Was the Last Supper not the Passover meal?

Question

The accepted answer on How long was Jesus in the tomb? would only have been possible if the Last Supper was not the Passover meal, which I had always thought it was. Was the Last Supper in fact not the Passover meal?

Answer 1

My new understanding of the Last Supper is mostly based on the information at http://www.therefinersfire.org/celebrating_passover.htm.

The key verses which indicate that Christ was actually crucified on the day before the Passover feast are John 18:28 and John 19:14.

John 18:28 NIV
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.

John 19:14 NIV
It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

The day of preparation would be when they slaughter the Passover lamb, which would then be eaten that night.

Answer 2

Two things are clear from scripture:

1. The "last supper" was in fact a passover meal. Multiple references in Mark 14, Matthew 26 and Luke 22 make it clear that the disciples prepared a passover meal. In Matthew Jesus says "I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house." In Luke it reads "So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table.". Other elements of the meal are drawn directly from Passover practice. Clearly this was a Passover meal.

2. It is also clear that this was done on the day before Passover. John 18 and 19 indicate that it was "the day of preparation for the Passover".

There are a number of possible reconciliations of this. Some speculate that Jesus was a part of a minority Jewish sect that celebrated Passover on a different day. Others that he celebrated Passover a day early because he knew he wouldn't be able to do it on the right day (I don't know what Jewish Law would have said about that, but Jesus was never one to get hung up on legal technicalities).