Jesus and his disciples eat the Passover and Jesus institutes the Last Supper. The disciples learn that they will all abandon Jesus and that one of them will even betray him. Peter is told that he will deny Jesus three times. After spending time in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is arrested and appears before the council and the High Priest. Many gave false witness against him, though their testimony did not agree. “We heard him say, “I will destroy this temple (ναός, naos) that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.” The High Priest asks, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus responds, “I am; and ‘you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power,” and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mk 14:12-72).
The Passover is the historical background for the Last Supper. However, the Feast of Pentecost (with the offering of the first fruits of bread and wine) is also associated with the Supper. Etienne Nodet and Justin Taylor set forth seven points in the account.
ReplyDelete1. The Gospels speak of “bread” and not “unleavened bread” that is associated with Passover.
2. Early Christians frequently celebrated the Lord’s Supper and not simply once a year as with the Passover.
3. The chief priests and scribes decided not to arrest Jesus during the feast of Passover (Mk 14:2), implying that he was arrested before Passover.
4. Pilate’s custom to release a prisoner (Mk 15:6), can only be understood so that the one set free may celebrate the feast (m. Pesaḥ. 8:6).
5. Christ is called “our paschal lamb” who “has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7), suggesting that he was crucified at the time that the Passover lamb was sacrificed, which agrees with John.
6. According to John’s Gospel, Jesus is sent to be crucified at the sixth hour of the day of preparation (19:14-16), in which the Passover lambs were sacrificed.
7. Christ is also called the “first fruits” of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:20); the first fruits were offered on the day following the Sabbath (Lev 23:11); this is the 16 Nisan, which coincides with the Sunday of the resurrection, thus making the 14 Nisan (Friday) the day of crucifixion.
Most significant, however, is the role of the covenant in the Last Supper (Mk 14:24; Matt 26:28; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25). It is the Feast of Pentecost (not Passover) that is associated with the covenant and with the firstfruits. Rabbi Eleazar would later hint at the link between Pentecost and the covenant (b. Pesaḥ 68b).