In his study "The Eucharistic Words of Jesus", the Lutheran scriptural scholar Joachim Jeremias made a compelling argument that the Quartodecimans preserved the original understanding and character of the Christian Pascha (Passover) celebration. He states that in Jewish tradition four major themes are associated with Passover, i.e., the creation of the world, the Akedah or binding of Isaac, the redemption of Israel from Egypt (both the "passing over" of the First-born during the Passover meal and Israel's "passage" through the Red Sea) and the coming of the Messiah (announced by the Prophet Elijah). For Christians, the central events of the Paschal Mystery of Christ, i.e., his passion, death and resurrection, also are obviously associated with Passover and Firstfruits according to leviticus 11. Thus it was inevitable that the very earliest Christians expected the imminent return of Christ to also occur during their Passover celebrations. Jeremias notes that Quartodecimans began their Christian Passover celebrations by reading the appropriate readings from the Hebrew Scriptures, i.e., the twelve readings from the Hebrew Scriptures that still are read during Easter Vigil in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Armenian traditions. At midnight, when Christ had not reappeared to inaugurate the great eschatological banquet, the Christians would celebrate the Easter Eucharist in anticipation of that final act of the drama of the redemption of Christ.