John 18:28

Now, we know that event took place in the afternoon of the 14^th—approaching The Night To Be Much Observed. These Jews—Caiaphas (a Sadducee, the high priest) and his group—did not want to go into the Praetorium "lest they should defile themselves" because they wanted to eat the Passover.

Here comes John 18 in this. You are going to have to connect this to II Chronicles 30:15-21, and that is this: that the Passover could be eaten with a measure of legal impurity. The real Passover could be eaten with a measure of legal impurity. You should understand that from yourself. You take the Passover knowing that you have sinned. And that's the very reason that you take it! Thus it was with them, as well. The Passover presumes that the person taking it has sinned.

Now, the hagigah was not supposed to be eaten with any impurity. Do you remember what the priest said, or did? They did not want to go into the Praetorium, because they didn't want to be defiled. And there's a very interesting thought in this. That is this—if we have put the scriptures together here properly, it (in all likelihood) means that the high priest and his group had already eaten the Passover. When did they do it? The same time Jesus did! It was the Pharisees who were wrong. They were the ones who were keeping it one day late. And the high priest had already taken the Passover. So he did not want to be defiled, because he wanted to eat the sacrifice that was going to be made at twilight—for The Night To Be Much Observed.

John 18:28

In John 18:28, we have the example of the Jews. Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees had departed from the original Passover instructions; but they still considered eating the Passover as keeping it, even though they did not obey properly in regard to the time element. (They did it one day late.)

That is where the concern was—about whether they could eat it. And what irony there is here! They hated Jesus Christ. They were plotting and planning on killing Him. And yet they were so careful to be ceremonially clean so that they might eat the Passover. And, all they while, they were participating in killing the true Passover! What irony there is there!