The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is commemorated by Christians especially on Holy Thursday. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "Holy Communion" or "The Lord's Supper". Jesus having a final meal with his disciples is almost beyond dispute among scholars, and belongs to the framework of the narrative of Jesus' life.
The New Testament mentions the Last Supper in five of its books. The First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:23–25) contains the earliest known mention. The four canonical gospels state that the Last Supper took place in the week of Passover, days after Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and before Jesus was crucified on Good Friday (Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38). During the meal, Jesus predicts his betrayal by one of the apostles present, and foretells that before the next morning, Peter will thrice deny knowing him.
The three Synoptic Gospels and the First Epistle to the Corinthians include the account of the institution of the Eucharist in which Jesus takes bread, breaks it and gives it to those present, saying "This is my body given to you". The Gospel of John tells of Jesus washing the feet of the apostles, giving the new commandment "to love one another as I have loved you", and includes the detailed Farewell Discourse by Jesus, calling the apostles who follow his teachings "friends and not servants", as he prepares them for his departure.
Some scholars have looked to the Last Supper as the source of early Christian Eucharistic traditions. Others see the account of the Last Supper as derived from 1st-century Eucharistic practice as described by Paul in the mid-50s.
Terminology
The term "Last Supper" does not appear in the New Testament, but traditionally many Christians refer to such an event. The term "Lord's Supper" refers both to the biblical event and the act of "Holy Communion" and Eucharistic ("thanksgiving") celebration within their liturgy. Evangelical Protestants also use the term "Lord's Supper", but most do not use the terms "Eucharist" or the word "Holy" with the name "Communion".
The Eastern Orthodox use the term "Mystical Supper" which refers both to the biblical event and the act of Eucharistic celebration within liturgy. The Russian Orthodox also use the term "Secret Supper" (, Taynaya vecherya).
Scriptural basis The last meal that Jesus shared with his apostles is described in all four canonical Gospels, , and as having taken place in the week of the Passover. This meal later became known as the Last Supper. The Last Supper was likely a retelling of the events of the last meal of Jesus among the early Christian community, and became a ritual which recounted that meal.
Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, which was likely written before the Gospels, includes a reference to the Last Supper but emphasizes the theological basis rather than giving a detailed description of the event or its background.
Background and setting The overall narrative that is shared in all Gospel accounts that leads to the Last Supper is that after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem early in the week, and encounters with various people and the Jewish elders, Jesus and his disciples share a meal towards the end of the week. After the meal, Jesus is betrayed, arrested, tried, and then crucified.
Key events in the meal are the preparation of the disciples for the departure of Jesus, the predictions about the impending betrayal of Jesus, and the foretelling of the upcoming denial of Jesus by Apostle Peter.
Prediction of Judas' betrayal
In , , and , during the meal, Jesus predicted that one of the apostles present would betray him., , and Jesus is described as reiterating, despite each apostle's assertion that he would not betray Jesus, that the betrayer would be one of those who were present, and saying that there would be "woe to the man who betrays the Son of man! It would be better for him if he had not been born."
In and , Judas is specifically identified as the traitor. and In the Gospel of John, when asked about the traitor, Jesus states:
Institution of the Eucharist
The three Synoptic Gospel accounts describe the Last Supper as a Passover meal. Stéphane Saulnier argues they disagree with John, though Brant Pitre argues the Gospels can be reconciled in his "Passover hypothesis", taking the Gospel of John's allusions to the Passover lamb as applying to the seven-day festival rather than the meal. In chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus prays thanks for the bread, divides it, and hands the pieces of bread to his disciples, saying "Take, eat, this is my body." Later in the meal Jesus takes a cup of wine, offers another prayer, and gives it to those present, saying "Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
In chapter of the Gospel of Luke, the wine is blessed and distributed before the bread, followed by the bread, then by a second, larger cup of wine. Each gospel account has different wordings, though the evangelists used each other more conservatively than contemporary biographers like Plutarch. According to Paul and Luke, he tells the disciples "do this in remembrance of me." This event has been regarded by most denominations as the institution of the Eucharist. There is recorded celebration of the Eucharist by the early Christians in Jerusalem.
The institution of the Eucharist is recorded in the Synoptic Gospels and the First Epistle to the Corinthians. Luke 22:19b–20 is a disputed text which does not appear in some early manuscripts of Luke. Some scholars believe that it is an interpolation, while others have argued that it is original.
A comparison of the accounts given in the Gospels and 1 Corinthians is shown in the table below, with text from the ASV. The disputed text from is in . Mark 14:22–24 And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take ye: this is my body. And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.' Matthew 26:26–28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, 'Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.' 1 Corinthians 11:23–25 For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, 'This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me.' In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.' Luke 22:19–20 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave to them, saying, 'This is my body
Jesus' actions in sharing the bread and wine have been linked with Isaiah 53:12 which refers to a blood sacrifice that, as recounted in Exodus 24:8, Moses offered in order to seal a covenant with God. Some scholars interpret the description of Jesus' action as asking his disciples to consider themselves part of a sacrifice, where Jesus is the one due to physically undergo it.
Although the Gospel of John does not include a description of the bread and wine ritual during the Last Supper, most scholars agree that John 6:58–59 (the Bread of Life Discourse) has a Eucharistic nature and resonates with the "words of institution" used in the Synoptic Gospels and the Pauline writings on the Last Supper.
Prediction of Peter's denial
In , , and , Jesus predicts that Peter will deny knowledge of him, stating that Peter will disown him three times before the rooster crows the next morning., , and The Synoptic Gospels mention that after the arrest of Jesus, Peter denied knowing him three times, but after the third denial, heard the rooster crow and recalled the prediction as Jesus turned to look at him. Peter then began to cry bitterly.
Elements unique to the Gospel of John
John 13 includes the account of the washing the feet of the Apostles by Jesus before the meal. In this episode, Apostle Peter objects and does not want to allow Jesus to wash his feet, but Jesus answers him, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me", after which Peter agrees.
In the Gospel of John, after the departure of Judas from the Last Supper, Jesus tells his remaining disciples that he will be with them for only a short time, then gives them a New Commandment, stating: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." Two similar statements also appear later in John 15:12: "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you", and John 15:17: "This is my command: Love each other."
At the Last Supper in the Gospel of John, Jesus gives an extended sermon to his disciples. This discourse resembles farewell speeches called testaments, in which a father or religious leader, often on the deathbed, leaves instructions for his children or followers.
This sermon is referred to as the Farewell Discourse of Jesus, and has historically been considered a source of Christian doctrine, particularly on the subject of Christology. is generally known as the Farewell Prayer or the High Priestly Prayer, given that it is an intercession for the coming Church. The prayer begins with Jesus's petition for his glorification by the Father, given that completion of his work and continues to an intercession for the success of the works of his disciples and the community of his followers.
Time and place
Date
Historians estimate that the date of the crucifixion fell in the range AD 30–36. Isaac Newton and Colin Humphreys have ruled out the years 31, 32, 35, and 36 on astronomical grounds, leaving 7 April AD 30 and 3 April AD 33 as possible crucifixion dates. proposes narrowing down the date of the Last Supper as having occurred in the evening of Wednesday, 1 April AD 33, by revising Annie Jaubert's double-Passover theory.
Historically, various attempts to reconcile the three synoptic accounts with John have been made, some of which are indicated in the Last Supper by Francis Mershman in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia. The Maundy Thursday church tradition assumes that the Last Supper was held on the evening before the crucifixion day (although, strictly speaking, in no Gospel is it unequivocally said that this meal took place on the night before Jesus died).
A new approach to resolve this contrast was undertaken in the wake of the excavations at Qumran in the 1950s when Annie Jaubert argued that there were two Passover feast dates: while the official Jewish lunar calendar had Passover begin on a Friday evening in the year that Jesus died, a solar calendar was also used, for instance by the Essene community at Qumran, which always had the Passover feast begin on a Tuesday evening. According to Jaubert, Jesus would have celebrated the Passover on Tuesday, and the Jewish authorities three days later, on Friday.