1.    When was the Lord’s Supper instituted, and of what did it consist?

“For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread . . . . After the same manner also He took the cup,” I Corinthians 11:23, 25.

2.    At what time of the year, and on what day of the month was the ancient Passover observed?

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night,” Deuteronomy 16:1.

“And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the Lord,” Numbers 28:16.

3.    At what time of the day was the ancient passover observed?

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you . . . . In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb . . . . And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening,” Exodus 12:2, 3, 6.

4.    This lamb was a type of Jesus. When was He betrayed, and on what day of the month did He die?

“Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover . . . . Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed . . . . And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer,” Luke 22:1, 7, 15.

5.    Was not this the time that Jesus introduced the Lord’s Supper?

“And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves .

. . . And He took the bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me,” verses 17, 19.

6.    At what time of the year did the apostle Paul introduce the Lord’s Supper to the church?

“For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the SAME NIGHT in which He was betrayed took bread,” I Corinthians 11:23.

7.    As they killed the passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month, in the evening, what time of the day was this? Is the even according to the scriptures at the beginning or the end of the day?

“The evening and the morning were the first day,” “The evening and the morning were the second day,” Genesis 1:5, 8.

“From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath,” Leviticus 23:32.

NOTE: The passover lamb was kept up until the fourteenth day of the first month and killed “in the evening,” Exodus 12:6. Hence, it was killed at the beginning of the day, which was sunset, or just after the sun had set on the thirteenth, or the beginning of the fourteenth.

“Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the sun,” Deuteronomy 16:6.

“And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto Him (Jesus) all that were diseased,” Mark 1:32. Notice also Leviticus 22:6, 7.

8.    Since there was some preparation made for the Passover in the Old Testament, and as the Lord’s Supper takes its place in the New Testament, what preparations are people to make before partaking of the supper?

“Wherefore whosoever shall eat of this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup,” I Corinthians 11:27, 28.

“Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened,” I Corinthians 5:7.

9.    Did the church in the apostles’ time keep the Lord’s Supper at the time of the ancient Jewish Passover, as Jesus instituted it?

“For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast,” I Corinthians 5:7-8.

“For I have received of the Lord that which I also delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat, this is My body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of Me,” I Corinthians 11:23, 24.

NOTE: The ancient passover was kept once a year, and so we have learned the Lord’s Supper which took the place of the ancient passover was also kept once a year. According to all early church history, all professed followers of Christ kept the Lord’s Supper on the fourteenth of Abib until the council of Nice in 321, when Constantine and others at this conference changed it to a certain Sunday which was the Sunday following the fourteenth of Abib.

The ordinance of humiliation wherein Christ taught His followers to be humble, and let the greatest be the servant is found in John 13. Jesus washed the apostles’ feet and commanded us to do the same with one another. This was given as a step in preparation for the Lord’s Supper.