leaven that is in my possession, that which I have seen and that which I have not seen,

be it null, be it accounted as the dust of the earth.' The search itself was to be

accomplished in perfect silence and with a lighted candle. To this search the apostle

may have referred in the admonition to 'purge out the old leaven' (1 Cor 5:7). Jewish

tradition sees a reference to this search with candles in Zephaniah 1:12: 'And it shall

come to pass at that time that I will search Jeru salem with candles.' If the leaven had not

been removed on the evening of the 13th, it might still be done on the forenoon of the

14th of Nisan. The question what substances constituted leaven was thus solved. The

unleavened cakes, which were to be the only bread used during the feast, might be made

of these five kinds of grain --wheat, barley, spelt, oats, and rye--the cakes being

prepared before fermentation had begun. Anything prepared of these five kinds of

grain --but only of these--would come within range of the term 'leaven,' that is, if

kneaded with water, but not if made with any other fluid, such as fruit -liquor, etc.

Early on the forenoon of the 14th of Nisan the feast of the Passover may be said to have

begun. In Galilee, no work was done all that day; in Judea it was continued till mid -day;

the rule, however, being that no new work was to be commenced, though that which

was in hand might be carried on. The only exception to this was in the case of tailors,

barbers, and those engaged in the laundry. Even earlier than mid -day of the 14th it was

no longer lawful to eat leaven. The strictest opinion fixes ten o'clock as the latest hour

when leaven might be eaten, the more lax eleven. From that hour to twelve o'clock it was

required to abstain from leaven, while at twelve it was to be solemnly destroyed, either

by burning, immersing it in water, or scattering it to the winds. To secure strict

obedience and uniformity, the exact time for abstaining from and for destroying the

leaven was thus made known: 'They laid two desecrated cakes of a thank-offering on a

bench in the porch (of the Temple). So long as they lay there, all the people might eat

(leavened); when one of them was removed, they abstained from eating, but they did

not burn (the leaven); when both were removed, all the people burnt (the leaven)' (Pes. i.

The next care was to select a proper Paschal lamb which, of course, must be free from all

blemish, and neither less than eight days, nor more than exactly one year, old. Each

Paschal lamb was to serve for a 'company,' which was to consist of not less than ten, nor

of more than twenty persons. The company at the 'Lord's Passover Supper' consisted of

Himself and His disciples. Two of them, Peter and John, the Master had sent early

forward to 'prepare the Passover,' that is, to see to all that was needful for the due

observance of the Paschal Supper, especially the purchase and sacrifice of the Paschal

lamb. Probably they may have purchased it in the Holy City, though not, as in the

majority of cases, within the Temple -court itself, where a brisk and very profitable traffic

in all such offerings was carried on by the priests. For against this the Lord Jesus had

inveighed only a few days before, when He 'cast out all them that sold and bought in the

Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers' (Matt 21:12,13), to the

astonishment and indignation of those who would intensely resent His interference with

their authority and gains (John 2:13-18).

While the Saviour still tarried with the other disciples outside the city, Peter and John

were completing their preparations. They followed the motley crowd, all leading their