Jesus' last meal

I was informed that this month of September, Kablogs Journal theme edition is about foods, menus and recipe, and it strikes me to wonder what are the meals that Jesus has taken during His "Last Supper" aside from bread and wine.

I'd been staring at the famous Leonardo de Vinci's painting of the "Last Supper" and it makes me wonder what other foods did Christ and the apostles take during the Last Supper and if Da Vinci has made justice in interpreting the Holy Scriptures and the religious traditions in painting the Last Supper.


With Christ's as the center of Da Vinci's masterpiece sharing meal with His disciples, the table shows leavened bread - not flat but it was fluffy with yeast. Based on the picture, this is not the Passover meal , or the "Feast of the Unleavened Bread", a Jewish celebration on their released from slavery in Egypt wherein the Passover meal would have flat bread which represents simplicity and humility. In addition, there there is no sign of lamb in Da Vinci's picture which would traditionally have been eaten at the passover. Moreover, there is fish, citrus and salt in Da Vinci's painting. There are 12 glasses each containing red wine, a normal drink during meal.

I wonder if Da Vinci's work reflects the traditional foods served during Christ time which consist of "a large meal with cheese, wine, vegetables and fruits, and eggs. As for meat, fish was most common, followed by chicken or fowl." (Life of Jesus - First Century Context of Palestine (Israel).

But one thing for sure: Leonardo's Last Supper is an ideal pictorial representation of the most important event in the Christian doctrine of salvation - the institution of the Eucharist.

The meal shared by Jesus Christ and his disciples on the night before He was crucified was the occasion of His institution of the Eucharist, when He identified the broken bread with His body and the cup of wine with His blood of the new Covenant.

As it was written: "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and break it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Matthew 26 (KJV).

► Read The Pope's previous articles here.