This paper seeks to answer the question posed in its title: Why does the Last Supper in the Gospel of John (13–17) contain no words of consecration? The article first argues that the Gospel of John has a six-element literary structure analogous to that of Exod 1–18. This argument draws on the work of many exegetes and a detailed comparative word-count analysis of all the pericopes of the four Gospels, carried out in this study. The paper then presents four consecutive stages of Jesus’ life, described in the four successive pericopes of John 1:19–20:31, as His four-stage Exodus from this world to eternity. Based on the thesis demonstrated in earlier studies (see for example: https://www.adoracja.bielsko.opoka.org.pl/praca_doktorska/USAProphetsM.html) — namely, that Exod 1–18 constitutes the six-element treaty document of the four-stage covenant-making ceremony performed by God and Israel — this paper interprets the whole earthly life of Jesus as analogous to the Exodus described in Exod 6:2–15:21. In this interpretation, Jesus’ life accomplishes the four successive elements of the ceremony of making the New Covenant. Consequently, this paper identifies the Gospel of John as the six-element treaty document of the New Covenant.The central claim is that the Passion and Death pericope (John 18–19) describes Jesus’ irrevocable act of covenant-concluding, accomplished through His passage between the darknesses of the Abyss-Death. This covenant-concluding act is analogous to the act described in Exod 13:17–14:31, where God and Israel conclude the covenant through their passage between the waters of the Abyss — the Sea of Reeds. These observations make it possible to answer the question posed in the paper’s title.

This paper is the author’s English translation of the Polish article: Wojciech Kosek, Dlaczego Ostatnia Wieczerza w Ewangelii św. Jana (13-17) nie zawiera słów konsekracji? - originally published in W. Chrostowski and M. Kowalski, eds., Kogo szukasz? (J 20:15): Księga pamiątkowa dla księdza profesora Henryka Witczyka w 65. rocznicę urodzin [Whom Are You Seeking? (Jn 20:15): Festschrift in Honor of Rev. Prof. Henryk Witczyk on His 65th Birthday], series Ad Multos Annos, vol. 21, Warszawa 2021, pp. 226–257, ISBN 978-83-8144-634-1. The English translation of this article was published first on Academia.edu on January 16, 2021: https://www.academia.edu/44918109/ The HTML version is published on the website: https://www.adoracja.bielsko.opoka.org.pl/praca_doktorska/EwangeliaJanaUSA.html