The Last Supper was not a Passover Seder. Unleavened bread was not required. [John 13:29] reveals that the meal had already concluded when Judas left.....ostensibly to buy things needed for the feast which would follow the next day. Paul, who was not at the Last Supper, but was nevertheless a very observant Jew says in [I Corinthians 11:25] After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. "Supped": 1172. deipneo (dipe-neh'-o) to dine, i.e. take the principle (or evening) meal sup (X -er) If it would have been a Seder......Paul would not have called it a supper.
The Greek term used in all the gospel verses for the bread that was consumed show it to be regular bread....not unleavened. In Greek the word for unleavened is "AZUMOS"/AZUMON/AZUMA" or some variant thereof. The Greek for regular bread is "ARTOS or ARTON". "PSOMI" is modern Greek for regular bread and EPIOUSIOS" is daily bread.
If you look at the Septuagint [Exodus 12:18] it shows unleavened bread being eaten on the 14th of the first month at the beginning of the Feast: enarcomenou th tessareskaidekath hmera tou mhnos tou prwtou af¢ esperas edesqe azuma ews hmeras mias kai eikados tou mhnos ews esperas
[Exodus 23:15] thn eorthn twn azumwn fulaxasqe poiein epta hmeras edesqe azuma kaqaper eneteilamhn soi kata ton kairon tou mhnos twn newn en gar autw exhlqes ex aiguptou ouk ofqhsh enwpion mou kenos (this is the Feast of Unleavened Bread)
[Leviticus 23:6] also refers to The Feast of Unleavened Bread: kai en th pentekaidekath hmera tou mhnos toutou eorth twn azumwn tw kuriw epta hmeras azuma edesqe
[Leviticus 23:17] refers to regular bread being prepared for Shavuot (Pentecost): apo ths katoikias umwn prosoisete artous epiqema duo artous ek duo dekatwn semidalews esontai ezumwmenoi pefqhsontai prwtogenhmatwn tw kuriw
The Hebrew texts show the words to be Matzot/Matzah for unleavened and Lekhem/Lekhemim for regular bread.
[John 18:28][John 19:14][John 19:31][John 19:42] all verify that this was only the Day of Preparation and the Feast would not begin until Our Savior would be crucified, killed and entombed. At sundown of the 14th the Feast would begin. The Last Supper took place after the sundown of the 13th.
Again I would like to bring out some points which I feel can easily be over looked.
The supper as described in St.John 13:1,2 was a common or an anticapatory Passover meal as described ‘before the feast’ and it may have started on the late evening of Nisan 13th in the twelve hour and was carried on over to the beginning of Nisan 14th which began the night time first watch for that day.
However, Passover Seders were reserved and observed strictly at night time at ‘even’ where the ending of Nisan 14th met the beginning of Nisan 15th. This was the time where 3 stars could be visually observed in the sky as a sign to people who wore no wrist watches.The roasted lamb was then to be eaten with unleavened bread (i.e. Exodus 12:8) in comemmoration of the ancestral Israelite’s departure for freedom in Moses time.
There are some differences I would like to point out between the common meal description of St. John and the meal descriptions from the other three gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke which we shall refer to as the Synoptics. The vast majority of thinkers have associated the meal setting of St. John to the same moment of time for the Synoptics but here I fail to differ. I believe that St. John is describing a common meal around the end of Nisan 13th and the Synoptics are describing a true Passover Seder on the beginning of Nisan 15th. The synoptics show that there was a formal preparation being made following Jesus instructions to the disciples (i.e. Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7) to go into the city of Jerusalem and reserve a room for the Passover Seder to be held on the ‘first day of unleavened bread’. It shows later that they did meet at ‘even’ when the (designated) hour came and did sit to eat the Passover (i.e.Matthew 26:19, 20, 21.; Mark 14:16, 17, 18.; Luke 22:13, 14, 15). There the Seder proponents were directed by our Lord such as the grace blessing, the breaking of the loaf, the supping of the cup, the singing of the hym all of which were prevalent rituals on a ceremonial high day occasion.
Little of these significant details are mentioned in St. John chapter 13. There they ate a common meal exercised cermonial un-cleanliness (foot washing) in preparation or anticipation of the Passover feast to follow.
The verse at St.John 18:28 “they themselves went not into the judgement hall, less they should be defiled; but that they might eat the Passover.” KJV would not likely be a concern to them on a Nisan 14th.
However this moment could pertain to a later time on the early morning of Nisan 15 where priestly ritual cleanliness would be a ceremonial concern to them for not risking any disqualification in keeping their on going Passover proceedures.
Again I refer to ‘the preparation of the Passover’ where the word ‘Passover’ was exercised as a loose term as mentioned by Josephus. This could imply to any preparation day prior to any weekend Sabbath or of any of the 2 High Sabbaths within the Passover feast period. Therefore in my opinion it commonly gets suited to one’s own preferred preferrence of hypothesis in regards to these matters.
Oh yea ‘Diegol618’ you never told us on what day of the week you believe the crucifixion to have occurred? As well what day did Pentecost occur in your frame of chronology?
most appreciated - Pmary65