Timing of Passover and crucifixion

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I’ve a non-Catholic friend who says she can’t grasp Jesus as the passover Lamb because of the timing of the last supper and the crucifixion. She says Jesus had to have been crucified when the lambs were being slaughtered, but then how could the last supper have been a passover meal? Also, how could his words of institution have transformed the bread and wine if He hadn’t yet been sacrificed?

I didn’t know how to answer. I’m trying to figure it out from Scripture Catholic and maybe it is under my nose and I just haven’t seen it yet (?)

Thanks
 
(bump) and rephrase:

i didn’t quite put that right and I can’t seem to edit it.

She believes that Jesus had to be sacrificed at the hour the lambs were slaughtered, but how can this be so if he had already celebrated the passover seder with them in the upper room? (I think this is what she meant).

I’ve been reading this now: zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m4/4cp.html

…by Scott Hahn and I see that he sees Calvary as begining in the upper room and the seder being completed at Calvary. Is this a good way of answering her question? It doesn’t even seem possible that Jesus was crucified at the same hour that the lambs were slaughtered b/c scripture clearly states that they were celebrating the passover in the upper room prior to his betrayal, and from what I know (which is little) about the Passover seder, the lamb was a part of the feast of unleavened bread. It wasn’t a seperate meal (i don’t think).
 
Joy to be Catholic… I was looking for that site to post it. Somehow I lost the link but I knew it was a university in the UK but I forgot it…Thanks for posting it. That is probably the best explanation I have ever seen on this topic.
 
Thanks, BlestOne. I wasn’t sure if I was understanding it correctly or not. So I was not mistaken then? The Last Supper was on the feast of the Passover Seder (which would have included the lamb). There is no evidence (at least not scriptural) that suggest Jesus was crucified when the lambs were slaughtered.

So, as Dr. Hahn puts it, the seder isn’t completed (in the usual way) after the 3rd cup. Instead, it cuts to the garden of Gethsemane where his passion begins and the consummation of the seder (4th cup) is at His death.

I hope I understood that correctly. I’d appreciate any clarification if I’m misunderstanding it.

Btw, are there any church writings (other than Dr. Hahn’s) that echo this? ECFs perhaps?

Thank You
 
Thank you Charlie. I had actually just read that, but at the beginning he says it isn’t “de fide”, however, his conclusions weren’t original either; that other men in the church had drawn these same conclusions earlier. I am wondering how I can look into those other historical writings.

Thank You
 
I think difficulty related in OP is based on the same stumbling block people have with the “3 days” not being literally a 36 hour period, they are expecting the gospels to be a gameday play-by-play transcript in linear time of all the events of Holy Week, the Passion Death and Resurrection. This is also the intellectual difficulty behind those who fail to grasp the reality that the Mass IS the sacrifice of calvary, present continually on all the altars of all the Catholic churches of the world throughout history, not a re-enactment, not a mere symbolic memorial, not a dramatic presentation.

The difficulty lies in locking Christ in time and failing to acknowledge that in these events he is acting in his divine and human natures, and in his divine nature is not limited in time. In his divine actions, which we call sacramental, he operates in eternity, not in earth time.
 
puzzleannie said:
I think difficulty related in OP is based on the same stumbling block people have with the “3 days” not being literally a 36 hour period, they are expecting the gospels to be a gameday play-by-play transcript in linear time of all the events of Holy Week, the Passion Death and Resurrection. This is also the intellectual difficulty behind those who fail to grasp the reality that the Mass IS the sacrifice of calvary, present continually on all the altars of all the Catholic churches of the world throughout history, not a re-enactment, not a mere symbolic memorial, not a dramatic presentation.

The difficulty lies in locking Christ in time and failing to acknowledge that in these events he is acting in his divine and human natures, and in his divine nature is not limited in time. In his divine actions, which we call sacramental, he operates in eternity, not in earth time.
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Yes, that is the essence of what Dr. Hahn is saying, and my initial response to her question was (and perhaps insensitively): “does it really matter? He’s God and He’s not limited to time is He?”. But I didn’t want to belittle her argument by leaving it off that way, so I thought I’d look for a thourough explanation.

You are definately right though, and I’m glad my initial reaction wasn’t irrational 😉 .
 
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