This Passover had been one of the services established and kept for the purpose of pointing the attention of men to himself as the Lamb of God who was to take away the sins of the world.  And now, the time had come when all that had thus been pointed out concerning him, for so many hundred years, was about to be fulfilled.  He, the one true Lamb of God, had come.  He was about to die for the sins of the world.  Then the Jewish church would pass away, and the Christian church would take its place.  And then the blessings of true religion, instead of being confined to one single nation, would be freely offered to all nations; and Jews and Gentiles alike, would be at liberty to come to Christ, and to receive from him pardon, and grace, and salvation, and every blessing.

There was enough in thoughts like these to make Jesus long to eat this last Passover with his disciples.  In each of the four gospels we have an account of what took place when the time came for keeping this Passover.  What is said concerning it we find in the following places:  St. Matt xxi:  17-30, St. Mark xiv:  12-26, St. Luke xxii:  7-39.  St. John begins with the thirteenth chapter, and ends his account at the close of the seventeenth chapter.  He is the only one of the four evangelists who gives a full and particular account of the wonderful sayings of our Lord in connection with this last passover, and of the great prayer that he offered for all his people.

Here is a brief outline of these different accounts.  When the time came to keep the Passover, Jesus sent two of his disciples from Bethany, where he was then staying, to Jerusalem.  He told them, that, when they entered the city, they would meet a man bearing a pitcher of water.  They were to ask him to show them the guest-chamber, where he and his disciples might eat the Passover together.  There were always great crowds of strangers in Jerusalem at the time of this festival; and many furnished chambers were kept ready to be hired to those who wished them, for celebrating the Passover.  This man, of whom our Saviour spoke, was probably a friend of his, and according to our Lord’s word, he showed the disciples such a room as they needed.  Then they made the necessary preparations; and, when the evening came, Jesus and his disciples met there to keep this solemn feast.

Many of the pictures that we see of this last Supper, represent the company as seated round a table, very much in the way in which we are accustomed to sit ourselves.  But this is not correct.  The people in those Eastern countries were not accustomed to sit as we do.  On this occasion the roasted lamb, with the bread and wine to be used at the feast, was placed on a table, and the guests reclined on couches round the table, each man leaning on his left arm, and helping himself to what he needed with his right hand.