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"Last supper" - Coenaculum

Mount Zion, Jerusalem

Monday, ‎December ‎23, ‎2013

Third Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem

My Holy Land Trip

"Last supper" - Coenaculum,(The Cenacle)
Mount Zion, Jerusalem

Mark 14:13-15

13 And he sent two of his disciples, and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him,[a] 14 and wherever he enters, say to the householder, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I am to eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 15 And he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.”

A view of Last Supper hall from ground floor, is located on the second floor:

Location of Last Supper

The Cenacle on Mount Zion claimed to be the location of the Last Supper and Pentecost. According to later tradition, the Last Supper took place in what is called today The Room of the Last Supper on Mount Zion, just outside of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, and is traditionally known as The Upper Room. This is based on the account in the Synoptic Gospels that states that Jesus had instructed a pair of unnamed disciples to go to "the city" to meet "a man carrying a jar of water", who would lead them to a house, where they would find "a large upper room furnished and ready", Mark 14:13-15. In this upper room they "prepare the Passover".

No more specific indication of the location is given in the New Testament, and the "city" referred to may be a suburb of Jerusalem, such as Bethany, rather than Jerusalem itself. The traditional location is in an area that, according to archaeology, had a large Essene community (Descriptions of an ancient Essene community offer an exciting solution for today’s isolation, spiritual hunger and stressful times), a point made by scholars who suspect a link between Jesus and the group.

Stairway to the Last Supper room: 

Date

The Gospels say that Jesus died on a Friday and that his body was left in the tomb for the whole of the next day, which was a Shabbat (Saturday), Mark 15:42, 16:1-2. The Synoptic Gospels present the Last Supper as a Passover meal, Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:1-2, Luke 22:1-15. This would mean that the Passover feast (15 Nisan - the official Jewish calendar) began at sunset on what now would commonly be called Thursday evening and lasted until sunset on Friday (the Jewish calendar reckons a date as beginning at sunset, not at midnight). On the contrary, the Gospel of John presents the feast as beginning on the evening following the afternoon death of Jesus. This would mean that the Friday of the crucifixion was the day of preparation for the feast (14 Nisan), not the feast itself. Various attempts to reconcile these two accounts have been made, some of which are indicated in the article on the Last Supper by Francis Mershman in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia.

Chronology of Jesus and Crucifixion darkness and eclipse, Scholarly estimates for the date of the crucifixion generally fall in the range AD 30-36. Physicist Colin Humphreys rules out the year 36 on astronomical grounds. He presents other grounds for holding that the crucifixion of Jesus occurred in the afternoon of Friday, 3 April 33, and says that this was 14 Nisan in the official Jewish calendar that year.

Last Supper Hall:

Scriptural basis

The last meal that Jesus shared with his disciples is described in all four canonical Gospels (Matthew 26:17-30, Mark14:12-26, Luke 22:7-39 and John 13:1-17:26). This meal later became known as the Last Supper. The Last Supper was likely a retelling of the events of the last meal of Jesus among the early Christian community, and became a ritual which recounted that meal.

Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, 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.

Last Supper Hall:

Situation, Background and setting

The overall narrative that is shared in all Gospel accounts that leads to the Last Supper is that after the Triumphal entry into Jerusalem early in the week, and encounters with various people and the Jewish elders, Jesus and his disciples share a meal towards the end of the week. After the meal, Jesus is betrayed, arrested, tried, and then crucified.

Key events in the meal are the preparation of the disciples for the departure of Jesus, the predictions about the impending betrayal of Jesus, and the foretelling of the upcoming denial of Jesus by Apostle Peter.

Inside the Last Supper Hall:

Prediction of Judas' betrayal

In Matthew 26:24-25, Mark 14:18-21, Luke 22:21-23 and John 13:21-30 during the meal, Jesus predicted that one of his Apostles would betray him. Jesus is described as reiterating, despite each Apostle's assertion that he would not betray Jesus, that the betrayer would be one of those who were present, and saying that there would be “woe to the man who betrays the Son of man! It would be better for him if he had not been born”, Mark 14:20-21, In Matthew 26:23-25 and John 13:26-27, Judas is specifically identified as the traitor. 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.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him."

Inside the Last Supper Hall:

Institution of the Eucharist

The Eucharist, which "is recorded as celebrated by the early Christian community at Jerusalem and by St. Paul on his visit to Troas", is held to have been instituted by Christ, Acts 20:7. The institution of the Lord's Supper is recorded in the three Synoptic Gospels and in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians. The words of institution differ slightly in each account, reflecting a Marcan tradition (upon which Matthew is based) and a Pauline tradition (upon which Luke is based) in addition, Luke 22:19b-20 is a disputed text which does not appear in some of the early manuscripts of Luke. Some scholars, therefore, believe that it is an interpolation, while others have argued that it is original.

Jesus' actions in sharing the bread and wine have been linked with Isaiah 53:12 which refer to a blood sacrifice that, as recounted in Exodus 24:8, Moses offered in order to seal a covenant with God. Scholars often interpret the description of Jesus' action as asking his disciples to consider themselves part of a sacrifice, where Jesus is the one due to physically undergo it.

Inside the Last Supper Hall:

Theology of the Last Supper

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. As we know, he was the son of the Almighty God. But he washed the foot of disciples. He was teaching the world by action. For Aquinas, the Last Supper and the Cross form the summit of the teaching that wisdom flows from inherent grace, rather than external power. St. Thomas Aquinas viewed The Father, Son (Christ), and the Holy Spirit as teachers and masters who provide lessons, at times by example.

St. Aquinas stated that based on John 15:15 (in the Farewell discourse) in which Jesus said: "No longer do I call you servants; ...but I have called you friends". Those who are followers of Christ and partake in the Sacrament of the Eucharist become his friends, as those gathered at the table of the Last Supper. At the Last Supper Christ made the promise to be present in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and to be with those who partake in it, as he was with his disciples at the Last Supper.

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry”, Jesus said during the Lord's Supper. And Jesus taught the world a new lesson too, stating that just as Jesus gave “thanks to the Father” before breaking the bread, those who go to the "Lord's Table" to receive the sacrament of the Eucharist must give thanks for the "boundless love of God" and celebrate the sacrament with both joy and thanksgiving.

Inside the Last Supper Hall:

Inside the Last Supper Hall: