The first Passover is described in Exodus chapter 12: one
lamb was slain for every household and the blood painted onto the lintels and
doorposts. This was done in order that the angel of Death would not slay the first-born
son of the Jewish households, but only those of Pharaoh’s people, whom God had
warned He would judge. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you"
the Lord told the children of Israel (Exodus 12:13). They were to eat the lamb,
with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, in haste prior to their departure from
Egypt. The eating of unleavened bread was to continue for seven days, as their
sustenance to exit Egypt and escape Pharaoh’s slavery.
Outstanding among the possible typologies or
correlates—“shadows,” if you prefer—is that of the Passover or Seder meal which
commemorates[i] the
deliverance and exodus of the children of Israel from the dominion of Pharaoh
as slaves in Egypt, around 1450 BC.
The First Passover
The setting of the Lord's Supper is in my opinion a
correlate of the Passover meal; but Jesus was not hosting a proper Seder in the
sense that there was no lamb since He was and is the Lamb slain from the
foundations of the world. Jesus Christ is Himself the Passover lamb, offered up
for the redemption and deliverance of His people (I Corinthians 5:7), the Lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The bread and wine
speak of His death, and of the new covenant it ratifies, reconciling God and
man. Jesus says "Do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19; I
Corinthians 11:24-25), telling His disciples that the Passover is fulfilled in
Him. Until He comes again (Luke 22:18; I Corinthians 11:26), we are to remember
the significance of what He has done for us.
This position is further collaborated by an ancient
Christian church manual called the Didache which also suggests that the Last Supper
may have been an ordinary Jewish meal. In Chapters 9 and 10 of the Didache, the
Eucharistic prayers are remarkably close to the Jewish Grace After Meals (Birkat
ha-Mazon).[ii] While
these prayers are recited after the Passover meal, they would in fact be
recited at any meal at which bread was eaten, holiday or not. Thus, this too
underscores the likelihood that the Last Supper was an everyday Jewish meal.
Moreover, while the narrative in the Synoptics situates the
Last Supper during Passover week, the fact remains that the only foods we are
told the disciples ate are bread and wine—the basic elements of any formal
Jewish meal. If this was a Passover meal, where is the Passover lamb? Where are
the bitter herbs? Where are the four cups of wine?
However, there are striking parallels between the Last
Supper and the Passover (Seder) Meal as can be easily seen in the following
comparison: (1) The Last Supper took place in Jerusalem, (2) in a room made
available to pilgrims for that purpose, and (3) it was held during the night.
(4) Jesus celebrated that meal with his “family” of disciples; and (5) while
they ate, they reclined. (6) This meal was eaten in a state of ritual purity.
(7) Bread was broken during the meal and not just at the beginning. (8) Wine
was consumed and (9) this wine was red. (10) There were last-minute
preparations for the meal, after which (11) alms were given, and (12) a hymn
was sung. (13) Jesus and his disciples then remained in Jerusalem. Finally,
(14) Jesus discussed the symbolic significance of the meal, just as Jews do
during the Passover Seder.
Why do the Synoptic Gospels Portray the Last Supper as a
Passover Meal?
Having determined that the Last Supper was not a Seder and
that it probably did not take place on Passover, I must try to account for why
the synoptic Gospels portray the Last Supper as a Passover meal. Of course, the
temporal proximity of Jesus’ crucifixion (and with it, the Last Supper) to the
Jewish Passover provides one motive: Surely this historical coincidence could
not be dismissed as just that.
Other examples of Passoverization can be identified. The
Gospel of John, as previously noted, and Paul (1 Corinthians 5:7–8) equate
Jesus’ crucifixion with the Passover sacrifice: “Our Paschal lamb, Christ has
been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the festival, not with the old
yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity
and truth.” This too is a Passoverization of the Jesus tradition, but it is one
that contradicts the identification of the Last Supper with the Seder or
Passover meal.
Still others assert that there is no contradiction at all
between the events of the Last Supper as shared by John and his less reliable
disciple-friends. According to this theory, put forth in the 1960s by French
biblical scholar Annie Jaubert and cited in 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus
and his disciples were adhering to the calendar of the rebellious Pharisee
sect, which celebrated the start of Passover a day earlier than the rest of the
Jews.
Now, to continue this line of argument, let’s consider Mark
14:12-26, since Matthew and Luke are in general agreement with him on the
events surrounding the Last Supper:
Jesus Celebrates the
Passover with His Disciples
12 Now on the first day of
Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to
Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?”
13 And He sent out two of His
disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man will meet you carrying
a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he goes in, say to the master of
the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the
Passover with My disciples?”’ 15 Then he will show you a large upper room,
furnished and prepared; there make ready for us.”
16 So His disciples went out, and
came into the city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared
the Passover.
17 In the evening He came with the
twelve. 18 Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, one
of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”
19 And they began to be sorrowful,
and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” And another said, “Is it I?”
20 He answered and said to them,
“It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. 21 The Son of Man
indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son
of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been
born.”
Jesus Institutes the
New Covenant
22 And as they were eating, Jesus
took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, eat;
this is My body.”
23 Then He took the cup, and when
He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He
said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. 25
Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until
that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
26 And when they had sung a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives. (Mark 14:12-26 (NKJV)
And now with these verse in
John’s Gospel that seems to conflict with the Synoptics:
Now before the
Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should
depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the
world, He loved them to the end. (John 17:1); and,
2 And supper
being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
Simon’s son, to betray Him.
With the verse that seems to
conflict with the Synoptics:
Therefore,
because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the
cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate
that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away…” (John
19:31)
Problem Observed:
Do you see the problem here? The problem is best presented
in the form of a question: “How could Jesus eat the Passover meal with his
disciples, then be crucified and the Jews ask that he be taken down off the
cross before the Passover meal they were to eat later that day?” (John 19:31)
The answer is, obviously if one accepts that the Last Supper
was the Passover meal, followed by yet another Passover meal after he was
crucified, then there is definitely a contradiction.
The Choice is Yours:
At this point, the choice is yours. Either the Bible is the
inerrant, infallible word of God or it is simply a good book full of advice,
some good perhaps, and some bad; but, nonetheless, errant in its narratives and
with an archaic prescientific worldview. It cannot be both.
As for me, I would find it very hard to place my confidence
in a book riddled with such apparent errors and prescientific mythologies. Yet,
some continue to hang onto this straw and proudly proclaim that they are
Christians.
I say, foolishness.
Possibilities Considered:
With this clearly in mind, let us allow our thoughts to run
down an imaginative trail of possibilities. What if those New Testament authors
living in time and space only had one option? Now, what if that option was that
they could only declare in space and time what originated in the mind of the
Eternal One? Is this not precisely what Peter said, when he wrote:
For prophecy never had its origin
in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the
Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:21)
Does not the scripture also say?
From the east I summon a bird of
prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that
will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do. (Isaiah 46:11)
We cannot have both. God is eternal, He changes not. He
cannot, and does not lie. (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2; Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel
15:29)
The Inauguration of a New Covenant:
Firstly, the Lord’s Supper mentioned was not a Seder or
Passover meal at all but the inauguration of a new covenant. This conviction is
based on the fact that there is no mention of eating the sacrificial lamb—since
He was, indeed, the sacrificial lamb. And, he clearly states that:
"This cup is the new covenant
in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as
often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until He comes." (1 Corinthians 11:25, 26)
So, instead of celebrating the Passover, since he knew that
he would be the Passover lamb the next day, he clearly is saying the old Seder
meal is therefore null and void and is no longer necessary. I am the bread, I
am the lamb, I am the wine in ways that these old symbolisms never were. For,
as the scripture says,
Hebrews 8: 7-13
(7) For if that first
covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a
second. For finding fault with them, He says, (8) “Behold, days are
coming, says the Lord, I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah; (9) not like the covenant which I made
with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of
the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, And I did not care
for them, says the Lord. (10) “For this is the covenant that I will
make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my
laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be
their god, and they shall be my people. (11) “and they shall not
teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘know the
Lord,’ for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them. (12) “for I will be merciful to
their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
(13) When He said, “A new
covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete
and growing old is ready to disappear.
And,
disappear it did!
Therefore,
if this position is taken—and I believe it is the correct one—one of our major
problems is solved; that is, that Christ was crucified and died precisely
during the time the Passover lamb was sacrificed that the High Priest would eat
later that night at the traditional Seder meal.
Regardless
of one’s view of history, we must agree with Wilhelm Herrmann a liberal
theologian, who readily admits the flaws in depending on history for a final judgment
call on Biblical doctrine,
“[It] is a fatal drawback that no
historical judgment, however certain it may appear, ever attains anything more
than probability. But what sort of religion would that be which accepted a
basis for its convictions with the consciousness that it was only probably
safe?
It is a fatal error to attempt to
establish the basis of faith by means of historical investigation. The basis of
faith must be something fixed; the results of historical inquiry are
continually changing.”[v]
Conclusion:
The Last Supper in Summary
The Story
The last
meal that Jesus shared with his disciples is described in all
four canonical Gospels, namely in Matthew 26:17-30, Mark
14:12-26, Luke 22:7-39 and John 13:1-17:26.
This meal
later became known as the Last Supper or the Lord’s Supper.
Paul's First
Epistle to the Corinthians (11:23-26), which was likely written before the
Gospels, includes a reference to the Last Supper but emphasizes the theological
basis rather than giving a detailed description of the event or its background.
The Critics
"Date
and time of the crucifixion”
All the
sources agree that Jesus was crucified on 14 Nisan. Some dispute as to whether
the Passover was on Thursday or Friday. Some feel that The Synoptics seem to
suggest that Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples on Thursday night was a
Passover meal. I disagree. This was not the traditional Seder meal, but rather
the introduction of the New Covenant. John agrees that Jesus did share a Last
Supper with his disciples on Thursday night in the upper room prior to his
betrayal and arrest.
John also
says that the Jewish leaders wanted to remove Jesus from the cross before the
Passover meal began Friday night. So was Passover on Thursday or Friday?
The Issue
In essence
the Synoptics are very much the same. Mark 14:12-16 seems to encapsulate the
story well; Matthew and Luke give less detail, but otherwise read the same:
And the first day of unleavened bread,
when they killed the Passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou
that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover? And he sendeth forth
two of his disciples, and saith unto them, Go ye into the city, and there shall
meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him. And wheresoever he shall
go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the
guestchamber, where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples? And he will
show you a large upper room furnished and prepared: there make ready for us.
And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said
unto them: and they made ready the Passover.
Scripture of controversy
John 13:1-2 Now before the feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of
this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he
loved them unto the end. And supper being ended, the devil having now put into
the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him.
Thus it is
argued that Jesus was betrayed and thus crucified prior to the Passover.
Let us consider
whether or not this is true by closely looking at the scriptures.
1st
statement:
“Now before the feast of the Passover,
when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world
unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them
unto the end.”
2nd
statement:
“And supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him.”
(John 13:1-2)
So from
these two statements alone, what do we discover? Firstly, we discover that the
1st statement says “before the feast of the Passover” which to me
indicates that the Last Supper may have been prior to the Passover feast, say
the day before. Granted, John does immediately introduce the Last Supper meal
by saying “And supper being ended,” Judas betrayed him later that very evening.
My question
is, What meal? A Seder meal. No, because a proper Seder meal must be eaten at
the beginning of Nisan 15, which was at earliest the next day. The sacrificial
lamb was prepared for sacrifice and killed during the day on Nisan 14; whereas,
the Last Supper had to be prior to that and not the Seder meal since bluntly
speaking dead men do not eat!
That being
established—at least in my thinking—we must deal with the death, burial and
resurrection of Jesus.
For the
record, from all indications He was crucified at 12 PM noon on Nisan 14, and
died at 3 PM on the same day. Thus, he was placed in the borrowed tomb at
around 6 PM that evening which was the beginning of Nisan 15 and the start of the
paschal Seder meal that very evening.
Therefore,
it seems to me that all we must account for are the three days and three nights
that scripture says he was to be in the bowels of the earth as Jonah was in the
belly of the whale (or great fish, if you prefer).
Now, in
essence, the major conflict between the Synoptic Gospels and The Gospel of John
concerning the Last Supper, his betrayal and trial and crucifixion, including
his burial and resurrection has been settle, all we must do now is to account
for statements concerning otherwise insignificant activities—such as, when and
which Mary visited the tomb, and how many angels were present and so-forth.
[i] The Feast of Passover (Exodus 12:1-28)
The
Passover meal was (and still is) held as an annual event in each Jewish
household. The meal commemorates the deliverance and Exodus of the children of
Israel from the dominion of Pharoah as slaves in Egypt, around 1450 BC.
The
First Passover
The
first Passover is described in Exodus chapter 12: one lamb was slain for every
household and the blood painted onto the lintels and doorposts. This was done
in order that the angel of Death would not slay the first-born son of the
Jewish households, but only those of Pharoah's people, whom God had warned He
would judge. "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" the Lord
told the children of Israel (Exodus 12:13). They were to eat the lamb, with
unleavened bread and bitter herbs, in haste prior to their departure from
Egypt. The eating of unleavened bread was to continue for seven days, as their
sustenance to exit Egypt and escape Pharoah's slavery. God ordained that the
children of Israel would commemorate the Passover every year to remember their
deliverance, almost 3,450 years ago.
Early
Commemorations of The Passover
Commemoration
of the Feast of Passover was the first major event after the Tabernacle was
first built. The building was finished on schedule, two weeks prior to the
first anniversary of the Exodus. The Tabernacle was consecrated and anointed
with oil (Exodus 40:9, a definite foreshadow of the Anointed One, the Messiah,
the Christ). Aaron and his sons (the Levites) were also consecrated and
anointed to serve in the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:13).
During
the first four decades of the Tabernacle, all of the children of Israel were
together in one place in the wilderness to commemorate the Passover. Once they
had entered into the good land of Canaan, Jerusalem eventually became the focus
of worship, at the time of King David, around 1000 BC. From then onwards, the
Feast of Passover was to be held every year in Jerusalem, in accordance with
God's word to Moses in Deuteronomy 16:1-8.
The
ordinances of the Passover, specified in Exodus chapter 12, state that the lamb
was to be examined for four days, to ensure it was without blemish. Then at
evening (Jewish days begin at sunset) the lamb was to be slain, its blood
applied to the lintels and doorposts and then roasted for sustenance for the
Exodus journey.
How
is the Passover commemorated today?
Today,
the Passover (Seder) meal follows a fairly standard pattern in every Jewish
household. There is a 'Haggadah' (which means 'telling', 'portraying', see
Galatians 3:1) to guide the proceedings, which is based on four 'Cups'.
At
the start, candles are lit and a prayer is offered to bless the First Cup of
wine: "Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, the Creator
who brings forth the vine from the earth with its fruit" (Genesis 1:11).
This First Cup is called the Cup of Sanctification, signifying "I the Lord
will bring you out from under the yoke of slavery" (Exodus 6:6); this was
God setting the children of Israel apart for Himself.
Next
all the participants wash their hands: "Who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart" (Psalm 24:3-4). This was probably
the point where Jesus washed His disciples' feet (John 13:4-12).
Then
each person takes some herbs (usually Parsley) and dips them in salt water and
eats them (Matthew 26:23; also, it was probably at this point that Jesus gave
the sop to Judas, John 13:26). The salt water and herbs remind all present that
the Passover was originally eaten with 'bitter herbs' (Exodus 12:8). The herbs
are dipped in salt water to remember the tears as "the Israelites groaned
in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help went up to God" (Exodus
2:23). In connection with the herbs, the Lord is remembered and blessed as the
Creator of the fruits of the earth.
Next,
the head of the family takes the middle one of the three flat cakes of
unleavened Matzah bread; he breaks it and puts one half aside, wrapped in a
white linen cloth. The hidden bread is called the 'Afikomen' (meaning dessert).
There are three pieces of bread to remember that the Lord, the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, is One who keeps His covenant; He it is that delivered the children
of Israel from bondage (Exodus 6:2-9). But why is it the middle piece that is
broken? This is because the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is an indication of
the tri-unity of God. Just as Abraham was willing to offer up His "only
son" (Genesis 22:2,12), so God the Father willingly offered up His Son,
Jesus (John 3:16). Jesus was broken on the cross for our redemption (I
Corinthians 11:24) and wrapped in linen for burial (Luke 23:53).
Part
of God's purpose in requiring the children of Israel to remember the Passover
was to inspire questions from future young generations, for their instruction
(Exodus 12:26-27). Children customarily have to ask four questions:
Q. Why
tonight?:
A. "A night to remember" (Exodus 12:42)
Q. Why
bitter herbs?:
A. "To
remember the anguish of slavery" (Exodus 2:23)
Q. Why
dip the bitter herbs in the salt water twice?
A. "It
was really bad in slavery, but our HOPE was in God" (Psalm 42:5)
Q. Why
do we eat reclining?
A. "Because
now we are free to come to God" (Exodus 3:18-20; Galatians 5:1; Matthew 11:28)
The
history of the first Passover is read aloud from Exodus chapter 12 and Psalms
113 and 114.
The
second cup, the Cup of Plagues is filled and passed round. The ten plagues on
Pharoah's Egypt are verbally recounted (Exodus 7:14-12:36):
Blood!
Frogs!
Lice!
Flies!
Cattle
Disease!
Boils!
Hailstones!
Locusts!
Darkness!
Death
of the Firstborn!
This
Cup of Plagues is the last cup before the Passover Lamb is considered (see Luke
22:17).
The
climax of the Seder meal should be the festive meal of roast lamb. However,
since the Temple no longer stands in Jerusalem (where the Passover lamb was
sacrificed), a shankbone is presented as a reminder of the Passover Lamb.
It
was after this point that Jesus instituted 'the Lord's Supper'. He took the
Afikomen bread (laid aside earlier) and gave thanks (Matthew 26:26):
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, the Creator Who
brings forth bread from the earth", according to the Jewish Haggadah. Then
He broke the Afikomen bread and passed round the third cup of wine, called the
Cup of Blessing or the Cup of Redemption. Jesus said "This cup is the new
covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20).
(Incidentally,
Jesus' words "this is ..." (Matthew 26:26,28) must mean 'this
represents...' since He was Himself there, giving the disiples the bread and
wine.)
The
final cup of wine, the Cup of Praise, is drunk as the Seder meal concludes with
the singing of the remaining 'Halel' (or Hallelujah) Psalms (115-118) and the
'Great Halel', Psalm 136 "God's love endures for ever". These psalms
are probably the 'hymn' mentioned in Matthew 26:30. Psalm 116 is particularly
pertinent to the Lord's prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39,42).
The
final sentence expresses the hope of how next year's Passover will be
remembered:
"Next
year in Jerusalem!"
The
setting of the Lord's Supper at the heart of the Passover meal explains its
meaning. Jesus Christ is Himself the Passover lamb, offered up for the
redemption and deliverance of His people (I Corinthians 5:7), the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The bread and wine speak of
His death, and of the new covenant it ratifies, reconciling God and man. Jesus
says "Do this in rememberance of Me" (Luke 22:19; I Corinthians 11:24-25),
telling His disciples that the Passover is fulfilled in Him. Until He comes
again (Luke 22:18; I Corinthians 11:26), we are to remember the significance of
what He has done for us. (Page authored by Martyn Barrow.)
[ii] For more on the parallels between the Didache and the
Jewish Birkat ha-Mazon, see Enrico Mazza, The Celebration of the Eucharist: The
Origin of the Rite and the Development of Its Interpretation (Collegeville, MN:
Liturgical Press, 1999), esp. pp. 19–26 (where he discusses these parallels)
and pp. 307–309 (where he provides translations of the texts).
[iii]
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/was-jesus-last-supper-a-seder/
[iv] Eternity and time PowerPoint (available)
[v] Wilhelm Herrmann, The Communion of the Christian with
God (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), pp. 72, 76.
