Eucharist

The Tree of Life

2000 BCE

After eating the fruit from the forbidden tree, Adam and Eve are denied the fruit of the Tree of Life. Many Church Fathers saw the Tree of Life as a prefiguration of the Cross, and the fruit of the Tree of Life as a prefiguration of the Eucharist, the Body of Christ, which hung from the Cross. Revelation says that God will grant people to eat from the Tree of Life.

Melchizedek

1900 BCE

Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God the Most High. And he blessed [Abram]” (Gen 14:18-19). He is said to foreshadow Christ’s priesthood, who also offered bread and wine: “[Melchizedek] is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever” (Heb 7:3).

Issac

1900 BCE

God tests Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his “only-begotten son Isaac” (Gen 22:2s). Isaac asks his father why there is a fire but no lamb for a burnt offering. Abraham responds: “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” Jesus is the “Lamb of God” (Jn 1:29) offered in sacrifice for men, and a he’s also the “only-begotten Son” of God (Jn 1:18).

Passover Lamb

1850 BCE

To deliver the Israelites from Egypt, God commands Moses to tell his people: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male…they shall take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts…They shall eat the flesh that night” (Ex 12: 5-8). St. Paul writes: “For Christ, our Paschal Lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7).

Unleavened Bread

1800 BCE

In preparation for the Passover, God also commands
his people to eat “unleavened bread” (Ex 12:15s), which was meant to symbolize the hurry with which they were fleeing Egypt — they did not have time to let it rise. According to Matthew and Mark, Jesus instituted the Eucharist on “the first day of Unleavened Bread” (Mt 26:17; Mk 14:12). In the Latin Rite, the Church still uses unleavened bread for the Eucharist, and sees the origin of this tradition in the Passover.

Manna

1780 BCE

After the Israelites left Egypt, God sent them the manna, or bread from heaven, in the desert: “I will rain bread from heaven for you” (Ex 16:4). Jesus is the fulfillment of the manna, as he himself states: “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died… I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (Jn 6: 49-51).

Sprinkling of Blood

1760 BCE

After receiving the Law from God, “Moses took the blood and threw it upon the people, and said, ‘Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words’” (Ex 24:8). Jesus picks up this language and institutes a new covenant with his body and blood as the new sacrifice, during the Last Supper: “This chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Lk 22:20).

Bread of the Presence

1740 BCE

God commands Moses to build a Tabernacle and place the Ark of the Covenant in it, so that he may “dwell in their midst” (Ex 25:8). He then commands him, “And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me always” (25:30). Later on, David ate this bread, which was given to him by the priest Abimelech: “So the priest gave [David] the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence” (1 Sam 21:6).

Todah Offering

1720 BCE

Todah is Hebrew for “thanksgiving.” A todah sacrifice was a type of peace offering that was offered by someone who had received a great benefit from God. Its elements were meat, bread and wine (Lev 7:11-15; Num 15:8-10). Eucharist comes from the Greek eukharistia, which also means “thanksgiving.” In the Eucharistic sacrifice, the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus. Many scholars have considered both the Todah and the Passover sacrifices as foreshadows of the Eucharist.

The Suffering Servant

1700 BCE

Isaiah 53 is a strong prefiguration of Christ in the Old Testament. It tells of a man who was “afflicted”. “But he was wounded for our transgressions… like a lamb that is led to the slaughter… although he had done no violence… he [made] himself an offering for sin.” The servant is compared to a lamb and to a sacrificial offering, and by his righteousness “will make many righteous.” Jesus is, again, the “Lamb of God,” who, as John says, is the “righteous.

Bethlehem

1 CE

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which in Hebrew means “House of Bread.”

“The Lamb of God”

20

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29). John the Baptist refers to Jesus with these words, drawing on the importance of the lamb in the Old Testament. It is in Jesus’ death and resurrection that these references come to fulfillment, and ultimately in the way he chose to stay “until the end of time,” that is, in the Eucharist. Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.”

Miracle of the Loaves

22

Jesus himself foreshadowed the Eucharist before instituting it in order to prepare his disciples to receive it.
In the feeding of the five thousand, he performs the same four actions he will use during the Last Supper: “taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke, and gave the loves to the disciples,” and at the Last Supper, Matthew also writes, “Jesus took the bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples.

No Mere Symbolism

24

Jesus himself made it clear that he was not speaking metaphorically when he said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn 6: 51). When the Jews take this to be ridiculous in the literal sense — “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (6:52)

The Our Father

25

In the Gospel of Matthew, a unique word stands out during the Our Father prayer: “Give us this day our daily (Greek: epiousios) bread” (Mt 6:11). Epiousios is not used anywhere else in the Bible, except in Lk 11:3, in the same prayer. St. Jerome’s translation of Matthew into Latin is more literal and translates this word as “supersubstantial.” Supersubstantial means above all substance or superior to all things.

Institution of the Eucharist

26

At the Last Supper, which took part in the context of the Passover, Jesus draws many of the aforementioned symbolisms and unites them in the Institution of the Eucharist. Jesus takes the bread, breaks it, and says, “This is my body which is given for you” (Lk 22:19). He then takes the chalice and says, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood”

Road to Emmaus

27

The last chapter of the Gospel of Luke (24:13-35) gives a brief description of the Mass that the disciples would partake in, highlighting the two parts of the liturgy: The Liturgy of the Word and then the Liturgy of the Eucharist. As two disciples were traveling to Emmaus from Jerusalem on the Sunday after the crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus himself draws near them, though they do not recognize him.

First Christian Communities

28

In Acts of the Apostles, the apostles and disciples celebrated the Eucharist: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). As previously mentioned, the “breaking of the bread” referred to the Eucharist, as Christ instituted it at the Last Supper. There are many other examples: “On the first day of the week [Sunday], when we were gathered together to break bread…” (Acts 20:7).

St. Paul

29

St. Paul asserts that the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Christ, and there are consequences for those who partake in it unworthily. “The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16). He also writes to the Corinthians saying, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord” (1 Cor 11:23-29).

Revelation

33

In the Book of Revelation, John shows that the Eucharistic worship corresponds with and finds its fulfillment in the heavenly worship, “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:19). John provides powerful images that correspond to the Mass, showing that Christians already partake in the heavenly worship. In Rev 4-5, John describes the Passover Lamb, the elders — presbyteros, which is the Greek word for priests.