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Yeshua in Context >> Last Supper

Passover and Yeshua's Last Week (Based on John)

What happened when in the week leading up to the crucifixion of Yeshua? What if we ask this question of the Gospel of John instead of the more common approach of following Mark-Matthew-Luke (the synoptic gospels, as they are called)? It's tempting to turn to Mark or Matthew for information, but suppose we simply follow the Fourth Gospel to see what we can learn? Let me begin with just a brief note on my appreciation for the accuracy of the Fourth Gospel on matters related to the Temple and feasts of the Torah. I first began to consider the possibility that John was more precise that the synoptic gospels at the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in New Orleans in 2009. Paul Anderson (The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus) ... Read entire article >>

Filed under: Cross , Gospels as History , Last Supper , Passion Narratives , Passover , Temple and Torah

Passover - Last Supper - Crucifixion, #2

In Part 1, we talked about the discrepancy between Mark and John regarding the day on which Yeshua was crucified and whether the Last Supper was a Passover Seder or not. I will explain this again briefly below a different way. I should repeat that this problem is well-known in New Testament studies and if it is new to you, please don't think I made it up or "discovered" it. I said there we have three basic options: (1) decide Mark is right and John wrong (Maurice Casey does this in Aramaic Sources of Mark's Gospel), (2) decide John is right and Mark wrong (McKnight in Jesus and His Death and Brown in The Death of the Messiah, Vol. 2), or (3) harmonize them in some way (I used to follow ... Read entire article >>

Filed under: Gospels as History , Last Supper , Passover

Comparing the "Body" and "Blood" Sayings, Last Supper

As part of my ongoing look into and thought about the Last Supper and the five traditions we have about it, I am making some notes of comparison and contrast here. In my opinion the historical order in which the five accounts were written down is Mark, Paul, Matthew, John, and Luke. This is simplifying a somewhat more complex picture since John may have been written in an early edition with later additions and Luke's account of the Last Supper, possibly, also has two layers. I am currently thinking of Mark being written in the 40's. Paul's account in 1 Corinthians is from the 50's. Matthew is from the early 70's. The early edition of John is somewhere in the late 70's. And Luke is likely from the 80's. With that ... Read entire article >>

Filed under: Last Supper , Passover

Passover - Last Supper - Crucifixion, #1

This is an excerpt from a post at Messianic Jewish Musings where I preface these notes and conclude them with some thoughts about the problem of finding discrepancies in the gospel accounts. If you'd like to read the fuller version, click here. The Last Supper Was / Wasn't a Passover Seder To keep things simple, I am only comparing Mark and John's accounts here. Matthew, Luke, and Paul follow Mark mainly (there is complexity overlooked in that statement, though, since Luke is influenced by John in some way-see Fitzmeyer's commentary on Luke or Paul Anderson's study on The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus for more about this). ... Read entire article >>

Filed under: Gospels as History , Last Supper , Passover

Discussion: Passover and Yeshua

COMING to Messianic Jewish Musings: Discussion about Passover, the Crucifixion, the Last Supper. (1) Was the Last Supper a Passover Seder? (2) Do John and the other three gospels have a discrepancy? (3) If we think there is a discrepancy, which might we accept as historical? (4) Was Yeshua crucified on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday? (5) What was Passover like in the first century? (6) What elements in the synoptic gospels are clearly Passover customs? (7) Are there signs of a Passover Seder in John? (8) What is the origin of the Christian communion / Eucharist / Lord's Supper? (9) What can we tell from the New Testament about some practices in the Pauline congregations? (10) How has the Passover haggadah and the Seder in Judaism developed over time? ... Read entire article >>

Filed under: Last Supper , Passover