Passover with Jesus.

On the first day of the Feast of Matzoh, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, Jesus’s students told him, “Where do you want us to go prepare the Passover lamb?”

He sent two of his students and told them, “Go into town. A man carrying a water jar will come to you. Follow him. Whatever house he enters, tell the owner this: ‘The teacher says, “Where’s my guest room, where I can eat the Passover lamb with my students?”’ He’ll show you a big, straightened-up upper room available. Prepare it for us there.” The students went out, went into town, found everything just as he said, and prepared the Passover lamb. Jesus came, with the Twelve, when it became evening.

While they were reclining and eating, Jesus said, “Amen amen: I promise you, one of you who are eating with me will turn me in.”

They got upset, and told him one by one, “Not me!”

Jesus told them, “One of the Twelve. One who dipped in the bowl with me. The Son of Man will be taken away, just as it was written about him. Woe to that person who got the Son of Man arrested! Better for that person had he never been born.”

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Passover and Matzoh (or Unleavened Bread) are simultaneous holidays. Matzoh (held 15-21 Nisan) is a festival where you get all the leavening out of the house—no yeast or baking powder—and eat unleavened bread, or matzoh, all week. (Nowadays matzoh resembles a giant saltine cracker, but that’s a cultural thing.)

Passover (15 Nisan) is the first day of Matzoh. It’s a holiday in memory of the Exodus. They were to go to temple in Jerusalem, sacrifice a lamb, then take the meat home and eat all of it that very night. Plus they were to eat bitter herbs. Other customs and elements and rituals were added later.

Since this was a yearly thing, Jesus had a regular place to go. Lots of preachers like to imagine Jesus made up his directions to his students on the spot, based on a bit of divine foreknowledge: “You’ll go into town… I see a man there, with a water jar; you’ll follow him… I see the house he’ll enter; that’s the guy to talk to…” No. Jesus knew these people already. He knew the guy with the water jar; he knew which house he worked at; he knew the homeowner. And, more importantly, the homeowner knew Jesus. That’s why Jesus could inquire about his guest room.

Some bibles translate the description of the room as “furnished and ready.” Ready for the students to do the rest: They had to go to temple and get the lamb sacrificed at sundown. Since that meant everybody in Jerusalem was sacrificing a lamb at the same time, the priests tended to fudge things a bit and sacrifice all the lambs in the daytime—which would be 14 Nisan, ’cause Jewish days began at sundown. But it meant the lamb would be ready to cook by sundown, and you wouldn’t have to wait all night for dinner.

When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. Mark doesn’t say “the rest of the Twelve”—tradition has it that only Jesus and the Twelve were there, but there’s no real reason to think so. Jesus had lots more students than just the Twelve. And some of the Twelve certainly had wives, kids, and family members in Jerusalem for Passover—and there’s no reason why they all couldn’t have eaten it with Jesus.

Then Jesus ruined it.

So they did the ritual bits of the dinner—where one of the kids asked, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” and Jesus would tell the Exodus story. Then they’d eat.

But in the middle of eating, Jesus dropped this bomb: “One of you who are eating with me will turn me in.” And that is how you spoil the mood.

They got upset. Partly because Jesus was getting arrested. Partly because there was a traitor in their midst. Because the original Greek didn’t come with punctuation, míti egó can be translated míti egó!/“Not me!” or míti egó?/“Isn’t it me?” Human nature being what it is, I have my doubts the students were wondering, “Wait… did I unthinkingly tip off the cops?” and asking Jesus whether they were the stooge. More than likely they were all loudly proclaiming their innocence—and wondering which of the others had ratted out the Master. In John, Simon Peter even had the beloved student ask Jesus, point-blank, which of them did it. And Jesus actually told him.

Despite the students’ protests that they hadn’t done it, Jesus bluntly told them it was one of the Twelve. It was somebody in that very room. It was somebody who was eating with him. People like to point out how, in the Middle East, eating with a backstabber just makes his treachery worse; but this is true of every culture. Especially since Judas of Keriot had just said, same as everyone else, “Not me!”

But Jesus added, “The Son of Man will be taken away, just as it was written about him.” This wasn’t an unforeseen event. Jesus had warned them more than once how the Son of Man would be handed over to his enemies and killed. This was all part of the plan. Not that they wanted to listen to the plan when Jesus brought it up beforehand—but it was happening, whether they wanted to listen or not. The time had come.

Even so, things were not gonna go well for the person who got Jesus arrested.

Judas and free will.

Sometimes Christians like to debate just how willing of a participant Judas of Keriot was in these events. Y’see, they like to think Jesus had mapped out his death well in advance—which he had. But part of planning for it meant certain dominoes had to be moved into place: The first domino was placed just so; the second was placed right next to it; the third placed right behind that; and so on till you have a line which all falls down at the right time. Of course the question is: Was Judas placed into that line of dominoes, or did he place himself there?

Christians who believe everything is predestined are pretty insistent he was set up. Christians who believe in free will are pretty insistent Judas set himself up: He didn’t have to turn Jesus in. Somebody else could’ve done it, or even accidentally done it, and the plan would’ve still fallen into place. (You know, like when the dominoes are so close together, it doesn’t matter if you remove one: They’ll all fall anyway.)

I’m one of those Christians who don’t believe everything is predestined. Clearly some things are—and more things are than we realize. But not everything. Jesus didn’t need Judas to turn him in. Plenty of jealous Pharisees and Sadducees were already on the lookout for him, and would’ve done it themselves, given half a chance. Judas simply beat them to it. That’s why Judas bears responsibility for his actions. The betrayal might’ve been pre-planned (or at least foretold), but whether Judas would be the betrayer or not was entirely up to him.

Just because God plans something ahead of time, it doesn’t get us off the hook when he figures our sins into his plan. We still sinned. God still has to turn the messes we make into something good. Like Joseph’s brothers, Judas meant it for evil, but God made something good out of it, and saved the world. Judas is still guilty, but like Joseph did his brothers, perhaps we can forgive him for it.