228 ÉTIENNE NODET East (Adv. haer. 4.17.4) : “Telling his disciples to offer to God the first-fruits of his own Creation, [...] he took this bread issuing from Creation, and gave thanks, saying, etc”. Of course, the choice of bread and wine is not indifferent, for they represent the typical produce of the land, whose first-fruits are ritualized in one or more Pentecosts, as stated above. In other words, in the Eucharistic insti- tution, the first-fruits of bread and wine, marking the entry into the Promised Land, are transformed into the first-fruits of the King- dom of God, or in other words, into Jesus himself. The intended meaning points to the Risen One, beyond death. Some concluding remarks on the Gospels can be made. If we omit the infancy narrative, the general outline of the Synoptics is the journey of Jesus from the Jordan River to Jerusalem, with a special Passover and a leap into the Kingdom. By comparing it with the story of Joshua, who has the same name, we see that Jeru- salem replaces Gilgal as the ultimate location in the Promised Land. The fourth Gospel has a different scope: Jesus is a baptizer, like John; his journey runs from one Temple feast to another, and the allusions to Joshua are presented in a different way, including a major event at Sichem, which hints at Joshua’s farewell speech (see Jos 24,13 and John 4,36-38). The only problem with the Pas- sion narrative is the twofold trial before Pilate, which results from a concentration of events within one day. Jesus’ washing the feet of the disciples is mandatory for those who wish to have a part in his Kingdom (John 13,8). So this rite implies a crossing of the water of death, at the border of the Kingdom; it may be remotely linked to the crossing of the Jordan river, at the border of the Promised Land. * * * The general problem of the final formation of the Gospels, which is linked to their growing authority, is quite complex and poorly documented 38. Concerning the Passion narratives, which of- Broadly speaking, the testimonies of the early Fathers are difficult to use, 38 see A. GREGORY – C. TUCKETT (eds.), The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (Oxford 2005).