chapter fourPASSION TRADITIONS REINTERPRETEDSome of the surviving fragments of Jewish-Christian gospels include
passion and resurrection traditions that differ from the canonical gospels
in important respects. All the references are quite short and as such
they do not allow any secure reconstructions of larger passion narratives
from which they might have been taken. However, it is possible to
delineate some general tendencies in these narratives and to sketch their
ideological and social-historical background by comparing them with
their canonical counterparts and reflecting on their contents in the light
of other information we have about early Jewish Christians.
I shall mainly deal with four passages in this main chapter. First (Chap-
ter .), I deal with a fragment that Epiphanius quotes in hisMedicine
Chest(Panarion..–). This passage from the gospel that was used
by the Ebionites concerns the preparations of Jesus’ last Passover meal.
Second, (Chapter .) I deal with two fragments that are in Jerome’sCom-
mentary on Matthew(Comm. Matt. .; .). Finally, Chapter .
examines Jerome’sOn Illustrious Menwhere he tells about Jesus’ appear-
ance to the James the Just (Vir. ill.).
.. The Last Supper in the
Gospel of the Ebionitesand Luke (Codex Bezae)...IntroductionLuke’s description of Jesus’ Last Supper with his disciples has sometimes
been characterized as “a scholar’s paradise and a beginner’s nightmare.”^1
A glance at a synopsis soon reveals the reason: when compared to
Matthew and Mark, Luke’s passage has several distinctive features which
catch the attention of a scholar interested in the early phases of Jesus
traditions. Although the differences and the similarities are obvious, they
are not very easy to explain.
(^1) Caird , .