The Last Supper - Was it a Passover Meal or Something Else?

Every year I hear people discussing the last supper and calling it a Passover meal. Did Yeshua partake of the Mo'ed (Appointed time) commanded by HaShem when He ate this meal with His apostles or was it something else?

I will start by saying this. How could Yeshua have partaken of a Passover meal, commanded to be eaten on the beginning of the 15th day, sunset, when He was being lain in the tomb at about that time? How could He be eating the Passover meal at the appointed time (correct time) with His apostles when HE WAS THE PASSOVER LAMB? He could not be eating the Passover meal, at its proper time, and be the Passover lamb at the same time.

What was the last supper then? There are a couple of options that we can consider.

First, the last supper could have been the “fast of the firstborn meal”? History shares a detail with us that I find interesting.

Yeshua and His disciples were Galileans, therefore they would have kept Galilean traditions. One of the major differences between the Judean calendar (the one kept in Jerusalem with its temple authorities) and the Galilean calendar of the first century (1) was the customary observance of a fast called the Fast of the Firstborns. This fast began before the Passover observance started. It was a sunrise (14th day) to sunset fast which ended with the eating of the Passover meal on the 15th.

According to this tradition a "last meal" would have been eaten before the fast began. In other words the night before the sunrise of the 14th. This "last meal" would have been a very significant event for them. Yeshua, of course, was a firstborn. The fast was to commemorate the salvation of the Hebrew firstborn during the plague which killed all the firstborn of Egypt.

The Fast of the Firstborn is still observed by many Jews today. Since they do not believe in fasting on a holy day (15th) they backed it up to fasting on the 14th.

Here in this last meal Yeshua is using this time to teach His apostles about the coming feast of Passover/Unleavened Bread/Firstfruits (all of which is just commonly referred to as Passover these days and in some ancient writings) and what they needed to know concerning what was about to happen to Him.

This meal was eaten before the feast began in Jerusalem.

Now, there are some clues in scripture that what I say is true. In John 13:1 it states: "Now before the Feast of Passover had come that He should depart from this world" and then goes on to tell about the events that took place after the meal. In addition, in John 13:28-29 it states that when Judas left the room that the other apostles thought he may be going to buy what they needed for the feast (since he was the treasurer). Now, if they had been eating the real Passover, at the setting of the sun on the 14th - which would be then the 15th day, then it was a HIGH sabbath and Unleavened Bread would have already started and there would have been no way for him to buy anything, because no one would be buying and selling during the high sabbath of Unleavened Bread. Also, he would have had no need to buy anything at that point as the feast would have already been upon them. In addition, Yeshua stated that He had "desired" to eat the Passover with them that year, but He couldn't because He was to be the Passover lamb.

If you continue reading the gospel narratives you will find that the reason that they thought Judas could be going out to buy what was needed for the feast is because the 14th day of the first month is not a Sabbath. It is called the Preparation Day in the book of John (I will discuss this later). Yeshua had His last teaching meal with His apostles on the eve of the 13th going into the 14th, or the Preparation day, according to John. From the completion of the meal we then find Judas going out to betray Him, His arrest and kangaroo court, and then crucifixion on the 14th, just like that of the Passover Lamb, and then His burial just at the timing of the Passover meal (Unleavened Bread -1st day - sunset on the 15th).

In John 18:28 we read:

Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. So, we see here that they had not yet eaten the Passover during Yeshua’s trial.

The second option available to us is that Yeshua was keeping a Passover meal with His disciples according to a different calendar than the Judaens (Jews in Jerusalem with the temple authorities).

History reveals that there were several calendars being used in the first century (and before), just as we still have people arguing over calendar issues today.

The Sadducces controlled the temple practices but the Pharisees had more sway with the people and their choice of the timing of feast days didn’t always line up with the Sadducces (like Shavuot). The Essenes had their calendar with differing holy days. The Samaritans had theirs. Most scholars agree that even the Galileans (of which Yeshua was) had their calendar differences also. The differences were usually only a day or two.

So, which calendar was the correct Passover day according to our Heavenly Father? Did He confirm one calendar over another? We must consider that Yeshua had to die, be buried, and ressurect at the perfect time according to the Father’s set times to be the true Passover lamb.

To answer this question I believe we can consult the book of John. Scholars say that John’s account of the feast doesn’t line up with the timing of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke (I personally don’t agree with this).

John was a Jewish man. That being said, why do we read in his narrative many phrases of “a feast of the Jews (Judaens) was at hand”, or a “feast of the Jews (Judaens).” This sounds almost anti-Semitic! Matthew, Mark nor Luke use such phrases.

I would like to place before you that John’s gospel was written to other sects of Judaism besides those “Jews” living in Jerusalem with its temple authorities and calendar. I am not the first to say this. In his book, The Jewish Gospel of John, Dr. Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg brings out that it is of his opinion that the book of John was perhaps written to the Samaritans.

This would explain why John uses such phrases as those above. He is trying to explain the calendar which was being followed when all of these things took place. It was the Judaen calendar. The one followed by Jerusalem and its temple authorities.

Could Yeshua have been following a Galilaen calendrical tradition of celebrating Passover one day before the Judaens at His last supper event? It would have been a great time to teach His disciples about what was soon to transpire.

At any point, He was crucified, buried, and resurrected at “a feast of the Jews (Judaens)” meaning the calendar that Jerusalem and the temple authorities followed.

Did the Judaens (Jerusalem and its temple authorities) of the first century keep Passover on the correct day? Absolutely! Because Yeshua had to die exactly on the prescribed days and times of His Father in order to fulfill the prophetic pictures where the Appointed Times all point to Him. No other day would suffice! The timing of everything was critical and controlled by the Most High!

I hope this lesson has brought some clarity.

Shalom,

Leisa Baysinger

Bibliography

(1) https://blog.israelbiblicalstudies.com/jewish-studies/the-last-supper/

https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/1678/jewish/The-Fast-of-the-First-Born.htm

#feastteachings #appointedtimes