Maundy Thursday recalls the night when Jesus was betrayed, leading to his death by crucifixion the following day. Rather than allowing the day to be remembered solely for its betrayal and loss, Jesus defined it on his own terms, sharing an intimate meal with his disciples and instructing them to remember it always. The meal is still the focul point of Christian worship, whether we know it as Communion, the Lord’s Supper or the Mass.

When writing to the church at Corinth, Paul reminded his readers of the beginnings of the ritual. While Paul was never afraid to cover new ground in his writing, here he is careful to remind his readers that he is repeating words he himself has been taught, an affirmation of the importance he placed on maintaining this tradition as it had been begun. His words were:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Cor. 11:23-26

The central place that Communion holds in the life of the Christian church is similar to the place Passover holds in the Jewish faith and tradition – in fact, the gospels tell us that Jesus was in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover meal with his disciples.

The institution of the Passover is recorded in Exodus 12:1-14 (read it here).

The parallels between the two meals are unmistakable. In both cases, blood provides protection against a world-changing event that is about to happen. In both cases, there are explicit instructions to remember and reenact the meal. In both cases the meal is celebrated by the family or extended family.

One striking instruction for the Passover meal that isn’t directly repeated with the Last Supper is that the meal is to be eaten in haste. Verse 11 says, “This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.”

While haste is not mentioned in the Last Supper, it is implied. The meal is a brief interlude of relative peace in the midst of a firestorm. Within hours, or even minutes, of the completion of the meal, the pace of the story will pick up and not slow down again until Jesus is dead and buried.