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00:00They put them underneath the altar, and when people wanted to eat with the martyrs, they
00:08came forward and ate the Eucharist.
00:10Meals in tombs became rituals at altars.
00:15Then in 313, Emperor Constantine, supposedly after a vision of a cross, made Christianity
00:21legal throughout his empire, and the era of Christian temple construction began.
00:30But under these stone temples lies the oldest known church in Rome.
00:36Dating from the early years of the 4th century, it's a relic from the last days of a religious
00:42movement that had no use for monumental architecture.
00:47For Jesus, the simple act of breaking bread was all it took to be holy.
00:53For the first Christians, it was all they needed to topple the mightiest of empires.
01:02On one fateful night, a piece of bread and a cup of wine became the symbols of a man's
01:14life and foreshadowed his death.
01:17Now we go in search of the real Last Supper.
01:26We build its true setting, sample the menu, probe the scriptures to discover the true guest
01:34list, and reconstruct first century Jewish rituals to reveal the truth about the holy grail
01:42that da Vinci never knew.
01:54One spring day around 30 A.D., as the sun set over Jerusalem, a group of peasants got together
02:02to eat a meal.
02:03One man took a piece of bread, broke it, and said these simple words.
02:12Take, this is my body.
02:16Then he passed a cup of wine.
02:21Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood.
02:25What that man did that night will never fade into obscurity, because the next day, he was
02:36dead on the cross.
02:45Two thousand years on, churches around the world still reenact Jesus' Last Supper.
02:51It happens thousands of times every single day.
02:57The ritual is the Eucharist, or Holy Communion.
03:01The wine that is shared symbolizes the blood, which is spilled for the sake of humanity's
03:06sins.
03:07And the bread symbolizes Jesus' body broken on the cross.
03:12Many artists painted their visions of that fateful supper when Jesus predicted his death.
03:21One of these paintings is more famous than all the others.
03:29An artist created it in the 1490s in northern Italy.
03:34His name was Leonardo da Vinci.
03:36Da Vinci chose to freeze the moment when Jesus tells his disciples one of them will betray him.
03:47It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread.
03:51Da Vinci's vision of this electrifying instant between Judas and Jesus was so powerful that
03:57it became the way we all imagine the Last Supper.
03:59Jesus at the center, flanked by twelve well-dressed men.
04:06A table covered with a fine cloth, glasses of wine, loaves of bread, plates and knives.
04:14Da Vinci's Last Supper is also famous for what it does not show,
04:18an object that almost every other medieval and renaissance painting of the Last Supper makes its focus.
04:24The cup, crusaders turned the vessel that symbolically held Jesus' blood into a legend.
04:31The quest for that holy grail incited centuries of bloodshed.
04:42Most of the depictions from the renaissance and medieval period show the holy grail as gold or silver and jewel encrusted.
04:49It's beautiful and ornate.
04:51And I think people imagine that because Jesus in a way founded Christianity at the Last Supper,
04:58that it has to be a beautiful artifact.
05:07No crusaders ever found the holy grail.
05:10Perhaps that was because they were looking for the wrong thing.
05:14Well, it's obvious that the holy grail legend came into being in the Middle Ages.
05:18So perhaps it's appropriate that the grail looks like a fancy medieval cup.
05:24And similar to cups that were used in churches, which come from that period.
05:28But of course, it has absolutely no relation to anything that would have happened in ancient times.
05:32The holy grail is not the only detail Last Supper artists got wrong.
05:38The Bible says the meal happened at night, but da Vinci and other painters said it in daylight.
05:43Da Vinci's Jesus has long hair and is clean-shaven.
05:48Other paintings from the late 15th century show that was simply the fashion of the day.
05:54What da Vinci's doing when he paints the Last Supper is that he's painting Jesus as a renaissance Christian and not as a first century Jew.
06:03Older artwork shows Jesus closer to the way he probably looked, with short cropped hair and a beard.
06:09But I think da Vinci got an awful lot of it wrong.
06:16We're about to take a fresh look at Jesus' final meal.
06:21To understand why the simple act of sharing bread and passing wine became the core ritual of the church,
06:27we will do what da Vinci never did.
06:30Return to Jerusalem, examine ancient dining rooms, search for clues to first century cooking,
06:41and explore the meaning of food and religion.
06:45You see that he's got a bowl with the wine in it.
06:48He's now going to pronounce the blessing of the wine.
06:51To discover what Jesus really did at the Last Supper
06:54and what the real Holy Grail might have looked like.
07:00We have to see the Holy Land the way Jesus did.
07:03I don't think that Jesus, during what we call the Last Supper,
07:09was thinking, I'm going to institutionalize a ritual here
07:14that people will observe for hundreds and maybe even thousands of years.
07:18To tell the real story of history's most famous meal,
07:23we need to understand when and where it took place.
07:28Jesus grew up in Nazareth
07:30and began his ministry preaching and healing in the villages of Galilee.
07:36But just days before he died,
07:38Jesus made the fateful decision to travel to Jerusalem.
07:42The Passover of the Jews was near,
07:47and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
07:49I don't think Jesus left Galilee
07:52because he felt like his work was done there.
07:55I think he goes to Jerusalem
07:57because Jerusalem is the place of God's presence,
08:01it's the place of the temple.
08:03Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish universe,
08:07and each spring at Passover,
08:08hundreds of thousands of Jews made a pilgrimage there.
08:14The Passover commemorated the Jews' escape from slavery in Egypt.
08:19According to the Old Testament,
08:22God sent a wave of plagues to ravage Egypt.
08:30But he told the Jews that if they sacrificed a lamb
08:34and painted their doorposts with its blood,
08:36his plagues would pass over their homes
08:39and allow them to escape.
08:42In Jesus' time,
08:43Jews brought year-old lambs to the temple in Jerusalem
08:46to repeat the same blood sacrifice their ancestors had made.
08:53The blood was, of course, not put on the doorpost.
08:55It was now spilled at the base of the altar
08:57because that was what made a sacrifice work in biblical law.
09:01On the day before the first night of Passover,
09:05butcher priests killed countless thousands of lambs
09:08and burnt a piece of each of them on the sacrificial fire.
09:22The priests shall dash its blood against all sides of the altar
09:26and turn it into smoke on the altar.
09:31The temple would have been awash with blood.
09:41The Gospels don't tell us whether Jesus offered a lamb sacrifice in the temple,
09:46but they suggest that Jesus' own death
09:49was looming in his mind as the Passover feast approached.
09:52He said to them,
09:55I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
10:02Jesus had a reputation for being a provocative teacher,
10:06and when he brought his message to the heart of Judaism,
10:09the Gospels say he sensed trouble ahead.
10:11Jesus speaks of Jerusalem as the city that kills the prophets.
10:20He even says,
10:21how can it be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem?
10:26Jews came to Jerusalem at Passover
10:28to celebrate their freedom from bondage
10:31at a time when they were no longer free.
10:34The Roman army occupied the land,
10:37and the city was thick with tension.
10:39Probably the majority of the Jewish population
10:44would have been very hostile toward Rome,
10:47resentful of all the economic changes
10:51that Roman imperial control had brought.
10:54First century Passover festivals
10:57frequently ended in fatal clashes
10:59between Roman troops and Jewish pilgrims.
11:01And this year,
11:04it was Jesus who would end up dead.
11:08Three Gospels,
11:10Mark, Matthew, and Luke,
11:11say that the Last Supper took place
11:13on the night of the Passover feast.
11:16Historians have reconstructed
11:18how Jews used to celebrate that meal.
11:23After the sacrifice,
11:25the head of each household
11:26brought the meat back home for the Passover feast.
11:29The central act of the Passover ritual
11:32was the eating of the actual portion
11:35of the Paschal lamb.
11:37About 10 people,
11:38maybe it would stretch up to 20 people,
11:40for each lamb.
11:42Jews prepared two other foods
11:44to eat with the lamb.
11:45Bitter herbs to recall
11:47the bitter taste of slavery.
11:49Unleavened bread.
11:51A hard cracker baked without yeast.
11:53An echo of the bread
11:54that did not have time to rise
11:56in the hurried departure out of Egypt.
12:00At the meal,
12:01parents recited the story
12:02of Exodus to their children
12:04so they would never forget
12:06their bond with God.
12:08You shall say,
12:10it is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord,
12:13for He passed over
12:14the houses of the Israelites in Egypt.
12:18But if the Last Supper
12:20was a Passover meal,
12:21and if lamb was the key item on the menu,
12:24why did the Gospel writers
12:26mention just bread and wine?
12:28And a close look
12:29at da Vinci's crumbling fresco
12:31shows he chose a different entree,
12:34one that we find
12:35in other earlier depictions.
12:37Fish.
12:40The questions about Jesus' final meal
12:43keep piling up.
12:44To find answers,
12:46we're going to have to travel back
12:47to first century Jerusalem.
12:49Fight our way
12:51through the crowds of pilgrims
12:52to discover where Jesus broke bread
12:55for the last time.
12:59The first step
13:01to unlocking the mystery
13:02that swirls around
13:03the Last Supper
13:04is to find out
13:05where it took place.
13:08Modern Jerusalem
13:09is filled with holy sites
13:11commemorating the last days of Jesus.
13:14The Via Dolorosa
13:15marks the route
13:16where Jesus carried His cross.
13:19The Church of the Holy Sepulchre
13:21houses shrines
13:22to the crucifixion
13:23and Jesus' burial.
13:31There's also a memorial
13:32to the place
13:33where the night before
13:34He was killed,
13:36He shared a meal
13:37with His closest companions.
13:39Everything that He did,
13:40everything that He said
13:41had to happen somewhere
13:42and you had to know
13:43where those places were
13:44and identify Him.
13:50The Bible gives us
13:51only the briefest description
13:53of the Last Supper's location.
13:56Jesus sends some of His disciples
13:57into Jerusalem
13:58to meet a man
13:59who He says
14:00will have a room prepared for them.
14:05He will show you
14:06a large room upstairs,
14:08already furnished.
14:09Today, tour guides
14:13show pilgrims
14:14to a two-story building
14:15on Mount Zion,
14:16less than a mile southwest
14:18of the Temple Mount.
14:21We're on Mount Zion
14:22and we're looking behind me
14:23at the Coenaculum.
14:25Among Christian pilgrims
14:27to Jerusalem,
14:28this is the place.
14:31Archaeologist Peter Richardson
14:33has studied the architecture
14:34and city planning
14:35of ancient Jerusalem.
14:38He knows that
14:39Franciscan monks
14:40built the upper floor here
14:411,400 years after Jesus.
14:44I'm not sure
14:44that all the tour guides
14:46make clear
14:46that this is a much later space.
14:49But like all good legends,
14:52this one might be founded
14:53on a grain of truth.
14:55Further down the western slope
14:57of Mount Zion,
14:58just a short walk
14:59from the medieval Coenaculum,
15:01lie the remains
15:02of ordinary homes
15:03from the first century.
15:05This is a group
15:06of first century houses
15:07in Jerusalem.
15:09Nowadays,
15:10it's outside the walls
15:11of the city of Jerusalem,
15:12but in the first century
15:13it was actually enclosed
15:14within the walls.
15:16The houses in this part
15:17of the city were small.
15:19The lower classes lived here.
15:21It was also about
15:22as far away
15:23from the hustle
15:23and bustle
15:24of temple activity
15:25as you could get.
15:27Jerusalem at the time
15:28of Passover
15:28would have had
15:29its population increase
15:31by probably tenfold.
15:32In other words,
15:33it goes from perhaps
15:3460,000 to 600,000
15:36with pilgrims
15:38flowing into the city.
15:39And they need places
15:40to stay.
15:41They need places
15:41to eat the Passover meal.
15:45This was a neighborhood
15:46where outsiders
15:47like Jesus
15:48and his band
15:48of poor Galileans
15:50would have stood
15:50a fighting chance
15:51of securing space
15:52to eat the Passover.
15:55I'm walking along
15:56a rather rudimentary lane
15:58that gives access
15:59to this house.
16:00This is the doorway
16:01to the house.
16:03The footprints
16:03of these houses
16:04are tiny.
16:05Poor Jerusalemites
16:06built them right next door
16:08to one another.
16:10There was little light inside,
16:12so the roof,
16:13accessed by an outside stairway,
16:14was a natural place
16:16for residents
16:16to work and live.
16:17The roof, of course,
16:20was used in antiquity
16:22as an extension
16:23of the living space
16:25for a variety of functions.
16:27Women would use it
16:28for spinning and weaving.
16:31It might be used
16:32for large family meals,
16:34communal meals
16:35of one kind or another.
16:38Outdoor areas
16:39were important
16:40under normal circumstances,
16:42but during the crowded
16:43Passover season,
16:45the rooftop
16:45was the only available space
16:47for pilgrims
16:48to celebrate
16:48the holiday meal.
16:51People put up
16:52various types of structures
16:53on rooftops,
16:55in streets,
16:56anywhere they could
16:57so as to accommodate
16:58this massive number
16:59of people
17:00who would come
17:00to celebrate the Passover.
17:03An improvised rooftop setting
17:05is not what comes to mind
17:07for an event
17:08as monumental
17:09as the Last Supper,
17:10but this is the
17:12best fit
17:12to Biblical
17:13and historical evidence.
17:16Biblical historian
17:17Lawrence Schiffman
17:18helps archaeologist
17:19Jonathan Reed
17:20fine-tune the details
17:21of a temporary
17:22Passover dining room.
17:24Okay, and palms like this
17:26or thatch,
17:27what do you think?
17:27I think a lot of people
17:28had, like,
17:29rooftop shades
17:31on their houses
17:32and could very well
17:33have had these available
17:34all the time.
17:35Probably they would have
17:36the tables in the middle
17:37somehow.
17:39The Gospels themselves
17:41say that the Last Supper
17:43took place
17:43in an upper room
17:45and I envision
17:46that to mean
17:47a room that's temporary
17:49that's created
17:50for pilgrims
17:51up on a rooftop,
17:53not a permanent
17:53dining hall
17:54and certainly nothing
17:55elegant and ornate.
17:58Da Vinci
17:59and other
17:59Renaissance painters
18:00showed Jesus
18:01and his 12 disciples
18:02sitting at a table
18:04in a grand hall.
18:05That detail is not only
18:08unlikely in overcrowded
18:10Jerusalem,
18:11it's also completely
18:12inaccurate for a
18:13first-century meal.
18:15The proof lies over
18:17600 miles away
18:18in the ancient city
18:20of Ephesus
18:20in Turkey.
18:22Ephesus was a flourishing
18:23Roman colonial city
18:24from the first
18:25to the fourth century.
18:27Here are some of the
18:29best-preserved examples
18:30of first-century homes
18:32built in the Greek
18:32and Roman style.
18:34We can still see
18:36the exquisite
18:37interior design
18:38and we can also
18:40find important clues
18:42to how the wealthy
18:43ate 2,000 years ago.
18:45This is the dining room
18:46in the house.
18:48You can see the
18:48mosaic pattern
18:49on the floor.
18:50It's only decorated
18:51in the central section
18:52here.
18:53The reason for that
18:54is that this is
18:55the only part of the floor
18:56that you would actually
18:57see because these areas
18:59are covered with benches.
19:01The three-sided couch
19:03that once filled
19:04the room was probably
19:05wooden and has long
19:07since rotted away.
19:09Wealthy Greeks
19:10and Romans
19:11always laid down
19:12to eat.
19:14Servants brought food
19:15to them on low
19:16central tables.
19:18All the diners
19:19reclined on their
19:20left sides,
19:22leaving the right hand
19:23free for eating.
19:25The gospel writers
19:25who wrote in Greek
19:27say that Jesus
19:28also reclined
19:29at meals.
19:29Okay, and the setup,
19:32what do you think?
19:33A couple of tables here
19:34and then the cushions
19:35sort of spread around?
19:36The cushions have
19:37got to be arranged
19:38around the sides
19:39so people could lean
19:41more or less
19:42towards the tables.
19:43Fitting over a dozen
19:44people onto the rooftop
19:45of a small house
19:46does not leave much
19:47room for the food.
19:48This is a shared meal
19:49where everyone's
19:50eating out of one pot
19:51and dipping their bread in.
19:52These were not
19:53the richest people.
19:54The gospels describe
19:56Jesus and the other
19:57reclining diners
19:58dipping into the same
19:59bowl at the last supper.
20:01He said to them,
20:02It is one of the twelve,
20:04one who is dipping bread
20:05into the bowl with me.
20:08But what food
20:10was in those bowls?
20:12Three gospels say
20:13that Jesus' last supper
20:14was the lamb feast
20:15held on the first night
20:17of Passover.
20:17and they prepared
20:22the Passover meal.
20:28But one gospel
20:29says it happened
20:30the night before.
20:33Now before the festival
20:35of the Passover
20:36during supper.
20:39Finding out which version
20:41is correct
20:42not only affects the menu,
20:44it also could change
20:46the guest list
20:47and the entire meaning
20:50of the last supper.
20:58A thousand years of art
21:00gave us one window
21:02on the last supper.
21:04Historical and archaeological
21:05research has now
21:07given us another.
21:08The art of the last supper
21:10is rather comical
21:11when you think about it.
21:12The twelve disciples
21:13and Jesus
21:14all sitting on one side
21:16of the table.
21:16Well, of course
21:18it couldn't have happened
21:18that way
21:19and the only reason
21:20it's portrayed that way
21:21is that's the only way
21:23the artist can get
21:24all the faces
21:25in the picture.
21:28Jesus and his disciples
21:30would most likely
21:31have been sitting
21:32on a rooftop
21:32under a temporary awning.
21:35They were probably
21:36in a poorer neighborhood
21:37in a Jerusalem
21:38that teemed
21:38with Passover pilgrims.
21:40Three Gospels
21:43say the meal
21:44was the Passover feast
21:45what Jews today
21:46call a Seder.
21:48But the Gospels
21:49guest list
21:50conflicts with Jewish law.
21:54When it was evening
21:55he came with the twelve.
21:58The twelve disciples
21:59eating with Jesus
22:00would be totally abnormal
22:01if it was a real Seder.
22:02A real Passover Seder
22:03was eaten with the family.
22:05It in fact says
22:05in the Torah
22:06that each person
22:06should eat it
22:07with his family.
22:08Men, women, and children.
22:09The fact that the Bible
22:12does not mention
22:13women and children
22:14doesn't mean
22:15they were not there.
22:17It's reasonable
22:18to imagine
22:19that some of the
22:19women followers
22:20of Jesus
22:21were at the Last Supper.
22:24The texts do not say
22:25only the twelve
22:26were there.
22:28Jesus had traveled
22:29to Jerusalem
22:30with his closest followers
22:31and we know
22:33there were women
22:33in that group.
22:34I certainly would include
22:37among them
22:37Mary Magdalene
22:38and Mary the mother
22:39of Jesus.
22:40We know that
22:41because they're
22:42very prominent
22:43at the crucifixion
22:45and at the tomb.
22:47There's no way
22:48in my mind
22:48that Jesus would have
22:49excluded them
22:50from the Last Supper.
22:52If the Last Supper
22:54was in fact
22:55a Passover meal
22:56then Jesus
22:57and his core group
22:58the people
22:58he thought of
22:59as family
23:00would have gathered
23:01on the rooftop
23:01at sunset.
23:03A temporary canopy
23:04perhaps made of
23:05palm fronds
23:06would have protected them
23:07and they would have
23:09sat on cushions
23:10on the floor.
23:15Archaeology helped us
23:16reconstruct the venue.
23:18Now it can help us
23:20recreate the menu.
23:23They shall eat the lamb
23:24roasted over the fire
23:26with unleavened bread
23:28and bitter herbs.
23:29In northern Israel
23:32amid the ruins
23:33of the Galilean town
23:34of Yodafat
23:35archaeologist
23:36Mordecai Aviyam
23:37has dug up evidence
23:38of how the lower class
23:40would have made
23:40the Passover meal
23:41a thousand years
23:42after the custom began.
23:45Stone mills like this
23:47once ground wheat
23:48grown in the nearby fields.
23:53Aviyam discovered
23:54remains of beehive shaped ovens
23:56called taboons.
23:57The fire was inside
23:59the ovens
24:00of what we call
24:00taboons
24:01made of clay
24:02and this is the place
24:04to bake the bread.
24:06Middle Eastern bread
24:07was then as it is now
24:09a flat round pita bread.
24:11But at Passover
24:13Jews made bread
24:14without yeast
24:15in memory of the bread
24:16that did not have time
24:18to rise
24:18when their ancestors
24:19fled from Egypt.
24:21In fact
24:22it was the custom
24:23to sweep houses
24:24clean of any trace
24:25of yeast
24:26before the Passover week
24:27began.
24:29The result was
24:30a hard cracker
24:30called matzah.
24:32It's a far cry
24:33from the round loaves
24:34of bread
24:35da Vinci shows
24:36in his version
24:37of the Last Supper.
24:40Dr. Aviyam
24:40also found fragments
24:42of the cooking pots
24:43they used
24:43in Jesus' time.
24:45This is a ream
24:47of a cooking pot
24:48from the first century.
24:49The Mishnah
24:55a second century
24:56book of Jewish laws
24:57says that besides
24:59roast lamb
25:00and bitter green herbs
25:01there may have been
25:03one more item
25:04on the Passover menu
25:05a sweet dip
25:06made from stewed fruit
25:08most likely figs
25:09which grew all over
25:10the region.
25:12This was the Passover food
25:13Jesus must have eaten
25:15throughout his life.
25:16These were the bowls
25:17he would have eaten it from.
25:19After sunset
25:23on the 14th day
25:24of the month of Nisan
25:25which falls between
25:26March and April
25:27Jews all over
25:29Judea and Galilee
25:30rich or poor
25:31would settle down
25:33to a sacred ritual.
25:37And you see that
25:38first everybody
25:39has put their shawls
25:41over their heads
25:42to cover their heads
25:42in reverence.
25:44The Passover
25:44always began
25:45with the head
25:46of the household
25:47saying a blessing
25:48over the wine.
25:49You see that he's
25:51got a bowl
25:52with the wine in it
25:53and he's now
25:54serving everybody
25:55out of that
25:56a cup of wine
25:57and he's now
25:59going to pronounce
26:00the blessing
26:00over the wine.
26:04Everybody will
26:05take a sip of it.
26:06next came the blessing
26:09of the bread.
26:11Then the father
26:12takes the bread
26:14which is unleavened bread
26:15for the Passover meal
26:16and passes it around
26:18to everyone
26:19so they take a piece
26:20and once everybody
26:22has a piece of the bread
26:23he then pronounces
26:24the blessing over it
26:25and they all
26:26eat some of it.
26:28After these blessings
26:30it was time
26:31for the feast.
26:32And then you would
26:33proceed to the main meal
26:35which was
26:36the paschal lamb
26:37the matzah
26:38and the bitter herbs
26:39and that would have
26:40been the menu.
26:41For many poor Jews
26:42this might be
26:44the only taste of meat
26:45they would get
26:46all year.
26:47The Passover feast
26:49was supposed to last
26:50all night
26:50with stories retold
26:52about the exodus
26:53from Egypt.
26:55But the details
26:56are now lost
26:57to history.
26:58We don't know
26:59what extra blessings
27:01or prayers
27:02or hymns
27:04or songs
27:04they might have
27:05sung at the meal
27:06presumably
27:06they had some.
27:09The women
27:10who lived in the house
27:11below Jesus'
27:12last supper
27:13would have served
27:14these same foods.
27:16And they would have
27:17expected the diners
27:18to follow the same
27:19time-honored rituals
27:21if the last supper
27:24really was
27:25a Passover feast.
27:28The Gospel of John
27:29stands apart
27:29from the other accounts
27:31by saying the meal
27:32took place
27:32the day before Passover.
27:34There are solid
27:35historical reasons
27:36to side with John's version.
27:39The order of the blessing
27:40in the last supper
27:41was first bread
27:43then wine.
27:45That's the opposite
27:46of the rules for Passover.
27:48At a Sabbath meal
27:49or festival meal
27:50and this would include
27:51the Passover meal
27:52one would have to begin
27:54with the blessing
27:55of the wine.
27:56And in fact
27:57this is one of the biggest
27:58arguments against
27:59the last supper
28:00being a Passover.
28:01Another problem
28:02is the single cup
28:04that Jesus shares
28:05with his companions.
28:07At Passover
28:08all were supposed
28:09to drink
28:10from their own cups.
28:12It's an area
28:12where da Vinci
28:13actually gets
28:14Jewish history correct
28:15if perhaps only
28:17by chance.
28:19It could be
28:20that the Gospel writers
28:21who worked at least
28:2240 years
28:23after Jesus died
28:24simply weren't sure
28:26which night
28:27the meal took place.
28:29To my mind
28:30the historical truth
28:31which can be
28:32sort of noticed
28:33in the absence
28:33of Passover details
28:35in the actual
28:36last supper account
28:37is that the thing
28:38happened a few days
28:39before.
28:40It was around Passover.
28:41The Jews were all
28:41in Jerusalem for Passover
28:42but not actually
28:44either a Passover meal
28:45or a meal
28:46taking place
28:48the night before Passover.
28:49There is one clue
28:52in the Old Testament
28:53that might solve
28:54the unusual order
28:55of breaking bread first
28:57then sharing wine.
29:01It's a passage
29:02about people
29:02who are spurned
29:03by God
29:04not being mourned
29:05after they die.
29:07No one shall break bread
29:10for the mourner
29:10to offer comfort
29:12for the dead
29:13nor shall anyone
29:15give them
29:15the cup of consolation
29:17to drink.
29:18The order of bread
29:20and wine
29:21in the traditional
29:22Jewish meal
29:23of remembrance
29:23for the dead
29:24does match
29:25the last supper
29:26and for a man
29:27the gospel writers
29:28knew was going
29:29to die the next day
29:31it was a fitting
29:32description
29:32of his last meal.
29:35But what of that
29:35legendary cup
29:37that passed
29:37from lip to lip?
29:39We're about to go
29:40on a quest
29:41for the Holy Grail.
29:43Where crusaders failed
29:44modern archaeologists
29:46think they have
29:47the answer.
29:54No relic
29:55in Christianity
29:56has inspired passion
29:58like the cup
29:59Jesus passed
29:59to his disciples
30:00on the last night
30:02of his life.
30:05He said to them
30:06this is my blood
30:08of the covenant
30:08which is poured
30:09out for many.
30:10this was the
30:16founding activity
30:18of Christianity
30:19and so maybe
30:20people are looking
30:21for the founding
30:21implement
30:22the thing
30:22that got it all
30:23started.
30:24Legend has it
30:26that the Holy Grail
30:27later caught
30:27the blood of Jesus
30:28when he hung
30:29on the cross.
30:32Crusaders
30:33ransacked Jerusalem
30:34in hopes of seizing
30:35that divine chalice
30:37be it silver
30:38or gold
30:39or encrusted
30:41with jewels
30:41but they never
30:43found anything.
30:46Now
30:46it's the turn
30:47of archaeologists.
30:49They've unearthed
30:50countless artifacts
30:51from first century
30:52Jewish kitchens.
30:54I think the way
30:54in which I
30:55or most archaeologists
30:56would go about
30:57trying to figure out
30:58what the Holy Grail
30:59is like
30:59is we simply
31:01try to look at
31:01what would have been
31:02the most common
31:03kinds of cups
31:04that a Jewish peasant
31:06from the Galilee
31:07would have used
31:09in a Passover meal.
31:13In all likelihood
31:14the Holy Grail
31:15would have been
31:16something simple
31:17something that would
31:18not look out of place
31:19on a peasant's table.
31:21Simple clay pottery cups
31:23were everywhere
31:23in first century
31:24Judea and Galilee.
31:27A cup
31:28passing from mouth
31:29to mouth
31:30in the last supper
31:30in my opinion
31:31most likely
31:32would have been made
31:33out of pottery
31:33poor Jews
31:35like Jesus
31:35would have been able
31:36to afford
31:37the sort of
31:37less expensive
31:38undecorated
31:39pottery dishes.
31:40A plain cup
31:42of fired clay
31:43is a strong contender
31:44for the Holy Grail.
31:46But there's
31:47another possibility.
31:49In the ruins
31:50of the first century
31:51Galilean town
31:52of Yodafat
31:53close to where
31:54Jesus grew up
31:55archaeologist
31:56Mordecai Aviam
31:57found fragments
31:58of some very
31:59different vessels
32:00cut straight
32:01from bedrock.
32:02What we have here
32:03is a stone cup
32:05two parts
32:07the base
32:07of a stone cup
32:09and the side
32:10including the rim.
32:13The markings
32:14on the cup
32:15tell us
32:15how a Jewish
32:16stonemason
32:17worked this piece
32:182,000 years ago.
32:20We can see
32:21that they were
32:22made of chalk
32:23which is soft enough
32:25to cut
32:25and strong enough
32:26to hold.
32:27and we can still
32:30see the marks
32:31of the knife
32:33that cut
32:34the outside
32:35of the vessel.
32:38This find
32:39is just the tip
32:40of the iceberg.
32:42Archaeologists
32:43have found
32:43stone vessels
32:44in every place
32:45they have dug
32:46into first century
32:47Jewish settlements.
32:48They became
32:50preferred
32:51among large
32:52sectors
32:52of the Jewish
32:53population
32:53and we know
32:54this because
32:55we have
32:56many stone vessels
32:57that have been
32:58found at archaeological
32:59sites throughout
33:00the country
33:01dating to the
33:01time of Jesus.
33:04In fact
33:05there is even
33:06evidence of
33:07stone vessel
33:08factories
33:08just a few
33:09miles outside
33:10Jerusalem.
33:11these limestone
33:14cylinders
33:15are proof
33:16that workers
33:16here used
33:17a lathe
33:18a rotating
33:18cutting tool
33:19to work stone.
33:25The stone
33:26lathe
33:26was primitive.
33:27One person
33:28turned a wheel
33:29while another
33:30held a sharp
33:30tool against
33:31the soft
33:32limestone
33:32to shape it
33:33into cups
33:33and vases.
33:35What we have
33:35is cores
33:36that have survived
33:37from some
33:38of these cups
33:38and it's those
33:39cores that show
33:40the lathe marks
33:41so we know
33:42they were
33:42working with
33:42a lathe.
33:44Archaeologist
33:45Jonathan Reed
33:46and reconstruction
33:47expert Kim Hicks
33:48are recreating
33:49stone cups
33:50using these
33:50same first
33:51century methods.
33:54So this is how
33:55those stone vessels
33:56are made
33:56on a lathe like this.
33:58Yes, he's doing
33:58the roughing
33:59operation right now
34:00taking it down
34:01to a cylindrical
34:01form to get
34:02the balance right
34:03so it doesn't
34:04wobble so much.
34:05Yeah, powered
34:06by one person
34:07and this is the
34:08first step here
34:09he's just
34:09shaving it down.
34:10But why there
34:11was an explosion
34:12of stone vessels
34:13around the time
34:14of Jesus
34:14is a mystery.
34:17One theory
34:18is that it
34:18was a byproduct
34:19of the greatest
34:20archaeological feat
34:21of ancient
34:22Jerusalem
34:23King Herod's
34:24Temple
34:25a building
34:26the size
34:26of seven
34:27football fields.
34:29It was so
34:30vast a project
34:31that even
34:31after the Romans
34:32destroyed it
34:33in 70 AD
34:34its three-story
34:36high foundation
34:37survived
34:37and Jews
34:38revere it
34:39to this day.
34:41Artisans
34:42had to develop
34:43better methods
34:44of cutting stone
34:45to keep up
34:45with the demands
34:46of the job.
34:48But stone vessels
34:49were popular
34:50for other reasons
34:51too.
34:53According to
34:54Jewish law
34:55contact with blood
34:56bodily secretions
34:58or even lizards
34:59made you unclean
35:00in the eyes of God
35:01and if you touched
35:02any food
35:03or any bowl
35:04that contained food
35:05you transmitted
35:06your impurity
35:06to it.
35:07If you have
35:08a pottery vessel
35:09or a glass vessel
35:10and something
35:10impure comes
35:11into contact
35:12with it
35:12you can't
35:13clean it
35:14it has to be
35:15disposed of.
35:16But a vessel
35:17cut from stone
35:18kept anything
35:19in it
35:19ritually clean.
35:21The fact
35:22that it comes
35:23right from
35:23the natural rock
35:24from which
35:25it's been
35:25hewn out
35:26that makes it
35:27not susceptible
35:28to impurity
35:29because as long
35:29as the thing
35:30is in its natural
35:30state
35:31it never becomes
35:32susceptible.
35:32And to some
35:34historians
35:35it's more
35:36than coincidence
35:37that the popularity
35:38of these vessels
35:39boomed at the time
35:40when the Roman Empire
35:41had conquered Judea.
35:43As Rome
35:44is encroaching
35:45Rome is bringing
35:46with it
35:47certain dining habits
35:48and Jews
35:50are beginning
35:51to develop
35:52their own
35:53particular way
35:54of eating
35:55that keeps them
35:56distinct from Roman.
35:58Stone vessels
35:59might have been
36:00a form of
36:00passive resistance
36:01against
36:02foreign domination.
36:05In Jerusalem
36:07around Passover
36:08both Rome
36:09and ritual impurity
36:10was on everyone's minds.
36:13You could not
36:14enter the house
36:14of God
36:15if you were
36:16ritually unclean
36:17and almost
36:18every peasant
36:19was.
36:20Hundreds of thousands
36:22of pilgrims
36:23would have just
36:23purified themselves
36:24in a special ritual
36:26bath outside the temple
36:27and at a time
36:29that was supposed
36:29to be a celebration
36:31of escape
36:31from slavery
36:32in Egypt
36:33there was the reality
36:34of Roman soldiers
36:35in the streets
36:36outside the temple.
36:39A lot of Jews
36:39went to the Passover
36:40ceremony
36:42mindful
36:42that even though
36:44Passover
36:45celebrated their freedom
36:46they were in some ways
36:48being dominated.
36:48this was the Jerusalem
36:52that Jesus
36:53and his followers
36:54overlooked
36:55as they sat down
36:56on a rooftop
36:56to dine together
36:58for the final time.
37:01Archaeologist
37:01Jonathan Reed
37:02feels certain
37:03a stone cup
37:04would have been
37:05on that roof
37:05but what might it
37:07have looked like?
37:09Well here are all
37:10the items that have
37:10been produced
37:11between our lathe
37:12and hand carving
37:13operations.
37:14These are of course
37:15the nicer
37:15totally lathe turned
37:17vessels.
37:18These here might be
37:18a little too nice
37:20so I have a feeling
37:21that Jesus might have
37:22used probably
37:23something totally
37:24hand carved
37:24like this here
37:26or maybe a bit smaller.
37:28So which is more
37:28likely Jonathan?
37:29I think this would be
37:30probably the likeliest
37:31candidate
37:31something like this.
37:32Then that in fact
37:33might have been
37:34the Holy Grail itself.
37:35Something like this
37:36could be it.
37:39This is the best
37:40archaeological guess
37:41at how Jesus'
37:43Last Supper
37:43may have looked.
37:45A rooftop
37:46covered with
37:47palm fronds
37:47Jesus and his
37:49disciples sitting
37:50on the floor
37:51dipping into
37:51common bowls
37:52and a hand carved
37:55limestone cup
37:56passed from
37:57lip to lip.
38:00I think that's
38:00the kind of thing
38:02that the family
38:03who's hosting
38:03Jesus at Passover
38:05would have put up
38:06on the roof
38:06for them.
38:08They know he's
38:09a big shot
38:09coming to town.
38:10They value the fact
38:11that he's staying
38:12with them
38:12and they would have
38:14put at his disposal
38:15the best that they
38:16would have had available
38:17and I think that
38:18would have been
38:18stone cups.
38:20The fact that
38:21the legendary
38:22Holy Grail
38:23was a simple cup
38:24made of stone
38:25or perhaps clay
38:27explains why
38:28no crusader
38:29could ever find it.
38:30Did Jesus drink
38:31out of something
38:32at the Last Supper
38:33or did his followers?
38:34Of course.
38:35But I don't think
38:36from the beginning
38:37they thought,
38:38oh, this is
38:39the Holy Grail.
38:40I don't think
38:41anybody sought
38:42to preserve
38:42that cup.
38:45The actual cup
38:46most likely
38:47lies buried
38:48with the fragments
38:49of so many
38:50other ordinary artifacts
38:51somewhere
38:52under Jerusalem.
38:55The Grail
38:56is gone.
38:57So is the wine
38:58and the bread.
39:00The gospel writers
39:01made them symbols
39:02of the new church.
39:04But the people
39:04who knew Jesus
39:05may have remembered
39:06the Last Supper
39:07for a different reason.
39:09because it may have been
39:11the way Jesus
39:12shared meals
39:12that got him killed.
39:18Today,
39:19we can only glimpse
39:20the Last Supper
39:21like vivid scenes
39:23from a half-forgotten dream.
39:25Take,
39:26this is my body.
39:27Drink,
39:28for this is my blood.
39:31The words Jesus spoke
39:32have become immortal.
39:34But the rest of the meal
39:35faded into history.
39:37The real Last Supper
39:38may have been
39:39a Passover meal
39:40of lamb
39:41and hard unleavened bread,
39:42but we can't be certain.
39:45Chances are
39:46it took place
39:47in a makeshift setting
39:48on a rooftop
39:48in Jerusalem
39:49during Passover week.
39:52There would have been
39:53conversation,
39:54perhaps even
39:54the singing of songs.
39:56but the gospel writers
40:03omit these details.
40:05Their focus
40:06is on one single act,
40:08Jesus passing
40:09the cup of wine.
40:11This cup
40:12that is poured out
40:13for you
40:14is the new covenant
40:15in my blood.
40:18Today,
40:19we understand
40:20the link between wine
40:21and blood
40:22simply on the basis
40:23of color.
40:24But to a first century Jew,
40:27the symbolism
40:28would have been
40:28far more powerful.
40:31The cup of red wine
40:32matched the cup
40:33of the Passover lamb's blood
40:34that Jews had seen
40:36dashed against
40:36the temple altar.
40:38It becomes very clear
40:40to them
40:40that Jesus' blood
40:42in the cup
40:43is just like
40:44the blood being
40:45sacrificed
40:46from a lamb.
40:47For the Jews,
40:51the annual slaughter
40:52of lambs
40:53kept up their end
40:54of an agreement
40:54with God
40:55who had saved them
40:56from slavery.
40:57It was their
40:58special covenant.
41:01But by the time
41:02of Luke's gospel
41:03around 80 AD,
41:04the Romans
41:05had destroyed
41:06the temple
41:06in Jerusalem.
41:08Blood sacrifices
41:09had come to an end
41:10and the gospel writer
41:12was asking converts
41:13to seal a new,
41:15different covenant
41:15with God.
41:16What Christianity does
41:18is it transforms that
41:20and makes a new deal
41:21with God.
41:23That is to say,
41:24instead of Passover,
41:25you now have
41:25the Lord's Supper
41:26and Jesus' sacrifice
41:27which connects God
41:29and the church.
41:30No longer
41:31Judaism and God.
41:35The Last Supper
41:36has become
41:37a symbolic meal.
41:39But to Jesus,
41:40the bread and wine
41:41were very real.
41:43I don't know
41:44that Jesus himself
41:45chose to share
41:49bread and wine
41:49because he was thinking
41:51body and blood.
41:52But he certainly
41:53was thinking
41:53the basic,
41:55physical subsistence
41:57of life.
42:00In rural Galilee,
42:02where Jesus began
42:03his ministry,
42:04peasants struggled
42:05to feed themselves.
42:06in Galilee.
42:07What Jesus is seeing
42:08in Galilee,
42:09what every peasant
42:10is seeing in Galilee
42:11in the first century
42:12is that the rich
42:13are getting richer
42:14and the poor
42:15are getting poorer.
42:16Roman domination
42:17brought crippling taxes
42:19and had forced
42:20many farmers
42:21off their land.
42:22For Jesus,
42:23as well as for the
42:24Jewish tradition generally,
42:27the land
42:28belonged to God.
42:29and what was happening
42:31under Roman control
42:32put Jesus
42:34as a spokesperson
42:35of this Jewish tradition
42:37on a direct collision course
42:39with the Roman Empire.
42:45In the gospel account
42:47of the feeding
42:47of the 5,000,
42:49Jesus finds himself
42:50with a hungry crowd
42:51out in the wilds
42:52of Galilee.
42:53The disciples point out
42:59that with only
43:00five loaves
43:01and two fish,
43:02they can't feed everyone.
43:06But Jesus miraculously
43:08multiplies
43:09the loaves and fishes.
43:11And the disciples
43:12have enough food
43:13to distribute
43:14to the people.
43:16You don't have to believe
43:17in the miracle
43:18to understand
43:19its message.
43:21Food in that world
43:22is really about
43:24justice
43:25because the reason
43:26people did not
43:27have enough food
43:28was because
43:29of the systemic
43:30injustice
43:31of the economic system.
43:33The gospel writers
43:34use three important words
43:36in telling this story.
43:39Taking the five loaves
43:41and the two fish,
43:43he blessed
43:43and broke the loaves
43:45and gave them
43:46to the disciples.
43:48The same words
43:49took,
43:50broke,
43:50and gave
43:51crop up again
43:52at the last supper.
43:54Jesus took
43:55a loaf of bread
43:56and after blessing it,
43:58he broke it
43:59and gave it
44:00to the disciples.
44:05Throughout his ministry,
44:07Jesus used food
44:08to pass along
44:09his idea
44:10of a just world.
44:12Take the bread,
44:13break the bread,
44:15and give
44:15the bread.
44:17And that's really
44:17indicative of what
44:18the kingdom of God
44:19bread is all about,
44:20which is
44:21to take that
44:22which belongs to God,
44:24the bread,
44:24and to distribute it
44:26to all of the people.
44:28For Jesus,
44:29sitting down
44:30to a meal
44:30with others
44:31embodied his idea
44:32of how people
44:33should treat one another.
44:35But the gospels
44:36tell us
44:36that the way
44:37he chose to eat
44:38offended many people
44:39of that time.
44:41His opponents
44:42criticized
44:42his meal practice
44:44more than anything else
44:46about him.
44:47Shh!
44:47The son of man
44:53came eating
44:53and drinking
44:54and they say,
44:56look,
44:56a glutton
44:57and a drunkard,
44:58a friend
44:59of tax collectors
45:00and sinners.
45:02That's kind of
45:03name-calling
45:04in the first century.
45:05It means that
45:06he is perceived
45:06to eat with
45:07marginalized people,
45:09virtual untouchables
45:10or outcasts.
45:13Jesus'
45:14dining habits
45:15may even
45:15have hastened
45:16his own death.
45:18Nobody would have
45:19minded charity,
45:21but the meal practice
45:22of Jesus
45:22embodies
45:24Jesus' vision
45:25of the kingdom of God,
45:27a very different way
45:28of putting
45:29society together.
45:33This is the picture
45:34of the Last Supper
45:35we have lived with
45:36for over 500 years.
45:39Jesus and his 12 male disciples
45:42had a stately meal,
45:43but this is not
45:45the way it was.
45:47I think if Jesus
45:48saw da Vinci's painting,
45:49he would be shocked.
45:50And it wouldn't be
45:51about the utensils
45:52or the bread
45:53or reclining or not,
45:54but it would have been
45:55about the fact
45:56that there's only 12 there
45:57and they're all men.
45:59I think Jesus
46:00would expect
46:00a painting
46:01in which you would
46:02have diversity,
46:03rich and poor,
46:04male and female,
46:06all together
46:06at the table.
46:07Our archaeological investigation
46:10of the Last Supper
46:12has turned the table
46:13on da Vinci.
46:15We've shown
46:16that the setting
46:16was a humble one,
46:18probably improvised
46:19on a rooftop.
46:20We can be almost certain
46:22that Jesus would have
46:23brought men and women
46:25to the table with him,
46:26that the Holy Grail
46:28was not some fine
46:29bejeweled chalice,
46:30but a simple stone cup,
46:32and that the ritual
46:34that became
46:35the sharing of blood
46:36and body
46:36began as a simple sharing
46:39of bread and wine
46:40for people
46:41who did not have
46:42enough to eat.
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