The Life Of Jesus Christ In Its Historical Connexion

JESUS looked forward without fear, nay, with confidence, to the fate that awaited him. We need not necessarily presuppose that he was supernaturally informed of it; for it may be said that his friends in the Sanhedrim (and he had such) informed him of the negotiations of Judas. He foresaw that he would have to leave his disciples before the proper Passover, [713] and determined to give a peculiar import to his last meal with them, to place it in a peculiar relation to the Jewish Passover, as the Christian covenant-meal was to take the place of that of the Old Testament. Perhaps, as the Sanhedrim had determined to carry out their plans against him before the feast, he spent Thursday, 13th Nisan, in Bethany, in order to employ these last hours with the disciples undisturbed. In the morning he sent Peter and John into the city, to make the necessary preparations for the Passover supper. To preserve secrecy, and avoid all hazard of surprise by the Sanhedrim, he designated the house at which the supper was to be held by a sign understood by its owner, without specifying the name of the latter. [714]

Two prominent acts of Christ marked this last meal with the disciples, viz., the washing of feet and the institution of the Lord's Supper. [715]