What is the context?
The disciples ask Jesus where He wants them to prepare the Passover meal. He directs them into the city with a message for a certain man: His time is near, and He will keep the Passover with His disciples at the man's house. They follow His directions and prepare the meal.
Matthew tells the preparations briefly. Mark 14:12–16 describes two disciples following a man carrying a jug of water to a furnished upper room. Luke 22:7–13 names the two as Peter and John. These accounts give fuller instructions, but none names the owner or tells us what had led him to have the room ready.
The meal belongs to Israel's remembrance of deliverance. Exodus 12:1–20 describes the lamb, the meal with unleavened bread, and the continuing memorial of God's rescue from Egypt. Luke 22:1 also calls the Feast of Unleavened Bread the Passover, showing how the two names are used together in the Gospel setting.
Jesus' approaching time shapes the scene. He will share the meal with His disciples before His arrest and death, and will explain the bread and cup in relation to His own body and blood. The preparation in these verses makes room for that final meal.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian readings commonly see the disciples carrying out Jesus' directions as His suffering approaches. Calvin on 26:18 emphasizes His knowledge and willing approach to what lies ahead; the US Catholic bishops' note on 26:18 likewise stresses the weight of His declaration that His appointed time is near.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jesus Himself connects this Passover with the coming kingdom. In Luke 22:14–16, He expresses His desire to eat it with the disciples before His suffering and looks toward its fulfillment in God's kingdom. The meal remembers a past rescue while His words direct their hope forward.
1 Corinthians 5:6–8 then connects the Passover sacrifice with Christ and calls the gathered believers to a changed life marked by sincerity and truth. The preparations here lead toward a meal whose meaning Jesus will explain through His death, and whose significance reaches into the life of His people.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.