The Fourth Cup by Scott Hahn

Author:Scott Hahn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2018-02-20T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

The Cups

I found solace in study. I found answers, too—and I turned up more questions. The scholars I consulted raised still more questions.

Among the difficulties presented by the Last Supper narratives is the way they end the seder prematurely, leaving the liturgy unfinished. Jesus and his disciples exit the room and go off into the night singing a hymn (see Mark 14:26). But they neglect to drink the cup of wine prescribed to accompany the hymn—the fourth cup. This is a glaring omission.

Indeed, Jesus draws attention to the omission and signals that it is intentional. As he takes the third cup he says: “Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25).

The problem arises often in the works of Jewish scholars. For them, the Gospels provide a potentially valuable early witness to the observance of Passover, so they submit them to close analysis. The missing final cup presents a serious problem.

As a pastor—even a pastor of a traditionally nonliturgical church—I knew what happened whenever I violated people’s expectations at Sunday worship. If you skip the customary hymn, there’s an outcry. Everyone notices. Many complain. In a first-century Jewish milieu, with its tightly prescribed rituals, the absence would be far more shocking—especially if a rabbi chose to stop just short of the climactic moment of the most essential liturgy on the most important feast of the year. Even twenty centuries later, the omission remains a scandal to readers who have lovingly observed the seder throughout their lives.

But Jesus did skip the fourth cup. He said out loud that he was doing so. He offered no explanation.

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