 1 Cor. 5:5). Thus, Luke 22:3 says, “Then Satan entered Judas” (cf. John 13:27). The prince of darkness operated through this unregenerate hypocrite who, like the religious leaders, was himself a child of the devil (John 8:44; cf. Luke 22:53). Ironically, by inciting Judas to betray Jesus, Satan brought about his own demise (cf. 1 John 3:8); the devil’s apparent victory actually spelled his ultimate defeat (Heb. 2:14; cf. Gen. 3:15). Earlier in Christ’s ministry, Satan had influenced Peter to try to convince Jesus to avoid the cross altogether (cf. Mark 8:32–33). Perhaps now, like the religious leaders, he hoped to disrupt God’s timetable by delaying the crucifixion until after the Passover. But whatever Satan’s motives, his actions could not override the sovereign will of God (Luke 22:31; cf. Job 1:12; 2:6).

It is shattering to know that the Messiah’s betrayer could come from among the Twelve. But as unthinkable as it might seem, God was in complete control. The satanically inspired betrayer was actually fulfilling specific biblical prophecy (cf. Pss. 41:9; 55:12–14; Zech. 11:12–13; cf. Matt. 27:3–10). As Jesus declared in His High Priestly Prayer, “I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled” (John 17:12). Even Judas’s betrayal was part of the eternal plan of redemption. (For additional discussion of the wicked actions of Judas in light of God’s sovereignty, see chapter 26 in this volume.)

THE FOLLOWERS

On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?” And He sent two of His disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him; and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. (14:12–16)

In verse 12, the narrative moves forward to the Thursday of Jesus’ Passion Week, the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed. Knowing that the time of His death was near (Matt. 26:18), the Lord set in motion a plan that would enable Him first to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. It was likely early that day when His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

The Lord responded to their question in a way that undoubtedly perplexed them. But His cryptic answer was necessary because of Judas’s treachery. If Judas discovered where Jesus and the disciples would be that evening, he would have undoubtedly alerted the religious leaders, enabling them to arrest Jesus during the Passover meal. But that would have been premature. So, to keep Judas in the dark regarding the place, the Lord made arrangements to observe the Passover in a secret location, known only to Him. In keeping with His plan, He sent two of His disciples, whom Luke identifies as Peter and John (Luke 22:8), and said to them, “Go into the city.” Jesus’ subsequent instructions were intentionally vague, mentioning no locations or names, so that Judas would have no advance knowledge about where Jesus would be that evening. Only Peter and John would discover the location beforehand, where they apparently stayed to finish the necessary preparations. The remaining disciples did not know where the meal would take place until they arrived at the house later that evening, leaving Judas no opportunity to report the location to Christ’s enemies. They did not know until after Jesus exposed and dismissed Judas (cf. John 13:27–30).

As Jesus explained the clandestine plan, Peter and John would arrive in Jerusalem and encounter a man carrying a pitcher of water. The man (who was likely a servant) would stand out because he was performing a domestic task that in first-century Israel was normally done by women. The two were to follow him; and wherever he entered, they were to say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he himself will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; prepare for us there.” The owner whom the disciples were to meet was apparently familiar with Jesus, since they were simply to tell him that “the Teacher” had sent them.

Clearly, the Lord had prearranged this, either physically or supernaturally. Either way, He knew that a large room was already furnished and ready for Him and His disciples to eat the Passover meal together. After receiving His instructions, the disciples went out and came to the city, and found it just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. The necessary preparations for the Passover meal included taking the lamb to the temple to be sacrificed, keeping part of the roasted meat to eat later that evening, and obtaining other ingredients required for the feast, including unleavened bread, wine, and bitter herbs.

Jesus knew that it was critical for Him to celebrate the Passover with His disciples that night (Luke 22:15), because during that final meal, He transformed the Passover celebration into the Lord’s Supper, which commemorated His death on the cross (Luke 22:20). Instead of representing the lambs that were killed in Egypt, the bread and the cup would now signify the body and blood of the sacrificial Lamb of God (cf. 1 Cor. 11:23–26). In addition to celebrating the Lord’s Supper, Jesus also gave the disciples vital words of promise and hope to strengthen them for His death (cf. John 13–17).

Jesus’ celebration of the Passover on the night before His death raises an important question: How could He celebrate the Passover on Thursday night when the Passover lambs were killed on Friday? The answer lies in the fact that, in first-century Israel, the Passover meal was regularly eaten on two evenings. Those from Galilee observed it on Thursday evening, while those from Judea celebrated it on Friday. Consequently, Jesus was able to eat the Passover with His disciples on Thursday night and still die as the Passover lamb on Friday afternoon.

As I explained in my commentary on the gospel of John,

The unfolding drama of the cross involved a myriad of actors: from antagonistic religious leaders like Caiaphas to devout worshipers like Mary to turncoat disciples like Judas to faithful followers like Peter and John. Yet, a survey of these human figures ultimately points us back to God the Father, whose invisible hand sovereignly orchestrated all of the details according to His perfect plan (cf. Acts 2:23; 3:18; 4:28). In His crucifixion, the Lord Jesus was no victim. Instead, He was the victorious Son of God who submissively and purposefully obeyed His heavenly Father