During these holy days, we focus our thoughts on Jesus’
suffering, death and resurrection. As we walk these days with him, we might
wonder about his earthly life. What was he thinking? Feeling? Seeing? Eating?
This last question intrigued us, so we contacted a biblical
scholar and asked him what Jesus ate at the last supper.
“We really don’t know for sure,” says Phil Towner, PhD,
executive director and dean of the Nida Institute for Biblical Scholarship, the
academic arm of American Bible Society. “Beyond unleavened bread and wine, we
just can’t be certain.”
The Passover meal, however, creates a framework for
understanding the last supper, which might bring clues to Jesus’ final meal on
earth.
We know that he was celebrating Passover, the Jewish feast
that commemorates the Israelites’ exodus from slavery. The meal, known today as
the Seder, has several key elements that have remained consistent throughout
the centuries.
One is the Passover lamb. During Jesus’ time, the lamb would
have roasted over an open fire, and participants were required to eat all of it,
as mandated in Numbers 9:12.
Next is the unleavened bread, a reminder of God’s swift
deliverance—so swift, in fact, that the Israelites didn’t have
time to allow the bread to rise.
Another is a bowl of salt water, which commemorates the
tears the Israelites shed while in captivity.
Bitter herbs symbolized the bitterness of their bondage. And
charoset, a sweet, dark-colored, paste made of fruits and nuts, represents
the mortar the Israelites used for bricks.
Wine, considered a royal drink, represents
freedom.
Of these elements, the lamb might be a
question mark. “We don’t know whether he ate it,” says Dr. Towner. Economics
may be part of this: Not all could afford lamb.
Some scholars say the lamb was intentionally
omitted because Jesus himself would become the Passover lamb that was to be sacrificed
on Good Friday. Therefore, Jesus chose to focus solely on the symbolism of the
bread and wine and their connection to his upcoming death.
If lamb wasn’t served, Jesus and his
disciples may have had other options. Dried fruits, such as fig, would have
been available. Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting of the last supper shows
the group eating fish.
During Jesus’ day, Jews ate two meals:
One in late morning, and one in mid-afternoon. But this feast, which had to be
celebrated in Jerusalem, was held in the evening and would have gone late into
the night.
“There was time for fellowship and
sharing,” says Dr. Towner. “There was no rushing it.”
As to where the feast was celebrated,
Jesus gave careful instructions: There was a certain man in the city whom the
disciples were to see. They would celebrate the Passover at his house.
We don’t know who this man was, says
Dr. Towner, but he obviously was a trusted friend and well-to-do because he
owned a two-story house with a large guest room. (Mark 14:15).
None of these particulars is mentioned
in the Gospels. But what is clear is that Jesus is retelling the Passover story
for his disciples and inserting himself in it.
In fact, Dr. Towner says he’s
transposing the story into a different key. The key is Jesus himself and the
bread and wine—which we know he
consumed—is the basis of a new covenant with him, one that brings everlasting
life.
