Passover, Last Supper, and Lord's Supper: Jewish Elements for Christian Reclamation

Leaven

Volume 1 Issue 1 Worship Article 5

1-1-1990

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Recommended Citation Chesnutt, Randall D. (1990) "Passover, Last Supper, and Lord's Supper: Jewish Elements for Christian Reclamation," Leaven: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/leaven/vol1/iss1/5

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Religion at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Leaven by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Chesnutt: Passover, Last Supper, and Lord's Supper: Jewish Elements for Chr

All things praise thee, Lord may we 15

By Randy Chesnutt PASSOVER, Y \\"LAST SUPPER, ~; Y AND LORD'S SUPPER

Jewish Elements for Christian Reclamation

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and accounts confirming this identification. Luke indicate that Jesus' Last Supper was a The purpose of this article is to explore Passover meal (Matt. 26:17-29; Mk. 14:12-25; Lk. the significance of the Passover setting of the 22:7-23). The Gospel of John presents a some- Last Supper. What was an ancient Passover what different chronology; there the Last Supper meal like? Does the Passover character of the oc- precedes Passover, and in fact the Passover meal casion shed light on the New Testament ac- is yet in the future at the time ofJesus' death counts of the Last Supper? In what ways should (13:1-2,29; 18:28; 19:14,31,42). The explana- the Passover roots of the Lord's Supper inform tion for this divergence probably lies in the our understanding and celebration of the sacred various Jewish calendars in use in the early first Christian meal? Answers to these questions century A.D. In his account of the passion, John must be grounded in an appreciation of Passover apparently followed a different calendar from as it was practiced in Jesus' time. that reflected in the other Gospels, perhaps because this enabled him to emphasize Jesus as Passover in the First Century A.D. the fulfillment of Passover by having Jesus' Students ofthe Old Testament know death coincide with the slaying of the Passover that Passover commemorates the great deliver- lambs in the Temple. Whether or not this is the ance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Also correct explanation for a much-discussed chrono- familiar from the Old Testament are some ofthe logical problem, one thing seems abundantly food items comprising the Passover meal: lamb, clear: Jesus' Last Supper was a Passover meal. unleavened bread, and bitter herbs (see Exod. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and 12-13). The lamb, of course, reminded partici- Luke) are quite explicit on this point, and, as we pants of the lambs whose blood was smeared on shall see, there are elements in the Synoptic the doorposts in Egypt so the death angel would pass over and spare Israelite children from the tenth and final plague prior to the Exodus. Randy Chesnutt is Associate Professor of Re- Unleavened bread was used in the celebration as ligion at Pepperdine University. He attended a reminder of the hasty departure of the fore- Alabama Christian, Harding Graduate bears from Egypt in an hour of such crisis that School, and received a Ph.D. from Duke Uni- there was no time to wait for bread to rise. The versity. He is a member of the University bitter herbs (such as horse raddish, chicory, and Church in Malibu. endive) were interpreted as reminders of the

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16 LEA YEN Winter 1990

bitterness of Egyptian bondage. liminary dishes, including the Less familiar to non-Jews are the many bitter herbs and fruit puree, were Passover traditions which are not described in eaten. The main course (see III the Old Testament but which evolved in subse- below) was served and the second quent centuries. Many of these are described in cup of wine was poured. the Mishnah, the written codification ofJewish oral law compiled around 200 AD. Although II. Passover Liturgy. The youngest this source contains many traditions later than son competent to do so inquired the first century AD., the Passover celebration formally about the meaning of the described in it is thought to be essentially that occasion: ''Why is this night practiced in Jesus' time. In addition to the different from all other nights ... symbolic food items specified in the Bible, others ?" The head of the household equally laden with symbolic significance are responded with the Passover described in the Mishnah. Thus, for example, a Haggadah_- a retelling of the fruit puree called haroseth, consisting of a Exodus story beginning with "A mixture of finely-ground fruits, spices, and wandering Aramaean was my vinegar, served as a dip for the bitter herbs. father ... " (Deut. 26:5) and con- Because of its color and consistency, it provided a tinuing through God's mighty acts reminder of the clay used when the ancestors of redemption as these were made bricks during their servitude in Egypt. suggested by the symbolic foods. The Mishnah also calls for the drinking of four This was followed by the singing cups of wine to celebrate God's deliverance of his of Psalms 113-114 (or perhaps people (the rabbis discerned four aspects of God's only 113), the first part ofthe promise of deliverance in Exod. 6:6-7). Some- great Hallel (Psalms 113-118). what later rabbinic texts mention still other Then followed the drinking of the symbolic items; among those with possible roots second cup of wine. in first century practice are a bowl of salt water symbolizing the tears shed in Egypt (or, accord- III. Main Course. The head of the ing to some, the waters of the Red Sea) and used household blessed, broke, and as a dip for certain foods, and cinnamon sticks distributed the unleavened bread. placed in the fruit puree to represent the straw The main meal, consisting of the used in brickmaking. roasted lamb, unleavened bread, On the thirteenth day of the Jewish bitter herbs, and fruit puree, was month of Nisan, all traces ofleaven were re- moved from every house in which Passover was to be observed. On the afternoon of the four- Full participation in Passover teenth day the lambs destined to be the main meant that the external facts of course of the meal were slaughtered in the history became lining, present re- Temple. On the evening ofthat day (which was the fifteenth day by Jewish reckoning since a alities marking both the personal new day was considered to begin at sunset) the experience of deliverance and the Passover meal was eaten. The particulars of that meal and the accompanying celebration oneness of the community of varied somewhat from time to time and place to people thus liberated by God. place, but the Passover Seder (order, arrange- ment) described in the Mishnah provides our earliest detailed account and may be outlined in eaten. The third cup of wine was four parts as follows: blessed and served. 1. Preliminary Course. The head IV. Close. Psalms 115-118 (or per- of the household said a blessing haps 114-118), the remainder of for the feast day generally and for the Hallel, was sung. The fourth the first cup of wine. The first cup cup of wine was blessed and of wine was drunk and the pre-

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All things praise thee, Lord may we 17

served. who wrought all these wonders Description of the mere mechanics of a for our fathers and for us. He Passover celebration does not dojustice to the brought us out from bondage to profound religious significance of the occasion for freedom, from sorrow to glad- ancient Jews. One must also appreciate the ness, and from mourning to a atmosphere created, the memories evoked, the Festival-day, and from darkness to great light, and from servitude As God's most decisive act of de- to redemption; so let us say liverance, it merits telling and before him the Hallelujah. The pronouns have been highlighted here in retelling in Christian families order to show how present participation in the and in the Church so that it is past event was emphasized at Passover. In the deeply ingrained in the con- same spirit, one rabbinic text defines the "wicked son" as one who inquired, ''What do you mean by sciousness of children from their this service?" This text complains that by using earliest memory. the second person pronoun, the inquirer ex- cludes himself and rejects one of the fundamen- tal principles of Judaism. Thinking of oneself as praise inspired, the hopes rekindled, the festive- an actual slave liberated from Egypt served both ness aroused, the self-identity revitalized, and to encourage individuals to appropriate for the communal solidarity nurtured by this sacred themselves the benefits of God's gracious acts occasion. Two such aspects of Passover which and to strengthen the individual's sense of underlie all of the external acts are especially oneness with the community of Israel. To fail to noteworthy. read the national experience of deliverance into One is the sacred memory of God's one's own experience was to renounce God's mighty acts of deliverance of his people. As we saving grace and to exclude oneself from the have seen, the very food on the table provided community of the elect. Full participation in vivid reminders of the Egyptian bondage and the Passover meant that the external facts of history Exodus. The Passover liturgy likewise high- became living, present realities marking both the lighted God's saving acts by providing for the personal experience of deliverance and the retelling of the Exodus story at the high point of oneness of the community of people thus liber- the celebration. As the foundational event of ated by God. Israel's national existence, the Exodus story was told and retold to Israel's youth because it was The Last Supper as a Passover Meal considered definitive for their self-identity as the Much in the Synoptic accounts of the people of God. The great Hallel which was sung Last Supper becomes understandable against after the Haggadah, or recounting ofthe story, the backdrop of the Jewish Passover celebration. consisted of psalms of praise and thanksgiving to Thus, for example, we know what preparations God for his gracious and powerful acts. are envisioned in the Synoptic passages in which Second, the Passover liturgy called not Jesus sends the disciples ahead to prepare the only for a retelling but a reliving of the deliv- Passover (Matt. 26:17-18; Mk. 14:12-16; Lk. 22:7- erance wrought by God. A portion of the Pass- 13). The painstaking removal of all leaven over legislation in the Mishnah reads: (including even grain by-products with any potential for fermentation), the ritual slaughter In every generation a man must of the lamb in the Temple, and the careful so regard himself as ifhe came preparation ofthe various items offood would forth himself out of Egypt, for it indeed have been a sizeable task. It is under- is written, "And thou shalt tell standable that the day before the meal came to thy son in that day, saying, It is be called "the day of Preparation" (see In. 19:14). because of that which the Lord From Passover custom we also know the source did for me when I came forth out and significance of the bread and wine which are of Egypt" (Exod. 13.8). Therefore invested with new symbolic meaning. We can are we bound to give thanks, to deduce that the sauce mentioned in Matt. 26:23 praise, to glorify, to honour, to and Mk. 14:20 (see also In. 13:26) is the exalt, to extol, and to bless him Passover haroseth, or fruit puree. Also in

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18 LEAYEN Winter 1990 keeping with Passover custom, the hymn sung Passover provides not only the external by the group at the conclusion of the celebration framework for the narratives of the Last Supper would be the familiar one consisting of Psalms but much of the conceptual framework as well. 115-118 (or perhaps 114-118), the final part of The consciousness of a gracious God who acts in the Hallel. history to effect redemption was not an idea Jesus' own actions at the meal corre- introduced into the sacred meal by Jesus or the spond in large measure to the duties ofthe head early Church, but one long celebrated in the of the family as Passover host. As we have seen, Jewish Passover. The major themes which find at the appropriate time the head of the house- expression in the Last Supper narratives - hold would take bread, bless it, break offa piece including God's covenants sealed with blood, for each guest, and distribute it. At the end of thanksgiving for past deliverance, anticipation of the meal he would take a cup of wine, bless it, future consummation, and the corporate identity and serve it to the guests. Thus far the actions and solidarity of God's people - are all part and of Jesus - so familiar from the Gospels as the parcel of the Passover meal in which Jesus' Last acts by which he instituted the Lord's Supper - Supper is set. are very much a normal part of the host's respon- sibilities at Passover. Of course, the symbolic Jewish Elements for Christian Rec- significance ascribed to the bread and wine are lamation uniquely Christian, but the very act of explain- That an appreciation ofJewish Passover ing the symbolic significance of various parts of will enrich the Christian celebration ofthe the meal has a formal precedent in the Passover Lord's Supper is inevitable in view of two basic host's recounting of the story behind the sym- facts: (1) Jesus' Last Supper was a Passover bols. meal; and (2) Jesus' Last Supper provides the One aspect of Luke's account ofthe Last model for the Church's observance of the Lord's Supper (22:14-23) which has been especially Supper. Having considered the deep roots of the puzzling to many becomes quite understandable Lord's Supper in the soil of Jewish Passover, we in light of the Passover customs described above. turn now to some practical considerations. Of According to Luke, Jesus first takes a cup, then course, in some ways the Christian sacred meal the bread, then another cup. Although some must be contextualized in whatever culture it is ancient manuscripts omit the reference to the practiced, but certain aspects of the Jewish second cup in verses 19b-20, most textual schol- heritage are so integral to the very essence of the ars now agree that these verses are a part ofthe Last Supper that they are crucial whenever and original. Early Christian copyists may have wherever the Lord's Supper is observed. Several omitted these lines for precisely the same reason that modern interpreters have found them problematic - namely, the reference therein to a Passover involved not only a second cup not mentioned in the other Gospels or looking up to God with praise in Paul's account of the Last Supper in I Cor. 11:23-25. However, once the Passover context of and thanksgiving, a looking the Last Supper is understood, this problem back to God's mighty acts in disappears. The first cup mentioned in Luke would simply be the second of the four cups of redemptive history, and a wine typically drunk at Passover. The second looking forward to God'sfuture cup mentioned in Luke, the one to which Jesus acts, but also a looking around attached new symbolism, would be the third of the four Passover cups, the one following the to the community of which the main Passover meal. This identification ofthe individual was a part. second cup in Luke is confirmed by his reference to it as "the cup after supper" (22:20; see part III components of Passover to which we have in the Seder outlined above). Paul also places already alluded suggest themselves as worthy of the cup of the Lord's Supper "after supper" (I reclamation by the Church in its observance of Cor. 11:25) and calls it "the cup of blessing" (I the Lord's Supper. Cor. 10:16) - a rabbinic designation of the third One such component is the Jewish Passover cup, though this usage cannot be emphasis on recounting the sacred story com- documented in the first century. memorated in the meal. Jewish children were

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told about the Exodus because it was determina- Cross and basking in the redemption accom- tive for their self-identity; it was what had called plished there. As in Passover, so in the Lord's Israel into existence as the people of God. By Supper, full participation entails reflection in the hearing over and over the story of God's greatest first person. The true worshiper asks not and most formative act of deliverance on behalf merely, "What does this celebration mean?" or of Israel, Jews of all ages were reminded of who ''What does it mean to you?" or ''What does it they were as the covenant people of God. One mean to them?" but especially "What does it ancient form ofthe Passover Haggadah insists mean to me?" Passover and Lord's Supper alike that the story of the Exodus is to be recounted celebrate not the abstract fact of redemption, but even if everyone present is an adult learned in the fact that God has redeemed me. Scripture. The Jewish celebration of God's past What the Exodus story is to Jews, the intervention in history inevitably heightened Passion story is to Christians. Jesus' Passion is anticipation that he would intervene yet again. definitive for Christian identity; it is what effects Ancient Passover prayers, possibly with roots in a new liberation, calls into existence a new first century Jewish liturgy, appeal for God to people of God, and inaugurates a new covenant bring the Messiah to his people. There are ratified by blood (note the covenantal language numerous other indications that the expectation in all four accounts: Matt. 26:28; Mk. 14:24; Lk. of God's intervention to consummate the redemp- 22:20; and I Cor. 11:25; echoing the language of tion of his people was most intense at Passover. Exod. 24:8 and Jer. 31:31-34). As God's most Jews engaged in the feast as a people redeemed decisive act of deliverance, it merits telling and and yet awaiting redemption. The Christian retelling in Christian families and in the Church Supper has something of this same character as so that it is deeply ingrained in the conscious- an interim celebration between God's past and ness of children from their earliest memory. The future interventions in history. It is a "meal power of sacred story to shape the self-concept between the ages," commemorating God's deci- and determine the religious and social identity sive acts ofredemption in the past but also even of a child should be recognized and ex- looking forward to the consummation of redemp- ploited in modern Christianity no less than it tion and to the great heavenly banquet. In was in the ancient Jewish liturgy. In the lan- Paul's terms, the Lord's Supper is a memorial of guage of theologians, the indicative must the Lord's death "until he comes"(l Cor. 11:26). precede the imperative; that is, the call to Passover involved not onIy a looking believe in and worship a God who has acted up to God with praise and thanksgiving, a mightily in history must be rooted and grounded looking back to God's mighty acts in redemptive in the story of those mighty acts. With particu- history, and a looking forward to God's future lar reference to the Lord's Supper, meaningful acts, but also a looking around to the commu- participation is impossible without a vivid nity of which the individual was a part. The remembrance of the Passion. Paul acknowl- ancient Jewish sense of the corporate solidarity edged that those who eat the bread and drink of the people of God was at no time stronger than the cup of the Lord's table "proclaim the at Passover. By focusing on a part of Israel's Lord's death" (I Cor.11:26). heritage which all Jews shared, this feast The ancient Passover liturgy called not became a rallying point for ethnic and religious merely for a retelling but a personal appro- unity. Social barriers and personal differences priation ofredemptive history. The very act of were overshadowed by what was held in com- slaying the lamb required personal involvement; mon. The very fact that the Passover lamb had the Passover sacrifice was the only form of to be slain at the central sanctuary in Jerusalem sacrifice in which the animal was ritually served as a reminder that the individual and the slaughtered by the individual worshiper rather family were part of a larger unit, the people of than by the priests. God's gracious acts in Israel. ancient history are of no value to the individual That such a sense of the oneness of God's who does not appropriate them as living, present people should also characterize the Lord's realities. Paul therefore represents Christian Supper surely is a legitimate deduction from the baptism as a reenactment of the death, burial, Passover context of the Last Supper. In fact, no and resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 6:1-11). The sooner had the Lord's Supper become dislodged Lord's Supper likewise affords each participant from its Jewish moorings and contextualized in an occasion for going back to the scenes of the an individualistic Greek setting than serious

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20 LEAYEN Winter 1990 problems arose in maintaining unity. In I Cor. tion are, of course, crucial - as at Passover - 11:18-22 Paul laments the factionalism and but such a reflective atmosphere need not be disregard for fellow worshipers that had come to melancholic. It may be suggested, in fact, that a characterize the Corinthian assemblies. Indeed, genuine sense of redemption from sin through it was precisely in response to this disunity that Christ cannot help but issue in joyful celebration he narrates the Last Supper and the institution not unlike that which typified Passover. of the Lord's Supper (11:23-32), and it is on the The Lord's Supper is not simply a Chris- basis of this narrative that he then appeals for tian Passover, but it does (according to the the Corinthians to be sensitive to one another Synoptic Gospels) originate in the context ofthat (11:33-34). Divisions among the Corinthian Jewish meal and it does build on many of the Christians indicated to Paul that the ''body'' ideas, the atmosphere, and the practices of an character of the Church had not been fully ancient Passover celebration. In celebrating the appreciated. Particularly at the Lord's table, Lord's Supper today, the Church would do well such selfish individualism was unthinkable: to ask whether it does justice not merely to the "Because there is one bread, we who are many outward aspects of the rite but also to the are one body, for we all partake of the one atmosphere of memory and hope, the spirit of bread" (10:17). The discernment of "the body" thanksgiving and praise, the sense of personal which he urges in 11:29 is probably an appeal to redemption and corporate solidarity, and the acknowledge the corporate character of the mood ofjoy and celebration. In these areas the Christian community. The Lord's Supper, like Jewish heritage of the Supper has a great deal to Passover, celebrates the one thing that all teach us. participants have in common, the foundational event of the faith. It should therefore foster a sense of communal identity and solidarity. To participate as an individual without a sense of Suggestions for Further Reading: oneness and fellowship with the larger Christian community is to make a mockery of the essential Gordon J. Bahr, "The Seder of Passover and the communal character of the Supper. Eucharistic Words," Novum Testa- One further feature of the ancient mentum 12 (1970) 181-202. Passover celebration which should be noted because it provided so much of the ambiance of Herbert Danby, translator, The Mishnah (Ox- the Last Supper is bound up in the word "cele- ford: University Press, 1933). [The bration" itself. Passover was not a somber tractate on the Passover is found on occasion but a very festive one. While frivolity pages 136-151.J and levity were considered inappropriate - the Mishnah warns against after-dinner revelry in Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of particular - the predominant mood was one of Jesus, 3rd ed. (New York: Charles joyous celebration. Such joy was considered a Scribner's Sons, 1966). natural corollary ofthe sense of deliverance from bondage that each participant was encouraged to I. Howard Marshall, Last Supper and Lord's experience afresh. In the case of the Lord's Supper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Supper, solemn remembrance and sober reflec- 1980).

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