Chapter 15—At the Passover Supper
The Children of Israel ate the first Passover supper at the time of
their release from bondage in Egypt.
God had promised to set them free. He had told them that the
first-born son in every family of the Egyptians was to be slain.
He had told them to mark their own door posts with the blood of
the slain lamb, that the angel of death might pass them by.
The lamb itself they were to roast and eat at night, with unleavened
bread and with bitter herbs, which represented the bitterness of their
slavery.
When they ate the lamb, they must be all ready for a journey. They
must have their shoes on their feet, and their staves in their hands.
They did as the Lord had said, and that very night the king of Egypt
sent them word that they might go free. In the morning they started on
their way to the land of promise.
So every year, the same night on which they left Egypt, all the
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Israelites kept the feast of the Passover at Jerusalem. And this feast
each family had a roasted lamb, with bread and bitter herbs, as their
forefathers had in Egypt. And they told their children the story of
God’s goodness in freeing His people from slavery.
The time had now come when Christ was to keep the feast with
His disciples, and He told Peter and John to find a place, and make
ready the Passover supper.
A great many people came to Jerusalem at this time, and those
who lived in the city were always ready to give a room in their houses
for visitors to keep the feast.
The Saviour told Peter and John that when they had gone into the
street, they would meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Him they
were to follow, and they were to go into the house where he went. And
they were to say to the good man of that house:
“The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I
shall eat the Passover with My disciples?”
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