Now the Passover Festival and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were held two days later. [Note: This was the annual Jewish Festival week commemorating Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage under Moses' leadership. The unleavened bread was specially baked bread containing no yeast, which was eaten for seven days as part of the celebration]. And the leading priests and experts in the law of Moses were looking for a way to take Jesus by trickery and kill Him.

But they reasoned, "We will not [take him] during the Festival, because it might start a riot among the people."

Now on the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread [i.e., the beginning of the Passover Festival week], when they sacrificed the Passover [lamb], Jesus' disciples said to Him, "Where do you want us to go to make preparations for you to eat the Passover meal?"

Now at the Passover Festival Pilate customarily released whatever prisoner the people asked him to.

The crowd [then] went to Pilate and asked him to do what he was accustomed to doing for them [i.e., release a prisoner of their choosing during the Passover Festival].

When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation [for the Passover Festival], being the day before the [special] Sabbath Day,