Passover is one of the most important religious festivals in the Jewish calendar. Every year Jews celebrate the Feast of Passover to commemorate the liberation of the Children of Israel, who were led out of Egypt by Moses, as commanded by God in Exodus 13. From the time of Moses, Jews have celebrated the Passover in the same way. The celebration is called a ‘seder’, which means ‘order’ in Hebrew. There is a set order of service that has varied little for more than 3,500 years.

The Passover meal follows a fairly standard pattern in every Jewish household. Before the meal itself, all wash their hands (probably the point at which Jesus washed the disciples’ feet). This is followed by the opening prayer and the blessing of the cup. The first of four cups of wine is passed round and then each person takes herbs and dips them in salt water. The head of the family takes one of the three loaves of unleavened bread, breaks it and puts some aside. The story of the first Passover is recounted and the second cup of wine is filled and passed round. The climax of the ritual is the festive meal of roast lamb.

The famous painting of the Last Supper is a late 15th-century mural painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.

Many elements in the ritual of the Passover meal pointed to the sacrifice that would be made by the expected Messiah who would rescue Israel not from slavery in Egypt but from slavery to sin. Jesus was the Messiah of Israel, and Jesus is the Saviour of all who believe in Him.

The Christian feast of Maundy Thursday finds its roots in the Jewish feast of Passover, the night on which the Last Supper is generally thought to have occurred. Maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum, meaning commandment, in Jesus’s phrase A new commandment I give to you.

The Last Supper is the final meal that, in the Gospel accounts, Jesus shared with his disciples before his crucifixion. Christians especially commemorate the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, and it also provides the scriptural basis for the sacrament of "Holy Communion" or "The Lord’s Supper" , the solemn celebration through which Christians remember Christ’s sacrifice of himself on the cross for all our sins.