In Scripting Jesus, L. Michael White compares and contrasts oral stories of the Last Supper in the letters from Paul to the church of Corinth and Luke from the books Matthew and Mark. Paul had written the earliest letters to Corinth between 50 and 60 ce, which was approximately 25 years after the earliest writings of Mark. This indicates that the stories of Jesus and the Last Supper were given to Paul through oral narrative, and that the oral tradition had transformed through the years and change from Jewish narrative to Greek narrative overtime.

White discusses how the words in Matthew and Mark contrast from the words used by Paul and Luke during the Last Supper. The basic story of the Last Supper is consistent between these four books: Jesus’ body is compared to the loaf of bread and his blood is related to the cup. However the word usage presents different patterns of tradition between the Jewish and Greek culture. For example, Matthew and Mark use the word “bless” for the bread instead of “give thanks,” as we find in Paul’s letters. (Matthew 26:26) “While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” (Mark 14:22) “While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” Both Matthew and Mark us the word blessing. This word was used more in the Jewish tradition of blessing a meal, which was called berakoth. However in Luke and Paul, we find the phrase “given thanks” rather than blessing. (Luke 22:19) Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in rememberance of me.'” (1 Corinthians 11:24) “and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in rememberance of me.'” Luke and Paul both use the phrase given thanks, which in Greek is eucharistein, where White says the word “Eucharist” is derived. Jewish tradition gave thanks, called hodayot, however this was not done with bread and wine.

Matthew and Mark also do not have the phrase, “in rememberance of me,” as does Luke and Paul. This phrase was included for Christian tradition to link the anointing at Bethany with the resurrection of Jesus. The woman anointed Jesus’ feet in Bethany, and referring to women anointing Jesus after his death would give the women a reason to go to Jesus’ tomb to find it empty.

White depicts the difference of word usage between these four books to point out the difference of the time periods of each of these books, and to acknowledge the transformation of oral tradition. Matthew and Mark were an earlier narrative. As the oral stories were told, they changed over time to fit in with the difference in cultural tradition, such as that between the Jewish and Greek traditions. The difference in word usage between these books emulates how over time the circulation of the Last Supper had changed to fit the cultural traditions of the time the narrative was written.