To this day, Jews throughout the world observe the Passover festival with a highly ritualized meal called a seder. The word means “order” and refers to the order of the service at the meal, including prayers, psalms, other readings, the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the eating of special foods that have symbolic significance.

It is commonly supposed that the Last Supper, the meal Jesus ate with his disciples the night before his crucifixion, was a seder.

But was the Last Supper a Passover seder?

The question itself assumes that the Last Supper occurred on the eve of Passover. But all the gospel accounts do not agree on this. The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) clearly indicate that the Last Supper was the Passover meal: