Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat"

 And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.  And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.  So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.  And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.  So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.

Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.  And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."  So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"  And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.  Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"  Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready."  So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.

- Luke 21:37-22:13

Yesterday, we read that Jesus gave a parable, after warning His disciples about the destruction that was to come to Jerusalem in future, and also about the time of His second coming:  "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.  But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.  For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."  And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

 And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.  This is Jesus' practice during this Holy Week, in which pilgrims arrive and all prepare for the Passover.  Staying on Mt. Olivet was common practice for pilgrims to Jerusalem, and Jesus -- although welcomed as Messiah by His followers -- stays with them.  We note how all the people come to Him in the temple to hear Him.

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover.  The Passover is the celebration of the destruction of the firstborn of Egypt and the deliverance of God's people from bondage, my study bible reminds us (see Exodus 12-14).  In commemoration, the practice was to slaughter an unblemished lamb and partake of it with unleavened bread -- such as the bread which was taken by the Jews as they fled Egypt in haste (see Deuteronomy 16:3).  My study bible notes for us that this prefigures the Passion of Christ, in which the only-begotten Son of God is slain in order to deliver His people from their bondage to sin and death, then is raised to lead them into the eternal Kingdom.  Therefore, in the Greek, Pascha (from a transliteration of the Aramaic word for Passover) is the primary term used to refer to the death and Resurrection of Christ, known in the West as Easter.  Passover can refer to the original event itself, the celebration of that event, the food that is eaten, or the lamb that is slain. 

And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.  Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the twelve.  So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them.  And they were glad, and agreed to give him money.  So he promised and sought opportunity to betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.  Satan, my study bible says, does not enter a man except by the man's consent.  The reason Satan chose Judas and none of the others is that Judas had a place for Satan in his heart, while the others did not.  Luke tells us that Judas was numbered among the twelve, so that we understand the depth of the betrayal.  It shows us that religion position is worthless if it is not accompanied by faith and virtue, says my study bible.  In a kind of affirmation of Christ's words criticizing the scribes (given in Luke at the end of chapter 20), we understand that nominal members of the Church are not exempt from all of His warnings about position and hypocrisy and the true state of the heart.

Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.  And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat."  So they said to Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?"  And He said to them, "Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters.  Then you shall say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"  Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready."  So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.  We see the careful preparations taken for Passover, even directions given in minute detail by Christ for what Peter and John are to do.  All is prearranged and known by Christ.  It tells us of the deliberate nature of what is going to happen, even in the humble and ordinary images of the instructions:  a man carrying a pitcher of water, a furnished upper room, the Teacher.  According to traditional interpretation, Peter represents zeal and John represents spiritual understanding, the virtues with which we are called to partake of the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist.

The themes of Passover seem to overlap and reflect upon one another in today's reading.  We can think of the Jews fleeing Egypt, with God's help, in complete haste:  hence, the commemoration with unleavened bread.  There is a message here of taking action when God demands and asks of us to go, having no time even to wait for bread to rise, for yeast to take its effects.  To be "unleavened" is also symbolic for purity in the Scriptures.   Jesus uses the word negatively when He says to His disciples, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" (see Luke 12:1-3).  Contrary to this more prevalent use of leaven in a negative sense of impurity, Jesus uses it positively in the parable of the Leaven, in which a woman mixes it with meal until it is all leavened (Luke 13:20-21), giving us a different type of purity, illustrating the mysterious transforming action and working of the Kingdom.   This parable is found coupled with that of the Mustard Seed, also an illustration of the possibilities of growth in the action of the Kingdom.  As tradition tells us, Christ Himself is our Passover, the unblemished One who will be slain in His own work and mission to liberate us.  The story of the unleavened bread speaks to us of themes Christ has emphasized of not looking back, of keeping our minds focused where they need to be (see yesterday's reading, above), and we may even see it reflected in the specific directions given to Peter and John, their following the Teacher to the letter in their instructions.   The story of the unleavened bread also teaches us that we are sojourners in the world, but in search of the kingdom of God (again, bringing us to the parable of the leaven that permeates the whole of the meal).  Christ offers that Kingdom to us in a particular way, our liberation being one of transcendence, mystery, a working of the holy in our world -- both within us and among us.  He stays with the pilgrims in Jerusalem.  Although welcomed and hailed as king and Messiah in the Triumphal Entry, He remains a sojourner, without a place to rest His head.  And His departure from Jerusalem, His "exodus" as the Greek text has referred to it in the Transfiguration, will also be swift, at the proper time, "His hour" when it comes.  Even in the way Jesus has spoken (again, in yesterday's reading, above)  of our own distractions and forgetfulness being a sort of a trap as we await His second coming has ramifications in the story of the unleavened bread.  Our very alertness and wakefulness to the things of God are what our own liberation and freedom depend upon.  If we forget that we are sojourners, that we are meant to travel light, so to speak, then how may we, too, respond when called?  How are we to know what hour it is, and what we're to be about?  All of these themes are present and intermingle, as Christ makes arrangements for His last supper with the disciples, and for "His hour" in Jerusalem, which He's called the time of His glory.  St. Paul sums up all of these themes when he tells us, "Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us"  (1 Corinthians 5:7).   The time of the Cross will be a time of sacrifice, but also of liberation and freedom and redemption for all of us, showing the way.  This is the glory to which we are all called, in which we follow Him.