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11 - The date of the last supper: the hidden clues in the gospels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2011

Colin J. Humphreys
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’

(Mark 14:12)

As you enter the city [Jerusalem], a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.

(Luke 22:10–12)

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem.

(John 11:55)

In March 2010 I was invited to be an observer at a murder trial at the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court in London. The murder had occurred eight months previously and the witnesses disagreed on the details of what had happened. The prosecution and defence lawyers skilfully commenced their questioning of the witnesses by first trying to establish the background circumstances. Where had the murder occurred? At about what time? Who was present? Only then did the lawyers home in on the details. Who had thrown the first punch? Was the murder victim kicked when he was lying on the ground or up against a wall?

In this book we have carefully established some background circumstances to the gospels which many scholars have ignored.

Type
Chapter
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The Mystery of the Last Supper
Reconstructing the Final Days of Jesus
, pp. 151 - 168
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

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