In the gospel Passion narrative, the significance of the Passover and its connection with the completion of Jesus' ministry in the world is shown. At this most important of the Jewish Festivals, a sacrifice of a lamb was made by each family or group (Exodus 12:1-14). At the same time the Festival of Unleavened Bread took place (Exodus 12:29-34 and 15-20). The Passover was full of association for the Jews with the covenant which God had made with his people, sealed with the blood of the sacrificial animals on the altar of Mount Sinai. In the ancient story of Exodus, God had shown the Israelites that he was true to his promises and that they could trust him as they were led to the promised land.

The faith of the Church was and still is that a new Covenant between God and his People was inaugurated by Jesus at the last meal he shared with his disciples. This new Covenant, sealed with Jesus' own blood in his sacrificial death, superseded the old Covenant which had been broken so often by Israel. Ill' the new Covenant is the fulfilment of God's promises (Genesis 12:3, 17:4,7); through Jesus Christ all the nations of the world will be blessed. That Jesus offered the ultimate sacrifice of himself brought to an end the effectiveness of the whole sacrificial system of the Jews. His death brought reconciliation between God and man, as no other sacrifice could.

From the Passion narrative of the synoptic gospels it is clear that the writers understood the last meal of Jesus with his disciples to be the ritual Passover feast. It is a rather strange omission, however, that apart from bread and wine, no mention is made of the special foods with their symbolic significance which was provided for the feast. In John's gospel there is a clear indication that Jesus was arrested before the ritual feast had actually taken place (John 18:28). Some scholars suggest that the Last Supper was not in fact the ritual Passover feast but another kind of fellowship meal. This suggestion, however, does not affect what the Church saw to be significant in the Last Supper, that during that last Passover time of Jesus' life, he inaugurated the new Covenant between God and his new People, that they might be reconciled with him. If the Last Supper was the actual ritual Passover feast, what would have been the significance of what else was used in addition to bread and wine? The other things were the external signs of the old Covenant.

In attempting to understand the succession of events in the Passion narrative, it should be remembered that the Jews counted their days differently from us. A day began at 6 p.m. before dark and continued through the next day until 6 p.m. again. The Sabbath was and still is from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday. What we call 'Good Friday' therefore began at 6 p.m. on Thursday and lasted until 6 p.m. on Friday.