The words in Luke 22:7-22 have been cherished by Christians for many years. One reason for this is that this night has been said to be when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, just hours before being nailed to a cross. Most Christians are well aware that Jesus “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Luke 22:19-20). But what was Jesus doing when he said these things? What did his disciples hear when he said these words? What did it mean to them? It might be a shock to most Christians to learn that when Jesus said those words, he was not in a church building, standing behind an altar or communion table, and probably more of a shock to learn that when he said those words there was a lot more food on the table than just unleavened bread and fruit of the vine. I would suggest that we put this event and these words back in their historical and cultural context as much as possible. I believe this to be the context of a Jewish Passover meal.
At this point, I think it would be appropriate to ask two questions: 1) What was the Passover celebration all about? And, 2) What did it mean to the people participating? I believe this passage from Exodus helps us to get an understanding of where the Passover originated:
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the LORD will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. (Exodus 12:24-28)
From the beginning, The Passover was to be an annual celebration, remembering YHWH and his deliverance of Israel from Egypt and sparing their houses while striking down the Egyptians. This passage from the Mishnah gives us insight into the mindset of Israelites during this celebration:
In every generation a man must so regard himself as if he came forth himself out of Egypt, for it is written… “It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8). Therefore we are bound to give thanks…and to bless him who wrought all these wonders for our fathers and for us. He brought us out from bondage to freedom, from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning to a Festival-day, and from darkness to great light, and from servitude to redemption; so let us say before him the Hallelujah. (Mishnah, Pesahim 10:5)
From these words we can see, that the Israelite people saw each annual celebration of the Passover as a way of participating in the first exodus. This gives us an idea of the atmosphere during the Passover and some of the things that would have been on the minds of Peter and John as they made preparations to eat the Passover. The Passover was a time not only to celebrate the first exodus, the first Passover, the first deliverance, but it was a time to look forward to the coming deliverance, their future redemption, and the coming of the Messiah.
But what actually happened during the Passover meal? According to the most ancient descriptions we have outside the Bible, the Jewish Passover meal seems to have been organized around four cups of wine. The meal itself would begin in the evening. At this time the father of the Jewish family would gather his household together and they would recline around the table. The following is an outline of the meal organized around the four cups of wine.
The 1st Cup
Once they were all there, the wine would be mixed (with water) and poured. Then the father began by saying a formal blessing over the cup of wine and the feast day. After the thanks were given, the food would be brought to the table. It consisted of at least 4 key dishes: several cakes of unleavened bread, a dish of bitter herbs, a bowl of sauce and the roasted Passover lamb, which was referred to as “the body”. They would eat some of the bitter herbs dipped in the sauce (sort of as appetizers) before the meal actually began.
The 2nd Cup
Then the second cup of wine would be mixed, but not drunk yet. The father would then proclaim what the Lord had done for Israel when he set them free from Egypt in the exodus and explain the meaning of the various parts of the Passover meal. The following is the Haggaadah narrative from the Mishnah that describes a traditional practice during the Passover meal:
"The son asks his father (and if the son has not enough understanding his father instructs [how to ask]), 'Why is this night different from other nights? For on other nights we eat seasoned food once, but this night twice; on other nights we eat leavened or unleavened bread, but this night all is unleavened; on other nights we eat flesh roast, stewed, or cooked, but this night all is roast.' And according to the understanding of the son his father instructs him. He begins with the disgrace and ends with the glory; and he expounds from "A wandering Aramean was my father... [Dt. 26:5-11] until he finishes the whole section.
Rabban Gamaliel used to say: Whosoever has not said [the verses concerning] these three things at Passover has not fulfilled his obligation. And these are they: Passover, unleavened bread and bitter herbs: 'Passover'--because God passed over the houses of our fathers in Egypt; 'unleavened bread'--because our fathers were redeemed from Egypt; 'bitter herbs'--because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our fathers in Egypt. In every generation a man must so regard himself as if he came forth himself out of Egypt, for it is written, 'And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.' Therefore are we bound to give thanks, to praise, to glorify, to honor, to exalt, to extol, and to bless him who wrought all these wonders for our fathers and for us. He brought us out from bondage to freedom, from sorrow to gladness, and from mourning to a Festival-day, and from darkness to great light, and from servitude to redemption; so let us say before him the 'Hallelujah'."
The father would speak of the event as if it were something he himself had experienced, after all, they were to recognize these events as something “God did for me”, “as if he himself came out of Egypt.” In other words, ancient Jewish celebrants did not just remember the exodus; they actively participated in it.
In response, all of the people at the meal were “bound to give thanks” for what God had done for them. To express a spirit of thanksgiving, they would then sing Psalms 113 and 114, which praised the Lord for his goodness and thanked him for saving Israel from the Egyptians.
3rd Cup
Next, a third cup of wine would be mixed, another blessing would have been said over the unleavened bread, which would be served with the bowl of sauce, and finally, the main meal would be eaten. Once the meal was finished, the father would say another blessing over the third cup of wine, and they would drink that cup.
4th Cup
They would then sing Psalms 115-118. After finishing Psalm 118, the fourth cup of wine would be drunk, and when it was, the Passover meal was complete.
I think it is important to mention that this is not intended to give every exact detail of what happened that night, rather it is to reconstruct to the best of our knowledge what a general Passover meal was like. That being said, I believe this information gives us tremendously valuable insight into what Jesus was actually doing when he said those words that night and what his disciples would have understood him to be doing. Notice that at the time when the host of the meal would answer the questions about the Passover and explain the significance of each item of food on the table…Jesus, “took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” When we read these words in a church building somewhere in America in the year 2011 we often see the common practice of what we call the Lord’s Supper: Silver or gold plates containing small wafers and thimbles of Welch’s juice being taken pew by pew as we struggle to think about the sins we committed last week and visualize Jesus hanging on the cross. I believe this interpretation is heavily influenced by our current practices and is not an accurate portrayal of Jesus’ actions, words or the meal that the early communities of Jesus’ followers enjoyed in the inaugurated kingdom.
However, when we read what Jesus did and said in context, that is the context of a Jewish Passover meal, I believe that we see that Jesus was symbolically declaring that the redemption of Israel and the world would be accomplished through his death. The exile was over; true restoration was no longer a future hope but a present reality. Jesus the unblemished lamb would be put to death so that others might live!
Note: This is meant not meant to be the end of studying this topic, but the beginning. Here are some resources that will, I believe, help lead us to a better understanding through our study.
Sources
The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2011.
The Mishnah, Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes by Herbert Danby. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933.
The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament by Craig Keener. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Come To The Table by John Mark Hicks. Abilene, Texas: Leafwood, 2002.
Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist by Brant Pitre. New York: Doubleday Religion, 2011.
Making a Meal of It by Ben Witherington III. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2007.
The Challenge of Jesus by N.T. Wright. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999.
The Eucharistic Words of Jesus by Joachim Jeremias translated by Norman Perrin. London: SCM Press, 1990.
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