working
together for the future of faith
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working
together for the future of faith |
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(1a)
1Cor 10:14-22
(1b) 1Cor 11:23-25
(2) Mark 14:22-25 = Matt 26:26-29 = Luke 22:15-19a,[19b-20]
(3) Did 9:1-4
(4) John 6:51b-58
(a) 1 Cor 10:14-22
/14/ Therefore, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. /15/ I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. /16/ The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? /17/ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. /18/ Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? /19/ What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? /20/ No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. /21/ You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. /22/ Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
(b) 1 Cor 11:23-25
/23/ For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, /24/ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." /25/ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
(2) Synoptic Gospels: Last Supper
Mark 14:22-25
/22/ While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body. /23/ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. /24/ He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. /25/ Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God."= Matt 26:26-29
/26/ While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." /27/ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; /28/ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. /29/ I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."= Luke 22:15-19a[19b-20]
/15/ He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; /16/ for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." /17/ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; /18/ for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." /19/ Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." /20/ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
(3) Didache 9
/9:1/ As for thanksgiving, give thanks this way.
/2/ First, with regard to the cup:
"We thank you, our Father,
For the holy vine of David your servant,
which you made known to us
through Jesus your servant.
To you be glory forever."
/3/ And with regard to the Bread:
"We thank you, our Father,
for the life and knowledge
which you have made known to us
through Jesus your servant.
To you be glory forever.
/4/ As this < ... > lay scattered upon the mountains
and became one when it had been gathered,
so may your church be gathered into your kingdom
from the ends of the earth.
For glory and power are yours,
through Jesus Christ, forever."
/5/ Let no-one eat or drink of your thanksgiving [meal]
save those who have been baptized in the name of the Lord,
since the Lord has said concerning this,
"Do not give what is holy to the dogs." [Hermeneia]
(4) John 6:51b-58
/51b/ ... and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." /52/ The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" /53/ So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. /54/ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; /55/ for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. /56/ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. /57/ Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. /58/ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."
John Dominic Crossan
Jesus SeminarItem: 16
Stratum: I (30-60 CE)
Attestation: Multiple
Historicity: -In Crossan's view, this is the third example of a plurally attested complex from the first stratum which, although summarizing "principles or practices, themes or emphases, of the historical Jesus, stem not from him but from the liturgical creativity of the early communities" [Historical Jesus, 360]. (The other examples were 13 Two As One and 120 The Lord's Prayer.)
Crossan [Historical Jesus, 360-67] proposes five major stages in the development of this complex:
1. The general anthropology of eating and the more specific historical customs of Greco-Roman commensality: and specifically the two-part structure (deipnon then symposion) of the Greco-Roman formal meal.
2. Open commensality practiced by Jesus and his followers as an expression of radical social egalitarianism.
3. A ritual meal within the early Jesus communities, such as those prescribed in Didache 10 and 9, with no paschal imagery, no Last Supper tradition, and no connection with the death of Jesus.
4. The pre-Pauline tradition of the Last Supper during which Jesus institutes the eucharistic ritual and links the bread and wine to his body and blood.
5. Introduction of Passover character as part of a re-working of the Last Supper tradition by Mark.
Sayings of Jesus:
Text
Item
Source
JS Mtg
%Red
%Pink
%Gray
%Black
W Avg
Color 1 Cor 11:23-25
203
Paul
87Sal
0
16
36
48
0.23
Black Mark 14:25
203
Mark
86ND
0
28
24
48
0.27
Gray Mark 14:22-25
203
Mark
87Sal
0
16
44
40
0.25
Gray Matt 26:29
203
Mark
86ND
0
28
20
52
0.25
Gray Matt 26:26-29
203
Mark
87Sal
0
0
40
60
0.13
Black Matt 26:28c
203
Matthew
90Cin
0
0
0
100
0.00
Black Luke 22:16,18
203
Mark
86ND
0
24
24
52
0.24
Black Luke 22:15-20
203
Mark
87Sal
0
0
48
52
0.16
Black Did 9:4
203
Mark
86ND
0
4
4
92
0.04
Black Did 9:1-4
203
Mark
87Sal
0
0
4
96
0.04
Black John 6:51-58
203
John
87Sal
0
0
0
96
0.04
Black
Passion Narrative voting data also includes the following:
Text
%Red
%Pink
%Gray
%Black
W Avg
Color 1 Cor 11:23-26
3
12
38
47
0.24
Black Mark 14:22-26
3
6
56
35
0.25
Gray Matt 26:26-30
3
6
53
38
0.24
Black Luke 22:14-20
3
3
53
41
0.23
Black John 6:26-70
0
0
25
75
0.08
Black
Fredriksen [Jesus of Nazareth, 117-119] accepts the Passover character of the event and places the actions of Jesus in the context of messianic meals in his own ministry and at Qumran. When discussing the final days in Jerusalem (page 252), she assumes the basic historicity of the last supper narrative as a self-conscious final meal in which Jesus spoke of his impending death saying the words over the bread and cup.
Luedemann [Jesus, 94-97] concludes that the assymetrical forms cited in 1 Cor 11 are older than the parallel forms of the sayings over the bread and cup in Mark. He also suggests that the eschatological prospect entertained by Jesus is a later addition, and notes that it has nothing to do with the gift of bread and wine. On the other hand, Luedemann notes that the Pauline text reflects a later development than Mark with its twofold command for repetition of the supper ritual in memory of Jesus. In the end, Luedemann decides that the differences between Mark and Paul are small enough for him to use the two accounts in determining both the content of the final meal and the ways in which the supper was understood by early Christians.
At the same time, Luedemann concludes that the portrayal of Jesus celebrating such a ritual on the night before his death is not historical. He is clear that there is "no generic relationship" between any actual final meal and the Lord's Supper understood in cultic terms. He also denies the Passover character of the supper as a Markan creation. Like Meier (below), Luedemann does accept the saying (Mark 14:25) about drinking wine in the kingdom of God as authentic. He concludes: (this saying) "hardly came into being in the early community, for in it Jesus does not exercise any special function for believers at the festal meal in heaven which is imminent. Only Jesus' expectation of a the future kingdom of God stands at the centre, not Jesus as saviour, judge or intercessor."
When discussing the saying on Drinking Wine in the Kingdom of God (Mark 14:25, Meier [Marginal Jew II,302] notes that "the historicity of a final farewell meal held by Jesus with his disciples is generally accepted by scholars across the spectrum, since its existence is supported by both the criterion of multiple attestation and the criterion of coherence."
This poem originated as a contribution to the HODOS online community by Gene Stecher. It is published with Gene's consent but he explicitly retains full rights as the creative author. You welcome to use it for personal study and worship, but it should not be published in any other form without the author's prior consent. Index to Gene Stecher's poems
Specialist threat,
Generalist protection,
Leprous hospitality,
Prostitute blessing,
Hypocritical offense.
Passover prepared,
Betrayer declared,
Body given,
Blood poured.
Kingdom awaited.
Jesus ambivalence,
Disciple avoidance,
Destiny acceptance,
Arrest-party arrival,
Violence futility.
Clandestine grab,
Scriptures fulfilled,
Young-[wo]man watched,
Young-[wo]man deserted,
Young-[wo]man proclaimed.
For my phrase "Prostitute blessing", see Patterson's explanation of Lk 7:36-50 in his "Dirt, Shame, Sin", Hoover's Profiles, p. 203-204.
" Young man" may be Mark's insertion of the Initiate of his community into the events of the final hours. The initiate experiences fear and desertion as well as the privilege of proclamation (Mk 16:6-7) as he graduates from the "linen cloth" garb of initiation into Jesus' death (Mk 15:46) to the" white cloth" garb of good-news resurrection bearer. [And of course in Secret Mark the young man was "taught the mystery of God's domain" prior to either of these events; Acts of Jesus, p. 117]
It's a helpful exercise, I think, to assume the identity of each participant in this drama: Jesus, temple specialist, crowd member, leper, female annointer, I-object, sleeping disciple, betrayer, arrest-party member, sword wielder, young-man/woman. - Gene