We’ve bought books, flocked to theaters and watched hours of documentary television to learn the secrets of an ancient relic known as The Holy Grail. Yet as interesting as we, in this age find it, we are certainly not the first generation to be fascinated by it. Throughout history it’s been said that the Grail has been sought by rulers, protected by secret societies and that it may even possess supernatural power or secrets which if unleashed could rock the foundation of Christianity as we know it.
But with all that the Grail is said to be, what do we really know about it? And this many centuries after it’s disappearance how can we know who to believe about what it is, and more importantly, what is it NOT? Let’s start with the Grail’s origins and work our way to the present day in an attempt to sift the fiction from the facts.
What we know with certainty is that the story of “The Holy Grail” originates in one place, and one place only and that is The Bible. Were it not for The Bible’s account of The Last Supper there would be no record of, and thus no knowledge of the item we know today as The Holy Grail. So using a bit of deduction: If we believe that there is a grail, then we must then acknowledge that our very knowledge of it is thanks to its original source, The Bible. Further, if we believe that there is a grail and The Bible is responsible for our knowledge of its existence, we must then concede that The Bible must not be only the first, but also a considerably authoritative resource on the subject as a whole. In short, if you believe that there is a grail because The Bible says so then be prepared to believe what The Bible says about the Grail.
So just what does The Bible say about The Holy Grail? How was it described, what are it’s powers and what did it mean to Jesus and the newly emerging Christians of His day?
OK, everyone go grab your Bibles. If you don’t have one, go buy one, and if you can’t afford one please send your name and mailing address and I’ll provide one to you without cost. A Bible will be a key to identifying the facts from the fiction in both this study on the grail and in the rest of your life too. If you don’t know your Bible, get to know it. Read it. Movies, books and other forms of media can be very misleading, sometimes presenting statements which sound Biblical, but which are in fact purely fabricated. If, for instance I referenced how John, the Apostle was persecuted by the Romans in the book of First Hittites Chapter 14 I suspect some people would hang my on every word as long as the story was compelling. On the other hand I expect the people who know their Bibles to be fully aware that I’m a fake trying to mislead them by spreading a false testament. First Hittites is not a book of The Bible and in order to “spot the not” you need to know what The Bible DOES say.
For Beginners: The Bible is divided into two main parts; The Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament was written PRIOR to the life of Jesus. The New Testament is the collection of books which tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, teachings and prophesy. The account of the Holy Grail is found in the New Testament in three of the first four books known as The Gospels.
The four Gospels, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all describe events from The Last Supper, but only Matthew, Mark and Luke reference a drinking vessel shared between Jesus and his disciples during that meal. The other book, John reports many events surrounding The Last Supper but does not mention the grail’s use in his account. To read the biblical events of The Last Supper yourself, which I highly recommend, begin in Matthew 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:1 and John 13:1. Upon doing so you’ll find that the day of The Last Supper was not just any ordinary day, but the beginning of a Jewish religious holiday called “Passover.” Passover is the celebration commemorating God’s rescue of the Jewish people “The Nation of Israel” from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians around 1400 BC. Passover reminds the Jews that God loves them and honors His Covenants, or in other words, keeps his promises. (See the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament for the entire story of the Jew’s slavery and escape from Egypt).
Passover was, and still is an important holiday initiated with a customary” Passover meal” served after sunset on the first evening of the celebration. Jesus and his disciples would have certainly needed somewhere to observe this holiday meal but since Jesus operated a primarily mobile ministry there had not been plans negotiated for the celebration. Realizing this, two of His disciples asked Jesus where he wanted to eat the Passover. He gave them instructions to go into the next village and follow a man who would take them to a house where the owner would show them an upstairs room where they could prepare for the feast. They followed his instructions and found everything exactly as Jesus had said.
The Last Supper
According to the Bible the grail, or “the cup” was used by Jesus and His twelve disciples who were assembled together eating The Passover in the upper room. Again, three of the first four books of the New Testament recount the story; that after dinner and after giving thanks, Jesus passed a cup of wine to His disciples and told them to divide it amongst themselves. Jesus then passed bread in the same manner declaring that the wine and the bread represented His blood and body which would be spilled and broken in order to forgive their sins. He told them that this was a “new covenant” with them. He told his followers that they should do this in remembrance of Him. Christians today reenact this event known as “Communion.”
Have you noticed the symbolism here? While the whole Nation of Israel was celebrating Passover actively reminding themselves that God keeps His promises, here we see Jesus making a new promise to a new group of believers. This is the pivotal moment where Christians diverged from Jews. The Nation of Israel does not recognize or acknowledge Jesus as Savior. They do not recognize His broken body and spilled blood as a new covenant which promises the forgiveness of sins. Christians DO. Christians accept the new covenant which began at the Last Supper with the wine and the bread and they believe that Jesus was and is the Son of God and that HE sacrificed Himself for the forgiveness of their sins.
So what does The Bible reveal about the grail? Maybe shocking and probably disappointing to some, the Bible ONLY mentions that Jesus used “the cup” to share wine with His apostles. In fact, in the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke we only see three words which identify what we now refer to as The Holy Grail: Matthew 26:27 and Mark 14:23 call it “The cup” and “it” and while Luke 22 uses no more elaboration “the cup” is at least mentioned twice, once in verse 17 and then again in verse 20.
So there we have it; out of 66 books and more than three quarters of a million total words found in The Bible the sensation that is “The Holy Grail” accounts for 12 words; three words used 4 times.
Did you also notice how many times the word “grail” or “holy grail” appears in The Bible? If you’ve been counting you’d have a grand total of NONE. That’s right this magical, mystical chalice which has been sought by everyone from Hitler to Monty Python isn’t even mentioned by name in The Bible. Wow, it’s almost as if the grail itself isn’t very important…? Surely not, or we wouldn’t be so fascinated by it, right?
Did you notice what else The Bible doesn’t mention about the grail? Well, when you conjure up an image of the grail in your mind what do you see? If your mind’s eye offers you a golden, jewel-encrusted goblet fit for a king you might want to rethink the circumstances. First, The Bible gives absolutely no description of what “the cup” looked like. Next, you’ll need to recall that Jesus practiced a life of poverty. He did not have, nor did he need a caravan of donkeys to carry his possessions including his extensive collection of golden goblets from town to town as he travelled and preached. He didn’t own anything of record. To share the importance of this practice, he described wealth as being a hindrance to Godliness offering that it would be easier for a camel to fit thru the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Knowing this, how completely out of character would it have been for Jesus to drink from an expensive or elaborate vessel? In fact, if The Last Supper was any reflection of the rest of the life of Jesus I would venture a bet that the surroundings were modest and humble. Some day in Heaven I plan to ask Jesus about this. My guess is that if the technology and products of today were available in Jesus’ time we might be searching for “The Holy Paper Cup” rather than a grail.
What else didn’t The Bible credit to the grail? I didn’t see one remark about any supernatural powers being bestowed on this, OR ANY OTHER inanimate object in The New Testament. Granted, there is the notable Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament which The Bible clearly states IS powerful. (Hey, look; another reference to a covenant; another reminder that God keeps his promises).
Generations of Jews lived with The Ark of the Covenant in their Temple. They carried it with them from place to place protecting and reviling it as the container that housed their most sacred items. They knew, without doubt that The Ark was powerful and that what it contained was OF God thru nothing less than first hand experience. At the other end of the Holy Relic Scale of Importance is The Grail, which was neither powerful nor from God. It was a cup, mentioned 4 times, never described, never called sacred, presumably provided by the same man who also provided the bread plate, the table and pillows on which Jesus and His disciples reclined during and after the meal. Strangely, I haven’t noticed any recent launch of an archeological dig to uncover the truth behind The Holy Bread Basket…Why, I wonder?
What is it about this cup that has us so transfixed? And if The Bible isn’t where we’ve learned of The Grail’s supernatural powers, mystical history and Church-threatening secrets how DID we come by these ideas?
Rest assured: Everything starts somewhere…
See The Holy Grail rise in popularity in Part II of this series:
How The Holy Grail became famous
