Origin of The Eucharist - Possible Cultural Influences - Jewish Ritual Meal Practice - Passover Seder

Passover Seder

Passover commemorates God's saving of his chosen people, the Israelites, who, according to Exodus 12:1-29, were spared death through the blood of lambs. The Passover Seder involves four cups of wine.

Whether the Last Supper was a Passover Meal (as the chronology of the Synoptic Gospels would suggest) or not (as St John), it is clear that the Eucharist was instituted at Passover time, and Christian writers from Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 5:7) onwards have stressed that the death of Christ was the fulfilment of the sacrifice foreshadowed by the Passover."

Enrico Mazza has argued that the view that the Last Supper was a Passover meal "remains a theological interpretation. The historical fact is that the Last Supper was not a Passover celebration and, consequently, that its liturgy was not that of the Jewish Passover."

Joachim Jeremias, having rejected the previous two possible backgrounds for the Last Supper argues forcibly that is was a Passover Seder while recognising that there are difficulties. His case may be summed as follows.

Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder? according to Joachim Jeremias
Ten factors substantiating Passover Nine factors in objection to Passover actions that would be in violation of ritual regulations Two further objections
  • The Last Supper took place in Jerusalem
  • it extended into the night
  • it was a small gathering
  • they reclined instead of sitting at table
  • a dish preceded the breaking of bread
  • red wine was drunk
  • when Judas went out, the disciples thought he was going to distribute money to the poor, a Passover custom
  • the meal closed with a hymn - the Paschal Hallel
  • the interpretative words spoken over the bread and wine look like an extension of the Passover Haggadah
  • and the fact that, Jesus did not go to Bethany for the night, but stayed within the area of Greater Jerusalem and made His way to Gethsemane -
  • the walk to Gethsemane
  • the carrying of arms
  • the night session of the Sanhedrin and the condemnation
  • the rending of the High Priest's garments
  • the participation of the Jews in the Roman trial
  • the coming of Simon of Cyrene from the country
  • the execution itself
  • the purchase of linen
  • the preparation of spices and the burial
  • The absence of any reference to the lamb in the accounts of the Supper.
  • The problem of how the annual Passover of the Jews changed into the weekly Eucharist of the Christians

Read more about this topic:  Origin Of The Eucharist, Possible Cultural Influences, Jewish Ritual Meal Practice

Famous quotes containing the word passover:

    “And when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this observance?’ you shall say, ‘It is the passover sacrifice to the LORD, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt, when he struck down the Egyptians but spared our houses.’”
    —Bible: Hebrew, Exodus 12:26-27.