Does we now see what I mean by Mark's "editing-by-interpolation"? John 13:1Now 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. Jonathan, It also means that if Thu(N) / Fri(D) was Nisan 15, that a Passover meal was held on Thu(N), so the Jesus Last Supper was held on Wed(N), at the start of Nisan 14. Because Mark thereby generated problems left unresolved, evidently the entire case for the Last Supper as a Passover meal crumbles. It may or may not be plausible objectively to say that they failed conspicuously but it surely fits Mark's generally quizzical portrait of them. John's Gospel consistently refers to the "Passover-sacrifice" of Deuteronomy 16. Also, since Jesus was sacrificed on Passover, the meal the night before couldnt be the Seder. But it is simply false that the unlevened bread (Heb: matzah; GreeK: azyma) is not mentioned. For the first time we see Jews and Christians coming together in Biblical Truth. I would like to recommend another solution that has been proposed recently in order to account for the anomalies in the accounts of the Last Supper. In the last few decades, there has been a growing number of Christians who are interested in the celebrations surrounding Passover; some churches are even holding Christian Seders.1 For some in the Jewish community, this has been a matter for concern, while others are encouraging Christians to engage with the holiday and even to hold church Seders. We probably won't have it figured out this side of heaven. It also means that Jesus was in the tomb Fri(N), Fri(D), Sat(N), Sat(D), Sun(N), which means that he was in the tomb until the third day. 14:1-2, 12-16) and Johannine ( e.g. When it was time for little Timmy to take his place and give his recitation he was petrified. In his highly influential book The Shape of the Liturgy, Gregory Dix traces a straight line. 85 CE) and Luke (ca. #5 - Miguel de Servet - 03/26/2013 - 18:48. The Last Supper takes place during the Jewish festival of Passover. This may or may not be plausible but of course Mark's narrative races along with an overwhelming sense of grief and indignation that you have to be quite hard-hearted to resist. Is it true historically? The same third day for Jonah, Jonathan and David. They then met again early Friday morning to confirm the death penalty. Take; this is my body . he took a cup, and gave it to them, and they all drank . commemoration of israels liberation from egyptian bondage Are Christian Seders a form of cultural appropriation? eaten with leavened bread; no lamb Gentiles who come to faith in Jesus do not replace Israel or negate Gods covenant with Israel but have been brought near. 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-18; Luke 22:7-13 ). new covenant scriptures considered. The New Testament proclaims that the Redeemer has come, that a redemption greater than the Exodus is here. For the first time we see Jews and Christians coming together in Biblical Truth. Poupko and Sandmel make the point that at the Last Supper, the focus on the events of the Exodus takes a back seat to Jesus new expression of faith in which he created a new ritual. (Note: I have deleted parts of the summary in order to keep the length of this comment below 5,000 words.). It also means that Jesus was arrested before the Festival season - as required by the Temple Priests. The Last Supper by Dieric Bouts The overall narrative that is shared in all Gospel accounts that leads to the Last Supper is that after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem early in the week, and encounters with various people and the Jewish elders, Jesus and his disciples share a meal towards the end of the week. The Last Supper: Passover? P.S. 4. lump up the 8-day back-to-back commanded observances: What is interesting is that Jesus gives a new meaning to the bread and the wine, a meaning not to be found in todays haggadot.7. Last Supper Bible Story Summary Major Characters Themes and Life Lessons Historical Context By Mary Fairchild Updated on February 03, 2021 All four Gospels give an account of the Last Supper in the Bible. A pre-seder as Ive read there might have been? For the record, this happened when I was about 19 years old and a student at Syracuse University. In the Second Paragraph, Jesus sendstwodisciples from Bethany to Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal. Anomaly Bsresolution follows in short order: If Mark folded his own paragraph (vv. Exodus 39:10 And they set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this was the first row. This is why the Apostle Paul can write in Ephesians 2:1213: Remember that you [Gentiles] were at that time separated from [Messiah], alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Last Supper - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The author is Colin J. Humphreys. Even drying up the depths of the Nile reads like a riff on one of the 10 plagues. Jesus' Last Supper Still Wasn't a Passover Seder Meal [5]E.g., verses 12-16 seem to echo an earlier Markan episode, 11:1ff. I. H. Marshall,Last Supper and Lords Supper(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), Chap. That the Lord's last supper was regarded by Himself and the apostles as a passover meal appears from Matthew 26:2, 17, 18, 19 and parallel passages, Mark 14:14-16; Luke 22:11-13; as also from Luke 22:7, 15. The Hebrew Scriptures teach us that when Messiah comes, the Gentile nations will embrace him and the God of Israel (Isaiah 2:13; Isaiah 11:10). I will bring them home from the land of Egypt. Biblical scholars have often noted that the biblical prophets use images of the Egyptian Exodus to speak of a greater future redemption: Though I scattered them among the nations. 10. 6 There would have been lamb, matzah, and bitter herbs. ), [2] Again anticipatory, I close my essay by claiming that Mark's procedure here (I like your term: creative redaction), "echoes his apparent editorial practice also with his 'blasphemy' (2:5b10), 'Sanhedrin' (14:45-55), and 'Barabbas' (15:6-15a) paragraphs, and even what he assigns as Pilate's first question of Jesus (15:2). We need to be reminded that every Seder looks not only back to the first redemption but also forward to the redemption to come. Why did you not mention (in your excellent UPDATE article . RM may have been working over older accounts (why just one?) Now it may be the case that the author of the Gospel of Mark wasn't aware of the Galilean Jews Last Supper celebration, and in his attempt to make sense of the story he made the Last Supper into the Passover Meal. But one has to understand how the Hebrew grammar and accents show the sequence of action - and it seems few indeed ever have since the Pharisees gained the ascendency in the old Sanhedrin. So here I am bringing to bear what I feel is a powerful underpinning of my position: that what I claim Mark has done in the Passover paragraph is characteristic of his habitual editorial style throughout his Gospel. The bread would have been matzah, the prescribed unleavened bread: He took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you. (In the Gospel of Mark 14:13-15, Jesus specifically directs his disciples to a man in the city who will show them an upstairs guest-room all 'furnished and prepared' for them to eat their Passover . commanded by jesus to be observed as often (Mark 14:16 RSV) And the disciples set out and went to the city, and found it as he had told them; and they prepared the passover. The Last Supper of Christ by Girolamo da Santacroce (16th century) Background. It was NOT part of the original story line. 3rd Passover: Last Supper ("This do in remembrance of me")see Luke 22:7-20. Jesus was the reality of the Passover lamb. Similarly, Mark's unfamiliarity with things Jewish in the holy land per se is evinced elsewhere in his Gospel.[3]. It was an important holiday on the Jewish calendar, so it was natural for the Messiah and His disciples to observe it. You have the right stick but I feel by the wrong end. Anomaly Clikewise ceases to pose a problem: in trying to transform the Last Supper into a Passover meal, Mark forgot, or did not know, to include the key components we would expect lamb, bitter herbs, and matzah. Why Did the Magi Bring Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh? Jennie Ebeling --Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville, Copyright 2000-2023 The Bible and Interpretation| All Rights Reserved |The University of Arizona | Developed bySBS Tech Jonathan Klawans November 15, 2022 176 Comments 181397 views Share Read Jonathan Klawans's article "Was Jesus' Last Supper a Seder?" as it originally appeared in Bible Review, October 2001. the use of at even here then means a time before the biblical day is over. The following schematic abridgment highlights those elements germane to this discussion: First Paragraph14:12: It was now two daysbeforethe Passover and the feast of Unleavened Bread. #4 - Michael J. Cook - 03/25/2013 - 16:23. It's a very good, dramatic storyline, sustained by a racing-speed narrative and a marvellous sense of grief and indignation - stylistic qualities which dull doubts. It was during the 8th Century C.E. (The historicity of such a Sanhedrin trial is a separate question.). -- doesn't do the trick. Professor of Judeo-Christian Studies Of course, Mark could have remedied this oddity by simply mentioning Passover's arrival elsewhere, i.e., outside this paragraph, but he failed to do so. The name of this first month was later changed to Nisan when the Judean Jews were in exile in Babylon (Nisan being the Hebrew equivalent of the name of the Babylonian first month, Nisannu). Simple solutions, if adequate, may be preferable to convoluted solutions suspect for that reason alone.[8]. Apart from the finicky literalism of the remark, Mark does not even say that the two disciples that Jesus sent to prepare for Passover were two of the Twelve. There was the singing of the Hallel, as we see in Matthew 26:30: And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. In fact the paragraph begins by speaking of the "first day of the feast of Unleavened Bread [azymn]". It asserts that the death of Jesus occurred, not in 30 A.D., but in 33 A.D., and that in the later year, Passover would ordinarily have fallen on Friday. Luke hastily revises the number of thrones to conceal whether Judas got one! But Jesus made no answer, so that Pilate wondered; and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified (15:5,15b)." If it had been a Passover Seder, then Holy Communion/Eucharist would be held once a year. Did he participate in a Seder, similar to what I grew up with? A messianic sect such as the Nazarenes might very well not have agreed with this transference of the Passover date. and with their children they shall live and return. The following extended quotation is from this summary at the end of the book. And then of course, there was the food! Dave, Your email address will not be published. The scribes and Pharisees, who were given civil not religious authority originally, had access to neither. Indeed, five to seven anomalies generated by Mark's proposed insertion vanish simultaneously when, reversing Mark's apparent procedure, we remove his offending paragraph. At the Last Supper, the teachings of Jesus brought continued meaning to the core narrative of our people through the ages, that our God has provided redemption for us by His mighty hand and His outstretched arm. Not to mention that wonderful sense of the liberation of humanity. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Cincinnati campus This objection ("All indications that Passover has arrived before Jesus arrest seem unnaturally compressed into the Second Paragraph (14:12-16), rather than naturally surfacing randomly also in the surrounding narrative") is clearly incorrect. Is it good for the Jews when Christians participate in an age-old Jewish tradition? To wait two weeks until the crowds subsided would be unnatural. Jesus announced that he would keep the Passover with his twelve disciples. 3. i then can understand that indeed jesus was observing the passover day with a meal which was to be his last before he becomes the passover sacrifice some 21 hours later. 3-6 That's when Satan entered Judas, the one called Iscariot. The Last Supper was the Passover. Others have voiced similar concerns about Christian participation in the traditional Seder.3. Along with Raymond Brown, I am bewildered why 1 Cor 11:23 is still mistranslated by Bible editors -- Paul's single Last Supper allusion: ---------------------------------------- my understanding from scriptures is that jesus instituted a memorial over his death on the 14th with elements of bread and wine to as symbols of his broken body and shed blood. It was a proto-Seder, a pre-AD 70 Seder, a Seder-in-formation; it was Seder-like, it was Seder-ish, it was kind-of-like-a-Seder, it had elements of a Sederany way you put it, Seder is the most relevant way to speak of it. So if not a seder, that what was the Last Supper? The Last Supper - Bible Story, Verses & Meaning - Bible Study Tools collecting the egyptian spoils. (Mark 14:17 RSV) And when it was evening he came with the twelve. At 3 p.m., Jesus died. Is it possible that the Galaleans under the rule of Herod were allowed to celebrate the Passover a day early? Anomaly E: Jesus Trial on the Evening of a Festival? To be sure, Jews continue to be Jews and non-Jews continue to be non-Jews. this is not my understanding. Every false religion created by man, satan and the world can and will be presented. this clearly speaks of something done with regularity and frequency. 5:7)"the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the . 16:1-8 does not change or replace Exodus 12 etc. For Matthean and Lukan chronologies replicate Marks, their primary source; whereas John and, before him, Paul take other directions. Herbert Danby (New York: Macmillan, 1925), 328330. #13 - Marianne Westrope - 03/08/2014 - 14:45. The allusions to Egypt, passing through the sea, and the destruction of Egyptian power are all taken from the Exodus story. The basic materials for parents and leaders to reread before the celebration are the Scriptural references: the book of Exodus, especially Chapters 7 through 13 about the plagues of Egypt and the Passover. 17 A Wednesday last supper solves the problems outlined in Chapter 1 of this book. Cook obviously wants to have it both ways: on the one side, he wants us to believe that Jesus Passover happened (at least one day) before the Judaean Passover. Knowing that reading tradition has been an invaluable aid to me in researching the history of observance of the Passover, the NTBMO and Unleavened Bread across the two Testaments. (22:28ff.) Could there not have been pre-Mishnaic traditions or rituals that the authors drew upon? The Last Supper was the Passover. The really strange thing about Mark's narrative is that the crowds change sides so totally. Instead, such a custom did not exist for Pilate. (The Irish were using leavened bread when the Bishop of Rome gave Henry II his blessing to bring the Irish into the "true" religion.). 1. What we wish to accomplish in this teaching is to overcome those challenges and attempt to arrive at a fair and solid conclusion. observing these commemorations back-to-back highlights the difference between the two covenants also. Jesus shared a Passover meal with his disciples in what Christians call "the last supper". He was one of the Twelve. ), Speculative? Now Jesus could indeed arrive for his Last Supper literally with the twelve, and neither Matthew nor Luke would spot anything to correct. Another part of his theology is his portrayal of the Jerusalem priests, the people from whom the numen has moved on, leaving few redeeming features. The Barabbas unit reflects powerful theological problems for LATER Christians. To me, the worst thing to happen to Christianity over the last 2 millenia was Constantin. A pre-seder as Ive read there might have been? The Seder is the traditional Passover meal that includes reading, drinking 4 cups of wine, telling stories, eating special foods, singing, and other Passover traditions. "Was the Last Supper a Passover Meal?" in The Lord's Supper: Remembering and Proclaiming Christ until He Comes (ed. 8 All the evidence from the Bible and other early documents is consistent with the crucifixion being on Nisan 14 in the official calendar. their own Passover meals. Absolutely -- particularly for modern Jewish-Christian interchange! If we follow the real evidence where it really leads, we erase all real problems without making arbitrary decisions about what the text should and should not say. Get new monthly articles and special invitations in your inbox! 9. Your email address will not be published. that the Western Church started to interpret the Last Supper as a Passover meal and began switching to unleavened bread. 26:26-29 ( Mark 14:22-25 . Not why did the crowd change sides but why did the priests, noting Jesus' popularity AND the POPULAR-prisoner release scheduled for Friday, bother arresting him when he was the odds-on favorite for release? It arose in the late 80s in response to the fall of the Temple as an elementary substitute for celebrating Passover now that the Temple cult no longer operated. but if some of these accounts did not make his point about the last supper they were different from him in theology and so not really an Ur (or Mark 1)version of him. and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. But did you know that this became the basis for the first communion? 53:7), Jesus is the ultimate Passover sacrifice (1 Cor. The Last Supper & Passover: Overlooking the Obvious? The divider in Orthodox congregations that separate the men from the women. in john 18:28 he records that the passover meal was not yet had while jesus was still being dragged around on the 14th. The Last Supper is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels ( Matthew 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-30 ). I agree: the priests seem late in seizing Jesus, waiting for the crowds to mushroom. 1. Indeed, not simply is the Greek word for matzah (azyma) absent, but regular leavened bread (artos) is present (instructively, we find the same in Mark 14:22 and 1 Corinthians 11:23). (Since Gospel manuscripts originally lacked verse numbers, the substance of verse 17 originally could have directly continued what is presently designated as verse 11.). The Passover Meal. 5. 109-20; 320-21 of my book). Traditional Views of Jesus' Last Supper as a Passover Meal That would also explain why Jesus's group had to vacate the "Upper Room" on Friday but were able to return to it on Saturday and apparently remain there for several days or weeks. The Last Supper was more than Jesus' last meal; it was a Passover meal as well. The ingenious alternative you set forth is admittedly intriguing, and makes scholarship absorbing and "fun". Hence John and the synoptic gospels apparently disagree not only on whether the last supper was a Passover meal or not, but also on the date of the crucifixion. commemoration of lords death and in anticipation of his coming 8. John 13:29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. [E] Jesus Trial on the Evening of a Festival? For a city such as first century Jerusalem, two successive days without normal commerce, especially fish deliveries, could well have been considered unacceptable if there were any reasonable alternatives. Jesus was the reality of the Passover lamb.