Hollywood passion and biblical fantasy

By Tomas de los Santos

 

It is too bad that Mel Gibson is not as good a bible student as he is a movie maker. If he were, then maybe those of us who watched The Passion (read: most of the world) might have benefited from lessons in biblical reality instead of getting an awful dose of Catholic catechism.

Hardly anyone doubts that the New Testament, and, particularly, its depiction of the first century Jesus, are true and really happened as told. Under close scrutiny, however, the passion and crucifixion stories fall apart as does most of the Bible. For example let's take a close look at the Last Supper stories.

A careful examination of the gospels reveals a serious problem as to the date of the Last Supper which, in turn, affects the nature of the meal itself with profound religious consequences. Was the Last Supper a Passover seder with all its theological implications? Or was it not? If not, then Jesus was not the true Paschal Lamb who was sacrificed for our redemption. Moreover, and because of this problem, we find the Apostles disagreeing as to the day of the crucifixion.

As we begin studying this problem, keep in mind that Jesus was a Jew, who lived and died as a Jew, and faithfully practiced the Jewish religion. As a Torah-observant Jew, Jesus, and his disciples, would have been careful about the Passover in all its details. During His ministry, Christ participated in several Passovers, the last being the one known as the Last Supper. At this point, a brief overview of the Passover may be helpful.

Passover is a fundamental symbol of redemption in Judaism and Christianity. Passover began as a celebration of God's deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian bondage, and became the commemoration of Christ's deliverance of all believers from the bondage of sin. Traditionally, Israel 's sacred calendar begins with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Remember that according to the Jewish calendar, a day is determined from sunset to sunset and not from midnight to midnight as we do. Specifically, Passover began on the 14th day of the first month, which is called the month of Nisan. Also referred to as the day of preparation, 14 Nisan was the traditional date on which lambs were slaughtered at the temple. (Ex. 12:6).The Feast of Unleavened Bread then commenced on the 15th of Nisan, and lasted seven days until the 21st of Nisan (Ex. 12:15).

Now, let's look at the problem. According to the synoptic gospels, those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Christ ate the Passover meal with His disciples on the day when "they sacrificed the Passover lamb" (Mk 14:12; Lk 22:7; Matt 26:17), which would have been 14 Nisan. He was crucified the following day, on 15 Nisan. This means that the "last supper" described by the synoptic Gospels was most likely a Passover seder since it was partaken at the time the Jews ate the Passover meal. This traditional meal would have included the matzo bread and the bitter herbs, as well as all attendant ceremonies, presided over (no doubt) by Jesus as rabbi. Indeed, in the synoptic gospels there is mention of Jesus breaking the bread, taking the cup, and so on (details that are not provided in John's account).

According to the Gospel of John, however, Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Passover, which would have included the sacrificing of the lamb (Jn 19:14; 18:28). John tells us, "and it was the preparation of the Passover . . . then delivered he him . . . unto them to be crucified"(19:14-16 KJV). In terms of the Jewish calendar, this would have been on 14 Nisan. So, if we follow John, instead of observing Good Friday, Catholics should observe Good Thursday-Afternoon.

Not only does John say that Jesus was killed on a different day than do the other gospel writers, but it also means that the "Last Supper" would have been on 13Nisan, the day before the official Passover meal. According to John, then, the Jesus' last supper was not a Passover seder.

Notice how strange the stories become in view of this anomaly. For example, John begins his 13th chapter by saying, "now before the feast of the Passover. . . ." Then, John tells us that Judas Iscariot mysteriously leaves the last supper with the money bag, and the disciples immediately presume that he is taking money to purchase food for the festive meal (13:2-29). This is most strange, because, according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that momentous Last Supper was not before the Passover, it was the Passover. So, if Matthew, Mark, and Luke are correct, why would the disciples think that Judas went to buy food for the feast if they had just eaten it?

Here's another example of how crazy these stories become. Notice the attitude of the Jews as depicted by John when they were handing Jesus over to Pontius Pilate for crucifixion: "they [the Jews] themselves did not enter the headquarters so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover" (John 18:28). Why would the Jews, according to John, be concerned about becoming defiled and not being able to eat the Passover when Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that they had already eaten the Passover the previous night? Why do three apostles place the crucifixion on the 15th day of Nisan, while one of them, John, placed it on the 14th day of Nisan? Of all things to mess up on, how could the Apostles get the day of the crucifixion wrong? What is going on here?

The answer is rather simple. St. John , like Mel Gibson, wanted to sell a story. In order to make it more appealing to his intended audience -- second century pagans of the Greco-Roman world -- John indulged in a little artistic license, and added a little here, and changed a little there. The other gospel writers did the same thing, but they were writing at a different time, and to different audiences, so they employed different tricks.

The Gospel of John was the last of the four to be written. The author(s) of that book were writing to a second century audience that had, by then, become predominately gentile with strong adherence to the pagan practices and religions of the Greco-Roman world. A prominent feature of pagan religions throughout the Roman Empire at the time was animal sacrifice. This was especially true of the mystery religions, such as Mithraism, that flourished during those times when the book of John was written. The writer of the Gospel of John was well aware of this. In order to appeal to as many pagans as possible, John incorporated into his gospel heathen practices along with elements of the Jewish faith. John changed Jesus' death from 15 Nisan to 14 Nisan in order to have Jesus' death coincide with the traditional date for the slaughtering of the lambs in the temple. In this way, John was able to cast his Jesus as the Paschal Lamb, thereby appealing to would-be Christians who had some understanding of the Jewish traditions. At the same time, John was able to appeal to devotees of the mystery religions by having his Jesus become a symbolic sacrifice and thereby appeal to their religious inclinations to spill blood for the sake of their gods.

At any rate, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are wrong, or John is. Both cannot be correct. Perhaps none of them are and the entire Last Supper episode is a work of fiction. You decide.