¹⁶ From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus.  ¹⁷ Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸ And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹ The disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.

Judas’ action was premeditated, his movements calculated—he was in full possession of his faculties. Such was the mind twisted by sin, manipulated by the deceiver (see Luke 22:3, John 13:27). The tempter was roaming around like a lion (1 Peter 5:8) picking off Jesus’ disciples, using greed or impetuousness (Luke 22:31), to get at the big prey, Jesus.

In the midst of this, Jesus arranged for a banquet, echoing Psalm 23:4-5, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil … You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…” The tempest was coming, but there was still more to teach the twelve (though only eleven would be listening) in the short time left. The calm before the storm.

The disciples, oblivious, concerned themselves with the Passover tradition. Jesus accommodated them with instruction on preparing the venue. They were to go into Jerusalem, meet an unnamed man and follow him. According to Matthew 14:13 and Luke 22:10, they would know him because he would be carrying a pitcher of water. Now whether this rendezvous was planned out ahead of time or not, the sovereignty of Christ is plainly evident. He who caused the fish to overflow the fishermen’s nets and miraculously fed the multitudes could also orchestrate the reservation of a room for the last meal with His closest disciples.  And so the disciples went and found it like He said, and they prepared the Passover, the last food He would have with them before His death.

Was there any glimpse in the disciples’ mind from the lesson of the Passover they had perennially rehearsed from childhood, of what was about to come? God provided redemption for their ancestors from bondage in Egypt through the blood of a sacrificial lamb. Did they not suspect a connection with Jesus’ predictions of His death? To be sure, hindsight after the resurrection must have been clear. But they must have later felt, “How could we have missed the obvious, back then at the Last Supper? But, then again, they had Passover meals with the Lord before. So, they merrily went on their way preparing for this one as normal.