This video is an excerpt from the Mass Explained tablet app. Details can be seen at: www.MassExplainedApp.com The Last Supper is the final meal that Jesus shared with his Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. It is there that He instituted the Eucharist, also known as "Holy Communion", "The Lord's Supper" and "The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass." Most scholars agree that the Last Supper was a Passover Seder. Three out of four of the canonical Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) agree that the Last Supper was held only after the Jewish holiday of Passover had begun. The Jewish holiday of Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. The roots of the festival are found in Exodus 12, in which God instructs the Israelites to sacrifice a lamb at twilight on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan, before the sun sets (Exodus 12:18). That night the Israelites are to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The lamb's blood should be swabbed on their doorposts as a sign. God, seeing the sign, will then "pass over" the houses of the Israelites (Exodus 12:13), while smiting the Egyptians with the tenth plague, the killing of the first-born sons. Jesus at the Last Supper engaged in symbolic explanation of the bread and wine, just as Jews at the Seder engage in symbolic explanations, interpreting aspects of the Passover meal in light of the Exodus from Egypt: "Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.' And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant'" (Matthew 26:26--28=Mark 14:22; see also Luke 22:19--20). Understanding the Passover Seder can help shed light on the importance of Jesus words and deeds at the Last Supper. For more information, please visit www.MassExplainedApp.com

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