When Was The Last Supper?
Did it coincide with the Jewish observance of Passover? Have you ever wondered? I have…
For those religiously-minded, or like me interested in ancient history, this is an interesting problem, and it has been so for theologians and historians for centuries. A possible answer lies in the chapter “The Dating of the Last Supper”, from Pope Benedict XVI’s 2011 book, “Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week From the Entrance Into Jerusalem to the Resurrection” (San Francisco: Ignatius Press).
So, guessing you’re not going to put down your Easter meal prep and go order the book on Amazon, I’m going to try to summarize. Then we can all get back to glazing hams and hiding Easter eggs.
As I understand it, it goes like this. Most theologians ascribe Passover to Thursday, and assuming that it coincided with Jesus’ Last Supper meal. But here’s the problem with that interpretation — it means that a whole lot of stuff has to all be squeezed into Friday prior to Jesus crucifixion — not only Pilate giving Jesus to Herod, who declines to rule on him, but also Jesus’ sentencing, the scourging, and the final crucifixion. Mind you, this all has to happen before 3pm, the generally-accepted time of His death.
But, according to Pope Benedict’s book, Jewish tradition of the time didn’t call for a single Passover “event”, but rather for several — there were preparation days and feast days. Pope Benedict’s best guess is that Jesus’ Last Supper did NOT coincide with the Passover feast day at all, but was held two days previously, on Tuesday, allowing for Wednesday and Thursday for all the events described to transpire.
To complicate matters, the actual Passover feast day of that year might have actually been on a Saturday. Pontius Pilate, fearful of uprisings, would have been understandably reluctant to crucify this controversial religious person on Passover Day itself. And so the theory goes, Pilate did it on the day before, what we now recognize as Good Friday.
Incidentally, St. John’s Gospel weighs in on this sequence, but St. John’s text has traditionally been discredited for saying that the Last Supper was not on Passover. However in that gospel, Jesus can be interpreted as saying he would not have Passover with his disciples, but would save that event to share with the Father. This is important because it forms a central foundation for the Christian re-definition of the Jewish symbol of Passover, into a Christian one.
Finally, I will leave you with Pope Benedict’s own words, which makes an interesting spiritual assertion:
“Unleavened bread must now refer to Christians themselves, who are freed from sin by the addition of yeast. The sacrificial lamb is Christ … the death and Resurrection of Christ have become the Passover that endures.”
Food for thought on this lovely Easter Weekend. Happy Easter to Medium and its readers.
