The Last Supper
Barry Jenkins, an active member of our community, sent me this a few weeks ago, but I didn’t see it until now. Â I think you might all like to read what he discovered.
The Last Supper
By Barry Jenkins
Some people think that Jesus was creating something new when He established the “Lord’s Supper.” Most English Bibles will say something like, “The Lord’s Supper Instituted.” Others seeking to establish the Hebraic roots of the faith insist that Yeshua was celebrating a traditional Passover meal. Who is right or, are they both wrong? Scripture and Hebraic customs shed some light.
In 30 A.D., Wednesday was Nisan 13. After sunset, Passover began on Nisan 14, which was a Thursday. Friday was Nisan 15 and was a Sabbath day. Saturday was Nisan 16 and was the seventh day Sabbath. In 30 A.D., there were back to back Sabbaths. It was on Wednesday that Jesus began to make plans for Passover. Later Christian tradition moves the last meal to Thursday night. It appears that Jesus was arrested on Wednesday night, crucified on Thursday, never had the passover meal on Thursday evening, and rose from the dead on Nisan 17, which was early morning on the day after the last Sabbath (what we call Sunday). How can we know this time table is accurate?
John specifies that the Wednesday night “last supper” was “before the festival of Passover (John 13:1).”He also informs us that when Jesus’ accusers appeared before Pilate on Thursday morning, they would not enter Pilate’s courtyard because they would be defiled and would not be able to eat the Passover that evening (John 18:28). I find it convincing proof that Jesus was not celebrating Passover because of the Greek word used for “bread.” It was artos and refers to a loaf of bread, i.e. the bread had leaven and had risen. In the Septuagint, a different Greek word is used to describe the unleavened bread commanded to be used in Exodus 12. It is the word azymos and it means unleavened or unfermented. Jesus used a loaf of bread on the night before His arrest. Have you ever seen a loaf of matzos? No Torah observant Jew would eat leavened bread once Passover began. Further, no Torah observant Jew would encourage others to disobey God’s command to eat unleavened bread. For Jesus to remain Torah observant, the last meal could not be a Passover meal.
Another point of interest is would Jesus choose not to be with His four brothers, two sisters, and mother on such an important celebration as Passover? It would seem that what we call the “Last Supper” occurred on Passover eve. We need to investigate all the things we think we know. We need Biblical truth. It is there, if we will investigate.
¡Interesante! espero que investiguen más y me enseñen más. Bendiciones y gracias por compartir su sabidurÃa con nosotros.
Three days and nights in the tomb. The sign of Jonah.
Then why did Yeshua tell his disciples to prepare Pascha (the passover meal) in Matthew 24:17-19? They prepared it and ate it. Otherwise this remarks would be completely useless.
Why would Judas be going out to buy provisions for the feast, or give to the poor, if Passover had already been eaten? It would be the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread already.
How could Yeshua be the Passover Lamb, fulfilling the Feast of Passover to the exact day, hour and moment that it had been rehearsed for 1500-or-so years (barring times in exile, periods of idolatry etc) if the Passover Lamb had already been killed?
Some teachers talk about the fact that there were probably 3 methods of keeping Passover in the Land at that time – the Sadducees kept their Passover at the end of the 13th/beginning of the 14th and began the Feast of Unleavened Bread at sundown on the 14th. One Pharisaic school appeared to keep Passover at the end of the 14th and began Unleavened Bread at the end of the 15th, thus making it a day late and taking it through from the 16th to the 23rd. Others kept Passover at the end of the 14th and going into the beginning of the 15th, coinciding with the First of Unleavened Bread on the 15th. The pattern that Yeshua and His Disciples seemed to tie up with Sadducees’ Passover i.e. they at the Passover meal at the beginning of the 14th and then He was crucified the following afternoon before the Pharisees kept their Passover. Either way, He had to be in the grave before sundown at the end of the 14th/beginning of the 15th of Nisan.
This might all be true, but still doesn’t answer my question. Why would Yeshua order his disciples to prepare the Passover meal, and, when they have done so, start a completely different meal? This simply doesn’t make any sense. So I stick to the simple reading: He had the Passover meal right there right then with his disciples. There is far to much uncertainty to pin down any moment or day or sequence of events other than Scriptures tell us. There may have been changes in the way the festival was celebrated during the following centuries. Indeed there have been adaptations, so that it is not really possible te reconstruct. But that is of no great importance to me. It sound far too Greek to me to pin down the exact day of the week – there is only one day important: sabbat. I have been convinced for over 25 years that Yeshua rose on sabbat and not on ‘sun’-day. But for me that’s not something worth getting excited about. We have a saying in Holland: Hot heads, cold hearts! 😉
Let’s thank God for His gift of life!
Kees
When I was researching this issue, it was the different type of bread that drew my attention. Yeshua used a loaf at His last meal. I questioned why would He not use the unleavened bread as commanded in Exodus. There were only a couple of answers I came up with: (1) He was doing something new, so He was using risen bread to signify that He would rise from the dead; (2) He did not have any unleavened bread (although I find this one hard to imagine); or (3) whatever the meal was, it was not the Passover. My concluding thought was that He would have been obedient to the Passover ritual and would not have used leavened bread. Therefore, whatever the meal was, it wasn’t the Passover. It was just something that caught my attention and I wanted to share it.
And a good point. Sorting out all the details takes a lot of effort since each writer takes his own perspective on what is important, and we have no independent historical timeline. But then Hebrew isn’t really interested in actual timelines in the way that we are. The key is to read each passage with the question, “What purpose does this serve?”
The day before the Passover is referred to as a day of preparation. Could Yeshua be talking about preparing because it was the day they made preparations for the next day, the Passover.
Hi Barry, I see that this was written in 2010. I however just discovered it yesterday and it got my attention! So, I too went digging. I can see that there are separate Greek words for leavened and unleavened bread and that in NT usage, this is the one for leavened (every time!). That had me really stumped until I went thru the LXX usages and see very clearly in Leviticus 8:2, 26 that the writers used this SAME Greek word for the Hebrew MATZAH! So it appears that this word for ‘bread’ can mean BOTH kinds! Otherwise, I am agreeing with your statements, but also ask if we know that it was really in 30AD – or were you just saying that the days line up with your thoughts in that year?
I also would like to see your comment of response to Kees’s question.
I have an additional question. My wife is a conservative Lutheran. I am a member of the Assembly of God. Her Wisconsin Synod and Missouri Synod believe when the take communion they are taking the actual body and blood of Christ. I believe when Christ said do this in remembrance of me He was not telling us it was his actual body and blood. Yet, I recognize the God of creation can do anything – He is not limited.
Who is correct?
Blessings,
Jim Newman
It doesn’t quite add up. You can’t get three days and three nights between Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning. The gospel accounts also require that there be a normal day between the High Sabbath of Unleavened Bread and the weekly Sabbath from Friday pm to Sat pm.
There is only one possibility that satisfies all of the criteria. Yeshua had to be crucified on Wednesday afternoon and in the grave before sundown (as the Passover lambs were in the ovens) at which point began the High Sabbath of the First of Unleavened Bread (the 15th of Nisan). Everyone had to rest on the 15th. The next day was the 16th which began at sundown on Thursday. After sunrise on the 16th (Friday as we know it) the ladies went out to buy and prepare the spices to complete the burial properly (remember, there wasn’t time on the day He was crucified due to the approaching High Sabbath). Then they rested again on the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Come sundown Saturday, the end of the Sabbath, Yeshua had been in the grave exactly 3 days and 3 nights. This is when he rose, just before sundown on the Sabbath (He said He was “Lord of the Sabbath”, remember?).
You’ll remember that at the time that He died, there was a great earthquake and many graves were opened. This happened at the time that the priests were going across the Kidron valley to the Mount of Olives to bind up (mark) the 10 omer of standing barley ready for the Firstfruits (Bikkurim) offering that was to be offered “on the morrow after Sabbath” i.e. first thing Sunday morning. The graves were, if you like, “marked ready for the harvest”.
At sundown on the Sabbath, the priests went back across the Kidron valley to harvest the 10 omer of barley that had been marked 3 days earlier. At the same time, Yeshua went around to the graves and raised up those who had been “marked” 3 days earlier. The following morning (Sunday morning), Yeshua encountered Miriam in the garden as they came to embalm Him. He said to her, “Don’t touch me, for I’ve not yet ascended to my Father”. This was not referring to his ascension 40 days later, but to the fact that He had to present Himself and those whom He raised before the Throne of the Father in Heaven (as the High Priest) as the Firstfruits of the Resurrection, exactly as the earthly High Priest was presenting the Bikkurim Offering (the Wave Offering) of the Firstfruits of the harvest in the Holy Place in the temple.
50 days later came Pentecost (but that is worthy of another article).
That means that the crucifixion could not have happened in 30 AD. I believe that there are only 2 years within the time frame that fit, and all of the other historical markers only fit 27 AD. You do realize also that that means that His ministry could not have been 3 1/2 years. In fact, there’s another reason why it wasn’t – the Passover Lamb had to be a male lamb “of the first year”. He had to be around the of the first year of His public ministry (which began at Passover one year earlier). In fact, it was exactly 70 weeks from His baptism in the Jordan to the Holy Spirit being poured out at Pentecost. He was crucified after 62 weeks, “in the midst of the week” i.e on the fourth day of the week.
You see, He had to fulfill the prophecies in the Spring Feasts of the Lord at His first coming. The next time around, He’s going to fulfill all the prophecies in the Fall Feasts (the Day of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement (yom Kippur) a.k.a. The Day Of The LORD and the Feast of Tabernacles).
In between the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts during His earthy ministry, He spent 2 days with the gentiles in Samaria. Both David and Peter told us that “a day with the LORD is as 1000 years and 1000 years is as one day”. The 2 days with the Samaritans prophesies that the “time of the gentiles” would be around 2000 years (pretty close to where we are now).
Reinforcing this is the fact that in Leviticus 23, right in between giving the details of the Spring Feasts of the Lord and the Fall Feasts of the Lord, we find this:
This is the provision for the gentiles, right between the Spring Feasts and the Fall Feasts. You’ll recall that this is specifically featured in the story of Ruth, who was a Moabite (a gentile).
Rodney … wonderful commentaries …. agree and agree!
It is difficult for many to have such important traditions challenged by the record.
Indeed … even the observation of Pesach by the Jews was and remains contentious.
It is sad that folks just can’t seem to grasp that “at that time” the first day happened to be Sunday and all the mo’adim were aligned … and knowing our Lord …. how could it be otherwise!
Shabbat Resurrection … Ahmein! And we don’t need any new Mo’adim to replace the perfect ones gifted to us by ELOHIM!
Duh … sorry … of course Sunday was the first day … but it happened to be the first day following the Shabbat following the Chag HaMotzi … thus the Mo’adim were aligned for a First Fruits fulfillment by Yeshua … the eternal High Priest!
There’s a difference between Hebrew counting and Greek or Roman counting of days. Three days and three night doesn’t mean 3 x 24 hours in Hebrew counting. Any portion af a day is counted as ‘a day and a night’. So even when Yeshua was only one full day of 24 hours, a part of the previous day and a part of the next day in the grave, in Hebrew counting this would have been ‘three days and three nights’.
Kees
I would politely disagree Kees … I think we need to defer to the reckoning of days from a Biblical perspective and this takes us to Genesis …. and also the reckoning of Shabbat …. “even to even”!
Sundown to Sundown is one day! Many spins have been made over the course of time to explain a variety of Crucifixion and Resurrection scenarios.
If we want to stick with the basics and what is supportable … I would suggest we stick with The Word and G_D’s declaration of what constitutes a day …. and not traditions …. be they Jewish or Greek/Roman!
Shalom
Of course you are right. Let’s stick to The Word of God! But the problem is not that, it’s our way of reading. In Genesis ‘day’ seems to mean 24 hours (dark + light) , but we cannot simply read that into our ‘day and night’, because ‘day’ seems to mean 12 hours (only light) here…. So how do we read? Who is writing? Who is reading? That seems to make a diffenrence in the way the writer used his time-tables.
Even in Genesis, yom does not mean 24 hours. The frame of reference shifts with the creation of Man in the sixth “day.” If Hebrew “calculates” time in terms of function, and not intervals, then the application of a 24 hour period is unnecessary. Furthermore, a day is 24 hours only on earth. What is the timeframe of God’s perspective? Certainly not the 24 hour earth-time when the earth didn’t yet exist.
Kees, That is exactly RIGHT, regarding the counting of 3 days and 3 nights; and the questions of WHO is writing, and who is reading! Thumbs UP! Shalom!
Thank you, Rodney. You have clearly explained the sign of Jonah.
No doubt Yeshua observed Pasover in perfect accordance with the sacred calendar. If Yeshua did not die as the Pesach lamb on Passover, then the messianic meaning of the Spring Feasts is removed. It would also render his words meaningless in Matt 26:17-19.
A quick Google will retrieve a slew theories, days, and dates for the passion week that’ll likely leave your mind swimming. Yeshua’s perfect words always align with (and create) the true data. Do you think Yeshua’s words can be trusted to match the Appointed time when he instructed his disciples to prepare of the Passover meal? Matt 26:17-19
Please let me elaborate a little more. Christ Himself told us three times He would rise ‘on the third day’, which is written down in two gospels: Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19 and Luke 9:22; 18:33. The angel repeated this: Luke 24:7, as did the Lord Himself: Luke 24:46.
Only when people are speaking to Romans, the frase ‘after tree days’ is used. Apparently the Romans understood ‘after three days’ as the Greek speaking world understood ‘on the third day’. See Matthew 27:63 (to Pilate), Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34 (Mark is explaining all kinds of names and customs to his readers who did not understand them, because they probably were Romans. Even the name Mark/Marcus is Latin!)
The only text in which three days and three nights is mentioned is Matthew 12:40. Here the Lord is quoting Jonah 1:17. This is the only time the Lord thus characterized the time of His entombment. And also the only time the period is thus described in the ancient Hebrew idiom of the prophets.
So, as I’m more than willig to ‘believe just what God has said’, what am I to believe? One time our Lord quotes Jonah or the many times He says something different in the gospels?
Please, let’s be carefull not to ‘fight’ about this. Again, as we say in Holland, no ‘hot heads, cold hearts’.
One in Christ, Kees
Much of the difficulty comes from the fact that a “day” by Hebrew reckoning is not 24 hours. This is quite clear from the fact that Hebrews do not measure time in the way Greeks (and we) do. Time is measured in terms of function, not increments. We are so used to the idea of time as increments that we apply that standard to all temporal descriptions but Hebrew is much more like “it seemed like years since he had seen her” than it is like “426 days passes since their last phone conversation.”
So, when Hebrew thought is applied to the “3 days,” any part of a “night-day” function is considered a “day.” Therefore, 1 hour on Thursday before sundown is still the “day” Thursday. This has some important implications for our interpretation of the phrase “3 days and 3 nights.” At a minimum, this would mean some part of the first 24 hour period, all of the second 24 hour period and some part of the third 24 hour period as long as some part of the less than 24 hour periods were counted as days.
As a possibility … as you will have it! 🙂
Not something that is going to get me in an uproar … in faith I am most certain that the timing and fulfillment of the Mo’adim was, like our Lord and Savior, … absolutely PERFECT!
Always a pleasure! 🙂
Maybe, but the phrase “days and nights” is still very specific as opposed to just “days”. It still doesn’t alter the fact that for the narrative to fit you have to have a normal day between the 2 Sabbaths (the High Sabbath and the regular Weekly Sabbath).
At face value (in English at least) there is one passage that appears problematic from this point of view – the account of Yeshua meeting the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus on the afternoon of the first day of the week. In the course of their conversation with Him, they state, “…and today is the third day since these things happened…”. If He was crucified on Wednesday, then Sunday would be the fourth day, not the third. If you check the Greek, however, I believe that the word translated “today” more literally means “this night just passed” or “last evening”. If you’re talking on Sunday, “last evening” was Saturday evening, at the end of Shabbat, when He rose “on the third day”.
We were pretty sure that miktzas hayom k’kulo (part of a day counting as a full day) was usually only able to be applied once in any ‘period being reckoned’… and that this was usually on the last day of the period. Does anyone know if that is the case?
What a great thrill to see so many enter into this discussion. We are learning, learning, learning – and all of us a richer for the process. The best part is that this learning journey doesn’t divide us. We only grow stronger together as we try to understand the Word.
Of course, in some ways this dialogue is really pretty much Greek. Trying to find the right answer. It’s clear that the audience who first read the story probably had no issues at all, but we are 2000 years removed and a world away in our thinking, so we proceed gently.
Thanks all.
Hey Skip.. just read this from July 26th, 2008. (Yeah- I keep this stuff!- It’s good!). On the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountain of Ararat. (Genesis 8:4)
to remind you it was from the book: “Shadows of the Messiah”
Maybe a “repost” would be in order? (seventeenth)
Thanks for the reminder. Now that my son has uploaded 2009, 2008 and 2007, anyone can find this entry by searching from the home page (skipmoen.com) for that verse or clicking on the calendar for that date.
I really have a hard time accepting the statement that Jesus did not eat the Passover meal. I find the Passover meal that Jesus partook of as such a perfect completion/fulfillment of God’s word. In Matt. 26:18, Jesus emphatically states, “My time is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” Read the other Gospels, Mark 14:12, 14 states “On the first day of Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb was being sacrificed…” and “The Teacher says, ‘Where is My guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?'”. In Luke 22:7-8 we read, “Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and prepare the Passover for us so we may eat it.'” I don’t think satan could keep that from happening.
Secondly, I find it interesting that this same word “artos” (a noun) is used of the consecrated (Shewbread) bread of Matt 12:4, Mark 2:26 and Luke 6:4. Look at these references to the same “artos” in John 6:33 it is the bread that comes down out of heaven and gives life, John 6:35: Jesus as the bread of life. John 6 is filled with this word in the description of bread. So this begs the question, are we talking about sustenance, sinlessness or both?
I have also noticed that the word “azumos” doesn’t mean bread, but points to some thing undefiled, it means “without”. Azumos is also an adjective, not a noun.
Thirdly, during the month prior to Chag haMatsot the leaven was to be cleaned out of the house and only the possible residue left would be crumbs and such to be finally cleaned out by the feast of Unleavened Bread. It doesn’t make sense that someone just a day before the Feast of Unleavened bread would be so inclined to make leavened bread and that the disciples would purchase it.
I accept Barry’s timing of the Passover but also think about this: Thousands of not millions of people were in Jerusalem for the Passover during the time of Christ. Could those thousands upon thousands of lambs been sacrifice in one day to feed all the pilgrims? Josephus puts the number of lambs at some 250,000. I believe and have read that the sacrifices may have started earlier, maybe as early as Nisan 13 to accommodate all the sacrifices. Jesus could have eaten the Passover lamb and still have been the Passover sacrifice.
I, for one, would not hinge the concept that Jesus did not eat the Passover based upon the translation of one word. I prefer to look deeply into the life and culture of the first century Jew before before coming to such a conclusion.
It’s Passover 2012 and in searching for info on Matt 26:17-20 I’m here. Skip, your hard work is priceless and timeless.
(ORIGIN) The Last Supper Seudah Maphsehket
Jews celebrate 2 TWO meals at Passover time on the
13th is in honor of the Hebrew Firstborn sons being saved… still observed today.
14th is for Passover celebrating the exodus
At the end the FULL (72 hrs) 3 days and 3 nights of Yeshua in the tomb are discussed.
Go here and ‘listen’ or read:
(URL removed. External links not allowed.)
Yeshua and his disciples were Galileans. They naturally observed the Galilean festival traditions (it would have been unthinkable for them to do otherwise). The Judeans were somewhat understanding about the distances that had to be traveled by the Galileans and so allowed for their slightly different traditions to accommodate this difficulty; but they didn’t care for a couple of other additions that BOTH the Galileans and the Samaritans made to the Passover rituals that had little to do with travel distances and times: they added in an extra ritual celebration that the Judeans did not recognize. The celebration was called seudah maphsehket and it happened as the day was changing from Aviv 13 to Aviv 14. Remember, now, Passover was on Aviv 14. Also remember that the day changes at about 7 pm in the evening time.
In this celebration the Galileans and the Samaritans put an emphasis on the firstborn aspect of the Exodus, calling to mind that it was the firstborn Israelites who were protected from death and the firstborn Egyptians who were killed. So the Galileans declared that Aviv 14, the day of Passover, was to be a day of fasting for firstborn sons of each family in honor of the Lord saving their lives. However, they also added in a ritual meal that occurred at the beginning of Passover (Aviv 14th) called seudah maphsehket. Since the Hebrew day changes at sundown, the first meal of a new day for any Israelite would be dinner…..their nighttime meal, right? For a Westerner, our first meal of the day is Breakfast, because it occurs at around sunrise, which is the beginning of our day. So the firstborn sons of the Galileans (and the Samaritans) would have a meal to begin the day of Passover (a dinner meal), and then fast for the next 24 hours until it was time for the official Passover Seder (meal).
…this is NOT conjecture or some new modern interpretation. This is to be found in the ancient Hebrew Mishnah fully recognized by religious Jews. By the way, this added celebration of having a dinner meal to start out the day of Passover that is called seudah maphsehket literally translates to……the last supper! The last supper title for them meant that this would be the last supper for a firstborn Hebrew who lived in either the Galilee or Samaria (they would fast) until he celebrated the Passover meal along with all other Hebrews. I hope some mental light bulbs are starting to go off.
… There are a couple of reasons that we are carefully going over the laws concerning these Biblical feasts; first, because the way that some Jews and Christians celebrate those holy days today is not necessarily Scripturally accurate and second is because this was the series of festivals during which Yeshua HaMashiach celebrated a final meal with His disciples, was betrayed and arrested, tried and executed, and was buried and arose from the dead. This was the climax of what Yeshua had come for in the first place and it will remain the most important part of His earthly ministry until He comes again for the next stage in God’s redemption process. “””
We have been going over similar questions: Can Yeshua have eaten passover with the disciples, (Mt 26, Mk 14, Lu 22) and have been sacrificed BEFORE passover (Jo 18 & 19)? We don’t have the answer, no surprise there. We have ideas:
1 – Yes, but we don’t know how; perhaps a cultural or rabbinic thing as suggested above.
2 – No, the translators erred, intentionally to further theology or purpose, or unintentionally by lack of understanding of culture/times/idioms. It’s easy to see something amiss when we become aware of theological tendencies in translations, even without assigning ill will.
3 – No, the verses in Mt, Mk and Lu say they went to PREPARE passover, and Yeshua LONGED to eat passover, but no verse in any gospel says Yeshua ACTUALLY ATE passover. Given how many days it takes me to make the passover meal with the women in our fellowship for our group, it is reasonable to consider the disciples needed more than a single afternoon to prepare the meal for everyone in the group. The preparation of the passover meal would be finished the following day. This works with Jo, but still leaves the problem of “The first Day of Unleaven Bread.” (Notably “first” is added, according to teh footnotes of our various scripture/versions.)
#3 is my current favorite, adding a little of #’s 1 &2. I can’t figure how it could be, “the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed.” Doesn’t Unleaven FOLLOW immediately on the heels of Passover? So shouldn’t it read, “the Day of Unleaven Bread AFTER the Passover was killed”?
Obviously a lot to learn still. We hold loosely to the day of crucifixion, and hold instead to the Feasts, figuring our Yah will reveal it as I’m ready to receive and do it!
Not really on the topic… just some facts concerning the origins of “Lord’s supper”- Eucharist :
The partaking of the cup of wine and the bread offered in memory of Jesus’ death and brought into connection with the story of his last meal, which he is said to have taken with his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion….
….. the mystic love-meals of the Mithra-worshipers, who also broke bread and drank the soma-wine in memory of Mithra’s last supper (see T. Cumont, “Die Mysterien des Mithra,” pp. 99-101, 118-119, Leipsic, 1903), caused the love-feasts of the early Christians to be celebrated as actual remembrances of the last supper eaten by Jesus; and so a special passage was inserted (I Cor. xi. 23-28, interrupting the context, and contradictory to ib. x. 4)
in which the apostle rather oddly declares that he had received from Jesus by inspiration the statement that he had instituted the eucharist on the night of his betrayal, giving the formulas for the bread and the cup which, with some variations, appears in each of the three synoptic Gospels. Incompatible with the whole story, however, is the fact that the Christian Didache (ix. 1-4; comp. Jew. Encyc. iv. 587) gives the eucharist formulas for the cup and the wine used in Christian circles without any reference to the crucifixion or to the last supper. This makes it probable that the institution had developed out of the Essene communion-meals and was only at a later time referred to Jesus.
The original idea of the Essene communion-feasts, borrowed from Parseeism, remained attached to it: the hope for the banquets (of leviathan) in paradise; wherefore Jesus is reported as having especially referred to wine in the Kingdom of God (Matt. xxvi. 29; Mark xiv. 25; Luke xxii. 18, 30).
The whole story of the Passover celebration by Jesus on the eve of his crucifixion thus arose in circles where real familiarity with Jewish law and life no longer existed.” Jewish Encyclopedia
HOW would Christians relate to the Bread and the Wine? What would they assume to be taking?
Shalom!
I see that this is a pretty old thread, but Ive recently been researching the timeline of Christ’s death because of the discrepencies. I read a very thorough explanation over at Torahclass.com. Tom Bradford outlines a Galillean tradition called Seudah Maphsekhat (“last supper”) that correlates with a fast that firstborn males observed in remembrance of Pesach. He says that this is the meal that Jesus partakes of with the disciples, and that it was eaten on Wednesday evening (beginning of Pesach). He was then arrested and tried on Passover day, died at the time that the Passover lambs were killed (important!!), and buried before dark (because no one who touched a dead body after that would be able to eat the Passover Seder and celebrate Unleavened Bread). The next day was friday, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (a “special Sabbath” as stated in John). Then Saturday, the 7th day Sabbath. That evening would be the third night, and Jesus rose sometime before dawn, on the Feast of Firstfruits. This timeline matches with the traditions and culture of Judaism, and fulfills scripture.
I look at the “three days” “third day” problem in this way:
Jesus died on Thursday afternoon. He was resurrected on Sunday night. so – Thu (day), Fri (night/day), Sat (night/day), Sun (night). This is three days. Jesus was dead for three days.
Jesus was placed in the tomb on Friday night. He was resurrected on Sunday night. so – Fri (night/day), Sat (night/day), Sun (night). This is resurrection on the third day.
Unfortunately this is not the way Jews counted days in the first century.