The Lord’s Supper: When & How Often?

“You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year”.
Exodus 13:10

Though all Christians are familiar with the Lord’s Supper, many Christians differ on “when” it should be practised and “how often”.

When was it Instituted?

There is an argument between some Christians, as well as Jews, over whether the Passover Meal, which became the Lord’s Supper in Christianity, was instituted to be practised on Nisan 14, or Nisan 15.

Some Christians feel it should be practised on Nisan 15, as it is the following day after Yeshua died, of which they compare to the lamb being slaughtered for the Passover meal, to then be eaten upon the evening (which is the next day).

This line of thought is a belief in according to modern Rabbinical Jews, who teach “Pesach” (passover) began the day of the 14th, being a preparation and slaughtering day of the lambs, and then Passover meal begins on that the evening, which leading into the 15th (accordingly to Jewish Calendar days).

Thus, some insist that Yeshua either had an “early Passover meal”, a “Passover in advance” because he was going to die before the “real Passover” meal, or that it wasn’t a Passover at all, and Yeshua was merely instructing his followers on how to conduct the Passover the next day, for he would not be with them due to being in the grave. Whilst others even insist Yeshua must have been killed on Nisan 15, and that his Passover meal with them was also on Nisan 15.

Some scriptures used to support this position are verses which say the day Yeshua ate his meal with the disciples was on a day of “preparation” for Passover:

• “It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, ‘Look, here is your king!’”. – John 19:14
• “Then they led Yeshua away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover“. – John 18:28

These events happened after Yeshua ate his Supper with the disciples, however, other scriptures state that Yeshua did indeed eat the Passover with his disciples:

• “And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'”. – Luke 22:14-15
• “The evening meal was underway…” – John 13:2

It is for this reason, many Christians become confused, and wonder what day Yeshua ate his meal, and if it was the Passover, or if it was merely a “preparation day” of Passover, and that Yeshua never actually got to eat the real Passover.

The clarification of an answer however lies clearly in scripture:

• “Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight… Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.… And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover…. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.” – Exodus 12:1-3, 6, 8, 11, 18
• “You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place YHWH your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt”. – Deuteronomy 16:6

According to the scriptures, it seems to describe Passover differently to what the modern Jews are saying. It seems clear Passover was both cooked ‘and eaten’, on the same date, the 14th of Nisan, beginning just after sundown, marking the “start” of Nisan 14.

For the lamb to be killed “on the 14th at twilight” and to then “eat” the passover on the 14th day after twilight, in accordance with Exodus, it can surely only refer to the beginning of the day (which begins after sundown), and not the “transition” between two calendar days.

For the lamb to be killed at the evening twilight end of the 14th, it would mean the eating of the lamb on that evening would carry over into the 15th, which does not appear to be prescribed in Exodus. In order to kill lambs, cook them, and eat them along with the bread, all in the space of sundown (twilight) before darkness indicates the end of that day, would be impossible to accomplish.

Some argue, that Yeshua had to be killed at the same time the Passover lambs were slaughtered, and thus argue the 15th was the real Passover based on that line of logic. However, Yeshua was crucified at 9AM, the darkness came at 12PM midday, and he died at 3PM, and thus his death in no way was done in tandem with the slaughtering of the passover lamb, at least in accordance with the Exodus tradition (which was at twilight, meaning “sundown” according to Deuteronomy 16:6, not the “afternoon”, as some would claim).

Therefore, it can be argued that any arguments on the basis that Yeshua had to be killed at the same time the Passover lambs were slaughtered, would be moot, no matter the date of his death or the date of the Passover.

Even though Jews today claim they, at the time of Yeshua, killed the lamb in the afternoon, to then eat it in the evening (which is the following “calendar day” on the 15th), this is not the statute as put forth by Yah Himself to Moses in the Torah, and therefore should not be used as the basis of the argument.

But how do we explain the verses which say the Passover had not been eaten when Yeshua was taken and executed? Again, scripture informs us:

• “…and on the fifteenth day of that month YHWH’s Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days. On the first day you shall celebrate a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.” – Leviticus 23:6-7
• “..the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover”. – Luke 22:1

We see above in the cited verses, there was more than one Passover. There was a Passover meal which was cooked at the beginning of Nisan 14 after sundown and eaten, and then the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was ‘also’ “called Passover”, which was done on Nisan 15th, in tandem with a Sabbath rest.

This is why the Jews rushed to get Yeshua’s body down after he was crucified, for it was said to be not lawful to have a body hanging up on the Sabbath, which was the 15th, the day following Nisan 14, according to the traditions of the Tannakh (John 19:31, Leviticus 23:5-7).

This means then, that the Jews were following the Exodus tradition, that they had a Sabbath on Nisan 15, which was in line with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which by this time, was also called “Passover”, but was not the ‘same Passover’ where the lamb was slaughtered and eaten on Nisan 14, of which was the celebration Yeshua had with his Apostles, and the night he instituted his Evening Meal of Bread and Wine.

Therefore, we have scriptural confirmation, that the Passover of the Lamb, and in turn, Yeshua’s Supper, is instituted and practised on Nisan 14.

Annual Commemoration only?

As the Supper was instituted on Passover, and Yeshua is called the Passover Lamb, many Christians see the meal as a replacement of the Passover, and hence, insist that it should be practised every sundown of Nisan 14, and not on any other date.

This viewpoint can be supported by means of many scriptures:

• “You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year“. – Exodus 13:10
• “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord’s Passover“. – Leviticus 23:5
• “And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer'”. – Luke 22:14-15
• “The evening meal was underway…” – John 13:2
• “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For [the] Anointed [One], our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed”. – 1 Corinthians 5:7

In additional support of this practice, it can also be cited historically, that the earliest Jewish Christians also practised the Lord’s Supper on the Passover of Nisan 14, and did in fact become matter of contention when some Christians began practising at other dates, including the early Roman church, which began to change the date of the practice to “Easter Sunday” after sunrise:

“Neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp not to observe what he had always observed with John the disciple of our Lord, and the other apostles with whom he had associated; neither could Polycarp persuade [Bishop] Anicetus [of Rome] to observe it, as he said that he ought to follow the customs of the Elders (Presbyters) that had preceded him”. – Eusebius of Caesarea on Quartodecimanism (Nisan 14 Commemoration)

“Quartodecimanism… refers to the custom of early Jewish Christians celebrating Easter (Passover), beginning with the eve of the 14th day of Nisan… Of the disputes about the date when the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) should be celebrated, disputes known as Paschal/Easter controversies, the quartodeciman is the first recorded…. The quartodeciman controversy arose because Christians in the churches of Jerusalem and Asia Minor observed Passover on the 14th of the first month (Nisan), no matter the day of the week on which it occurred, while the churches in and around Rome changed to the practice of celebrating Easter always on the Sunday following first Full Moon following the vernal equinox, calling it “the day of the resurrection of our Saviour“. The difference was turned into an ecclesiastical controversy when the practice was condemned by synods of bishops” – Wikipedia on Quartodecimanism

“After succeeding St. Eleutherius in 189[A.D], Victor tried to assert Roman authority in the early Christian church. Most notably, he tried to sanction the Roman date for Easter over that celebrated by the Quartodecimans of Asia Minor, who kept the holiday on 14 Nisan rather than on the following Sunday…. the Quartodecimans—claimed that it meant the evening before, since sunset heralded a new day… The question was finally decided by the Western church in favour of the Quintodecimans, Victor threatened Polycrates (the bishop of Ephesus) and other bishops of Asia Minor with excommunication if they did not abandon their practice, and when they defied him he went through the motions of carrying out the sentence”. – Britannica Encylopedia

The argument over “quartodecimanism” was in relation to whether the Passover should be celebrated on what is now known “Easter Sunday”, or if it should be held on Nisan 14. Because both Yeshua instituted the Lord’s Supper on the Passover, and Paul called the Supper “the Passover” (1 Corinthians 5:7), it’s suggested by some that the terms “Passover” and “Lord’s Supper” had become synomous to Christians.

If it is indeed the case that the Passover and Lord’s Supper had come to be seen as one in the same, then it could be argued, that there wouldn’t have been any controversy at all if the Lord’s Supper could be had at any time, for the Christians merely could have practised the Supper on both Nisan 14 and Easter Sunday, but clearly, that did not seem to be an option, which implies a “choice” had to be made, which would imply a form of “set time” of this celebration that was being debated.

Some Christians claim however, that this debate was merely over a “special kind of Lord’s Supper” of which they refered to as “Passover”, and that it was this “special Passover Lord’s Supper” being moved from Nisan 14 to what is now known as “Easter Sunday”, as opposed to a typical Lord’s Supper, but this isn’t 100% certain.

“A Quartodeciman, from Quartodecimani (‘fourteenther’),is someone in early Christianity who celebrated the Lord’s Supper or Pascha on the evening of the 14^th of Nisan/Aviv (the first Jewish month) at Passover. This does not mean that they only celebrated the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) annually at this time, but that they observed Pascha on Passover rather than on Sunday as was the practice of many other Christians. Quartodecimans defended their Passover tradition against internecine efforts to eradicate it for at least a few hundred years beginning with the inception of Christianity…

The rationale for celebrating Passover on the 14^th of Nisan/Aviv was simple: 1) Jesus observed a Passover celebration with his disciples before his crucifixion; 2) Jewish Christians have already continued to incorporate Jesus into their daily Jewish lives, which included legal observances and customs; 3) when Passover is celebrated, it is to be celebrated in remembrance of Jesus and his Last Passover. Eventually, however, the Quartodecimans’ tradition would lead to a controversy and be deemed heterodoxical…

…At least for some time during the origins of Christianity, Quartodecimanism or the celebration of the Lord’s Supper annually as a Passover-type meal on the 14^th of Nisan/Aviv may have been considered a ‘correct’ or ‘orthodox’ practice amongst many Christians throughout Palestine and Asia Minor“. – When Heresy was Orthodox, Centre for the Study of Christian Origins

Some Christians, specifically Torah (Mosaic Law) obsevant Christians, would assert that all the earliest Christians practiced Passover in the manner that the Jews did, along with all the other Jewish holidays, and that later Christians merely abandoned Torah. Thus in their view, one could argue that Polycarp was opposing the changing of the celebration of the “typical Jewish Passover”, as opposed to an anual observance of the Lord’s Supper (of which perhaps were merely celebrated simultaneously, given the connections between the two festivals, as seen in scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 5:7) .

It should also be noted that whilst it is said this controversy was related to the celebration of “Passover”, in realilty, it was in relation to the celebration of what is now called “Easter”, which is stated by the mainstream churches to be the “celebration of Yeshua’s resurrection”, unlike the Lord’s Supper, which is the “remembrance of his death”.

This “Easter” celebration of Yeshua’s resurrection is not at all found in the scriptures, but has seemingly been misapplied to both the Lord’s Supper and Jewish Passover. As such, it causes great confusion over the terms; Pasacha, Passover, Lord’s Supper and Easter. And it doesn’t help at all that the term “Easter” was a pagan word used by later Germanic and Anglo translators of the Bible to replace the Hebrew word “Pasacha”, meaning Passover.

To make it even more confusing, the churches later called Nisan 14, “Good Friday”, which is a tradition carried over to this day. Meaning, that “Easter”, which was the “original Passover”, was moved to Sunday and was recognised as a day of the celebration of Yeshua’s resurrection rather than death, then the Passover as a remembrance of Yeshua’s death was brought back to the churches at a later date, and named “Good Friday”.

In other words; by modern terminology, “Easter” (which used to be called “Passover”) was the original “Good Friday” before being moved to Sunday, and “Good Friday” is the replacement holiday for the original “Easter” (or “Passover”) that went missing for a time.

Hence, it would seem that there was a point in time where the Jewish Passover, the Lord’s Supper, and a non-biblical celebration of the resurrection day of Yeshua, all became conflated, and in turn then led to various debates amongst Christians on the “when, how and frequency” of said celebrations. Some wanting to remain traditionalist and observant to Jewish (and supposedly Apostolic) traditions, whilst others were taking more of a “reformist” route, the split mainly being between Eastern and Western congregations (perhaps of which were dominated respectively by Jewish and Gentile communities).

It would seem to me, that later Christians after the time of the Apostles, began to celebrate a day of the resurrection of Yeshua on a Sunday during the month of Nisan, due to the fact that many Gentile Christians came to practice another custom which came to be known as the “Lord’s Day” (not to be confused with “Day of the Lord”) which was held ‘weekly’ on Sundays by the 2nd Century A.D, and so it would seem they also may have wanted to merge the date of the Passover/Lord’s Supper with “the Lord’s Day” (whether or not the Passover and Lord’s Supper had become synonymous at this time).

This thus creating what came to be known as; “Passover Sunday”, then later named “Easter Sunday” during the Middle Ages in Europe, most confusing indeed.

“Jewish Christians, the first to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, timed the observance in relation to Passover. Direct evidence for a more fully formed Christian festival of Pascha (Easter) begins to appear in the mid-2nd century… The precise date of Easter has at times been a matter of contention. By the later 2nd century, it was widely accepted that the celebration of the holiday was a practice of the disciples and an undisputed tradition. The Quartodeciman controversy, the first of several Easter controversies, arose concerning the date on which the holiday should be celebrated”. – Wikipedia, Easter

It would appear to me, based on the history so far, that it seems the Lord’s Supper was practised on Nisan 14 in tandem with the Jewish Passover festival, which was then moved to Easter Sunday to correlate with that celebratory holiday. From this time, “Easter Sunday” remained to be a “special day” of celebration of the Lord’s resurrection, in combination with the practice of the Lord’s Supper on that day also, leading to the modern day confusion.

But this doesn’t really confirm to us either way, whether this “Passover” or “Easter” celebration was the “only time” the Christians celebrated the Lord’s Supper, or whether it was merely a “special time of year” they celebrated, which also so happened to involve the Lord’s Supper.

Of course, regardless of the later practices and dramas of the 2nd Century Christians, we also need to look to both scripture and early Christian history to see if there is any validation for a Christian practising the Supper on other days or times, other than Nisan 14.

Freedom of Commemoration?

Days of Breaking Bread & Giving Thanks

Christians who believe that the Lord’s Supper is not limited to Nisan 14, will point to other scriptures in the New Testament, which speak of the “breaking of bread”:

• “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… With one accord they continued to meet daily in the temple courts and to break bread from house to house, sharing their meals with gladness and sincerity of heart”. – Acts 2:42, 46
• “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread/proclaim thanksgiving (?). Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight… Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. And after speaking until daybreak, he departed.”. – Acts 20:7, 11
• “Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of [the] Anointed? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of [the] Anointed?”. – 1 Corinthians 10:16

It is uncertain whether these verses refer to the “breaking of bread of the Lord’s Supper”, or to just general meals, such as the “love feasts” mentioned at Jude 1:12, and other meals, even with non-believers, which also mentions the “breaking of bread” (Matthew 15:36, Acts 27:35).

Hence, the “breaking of daily bread” could mean anything, for we are not given any depth of detail, so it could either be referring to the Lord’s Supper, equally as much as it might not be, so we have to try and look for additional details.

In the account when Paul went upstairs to break bread, it should be noted that it was said he broke bread on “the first day of the week”. Whilst it’s uncertain what time of the year this was, most Christian scholars believe this verse was set roughly in the year 57A.D, and according to the ancient Jewish calendar of that year, Nisan 14, was on the ‘sixth’ day of the week, and none of the other adjacent years within that timeframe place Nisan 14 on the first day.

Therefore, this leads us to two potential conclusions, that Paul was celebrating the Lord’s Supper by breaking bread on the first day of the week (a Sunday), on a day that was not Nisan 14, indicating the early Christians had the Supper on other days besides Nisan 14, or, he was simply having a typical meal which wasn’t anything special.

If we examine the 5th century Aramaic texts, we do see something that is quite telling, however.

Note here, that says they went and “proclaimed” (ܕܢܩܨܐ) and “gave thanks” ( ܐܘܟܪܣܛܝܐ-Eucharist). This is different to the Greek which says they went and “broke bread”

Thus, based on the Aramaic, this verse should likely be rendered in English as;

• “Then on Sunday, when we met to proclaim thanksgiving, Paul gave a public speech (because he was going to leave the next day). This went on until midnight”

Whilst not an explicit reference to a meal, we should keep in mind, that Paul does say the Lord’s Meal is a “proclaiming of Yeshua’s death” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

Therefore, it is interesting to take note that the term “thanksgiving” (eucharist) was used to refer to the Lord’s Supper in the 2nd century and onward universally by all Christian writers. Thus if the Aramaic manuscripts were translated in later centuries, it’s possible that the ‘intent‘, though not the wording of the verse, is saying “we met to proclaim the Lord’s Supper”, and this may be evidence of a reflection of an interpretation that the Greek manuscripts writers also had mind, in regard to rendering this verse as “breaking bread”.

Whilst the earlier part of the verse in Aramaic doesn’t mention a meal verbatim, as opposed to the Greek, it’s certain that some sort of meal was happening when we follow on to verse 11 of the account, which does say “break bread”, just like the Greek does. Thus we have a connection with “breaking bread” (a meal) with “thanksgiving” and “proclaiming”, which all together seem to be strong indicators that the Aramaic translators are trying to imply it’s the Lord’s Supper that is being had here.

We see in yet another passage in Acts 2, a similar rendition in Aramaic compared to the Greek. In Acts 2:42, 46, it is written:

• “These continued to attend, listening to the Apostles as they were teaching, and everyone participated as they were sharing in meals and in prayers… They also agreed to go to the Temple every day, after which they’d eat their meals in private homes… Eating the food happily and with sincere hearts”.

It’s interesting to note here, that “eating meals” is mentioned twice. In the Greek version, both verses use the same phrase; “breaking bread”, which retains a sense of ambiguity… however, the Aramaic in this instance again is very interesting, for it renders the first meal in verse 42 as “Eucharist”, just as it does in Acts 20:7, however, in comparison, the second mention of the meal in Acts 2:46, uses the casual term “breaking bread”. Thus, the Aramaic version says:

• These continued to attend, listening to the Apostles as they were teaching, and everyone participated as they were eating thanksgiving (eucharist) and shared prayers… They also agreed to go to the Temple every day, after which they’d eat their meals in private homes… Eating the food happily and with sincere hearts”.

This then may be an indication again, that the Aramaic translators were actively differentating between normal meals, and the “meal of giving of thanks”.

If then, the Aramaic is an accurate rendition, we would have a direct scriptural reference of the Lord’s Supper being had on a day that was not Nisan 14.

It’s also worth noting however, that we do have scriptures which are clear in their reference to the Supper. We see in scriptures such as 1 Corinthians 10, that when speaking of the Supper, Paul mentions ‘both’ the “bread” and the “wine”. In this case, it is a clear reference to the Lord’s Supper. Therefore, we could argue, that only when “bread and wine” are mentioned together, is it a reference to the Supper, and that the translators of the Aramaic texts in cases of Acts, were doing so in accordance to later Christian traditions and interpretations by their time.

Though, it is not to say that the Aramaic translators didn’t have any justification for distinquishing the “meals of giving thanks” and typical meals, for as we saw in Acts 2 as an example, the justification there could be argued for merely due to the fact that “eating of meals” is mentioned twice within the context, indicating two different subjects in relation to eating. In this respect, the Aramaic renditions might not just be “theological interpretation” of the time period, but in actuality, a justified and authentic translation.

“For as Often As” & Holy Days

A couple of other scriptures to take into consideration, are some more words of Paul, both on the Supper, and on “holy days”:

• “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”. – 1 Corinthians 11:26
• “One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes a special day does so to the Lord; he who eats does so to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God”. – Romans 14:5

When it comes to the verse on “as often as you eat”, some argue this to mean “whenever you eat”, as to imply a freedom of commemoration…

But on the other hand, we could easily interpret that to mean “as often as you eat this at every Nisan 14”, as a reference to the specific date and time “when the Supper is held”, and there is in fact some scholarly research which makes a linguistic case for Paul’s words to be meaning just that:

“The apostle Paul probably kept the Passover once a year in remembrance of Jesus. Paul and the churches he established may have observed this feast according to the popular Jewish lunar calendar, with some modification as symbolism relating to Jesus was incorporated. Paul likely wrote 1 Corinthians around the time of Passover, in the late Winter or early Spring as the festival was approaching. Evidence of this dating is seen in many allusions to Passover/the Feast of Unleavened Bread in Paul’s epistle (1 Cor 5.6–8; 10.14–22, 11.17–34).

…He exhorts the Corinthians asserting, ‘For as often as you eat this bread and you drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes’…

When Paul says ‘as often as’ (ὁσάκις… ἐὰν) he probably does not mean whenever the Corinthians decide to celebrate the Lord’s Supper (e.g., once a week), but as often as the Corinthians celebrate the Passover. There may be significance to Paul’s use of the demonstrative ‘this’ (τοῦτον) here.

It is not just any bread prepared on a weekly basis for a celebratory or communal meal (which may have been taking place amongst Christians), but it is the unleavened bread of Passover. It is ‘this’ bread to which Paul was just referring in his quotation of Jesus (v. 24). The same goes for the cup (cf. vv. 24, 27–29).

Passover was approaching and Paul wanted to ensure that the Corinthians would be prepared to observe the feast without sin or discord. If Paul and the Corinthians were observing the Passover in some form, they were in good company with many others of the earliest Christians who kept the feast annually in remembrance of Jesus and his Last Passover Supper“. – When Heresy was Orthodox, Centre for the Study of Christian Origins

We should note however, that Paul wrote part of his letter to the Corinthians to complain about their conduct which he had been hearing about during the Communion meal, and so if it were an annual thing, then this would have to force us to conclude that Paul was writing a letter in reaction to something that had been happening for “years”, each time they had their annual Supper. Whereas the language of Paul’s writings give the impression this was happening “all the time”, as opposed to on a yearly basis (1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 33-34).

So even in this verse, there is ambiguity, as our reasoning could go both ways.

There is then of course, Paul’s statement on “certain days above others”, which is another thing to take into consideration.

The context of this verse of course, is Paul speaking about Jewish holy days, such as the festival of booths, or the Sabbath. As I mentioned in my “Should Christians Celebrate the Sabbath” article, Paul himself stated that the Sabbath day of the Jews now means nothing, for it is now “in Yeshua”, and he goes on about many other Jewish traditions which have now been undone in accordance to the “New Law” (Hebrews 8:13), but in Romans 14, he is giving the freedom of conscience to Christians on whether they wish to keep on celebrating them regardless.

One might argue that this can be applied to the Passover too, which, of course, became the Lord’s Supper in the New Covenant, thus we may argue, Paul here is telling us we can “observe it any day we wish”. Of course, Yeshua himself commanded that we keep on doing it in remembrance of him (Luke 22:19), so it certainly is not optional. Therefore, it stands to reason, that the context of Paul’s words do not fully apply to the Lord’s Supper. For if they did, then one might argue that not only the “free choice of days” apply to the meal, but they could also altogether “abstain”, based on Paul’s words, and this is not acceptable to our Lord Yeshua.

There is of course a principle to be found in his words, in that we should not judge our brothers for following their consciences in such matters, in this case, on which days they feel it appropriate to celebrate the Lord’s meal (Romans 14:13).

Other Early Christian Sources

Whilst we struggle to find any solidarity in the scriptures on this matter, looking into early Christian history, we do find references to Christians celebrating the Lord’s Supper at other various times and days, the earliest reference being that of Justin Martyr, a Christian who was said to have lived in the early 2nd Century (100-160 A.D), in a letter to the Roman Emperor:

“And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the Servants”. – Justin Martyr, First Apology

We see here, it was the practice of many Christians, at the very least where Justin lived, to commemorate the Lord’s Supper every Sunday, which is, of course, the first day of the week according to the Jewish calander, the same day of which Paul also was said to have broke bread in Acts 20.

This seems to be in stark contrast to the debate mentioned earlier, between Polycarp (who was also another early Christian of the late 1st to early 2nd Century, living between 69-155 A.D) and Anicetus, who took issue with changing the date of the Passover.

If we were to assert that the “Passover” was synonymous with the Lord’s Supper, then it would appear, during this time, there may have been a growing trend of practising the Supper on other days, a practice not all Christians may have taken kindly to, seeing that possibly the Apostles taught them to do it every Nisan 14.

We should note also that Justin himself, whilst born in the East, was a Christian who lived in the Western Roman Empire, therefore, he too could have been influenced by the practices and culture he was surrounded by, and thus his difference of opinion to Polycarp’s, could be symptomatic of this.

However, it is just as viable to suggest, that this “Sunday practice”, was in fact a reference back to the disciples “proclaiming and breaking bread on Sunday”, and may have been a passed down tradition.

On the other hand, it could also be argued that later Christians who read the book of Acts, may themselves have misinterpreted the meaning of “breaking bread” or “giving thanks” on each Sunday, possibly resulting in the controversy between various brothers during this time, creating the sects of the Quartodecimans and the Quintodecimans, which then had to be settled at the hands of Christian Overseer Victor I of the Roman congregation, who settled on Sunday commemoration, and attempted to force other Christians to comply to it via threat of excommunication (much to the resulting chastisement of Victor, at the hands of other Christian Overseers and Servants of the time, such as Overseer Irenaeus from the congregation of Lyon).

But again, this fallout between these Christians, may have been reference only to a specific Christian holiday, and not the Lord’s Supper in general.

Conclusion

Whilst I cannot say with any sense of 100% certainty, it would appear, in my opinion, that the Apostles did practice the Passover synonymously with the Lord’s Supper on Nisan 14. Though just as well, this may not have excluded other celebrations of the Supper at different days and times, and Nisan 14 may just have been a special Christian holiday, a special rememerbance of the night Yeshua was taken after his Last Supper.

The 5th century Aramaic Peshitta copies of the New Testament could be very strong lines of evidence to prove that the Apostles did hold the Lord’s Supper on other days than Nisan 14. But at the same time, we cannot be absolutely certain that this was not the result of a later ‘interpretation’ of the book of Acts translated into the Aramaic from the earlier Greek, and that the quartodeciman controversy was not in fact an early reaction to such a change.

I feel the debates over the “date and time” of the practice of the Christian Passover by the time of the 2nd Century and onward, are also key markers in suggesting that it may have been at one time a fixed date, which was then to be subverted by later Christians, who wished to shift the day to the first day of the week, either due to preference, or interpretation of the texts in Acts, resulting in resistance from the likes of Polycarp (the alleged student of John), and those associated with him.

However, if it be the case that the Aramaic is truly authentic in its translation in this regard, then it just may be the case that there were two forms of the Lord’s Supper that early Christians held to, the “Passover Supper” as a formalised event of deep solemn remembrance on the night of Nisan 14 in tandem with the adherence to long held Jewish traditions, and then more casual Suppers that were held in general along with typical Christian meals and love feasts on either daily or weekly basis.

I also feel that Paul complaining about the conduct he had been hearing happening amongst the Communions of Corinth, is another strong indicator of regularity, as opposed to annualism.

In this respect, the Quartodeciman Christians may have been reacting to the date of the “Passover Supper” being changed, but not it that meant that was the “only” time or form of the Lord’s Supper they practiced.

Thus, of my brothers and sisters who choose to partake upon an alternative regularity based upon their personal interpretation of scripture on the matter, I respect their conscience in this regard.