Last Supper

[5][6] 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.

[5][6] 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".

[22] The term "Lord's Supper" refers both to the biblical event and the act of "Holy Communion" and Eucharistic ("thanksgiving") celebration within their liturgy.

[23] The Eastern Orthodox use the term "Mystical Supper" which refers both to the biblical event and the act of Eucharistic celebration within liturgy.

[26] Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians,[27] 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.

[31] In the Gospel of John, when asked about the traitor, Jesus states: "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish."

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.The three Synoptic Gospel accounts describe the Last Supper as a Passover meal.

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.

Jesus' actions in sharing the bread and wine have been linked with Isaiah 53:12[42] which refers to a blood sacrifice that, as recounted in Exodus 24:8,[43] Moses offered in order to seal a covenant with God.

[58] 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.

[59] 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.

72, 189 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.

[65] 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).

In doing so, Telford says, Humphreys has built an argument upon unsound premises which "does violence to the nature of the biblical texts, whose mixture of fact and fiction, tradition and redaction, history and myth all make the rigid application of the scientific tool of astronomy to their putative data a misconstrued enterprise.

Bargil Pixner claims the original site is located beneath the current structure of the Cenacle on Mount Zion.

[72] The traditional location is in an area that, according to archaeology, had a large Essene community, a point made by scholars who suspect a link between Jesus and the group.

[73] Saint Mark's Syrian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem is another possible site for the room in which the Last Supper was held, and contains a Christian stone inscription testifying to early reverence for that spot.

Certainly the room they have is older than that of the current cenaculum (crusader – 12th century) and as the room is now underground the relative altitude is correct (the streets of 1st century Jerusalem were at least twelve feet (3.7 metres) lower than those of today, so any true building of that time would have even its upper story currently under the earth).

[74] St. Thomas Aquinas viewed The Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit as teachers and masters who provide lessons, at times by example.

For Aquinas, the Last Supper and the Cross form the summit of the teaching that wisdom flows from intrinsic grace, rather than external power.

[75] For Aquinas, at the Last Supper Christ taught by example, showing the value of humility (as reflected in John's foot washing narrative) and self-sacrifice, rather than by exhibiting external, miraculous powers.

Since the late 20th century, with growing consciousness of the Jewish character of the early church and the improvement of Jewish-Christian relations, it became common among some evangelical groups to borrow Seder customs, like Haggadahs, and incorporated them in new rituals meant to mimic the Last Supper.

[87] However, some scholars believe that Jesus' manner of speech during which the table was sent down suggests that it was an affirmation of the apostles' resolves and to strengthen their faiths as the impending trial was about to befall them.

[91] Such views echo that of 20th century Protestant theologian Rudolf Bultmann, who also believed the Eucharist to have originated in Gentile Christianity.

[19][20] On the other hand, an increasing number of scholars have reasserted the historicity of the institution of the Eucharist, reinterpreting it from a Jewish eschatological point of view: according to Lutheran theologian Joachim Jeremias, for example, the Last Supper should be seen as a climax of a series of Messianic meals held by Jesus in anticipation of a new Exodus.