The Last Super story has several key words or phrases which show that it has been passed from the Jewish community and through the Greek-speaking community. One of these is the word “that”. In Scripting Jesus, L. Michael White teaches us that in Greek oral tradition the word “that” is used before a person directly quotes something from the oral tradition. Another place where we can find the Greek oral traditions spin on the Last Supper story is with the words “bless” and “give thanks”. While the word “bless” is used in Jewish prayers, “give thanks” tends to be used more often in Greek.

In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we are given the first written account of the Last Supper story. In 1Corinthians 11:23-25 only “give thanks” is used, this shows the Greek influence on the oral story of Jesus, that Paul is referencing. In the parallel passages to Paul’s letter, in the gospels, Mathew and Mark use both “bless” and “give thanks”. Luke differs from the other synoptics, in that like Paul, he only uses “give thanks”. While these differences in the synoptics and Pauline writings are probably just differences in writing styles, their usage of certain words demonstrates how the oral traditions of the Jewish-Christians were changed or at least influenced by the Greek-speaking communities they were surrounded by.

The Gospel writers take this short narrative found in Corinthians and also taught orally, and place it within the context of their narratives in ways that help them to further their agendas in writing the story of Jesus. While in Corinthians, Paul is advising people on the manner in which they eat their church meal, in the Gospels this story is woven in and expanded upon as part of Jesus’ final week alive.

In the Last supper narrative, Paul mentions that Jesus eats his final meal right before he is betrayed. In the gospels, the betrayer of Jesus is identified. This identification of Judas as the betrayer which Paul speaks of gives new weight to the words he had written in his letter to the Corinthians. The Last Supper oral story is used in this way to lead up to the death of Jesus in the gospels.