John 13:1, The Feast of the Passover

1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 

To set the scene, Jesus and his disciples have come to the upper room for what will be their last supper together, a pre-Passover meal in John’s gospel. Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John has the Passover falling on Friday night instead of Thursday. There are several explanations of this difference. One is that different groups of Jews had different calendars and did not agree on the exact date of Passover. Today Eastern Orthodox and Western Christians celebrate Easter on different Sundays because they do not agree on the same calendar. This is the most likely reason. 

Another reason, which actually does not discount the one above, is that John wants the death of Jesus on the cross to coincide symbolically with the slaughtering of the Passover lambs in the temple. Jesus’ pre-Passover meal takes what God has instituted for his people and transforms it into a new institution on a new day. Additionally, Jesus hosts this meal the day before Passover because he knows he will be unable to attend. In the economy and artistry of God in his use of symbols and meanings, I find this explanation to make the most sense. It is also deeply profound that the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world is being killed upon the cross while the other lambs that can never take away the sins of the world are repeatedly slaughtered each year in the temple. The perfect sacrifice of Jesus will now put to an end the imperfect sacrificial practice that is intended to point to the perfect. That is why John calls Jesus “the Lamb of God.” 

Father, thank you that Jesus, our Lamb, does indeed take away the sins of the world. Amen.