Passover vs Last Supper
The difference between Passover and Last Supper is in what each meal signifies. Passover in Israel is the most important religious festival that commemorates the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt, where they had lived the lives ofslaves,被告知Godto be freed from the yokes of slavery. He asked them to wait till he visited 10 plagues on Egypt. The Pharaoh banished Israelites from Egypt. Millions of people believe thatJesus’ Last Supper was, in fact, a Passover meal in commemoration of the Jewish festival called Passover. Experts in biblical studies claim the Last Supper to be the Passover, while many do not believe in drawing parallels between the Last Supper and the Passover. Let us take a closer look though we may never be able to get to the truth as we can only speculate.
What is the Last Supper?
The Last Supper, which is a very important event in the life of Jesus, and perhaps the whole ofChristianity, relates to the first day of the unleavened bread, which is indeed the Passover day. The Gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus prepared the supper that he had with 12 of hisdisciples. Jesus sacrificed the Passover lamb in the morning, and he and his disciples gathered to have a meal soon thereafter. This suggests that it certainly would have been a Passover meal. The most authoritative book of Last Supper, written by Joachim Jeremias, lists no less than 14 parallels between the Last Supper and Passover Seder.
What is Passover?
Passover is a significant event of remembrance of the exodus of Israelites from Egypt. In Exodus 12, God instructs the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb before the sun has set on the 14th day of the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar. The blood of the lamb has to be smeared on the doorposts so that when God sees it, he passes over the houses of Israelites without harming them while bringing upon the Egyptians, the last and the 12th plague killing the first born sons of every Egyptian family. The event became a religious festival of theJews, and they make the sacrifice of the lamb on this day in the morning and then consume it in the evening.
After the creation of Israel, and construction of a Temple in Jerusalem, the festival of Passover changed and now all Israelites sacrifice a lamb at the temple on the 14th of the month of Nisan and then consume it on the 15th. Slowly and gradually, manyritualsgot built around the feast, and the event was referred as Seder. The unleavened bread started to be used with the wine being served. The diners started to sing hymns and, during the event, the story of the 12th Exodus began to be told, and the use of bitter herbs and wine began to be explained. This, of course, looks similar to the explanation given by Jesus about the use of bread and wine during the Last Supper.
What is the difference between Passover and Last Supper?
• Definition of Passover and Last Supper:
• The event Passover, which signifies the remembrance of the exodus of Israelites from Egypt, is a very important religious festival observed by Jews.
• The Last Supper, which is a historical event, is very important in the life of Jesus.
Therefore, all Christians, bear much resemblance.
• Connection:
• It is believed that Last Supper was a Passover meal.
• The two events are related and bring the Christians and the Jews emotionally together.
• Events:
• Passover is an event where Israelites sacrifice the lamb on the 14th day of the month of Nisan and consume it with bread and wine on the 15th.
• The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus had with his 12 apostles, after sacrificing a lamb in the morning and then consuming it with bread and wine in the evening.
• Different Views:
• There are those who say that Last Supper was a Passover meal.
• TheEastern Orthodox Churchstrongly rejects this idea and says the Last Supper was a separate meal.
As you can see, different people have different views about Last Supper being a Passover meal. One can only follow what one believes to be true.
Images Courtesy:
- The Last Supper, ca. 1520, by Giovanni Pietro Rizzolivia Wikicommons (Public Domain)
- PassoverbyEczebulun(CC BY-SA 3.0)
It is my understanding that the bread Jesus broke (‘after the meal’) would have been the afikomen (spelling?) or hidden bread. It is also my understanding that the ‘cup’ after the meal would have been the 4th cup of fellowship during the passover… which actually makes a lot of sense.
Any comments?
it is the third cup, the cup of redemption! and it was the rehearsal dinner for the following official passover itself they shared.
the last supper was the rehearsal dinner celebrated then before the official passover meal …..so yes it was a Passover meal and His last with His disciples….
Hi there, I like many Christians haven’t focused on the timeline of Christ’s sacrifice and rising again, just excepting the shortened time due to some assumptions as to the meal that was shared before Christs death was the Passover.
There’s a couple of things that throw us(understandably) one that Jew days start at nigh fall, not midnight as we are accustomed.
Another is that the Galilee custom(for men) also had a meal a day before the Passover in preparation after which they would fast till the Passover.
This extends the time by a day and allows for the three nights and three days in the tomb as referenced with the “sign of Jonah”
米eal /
Arrest trial crucified died buried (before night fall)1 Passover
2Mazza
3Sabbath
First Fruits before/ with sunrise -Risen.
Blessings
Donovan.
The sign of Jonah has nothing to do with the length of time Messiah was dead. The count to the third day began in the garden of Gethsemane. Also, a biblical day begins at dawn, not in the evening as modern Judaism teaches. The Galilee custom is not God’s law so Jesus did not come to fulfill Galilee customs. Are you saying that Messiah was arrested on Passover and was buried before night fall? What youre saying does not line up with Scripture.
Jesus did not sacrifice a Passover lamb in the morning. God made it perfectly clear that the Passover lamb was to be sacrificed in the evening.