passion traditions reinterpreted year with unleavened bread and water confirms the assumption that there
could not have been any institution of the Eucharistic cup of blood in the
Gospel of the Ebionites.
...TheGospel of the Ebionites
and Luke (D, Old Latin and Old Syriac)There are two notable features that draw attention to Luke’s version of the
Last Supper if one tries to trace the closest possible point of comparison
for the wording of theGospel of the Ebionites:thewordingofJesus’answer
in theGospel of the Ebionitesis paralleled only in Luke, and Jesus’ vows
not to eat the Passover meal and not to drink wine are most vehement in
Luke.
All the synoptic gospels have, in the passage on the Last Supper,
Jesus’ words that he will not be drinking wine until in the kingdom of
God (Mark :; Matt :; Luke :). However, this vow is the
most outspoken in Luke since it is presented before the institution of
the Eucharist and it is coupled with the words about not eating the
Passover meal—in the canonical Luke, Jesus yearns to eat Passover with
his disciples but only this last time before his passion. The next time will
be in the kingdom of God.
If one takes Luke’s description of the Last Supper (Luke :–)
as the starting point—assuming that the opening verse was formulated
the way Epiphanius describes—would the story have been acceptable to
the Ebionites? Jesus words about not eating Passover and not drinking
wine before the Kingdom of God arrives (Luke :–) would fit very
well with the Ebionites’ diet and their Eucharistic practice, which did not
include meat or wine. It is even quite possible to interpret Luke :–
as an institution of a Eucharistic cup that contained water only. Verse
would also still be acceptable and even necessary as an institution of the
Eucharistic bread although the words about the body “given for you”
might have some suspiciously sacrificial overtones. The problems begin
with the second cup in verse where Jesus’ blood is assigned a sacrificial
role.
As it happens, manuscript D, the Old Latin and Old Syriac translations
have a shorter version of the Last Supper in Luke, which conveniently
ends precisely at the point where the story begins to be problematic from
the Ebionite point of view, the last words being “this is my body.”
In the case of the Last Supper, the relation of theGospel of the Ebionites
to D, the Old Latin and Old Syriac translations remains hypothetical