The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - The Seating Arrangement at the Last Supper

Episode Date: December 1, 2023

Have you ever wondered what the seating arrangement at the Last Supper looked like? There is plenty of artwork depicting the Last Supper, but those depictions are not always historically accurate. Jeff Cavins dives into the seating arrangement of the Last Supper and explains the significance of where each apostle was sitting. Snippet from the Show At Mass, we offer thanksgiving for Christ’s sacrifice. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit ascensionpress.com/thejeffcavinsshow for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 352, Thanksgiving, the seating arrangement at the Last Summer. Well, on behalf of everyone at Ascension Press and my family, want to wish you a wonderful, bountiful, Thanksgiving this year. And yes, we do have so much to be thankful for. And so we extend our love to you and our appreciation for all that you have done in contributing to Bible studies and teaching people's scripture and being a part of the family at Ascension Press. So today on the show, we're going to talk just a little bit about Thanksgiving, but I want to do something a little bit different today and I've wanted to do this for quite some time and I tried to figure out how do I do

this on an audio podcast and that is I wanted to show you the seating arrangement at the last supper the seating arrangement in the upper room where they sat and had that sacramental that covenant meal the Eucharist and I wanted to explain to you how the seating arrangement arrangement took place and just give thanks to God for all that he has given us in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is where it's at, right? It's the center of our faith. Everything revolves around the Eucharist in the Catholic Church because it is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.

And while we celebrate around the country in America today, Thanksgiving, related to the beginnings of our country, we as Christians also, we also celebrate. beginnings of the new and everlasting covenant. You know in antiquity, when you made a covenant, you had to seal that covenant with a meal. If you didn't seal it with a meal, it wasn't finished. And so when Jesus ate that amazing meal with the disciples, that was sealing the deal in a sense. That was really sealing this is the new and everlasting covenant. And so what I'm going to do is I'm going to send you a picture. And if you do want the picture, it's a lovely picture of the seating arrangement at the last supper.

All you got to do is, well, if you're on the list now, you're going to get it. But if you don't get the notes, all you've got to do is put my name in there, Jeff Kavens, one word, Jeff Kavins, and text it to the number 3377. That's 3377. I've got a beautiful picture here of the triclinium with where Jesus sat, where John. sat and where Judas sat and Peter sat. And this has been, you know, discussed for years by scholars and looking into the history of seating arrangements and what tables look like and, and so forth. You know, a symposium-style banquet. It was very common in the first century. This is basically

what it looked like. It was called a triclinium, a triclinium. And I'm going to send that picture to you. So let me do the best that I can in explaining to you, the seating arrangement and why it's important to understand that seating arrangement and a couple of scriptures that show you why it's important because if you know how they were sitting then that last supper might make more sense to you okay so what i want you to do in your mind is i want you to imagine you are standing in front of a you in the alphabet a you okay now I want you to take that you and completely flip it around to where that you is a table with three sides that you can walk into, okay?

And it is only just inches high because people didn't sit on chairs and the Da Vinci, Michelangelo, all the great pictures, you know, from the past of that straight table with Jesus in the middle didn't happen. That's not historically correct at all. In fact, Jesus most likely had shorter hair in the first century. But the eating arrangement was a triclinium. And just imagine in your mind's eye that I'm a servant and I'm walking into the midst of the U shape. So that U shape has four seats on the left, has five seats straight ahead, and four seats roughly on the right side.

that's typically what they what they would have now we know that there were 13 altogether jesus and then 12 disciples four on the left five up in front there at the at the end of the you and then on the right side of the you and everyone's on the outside of the you looking in okay that's called a triclinium and and they typically would eat you know you could call it family style the bread was used to to dip into hummus and other types of wonderful dishes and spices and so forth. And it was very tight. And you typically would recline at table. You didn't sit in chairs. You would always be reclining. And typically you would recline to the left, to the left. Now, I'm going to tell you who's sitting where. There's going to be four positions that are really important. And then you can imagine in your, in your

imagination how close this was okay so if i'm standing looking at the you and the you is on the ground and it's about a foot up from the ground let's say and i'm going to walk into the inside of that you there's people to my left up ahead of me and to my right so let's start immediately to the left on the left side of the you, the first position is John. That's the first position. And I'll explain these in a second, but John is there. The second position is the most important position, and that is where Jesus is sitting in the second position. And again, you'll see this on the picture. The third position is where Judas sits. And so that's typically the one that has the you know, the finances and so forth.

And so you have those three on the left side, very close, leaning on the left side. That means that that means that John is leaning into kind of the chest area of Jesus. And John even explains this at one point, that the disciple whom the Lord loved and he was on the breast of the Lord. And so if you're eating and leaning to the left, then you'd be leaning into Jesus and then Jesus leaning into Judas there. Now, typically the most honored place, the most honored place is on the opposite side of John. So if John, if you're looking and going into the U at the triclinium, first position on the left is John, the first position on the right is the most honored guest. that's where Peter most likely was.

And so Jesus, leaning to the left and the second position on the left-hand side of the you would be looking straight over at Peter. Okay, he's looking right over at Peter. And so you can have conversations. Jesus would have had a conversation with Judas. He would have had a conversation with John, looking over at Peter, and the rest are distributed around the triclinium. Let's take a look at a couple things here.

So typically slaves, which the disciples are not here, but slaves stood to eat while freeborn men reclined typically. For Jews in the first century, it was the custom to eat reclining as a freeborn man by supporting oneself with your left arm and then eating with your right hand. That's what you would do is you would eat with your right hand. So according to the formal plan of a banquet, after the seats on either side of the host, the higher position, of rank increased to the left of the host, the table to the farthest left of the host held the most important invited guests. That's where Peter would be over there. It's going to make a little bit more sense when you see the picture, but I just want you to see this in what a triclytium looks like. Now, when you go to John's Gospel, listen to this with that in mind. Okay? It's in John

chapter 13 listen to the part of the gospel where Jesus foretells his betrayal and they're there eating all right and remember Jesus is leaning to the left who's to the left of Jesus Judas that position that position was typically the one who ran the finances had a pretty important position and they were like a consult and then Peter was most honored okay so let me read this to you in john chapter 13 starting in verse 21 when jesus had thus spoken he was troubled in spirit and testified truly truly i say to you one of you will betray me the disciples looked at one another uncertain of whom he spoke one of his disciples whom jesus loved was lying close to the breast of jesus that's john see when john writes in his gospel he doesn't mention himself he

just kind of brags about himself a little bit. You know, the one who is lying closest to the breast of Jesus. Well, that would be the one to Jesus right, because John would lean to the left into the breast of Jesus, and that's how close they are, and they are eating in the same way. Get this. If Judas was on Jesus' left-hand side, Jesus would be leaning into Judas. Imagine this. the betrayer is next to him. And Jesus can look across the triclinium right over at Peter, who is the first pope, the one with the keys to the kingdom. So he's very close to the one with the purse strings. And he's looking right at the first pope, right there at this Last Supper.

So one of his disciples whom Jesus' love was lying close to the breast of Jesus. So Simon Peter beckoned to him and said, tell us who it is of whom he speaks. So lying thus close to the breast of Jesus, he said to him, Lord, who is it? And they're talking about who's going to betray you? Because earlier Jesus talks about this. Jesus answered, it is he to whom I shall give this morsel when I have dipped it. Now, do you see how easy that would be? If Jesus is leaning to the left and there is Judas,

All Jesus has to do is dip the morsel in the sop. They called it the sop and then hand it to Judas. So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas. He didn't get up and walk around the triclinium. He didn't have to. Judas was to his left and considered an important position. And so when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

And then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him, what you are going to do, do quickly. No one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that because Judas had the money box, Jesus was telling him, buy what we need for the feast, or that he should give something to the poor.

so after receiving the morsel he immediately went out and it was night so when you see the picture or you imagine the picture of the triclinium and judas just to his left it really makes that last supper powerful very very powerful but let's back up just for a moment and really look at the big picture here When we look at the Last Supper, we are looking at a Passover meal. A Passover meal was a meal that celebrated the freedom of the exodus from Egyptian bondage for 400 years. And they were told every single year on the 10th day of the first month, the month of Nissan, they were to take a yearling, a lamb and inspect it. And then on the 14th day, of that month at twilight, which is three in the afternoon, they are to sacrifice that lamb. They're to sacrifice the lamb, which commemorates their freedom from bondage. So the Passover is the central redemptive event in Israel, and still today is celebrated in Jewish homes all around the world. Now, for us, it's important to realize that that last,

supper, that Passover meal was the fulfillment of everything that went on in the Old Testament surrounding the Exodus. Jesus is the pascal lamb. He is the one who is going to give his life for the sins of the world. Now here's what's really interesting. You know what? I'm going to take a break. When I come back, I'm going to tell you what is really interesting about this and how it ties into Thanksgiving for this year. You're listening to The Jeff Kaven Show. Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz. And we know, right, as disciples of Jesus, we need to be encountering God's word on a regular basis. We need God's word to transform our minds, to move our hearts. And yet, if you're anything like me, sometimes you sit down to read the

Bible and just fall asleep. Or you get caught up in the names, in the events. It can be a confusing set of books. We've created an answer. And the answer, we think, is the Catholic Bible in a year podcast. It is produced by Ascension and hosted by me. For more information, you can go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in the year. Welcome back talking about Thanksgiving and talking about the seating arrangement to the Last Supper. You never thought you'd get a show like that, right?

Especially when I'm trying to explain it to you as best I can in setting up the last supper table. And in the show notes, you got a good picture of it. So you'll get it. Then you can always go back and listen again. but again to review we're looking at if you're somebody that's going to wait on tables let's say and you are facing the table it's a u-shaped table and you're going to walk into the middle of the you and it's about a foot or so you know 15 inches off the ground and the people that are going to be

sitting around that triclinium the three sides are going to be leaning are going to be on the ground leaning to their left and so in the last supper now the reason that this is so important and ties into Thanksgiving is this. Israel in the Old Testament had many, many sacrifices, all kinds of sacrifices, all kinds of feasts. And the rabbis taught in Jesus' day that when the Messiah comes, all sacrifices will cease except for one. Except for one. And that one sacrifice that will continue after the Messiah comes is called the Toda offering. T-O-D-A-H, the to-da offering. Now, what is the to-da offering? The to-da offering is the thank offering. It's a thank offering. And there's an example of it in Jonah, for example. Remember Jonah? He is swallowed up

by the big fish and what does he do? He offers up a thank offering and says, Lord, if you God, if you get me out of this mess, then I will do X, Y, Z. That's what, that's basically what a to-da offering is. And we all have done them to one degree or another growing up with say, well, if I can get out of this mess, Lord, I'll go to Mass every week. I'll pray a rosary every day. And so we kind of make this agreement with God. And the idea is, save me.

And then once I'm saved, this is what I'm going to do. So the to-da offering was the thank offer. or thanksgiving, it means thanksgiving. And the way we would say that is Eucharist, Eucharistia, the Eucharist. So the mass is the great thank offering, where we give thanks to God. And we celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world. And we are now in a covenant relationship with Jesus. So on our holiday of thanksgiving, it should, as Catholic,

Catholics always bring us back to that last supper in the covenant meal, the pascal celebration, the very center of our faith. And when we get together with people this year, and I'm talking about on Thursday, sure, Friday, which many of you get this show on Friday, and you can still retro, listen and think about Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is raised to a whole new level for us as Catholics because the center of our faith is. is the Thanksgiving offering, the Eucharist, the Eucharist. And I think it's just important to see that in your mind's eye, that triclinium. And one of the things that I like to imagine is, you know, where would I want to sit around that triclinium? Well, I would like to sit where John is. If you're looking at the U, the very first seat on the left side is John, leaning to the left, and Jesus is in the second place, Judas in the third.

But at one point in that Thanksgiving meal, that Eucharist, that paschal meal, Jesus says to Judas, go and do what you're going to do. And he gets up and leaves. He leaves. And so there is this blank seat in that meal as Judas is going away to betray the Lord. And I think about that blank seat, you know, a lot. I imagine that seat being blank and who is that, who's in that place and praying for people who have played the role of Judas in their life, who have been with Jesus, but betrayed the Lord and they've walked away. And I almost imagine

that there's a sign on that seat, you know, that place where Judas sat, a sign for all of those who have left the Eucharist, all of those who have left the church saying, we welcome you back home. We welcome you back to the meal, to the Eucharist. You cannot get this anywhere in the world. Nowhere in the world can you get this, but in the Catholic Church. We have this amazing gift in the eastern right as well. And so at Thanksgiving this year, let's certainly be thankful for everything that we have and everything God has done for us. But as we are anticipating the Eucharistic revival and the big celebration that's going to be coming next year, this Thanksgiving can become a time of preparation where we sit in that place of John and we lean into

the Lord so close in the Eucharist that we can hear his heartbeat. We can hear his heartbeat. And we feel close to him as close as close to him as the Blessed Mother who carried him in her womb for nine months. And when she heard the words from Peter, James, or John, as they raised the Eucharist and said, this is my body, the body of Jesus given for you. Imagine what she thought when she received her son back into her body. and the two hearts are beating together once again. If you're like me, and we're probably a lot alike, this Thanksgiving, I want my heart to beat as one with the Lord.

That's where I want to be, is I want to hear his heartbeat. And I want to give thanks for all that he has done. Truly, the mass is the most incredible event in the history of the world. And you and I get to celebrate it as often. as we can. That beautiful? Well, I'll tell you what, I'm going to send you that picture of the triclinium. And I got two of them.

I'll send both of them to you, the triclinium seating arrangements. You can find them all over the Internet, but I got a couple of them that really spell it out pretty well. So I will do that. Shall we pray in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? Lord, I lift up to you, my friends, my friends, and Jesus, at this time of the year can be very difficult for so many people. As I lift them up to you, I ask you, Lord, to just wrap your arms around them. I ask you, Lord, to allow them to lean into you and to hear your heartbeat this year.

They need you. They need your comfort, your direction, your correction. They need to be held by you. With all that's going on in the world, Lord, we need the Eucharist. And we thank you for Thanksgiving. And we thank you for the paschal mystery. and oh Jesus, Jesus, we want to sit where John is and hear your heartbeat. How great it is that you have given yourself to us in such a way

that not only do we get to lean next to you, but you come inside of us and you give us life. Thank you for the Eucharist. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you. Thank you. as the one leper that was healed and blind Bartimaeus and others who was totally changed by you Lord we joined that group of changed people and say thanks in jesus name amen name of the father and the

son and the holy spirit i love you i'm praying for you please pray for me and i look forward to talking to you on the next episode Thank you.