pproach caused some of the guardsmen
or soldiers to seize him; but he broke loose and escaped leaving the
sheet in their hands.

NOTES TO CHAPTER 33.

1. The Day of the Passover Feast.--Controversy has been rife for many
centuries as to the day of the passover feast in the week of our Lord's
death. That He was crucified on Friday, the day before the Jewish
Sabbath, and that He rose a resurrected Being on Sunday, the day
following the Sabbath of the Jews, are facts attested by the four
Gospel-writers. From the three synoptists we infer that the last supper
occurred on the evening of the first day of unleavened bread, and
therefore at the beginning of the Jewish Friday. That the Lord's last
supper was regarded by Himself and the apostles as a passover meal
appears from Matt. 26:2, 17, 18, 19 and parallel passages, Mark
14:14-16; Luke 22:11-13; as also from Luke 22:7, 15. John, however, who
wrote after the synoptists and who probably had their writings before
him, as is indicated by the supplementary character of his testimony or
"Gospel", intimates that the last supper of which Jesus and the Twelve
partook together occurred before the Feast of the Passover (John 13:1,
2); and the same writer informs us that on the following day, Friday,
the Jews refrained from entering the Roman hall of judgment, lest they
be defiled and so become unfit to eat the Passover (18:28). It should be
remembered that by common usage the term "Passover" was applied not only
to the day or season of the observance, but to the meal itself, and
particularly to the slain lamb (Matt. 26:17; Mark 14:12, 14, 16; Luke
22:8, 11, 13, 15; John 18:28; compare 1 Cor. 5:7). John also specifies
that the day of the crucifixion was "the preparation of the passover"
(19:14), and that the next day, which was Saturday, the Sabbath, "was an
high day" (verse 31), that is a Sabbath rendered doubly sacred because
of its being also a feast day.

Much has been written by way of attempt to explain this seeming
discrepancy. No analysis of the divergent views of Biblical scholars on
this subject will be attempted here; the matter is of incidental
importance in connection with the fundamental facts of our Lord's
betrayal and crucifixion; for brief summaries of opinions and concise
arguments the student may be referred to Smith's _Comprehensive Bible
Dictionary_, article "Passover"; Edersheim's _Life and Times of Jesus
the Messiah_, pp. 480-2, and 566-8; Farrar's _Life of