Last Supper

Last Supper, also called Lord’s Supper, in the New Testament, the final meal shared by Jesus and his disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem, the occasion of the institution of the Eucharist. The story of the Last Supper on the night before Christ’s crucifixion is reported in four books of the New Testament (Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–38; and I Corinthians 11:23–25). The letters of the St. Paul the Apostle and the Acts of the Apostles demonstrate that early Christians believed that this institution included a mandate to continue the celebration as an anticipation in this life of the joys of the banquet that was to come in the kingdom of God.

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) and the early traditions of the church affirm that the Last Supper occurred on Passover. According to the biblical account, Jesus sent two of his disciples to prepare for the meal and met with all the disciples in the upper room. He told them that one of them would betray him. After blessing bread and wine and giving it to them to eat and drink, Jesus told them that it was his body and his blood of the Covenant. Although the account of the Crucifixion in the Gospel According to John indicates that the Last Supper could not have been a Passover meal, many interpreters accept the account given in the Synoptic Gospels.

Two aspects of the Last Supper have been traditionally depicted in Christian art: Christ’s revelation to his Apostles that one of them will betray him and their reaction to this announcement, and the institution of the sacrament of the Eucharist with the communion of the Apostles. Early Christian art (c. 2nd–c. 6th century) stressed neither aspect of the Last Supper to the exclusion of the other, but thereafter the East generally favoured compositions emphasizing the symbolic aspects of the event, and the West favoured those emphasizing the narrative.

In early Christian art the presence of a fish on the table symbolizes the institution of the Eucharist. This symbol appeared in Western depictions of the communion of the Apostles until the 15th century, when a chalice and wafer were substituted for it.

Stained-glass window depicting Jesus with the Holy Grail at the Last Supper.© Tony Baggett/Fotolia

see also Eucharist