Church Fathers Commentary Luke 22:1-2

"Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death; for they feared the people." — Luke 22:1-2 (ASV)

St. John Chrysostom: The actions of the Jews were a shadow of our own. Accordingly, if you ask a Jew about the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread, he will tell you nothing momentous, mentioning only the deliverance from Egypt. But if you ask me, you will hear not of Egypt or Pharaoh, but of freedom from sin and the darkness of Satan—a deliverance not by Moses, but by the Son of God.

Glossa Ordinaria: As the Evangelist is about to relate Christ's Passion, he introduces its foreshadowing, saying, Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.

The Venerable Bede: The Passover, which is called “Phase” in Hebrew, is not named for the Passion, but for the “passing over,” because the destroying angel, seeing the blood on the doors of the Israelites, passed over them and did not touch their firstborn. Alternatively, it refers to the Lord Himself passing over His people to give them aid.

The difference between the Passover and the feast of unleavened bread is this: the Passover refers only to the day the lamb was slain toward evening—the fourteenth day of the first month. The feast of unleavened bread, however, followed on the fifteenth day when the Israelites left Egypt and lasted for seven days, until the twenty-first of the same month. For this reason, the Gospel writers often use the terms interchangeably, as it is said here, The day of unleavened bread, which is called the Passover.

But this signifies a mystery: that Christ, having suffered once for us, has commanded us throughout the entire age of this world—symbolized by seven days—to live in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

St. John Chrysostom: The Chief Priests set about their impious deed on the feast, as the Scripture says, And the Chief Priests and Scribes, etc. Moses ordained only one priest, at whose death another was to be appointed. But at that time, as Jewish customs had begun to decay, many priests were appointed every year. In their desire to kill Jesus, they were not afraid of God, nor did they fear that the holy season would aggravate the pollution of their sin; instead, they feared the people. Hence it follows, For they feared the people.

The Venerable Bede: They did not fear an uprising, but rather that the people would interfere and rescue Jesus from their hands. Matthew reports that these events took place two days before the Passover, when they were assembled in the judgment hall of Caiaphas.