Luke 22:6-10

Luke 22:6 (KJB)
And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

With the promise of a good bounty awaiting him, Judas then set out to find an opportune time to betray Jesus. Since Jesus had been speaking of His death and burial, it might have seemed to the religious leaders that Jesus would offer no resistance. They remember the Scriptures where Elijah had called down fire from Heaven and were probably fearful that Jesus may do the same thing but when they heard that He spoke of His death and burial, their confidence had soared.

Luke 22:7 (KJB)
Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed.

The Passover feast was on the 14th of Nisan which was the commemoration of the tenth plague, the death of the firstborn. Then this feast was followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread which commemorated Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Both feasts were collectively called either the Feast of Unleavened Bread or the Passover. According to Josephus, these feasts were combined into one eight day feast. Preparations for the Passover included finding a suitable room, a lamb of one year old without defect to be killed in the temple and then roasted for several hours, then unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a remembrance of their bondage in Egypt. Since Jesus and the disciples had just arrived in Jerusalem, they had wondered where they were going to celebrate the Passover. They had to be ready to celebrate by sundown.

Luke 22:8 (KJB)
And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat.

There were many people who had come to the Passover and rooms would be hard to find, in fact, almost impossible to find because of the large crowd. Jesus and the disciples stayed on the Mount of Olives because they were not from the area of Jerusalem. In order to find a place where they could celebrate the Passover, Jesus dispatched Peter and John to seek out a place.

Luke 22:9 (KJB)
And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare?

Since the task of finding an available room would have been almost impossible at that late hour, they asked Jesus where they would celebrate the Passover. There were many things involved in the preparation of the Passover so they needed to find a place soon so they could start preparing.

Luke 22:10 (KJB)
And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in.

Jesus had dispatched Peter and John and they were to look for a young man bearing a pitcher of water. This would have been a special sign because drawing water was not a man’s job but a woman’s. When they saw the young man, they were to follow him. This did not require any type of verbal exchange. Jesus had withheld the location of their Passover celebration until the last minute to insure that the betrayal would be on Jesus’ schedule and not that of Judas. The man who carried the pitcher of water was probably a slave of the owner of the house.

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