A Very Old Feast: Luke 22:1-2

From: The Perfect Man: Bible Talks On Luke By:

Luke 22:1‑2 • 4 min. read • grade level: 8

“Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.”

That feast was meant to be a very special and happy time. It was kept in the middle of the first month of their year, about the time of the month April to us. The first day at sunset they were to eat a supper of roast lamb, and for seven days do no work — only what was necessary for their meals and to meet together to sacrifice and to praise God.

All this was to be done each year to remember the night when the Lord sent death through the land of Egypt but passed over the houses where the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on the door posts. So the life of the oldest son of each family of Israel was spared. But in the houses of the other people every oldest child was dead (Exodus 11:4-7⁴And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt: ⁵And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts. ⁶And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more. ⁷But against any of the children of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast: that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. (Exodus 11:4‑7)).

The Lord’s Passover

The Lord had told them to sprinkle the blood and it was called the Lord’s Passover. The people ate roasted lamb that evening, and left that land in a hurry to be free of the cruel king there, and to be God’s people. They had to carry their bread dough with them and baked it before it was raised: such bread is called “unleavened.” When the feast was kept they used only unleavened bread (Exodus 12:34³⁴And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders. (Exodus 12:34)).

That was when those people first became a nation to go to a land of their own, instead of being slaves as they were in Egypt. This was all so great a change for them that God wanted their children after them to know of that night and celebrate it each year at that same time, (Exodus 12:14¹⁴And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. (Exodus 12:14)).

They could not keep this feast every place, but only where God had chosen for His name to be praised, which for a very long time was Jerusalem, (Deuteronomy 16:5-8⁵Thou mayest not sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee: ⁶But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt. ⁷And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. ⁸Six days thou shalt eat unleavened bread: and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work therein. (Deuteronomy 16:5‑8); Psalm 102:21²¹To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; (Psalm 102:21)).

The men and boys were always to go, and all the family seems to have gone if it were not too far. If a man who could go to the feast would not go, or if one at that time ate bread with leaven, he was “cut off” from all the rest in the blessing (Numbers 9:13¹³But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the Lord in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin. (Numbers 9:13); Exodus 12:15¹⁵Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. (Exodus 12:15)).

Another reason this feast was so important was that it was to teach them that God must judge all, as He did in Egypt. They could not be safe unless they were sheltered by the blood of one slain for them. They would know how God valued that blood. There are other lessons to learn by the bread and herbs, but all would show they should be very grateful to the Lord.

No Joy for the Chief Priests

The chief priests and the scribes should have read God’s words, the writings of Moses, David, and all the prophets, in the temple and tell the people of One promised to come to bless them, and all sing psalms of praise to God. But those men did not believe the words of God, and they had no joy in their hearts to keep a feast to Him. They were full of hate to the Lord Jesus, the One who had come to bless them: “They sought how they might kill Him.”

They knew many people believed Jesus to be from God and would not let them harm Him. But we read how they found a way to do their most awful wish, and turned the feast time of joy to the deepest sorrow.

“Even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

Further Meditation

1. Where had God chosen the Passover to be celebrated?

2. The Passover was celebrated by the chief priests without any room for Christ the Passover in their hearts. Is it possible to act out the breaking of bread without doing it from the heart? Why does the Lord give us some outward things to do such as break bread or be baptized when we worship the Father in spirit and in truth?

3. A lot more about the Passover and what it teaches can be found in the easy-to-read book The Seven Feasts of Jehovah by G. C. Willis.

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