Professor Cook is a very interesting writer and one of my very few favourites. I cited from one of his books , Modern Jews Engage the New Testament, in this thread:semiopen wrote:The Last Supper & Passover: Overlooking the Obvious?
http://www.bibleinterp.com/opeds/2013/coo378022.shtml
I guess there is a pretty good chance that Yoshke wasn't tried and executed during passover. Maybe this is why it's hard to have a rational discussion with Christians.The longstanding question of whether the Last Supper was a Passover meal may be resolved by an overlooked possibility: that Mark tried to transform an ordinary meal into a Passover observance by fashioning and inserting a single paragraph between (what we identify as) 14:11 and 17. The proposed insertion revised the time-line of the surrounding original tradition that Jesus was to be arrested before Passover ("not during the feast"). Mark neglected, however, to explain what transpired to thwart that plan. Indeed, five to seven anomalies generated by Mark's proposed insertion vanish simultaneously when, reversing Mark's apparent procedure, we remove his offending paragraph. Thereby the Last Supper reverts to its originally presented, and intended, time-line: that of an ordinary meal.
A footnote about John -
None of this is worth mentioning in the OP?John chose to present Jesus’ death as coincident with that of the paschal lamb. Since the lamb had to die before the Passover meal, John had to set the Passover meal on Friday night, after Jesus’ death that previous afternoon. Cf. John 19:36 with Exod 12:46; Num 9:12; Ps 34:20(21). Paul likewise employed “paschal lamb” imagery with reference to Jesus (1 Cor 5:7).
Instead we get a crack about the Rabbis
It turns out that there isn't a clear word for afternoon in Hebrew and the Rabbis simply explained why בֵּ֥ין הָעַרְבָּֽיִם means afternoon.even the rabbis have pondered about it and were trying somehow to make the best of it.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=97Professor Cook writes in his book Modern Jews Engage:
Christianity, still deeply bonded to Judaism, accepted and based itself on the Jewish scriptures...Replicating Judaism’s synagogue structure and its networking enabled Christianity to offer a cohesiveness that pagan religions (commonly organized as local enclaves) could not match.
Moreover, Judaism at this point in its history, was modelling a creative and successful missionary style that also allowed for attracting and accepting in a kind of secondary status, Gentiles whom it styled “God-fearers”. These shared the faith, the worship and the ethical commitment of Judaism but were not obliged to adult male circumcision or to full compliance with the dietary laws, and thus were not full converts.
When Christianity emerged, however, it promised Gentiles acceptance as full members while allowing them to bypass the barriers of Jewish dietary laws and circumcision. God-fearers became key agents in publicizing Christianity’s appeal among the pagans.
Professor Rabbi Michael J. Cook
Modern Jews Engage the New Testament
Jewish Lights Publishing Woodstock, Vermont, 2008
Pages 38ff
In the book Modern Jews Engage the New Testament in chapters 10 ,11. and 12 , he treats the reader to an excellent analysis of the passion narrative found in the gospel of Mark .
I have enjoyed reading your post.