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would have allowed the Essenes, with their different solar
and lunar calendars, to have a community in the holy city of
Jerusalem, but they probably had no choice. Josephus tells us
that the Essenes were favoured by Herod the Great since an
Essene prophet called Menachem predicted that Herod would
rule over the Jews, and ‘from that time he [Herod] continued to
hold all Essenes in honour’.Hence if the Essenes wished to have
a community in Jerusalem we can expect royal privilege to have
made this happen.

One of the gates into the walled city of Jerusalem was
called ‘the Gate of the Essenes’, presumably because it was
through this gate that the Essenes entered their community
in Jerusalem. From the information given by Josephus we can
assume that this was in the south-west of Jerusalem, overlooking
the Hinnom valley, although its precise location is still disputed.
Interestingly, the traditional site of the last supper is located on
Mount Zion, which is also in the south-west of Jerusalem. If
Jesus wished to hold his last supper in Jerusalem as a Passover
meal using the pre-exilic calendar, then his options were
limited. He could hardly have asked to use the upper room of an
orthodox Jew living in Jerusalem, because celebrating Passover
on a day other than the official one would have been a heresy.
Hence probably, he made arrangements with an Essene to use
his upper room, celebrate Passover.

Therefore, a consistent story emerges. When Jesus asked
his disciples to enter Jerusalem and meet a man carrying a jar
of water, they knew he meant, they were to meet an Essene and
hence they would have entered Jerusalem through the Essene
Gate. Pixner argues that the disciples, being non-Essenes, could
not enter the Essene compound without an invitation, which
Jesus had pre-arranged, and that the Essenes, who were known
for their hospitality, could be expected to have a guest room.
Since an Essene man carrying a water jar would not have
been an unusual sight in and around the Essene compound in
Jerusalem, even we cannot assume from the Lukan narratives,
the meeting was preplanned. Jesus was not an Essene, but we
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Lenten Meditations Re - Imaging People