Bonus Issue: The First Supper
Maundy Thursday, Triduum 2025
Holy Thursday is the commemoration of the Last Supper of Jesus Christ, when he instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion prior to his betrayal, arrest and crucifixion. It also commemorates His institution of the priesthood. This holy day falls on the Thursday before Easter and is part of Holy Week. Jesus celebrated the meal as a Passover feast. In doing so, Christ fulfills His role as the Paschal victim of the Passover , offering himself as a sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
But should we call it the “Last Supper?” I’ve always thought it should be called the “First Supper,” especially when looking through the lens of Catholic liturgy, covenant and theology. Sacramentally, the Last Supper was the FIRST celebration of the Eucharist. Jesus literally says, “this is my body…this is my blood” So while it is the last meal Jesus shared with the Apostles before His Passion, it the first instance of the New Passover, and the first sacrificial meal of the New Covenant. Chronologically, it’s the last. Sacramentally, it’s the first.
At this first meal of the New Covenant, Jesus speaks of His blood as the “blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.,” echoing Moses’ words in Exodus 24. So as Moses had a covenant meal with the Israelites at Sinai, the first Eucharist marks our Lord’s first covenant meal with His Church.
In fact, Jesus completely reshapes the Jewish Passover. Instead of sacrificing an unblemished lamb and eating it, Jesus BECOMES the lamb. In instituting the first Eucharist, He forever changes the Passover. He says, “take this, and eat of it.” Eat of what? Lamb? No, HIS FLESH! Scripture makes no mention of an actual lamb being eaten in the upper room. Jesus Himself was the Lamb of God. And this gives the Apostles the first sacrificial meal of the Church, which unifies them and us to this day, as we fully participate in the re-presentation of Calvary at every Mass.
For Catholics, the meal in the upper room is a foreshadowing of the Heavenly Banquet as revealed in Revelation 19:9, “9 And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” The upper room is the first table-setting of Heaven, and one that continues in perpetuity.
Finally, this meal marks the institution of the new priesthood. Christ ordains the Apostles, saying, “Do this in memory of me.” Do. This. Do what? Do what Jesus just did! The Eucharist! This is the first ordination meal, and the beginning of Christ’s ministerial priesthood on Earth. At that moment, Apostles became consecrated priests, and this priesthood is carried on through their appointed successors.
So, while the Last Supper may have been the “last” in terms of Jesus’ earthly life before his Passion, it is first in every other way as it relates to the Church. And for that, I am eternally thankful. I’ll keep calling in the Last Supper though, who am I to go against 2 thousand years of tradition?
But D.M., this is all fine and good, but we can at least say it’s the first Mass, right?
Yes, in a sense. But not in the full sense of the Liturgy of the Mass. It is the first institution of the Eucharist and of the priesthood, but not the full institution of the Mass. Of course, the Mass is all about the Eucharist, but what leads us there? The Liturgy. So Jesus gives us the first full Mass 3 days later, on the afternoon and evening of Easter Sunday, on the road to Emmaus.
Think about it. What happens on the road to Emmaus?
Jesus appears to 2 travelers on the road to Emmaus. Scholars believe it to be a husband (Cleopas) and wife, unnamed but likely the other Mary at the foot of the cross, the mother of James and Joseph, the “other Mary, not the mother of Jesus.”
Jesus, disguised to their eyes, walks with them, and “opens the scriptures,” revealing the plan of salvation for mankind. He reveals everything scripture has revealed about God’s salvific plan thus far! At the travelers’ urging, he stays with them, breaks bread and is revealed to them as Jesus Christ, then vanishes.
So what is going on here?
It’s a Mass! It’s the first earthly thing Jesus really does as our Resurrected Savior.
He opens the scriptures: The Readings
He explains them: The Homily
He stays with them. How does he do it? He sits down with them, takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and distributes it. They then RECOGNIZE Him in the Eucharist. Jesus vanishes, the bread remains!
Here I am! In the bread! They came to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
This is the first Liturgical Mass!
May you all have a blessed Easter. God Bless.
