225 ON JESUS’ LAST WEEK(S) Matt 26 Mark 14 Luke 22 1 Cor 11 (23) The Lord Jesus, (Passover meal) t h e night he was handed over, ( 2 6 ) Now, while 22) And while they ( 1 9 ) And taking t o o k bread, (24) t h e y were eating, were eating, taking b r e a d , h e g a v e and, giving thanks Jesus, taking bread bread, blessing, he thanks, he broke (it) broke (it) and blessing broke broke (it) and gave a n d gave (it) to (it) and giving (it) ( i t ) to them and them, saying: and said: t o his disciples, said : Take, this is This is my body, gi- T h i s is my body, said : Take, eat this my body. ven for you. Do this for you. Do this in is my body in memory of me. memory of me. (25) A n d likewise the (27) And taking a (23) And taking a (20) And the cup cup after the meal, cup cup, l i ke w i s e after the meal, and giving thanks g i v i n g thanks he he gave (it) to them, gave (it) to them, [Ommited by WT] saying : and they all drank Drink of it all, it. (24) And he saying : saying : (28) For this is my s a i d : This is my T h i s cup (is) the This cup is the new Covenant blood, Covenant blood n e w Covenant i n C o v e n a n t i n my my blood, blood. which is shed for which is shed for which is shed for many, in remission many. you. of sins. This, do it, each time that you drink, in memory of me. (26) For, each time that you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Table 3. — The Eucharistic Institution. Note on Table 3. A feature common to all three Synoptics is the liturgical conciseness of the passage. Contrary to the context, there is no dialogue and the dis- ciples do not react, in spite of the strangeness of Jesus’ saying, whereas in John 6,60-61 his followers are scandalized by similar words. The forms given in Matt and Mark may reflect a tradition parallel to 1 Cor, but the common reference to the Covenant underlines the fulfillment of Scripture, be it the “new Covenant” of Jer 31,31 (Luke and 1 Cor) or the “ blood of the Covenant” linked to the Sinai revelation according to Exod 24,8 (Matt and Mark; see Heb 9,20). The latter have an intro- duction “and as they were eating”, which repeats the introduction to the previous dialogue (Matt 26,23 and Mark 14,18), and establishes the con- text as a meal.