Church News How Passover, Easter and the sacrament bring hope and increase faith
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Mar 24, 2026 Matthew Gray, BYU professor of ancient scripture and Ancient Near Eastern Studies coordinator, offers scholarly context on Passover, the Last Supper and the sacrament. He traces Passover origins in Exodus and how Jesus reframed elements into the sacrament. Discussions cover historical meal practices, archaeological clues, ritual continuity, and how the sacrament links past deliverance, present redemption and future hope.
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Passover Shapes The Last Supper Meaning
- The Last Supper occurred during the Jewish Passover and carried built-in Exodus symbolism.
- Matthew Gray explains Passover's origins in Exodus 12: lamb sacrifice, blood on doorposts, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs as ritual memory of deliverance.
Recreating The Last Supper Meal Details
- The Last Supper likely included roasted lamb, unleavened bread (a hard cracker), bitter herbs, and singing psalms.
- Gray imagines oil lamps, a shared meal, and the disciples recounting Exodus 12 and the Red Sea during that night.
Last Supper Likely A Modest Shared Meal
- The common image of a reclining Last Supper at a triclinium is likely elite and inaccurate.
- Gray cites archaeology showing most Galilean pilgrims ate modestly on reed mats, sharing cooking pots and dipping bread into common dishes.