The Final Evening: The Passion narrative is the account of the suffering and death of Jesus. It normally includes all the events beginning with the garden scene in Gethsemane and finishing with the burial. The centrality of the cross in early Christian preaching is reflected in the major emphasis given to it in each of the four Gospels. Matthew 26 records the events of Wednesday and Thursday of the final week of Jesus’ life.

26:17–25 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread Jesus’ disciples asked him where he wanted them to prepare for the Passover meal. According to Exodus 12 (the institution of the Passover), a lamb was to be slaughtered on the fourteenth day of the first month (Nisan) at twilight (vv. 2, 6) and eaten on the same night (v. 8). This was followed by a seven-day fea…