Two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the chief priests and the experts in the law were trying to find a way to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.

Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the very end.

Betrayed

The Son of Man will go as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for him if he had never been born."

When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.

"Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death,

saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!" But they said, "What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!"

He is not here, but has been raised! Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,

The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, that he should betray Jesus.

(Now Judas, the one who betrayed him, knew the place too, because Jesus had met there many times with his disciples.)

General references

"'On the fourteenth day of the first month is the Lord's Passover.

During the feast it was customary to release one prisoner to the people, whomever they requested.

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.