page_title: Last Supper
section_title: Passover parallels
hierarchical_section_title: Last Supper / Passover parallels
caption_attribution_description: The Last Supper
context_page_description: The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. The Last Supper is commemorated by Christians especially on Maundy Thursday. The Last Supper provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, also known as "Holy Communion" or "The Lord's Supper".
  The First Epistle to the Corinthians contains the earliest known mention of the Last Supper. The four canonical Gospels all state that the Last Supper took place towards the end of the week, after Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and that Jesus and his apostles shared a meal shortly before Jesus was crucified at the end of that week. 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.
  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 others, saying "This is my body given to you".
context_section_description: 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 lay people to associate the Last Supper with the Jewish Seder. This is due to the fact that the Synoptic Gospels  describe it as a Passover Meal. Some evangelical groups borrowed Seder customs, like Haggadahs, and incorporated them in new rituals meant to mimic the Last Supper; likewise, many secularized Jews presume that the event was a Seder. This identification is somewhat erroneous, as although it was most likely a Passover Meal, it was according to the Second Temple Period customs and included the consumption of a full lamb. The earliest elements in the current Passover Seder (a fortiori the full-fledged ritual, which is first recorded in full only in the ninth century) are a rabbinic enactment instituted in remembrance of the Temple, which was still standing during the Last Supper.
  The fifth chapter in the Quran, Al-Ma'ida (the table) contains a reference to a meal (Sura 5:114) with a table sent down from God to ʿĪsá (i.e., Jesus) and the apostles (Hawariyyin). However, there is nothing in Sura 5:114 to indicate that Jesus was celebrating that meal regarding his impending death, especially as the Quran states that Jesus was never crucified to begin with. Thus, although Sura 5:114 refers to "a meal", there is no indication that it is the Last Supper. 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.
caption: Last Supper, Carl Bloch. In some depictions John the Apostle is placed on the right side of Jesus, some to the left.
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