Sabbath Study: Remembrance

1. Prayer and meditation
2. Worship: “Servant of All” by Maranatha, “Do This in Memory of Me” by Chris Mugale, “Come to the Table” by Marty Nystrom
3. Word Study: Remembrance
4. Foot washing: We used this teaching of remembrance as we commemorated Yeshua’s Last Supper and washed each other’s feet.
5. Torah study: Genesis 42-44

Could the “Last Supper” have been a “Passover” meal?

For many years we have taken for granted that our teachers, preachers and rabbis who held Seders, led communion, taught about Passover and the Lord’s Supper were telling us the real truth from the bible. Are our assumptions correct? What do the scriptures really say?

After studying hundreds of papers, articles, teachings and suppositions about Passover and the Lord’s Supper and all the scriptures pertaining to both occurrences we now see why there has been so much confusion as to the correct dates, the timing, the elements, the teachings, the participants, the instructions to repeat the observances and the place to hold the observance.

What has rarely been accomplished is to “rightly divide” the Word ,as to the observance, according to the original instructions in Egypt , the instructions at Sinai and the instructions after entering the promised land . Let’s see what the scriptures say, then see what Yehovah says about His” set apart-kadosh/holy” observances and His instructions , then we’ll see what Yeshua did and said.

Exodus 12:1-6 says the lamb to be sacrificed was chosen out of the flock on the 10th day of the first month (Abib). It was to be checked for blemishes until the 14th day then sacrificed during the afternoon or “between the evenings” as most translations say which means from the starting of the sun going down at noon until sundown, so as to allow for cooking time before sundown and the Passover meal approached. Ex.12:8-11 says the Passover is eaten on the 14th going into the 15th with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, clothed for travelling, with shoes on and staff in hand, ready to leave Egypt when the call came to go after staying in the house all night. Ex.12:14 says Passover is to be observed forever as a commanded memorial feast to Yehovah.

Ex.12:15-20,Leviticus 23:5-7,Deuteronomy 16:1-4,8. says from the first day of Unleavened Bread for 7 days no leavening was to be found on the premises or in the food and the first day (the 15th starting at sundown) was a High Day or Meeting day set apart for teaching and feasting with no work, as well as the 7th day of the feast. Ex.12:21 says the lamb is called the Passover. Ex.12:27 says the service or observance is the “sacrifice of Yehovah’s Passover”. Numbers 9:2 says to keep the Passover at it’s appointed time.

Deut. 4:2 says we are not to add to Yehovah’s commands, which includes changing the days or times of the observances. Also Deut.12;32 says not to take away any part of the instructions as well.

In Matthew 5:17-19 Yeshua said He came to properly explain (Hebraism- to fulfill) not to incorrectly teach (Hebraism- to destroy) the law ,but that no part of the law (Torah-the instructions) would pass away until heaven and earth pass away, which will never happen since the Torah was given to be followed FOREVER and The Holy City and He are coming here on earth to stay- Revelation 22:3. Rev.22:18-19 reiterates the rules are here to stay. Luke 16:17 agrees also. Hebrew 13:8 says Yeshua is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will not break His own rules. Isaiah 54:5 says our creator, our redeemer and Elohim(God) are one and the same.

John 1:1-5,10-14 says Yeshua was our creator and was Yehovah in the flesh.
Ex.12:26-28 says to tell the story of Passover to the children, the family and the neighbors that are sharing in the meal.Ex.12:3-4.

In Matthew 26:2-5 Yeshua said on the 1st day of that week (Sunday) after 2 days (after Tuesday) he would be crucified before Passover. In verse 5 the scribes, Pharisees and priests said they would not kill Yeshua on a high Feast day(1st day of Unleavened Bread- 15th of Abib, Wednesday, April 28,28 AD.). The rest of the chapter uses the word Passover and allusions to it as the entire week including the day of preparation for it, since everyone from out of town, as they were, would rent a room for the entire 8 days to stay in and eat the Passover and to go back and forth to the temple daily to feast , worship and be taught by the priests with their brethren on the temple mount. Verse 17 refers to the day (Tuesday-Abib 13)before the preparation day (Wednesday –Abib14) which all used to clean all the “chametz” (leaven) out of their houses before Passover that evening. Matthew is unclear, but John is clear in John 13:1 that the Last Supper is before Passover. In Matthew 26 he doesn’t explain Judas’ actions or details about the meal or any observances except the bread and the wine. Mark 14 is just a direct quote from Matthew as is Luke22.

Matt.26:23 mentions soup that Judas dipped his leavened (artos) bread into with Yeshua as is explained in John 13:21-30. Which showed the disciples knowing that any purchases would be made that very evening or the next day ( the preparation day- see John 19:14) before Passover and the First day of the Feast that began that next evening. Yeshua taught them about humbly serving (washing each other’s feet),then loving one another. Then He told them who He was, what plans He had for them, the need to keep the commandments, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the coming persecution, His prayer for them and us. (John 14,15,16,and 17). Note: no mention of any Passover or Exodus teaching takes place and no family members or neighbors are there.

Matthew is the one mentioning the symbolism of the bread during supper and never mentioning any Passover food or lamb, then after supper Yeshua symbolized the wine. Luke 22:19 also mentions memorializing Yeshua with the bread. Also Acts 2:42,46, and 1 Corinthians 11:20-34. Bread and wine are always used in the middle east as the symbols of hospitality and making of protection covenants with the guests who have been invited in across the threshold of the building (look up the threshold covenant of trust).

Yeshua truly desired to observe Passover with his disciples and the next evening HE was to become the REAL PASSOVER LAMB that was slain for them and for all of us, but he said He would not drink wine with them again on until the Millennium and His Kingdom having been installed on earth .

Facts about the “Last Supper

1. It was held on the 13th of Abib (or Nisan) not the 14th as Passover was commanded to be observed.
2. Only Yeshua’s disciples were there, not family and neighbors as stated in Exodus.
3. They took off their coats and shoes unlike the Exodus Israelites.
4. They ate leavened (artos in Greek) bread not the unleavened “bread of haste”.
5. No lamb or kid is even mentioned as is required at every Passover meal.
6. No “bitter herbs” are mentioned either.
7. Judas left to do business before Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread was to begin.
8. No telling of the Exodus story took place as is required at Passover meals.
9. Yeshua said to remember Him and His self-sacrifice EVERY time they ate bread and drank wine together, not replacing the annual observance of Passover.
10. They didn’t stay in the house till morning but went to the Mt. of Olives that evening.
11. Yeshua could not BE the Passover Lamb and eat it with His disciples too, since He died that afternoon before they actually ate the Passover meal with their families.

The main problem everyone finds is the differences between the language of the Matthew account and the later copied Mark and Luke accounts and John’s more accurate account as to Torah and scripture . The fact that the copying of the gospels in the 1st and 2nd centuries into Latin and Greek and other languages along with doctrinally biased later insertions by “anti-Semitic” persons unacquainted with “Jewish” feast days and Hebrew idioms caused faulty translation and cohesiveness of the different recollections about the Last Supper. ( No Hebrew or Aramaic scholars were allowed at the meetings to canonize the scriptures in 325 AD, which were controlled by Constantine’s doctrine of bringing together all his preferred church leaders to unify his rule with a state controlled RELIGION.)

The Feasts of Yehovah that are set forever to be observed by EVERYONE (Zechariah 14:16) are spelled out in detail in the Pentateuch ( theTorah-1st 5 books of Moses). For the Feasts to be twisted, ignored or considered adjustable according to one’s whims is really unimaginable. It’s a shame that supposed scriptural scholars who claimed to be spiritually in tune with the author of the bible can be so out of sync with the instructions found in the book that they let denominational dogma from the last 1900 years cloud their understanding and cause the plethora of inaccurate teachings that are extant today even in Messianic and Hebrew Roots study circles.

What’s the secret to “properly” dividing the scriptures for our full understanding? It is to realize that Yehovah knew what He was doing and instructed Moses to write the plain instructions down for us to follow as the Eternal standard by which to compare all other opinions and writings. Isaiah 46:9-10 Yehovah in His earthly ,”in-this -time dimension”, partial form as Yeshua- the light, the shekinah, our rock and consuming fire with His eternal power and Spirit can now lead us into all truth as He said He would.

Let us continue to be “Bereans “ and seek more of his wisdom and truth daily from his Word and from His speaking to our understanding in our prayers and supplications until we see Him at His return
and HE truly opens our minds totally and give us all the things He has promised . John 16:15
So, to answer the beginning question, The Last Supper was not a Passover meal since the day was wrong, the participants were wrong, the food was wrong, the teaching was wrong and the clothing was wrong. All these markers were wrong according to the scriptures FOR the observance of the Passover.
Yeshua, the originator of the Feasts would never have changed any detail to His eternal precepts. Hebrews 13:8.

Ellis Wiley

Tri-State Messianic Fellowship