The EucharistWhy do you worship a piece of Bread?

Jimmy Swaggart and the Eucharist

n “In all honesty we must repudiate this dogma on two counts: (1) It is opposed to Scripture. (2) It is contradicted by the evidence of the senses.” Jimmy Swaggart

n “This is my body...this is my blood, are accepted literally in Catholic dogma. On the same basis we should accept without thinking that Jesus gives us literal living waters which will produce eternal life (John 4:14), or that Jesus is truly a door (John 10:7-9), that He is a lamb (John 1:29), or that He is a growing vine (John 15:5). If the Catholic hierarchy is to be consistent, they [sic] should foster adoration of doors, vines, and lambs. Certainly, these figures of speech are descriptive and colorful, but they are transparently figurative, just as are the terms 'my body,' and 'my blood'. The New Testament Church and the Early Church understood and accepted this just as it was offered, as a figure of speech.” Jimmy Swaggart

Taking up the Challenge

n Jimmy Swaggart is basically echoing the sentiments of our Evangelical brothers and sisters.

n Why do we Catholics worship a piece of bread ... its nonsense ... and stupid?

n But let’s take up Jimmy Swaggart’s challenge where he claimed that ... “The New Testament Church and the Early Church understood and accepted this as it was offered, as a figure of speech.”

n Let’s look at what the Early Church really believed.

St. Ignatius

n Ignatius Letter to the Philidelphians 107 AD, “Take care, then to have but one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup to show forth the unity of His blood; one altar, as there is one bishop, along with the priests and deacons, my fellow-servants.”

St Ignatius

n St Ignatius to the Smyrneans 107AD “They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in His goodness, raised up again.”

Justin Martyr

n Justin Martyr, Apology, I.66-67, 155 AD. “It is allowed to no one else to participate in that food which we call Eucharist except the one who believes that the things taught by us are true, who has been cleansed in the washing unto rebirth and the forgiveness of sins and who is living according to the way Christ handed on to us. For we do not take these things as ordinary bread or ordinary drink. Just as our Saviour Jesus Christ was made flesh by the word of God and took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so also were we taught that the food, for which thanksgiving has been made through the word of prayer instituted by him, and from which our blood and flesh are nourished after the change, is the flesh of that Jesus who was made flesh.”

Tertullian

n Tertullian 211 AD “We take anxious care lest something of our Cup of Bread should fall upon the ground.”

n Why would Tertullian be so anxious that the Eucharist not fall on the floor ...

n If it’s only a piece of bread ... why worry!

Origen

n Origen Homilies on Exodus 13,3: 254AD “You are accustomed to take part in the divine mysteries, so you know, when you received the body of the Lord, you reverently exercised every care lest a particle of it fall, and lest anything of the consecrated gift perish. You account yourselves guilty, and rightly do you so believe, if any of it be lost through negligence. but if you observe such caution in keeping His Body, and properly so, how is it that you think neglecting the word of God a lesser crime than neglecting His Body?”

St Cyprian

n St. Cyprian wrote to the Ephesians circa 258 A.D: “The priest who imitates that which Christ did, truly takes the place of Christ, and offers there in the Church a true and perfect sacrifice to God the Father.”

Aphraahat

n Aphraahat the Persian Sage 340AD wrote: “After having spoken thus [at the Last Supper], the Lord rose up from the place where he had made the Passover and had given his body as food and his blood as drink, and he went with his disciples to the place where he was to be arrested. But he ate of his own body and drank of his own blood while he was pondering on the dead. With his own hands the Lord presented his own body to be eaten, and before he was crucified he gave his own blood as drink.”

Who would You listen Too?

n It’s obvious that Jimmy Swaggart and our Evangelical and Pentecostal brothers and sisters are in total contradiction to what the Early Church taught.

n If you are an Evangelical or Pentecostal ... would you choose what your own pastor preached about this ... or would you give more weight to what the Early Church did indeed teach and preach about the Eucharist?

How does the Old Testamentprepare us for the Eucharist?

Figs and Skins

n Adam and Eve sinned ... so they tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves ... But there was a problem with that, which if you don’t know your plant biology you would miss the significance of.

n The sap of a fig plant has a chemical property that causes ... dermatitis! It causes the skin to get a rash and itch.

n Adam and Eve tried to cover their own sins but it never works ... Trying to cover your own sins makes the problem worse!

n So what did God have to do?n The book of Hebrews 9:22 says, that ... without the shedding of blood

there is no forgiveness of sins!n So God had to kill an INNOCENT ANIMAL to make skins to cover

Adam and Eve’s nakedness ... THEIR SINS!n Here in the very beginning ... in Genesis .. we have the very first echo of

the sacrifice that Jesus would make so as to redeem mankind!n WOW!

Melchizedek

Melchizedek

n Melchizedek pre-figured Christ.n When Abram returned from his victory over

Chedorlaomer, Gn 14:18 "Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High …" to bless Abram, pre-figuring the bread and wine consecrated by a priest at Mass.

n The Book of Hebrews 7:2 says "(Melchizedek) is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem [shalom], that is, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, and has neither beginning nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest for ever."

Abraham and IsaacGod the Father, God the Son

Abraham was a righteous and faithful father

God is a righteous and faithful Father.

Abraham offered his only-begotten son Isaac on Mt. Moriah.

God offered his only Son Jesus on Calvary, one of the hills of Moriah.

God Himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering Gen 22;8

The Lord himself provided the lamb: Jesus.

Isaac carries the wood to the top of the hill Gen 22:6

Jesus carried the wood of the cross to the top of Calvary.

On the third day, Abraham gets his son back. Gen 22;4

On the third day, Jesus is raised from the dead.

God swears to bless all nations through Abraham’s seed Gen 22:16-18

Jesus is the father’s blessing to all nations. Gal 3 13:14

Moses

n Moses read the Torah to all of the six hundred thousand Israelite people assembled at the foot of Mt. Sinai. There they swore and ratified the covenant.

n The Covenant was ratified by sprinkling the blood of sacrificed oxen on the people, saying Ex 24:8 "Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you."

n Jesus said at the Last Supper, Mt 26:28 "This is my blood of the covenant."

Table of Showbread

n God had commanded Lv 24:5 that the Jewish priests, from Aaron forward, place twelve loaves of bread on a golden table "before the Lord." On each sabbath, the priests ate the bread which had been set in place on the preceding sabbath.

The Bread of the Presence

n The Bread of the Presence, in the ancient Tabernacle and later in the Temple, 1 Kgs 7:48 prefigured Jesus in the Holy Eucharist.

n In the Tabernacle God commanded Moses, Ex 25:8 "Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst." In the sanctuary, in the ark of the covenant, God told Moses, Ex 25:22 "There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you..."

n God added, Ex 25:30 "You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me always."

n Jesus told us, Mt 28:20 "I am with you always."

The Lamb of Isaiah

n Isaiah had foretold that the Lamb of God … "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Is 53:7

The Lamb

n The Jewish priests, before sacrificing the lamb, always asked, “Do you love this lamb?”

n If the family didn't love the lamb there would be no sacrifice.

n Jesus three times asked Peter, Jn 21:15 "Do you love Me?"

n Jesus allowed Peter to replace his triple denial with a triple affirmation that he did indeed love the Sacrificed Lamb.

The Lamb

n The family would place the lamb into the hands of the priest.

n When we give something to God we place it in His hands.

n Jesus' last words on the Cross were, Lk 23:46 "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit!"

The Lamb

n The head of the household then cut the lamb's throat with a sharp bronze knife while the priest caught the lamb's blood in a large bronze bowl.

n The priest then made seven complete trips around the altar, sprinkling the blood from the lamb on each of the four "horns." Then he took the lamb's body and placed it on the altar and started the ritual fire. With a big fire and a small lamb, the sacrifice was over quickly. The smoke rose from the altar.

The Passover

n Jesus was pre-figured in the original Passover.n YOU HAD TO EAT IT!n If you didn't like lamb, you couldn't have your wife

make lamb bread, little biscuits in the shape of a lamb and say, “God, you understand, we just can't stand the stuff.”

n No, you do that, your firstborn would DIE. You had to eat the lamb!

n The whole lamb had to be eaten, none could be left over for the next day and none could be thrown out.

n Jesus Christ has said to us, "My flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life."

Passover Sacrifice

n It became the custom of each Israelite family to take the lamb into their home, feed it, cuddle it, love it, and treat it as one of the family.

n Then on the fourteenth day, its little throat was slit and the blood of that precious little lamb was poured into a basin.

n An Israelite family, however, loved, petted, even named their lamb. Then watched it die and ate it.

n This was all a part of God’s plan. Why?

n God must have had Jesus in mind.

Passover Sacrifice

n This was not a stranger God offered but a Son; not just a Son but His only Son; not just His only Son but His beloved Son; not just His only beloved Son but a beloved Son in whom He was pleased!

n This Son was real! He had a name! He is our Saviour so we call Him Jesus, He is our ruler so we call Him Lord, and He is our God so we call Him Immanuel, and He is God’s anointed one so we call Him Christ!

n Through this Passover lamb, God began to show us the ugliness of sin, the price of deliverance; something we love had to die!

n Imagine a pet raised to be put to death, now imagine your child coming into this world for the purpose of being put to death.

Manna

n Days without water, days without food.

n Would you have grumbled too?n Manna is the bread of life came down

from heaven that feed the Israelites while the deserts of Sinai. It is a theme that our Lord echoes by declaring that He is the Manna ... the true bread of life come down from Heaven!

n "I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." John 6:48-49

What is the Todah ... And so What?

n A Todah sacrifice, a thanksgiving sacrifice, in Jewish religious customs, would be offered by someone whose life had been delivered from great peril, such as disease or the sword or some other misfortune.

n Todah literally means “thanksgiving.”n The redeemed person would show his gratitude to God by

gathering his closest friends and family for a Todah sacrificial meal. The lamb would be sacrificed in the Temple and the bread for the meal would be consecrated the moment the lamb was sacrificed.

n The bread and meat, along with wine, would constitute the elements of the sacred Todah meal, which would be accompanied by prayers and songs of thanksgiving, such as Psalm 116.”

Moses and the Seventy Elders

n The seventy elders who went up with Moses to see God offered the Todah: Ex 24:11 "They beheld God, and ate and drank."

n Twelve centuries later, twelve apostles beheld God, and ate and drank as Jesus prepared to offer His Todah sacrifice: Lk 22:19 "He took bread, and when He had given thanks He broke it…"

Todah

n The ancient rabbis believed that when the Messiah would come all sacrifices except the Todah would cease, but the Todah would continue for all eternity.

n In 70 AD the Temple fell to earth and all of the bloody animal sacrifices stopped.

n Only the Todah remains, the eucharistia, the Final Sacrifice at which the last words spoken are Todah l'Adonai, "Thanks be to God."

Micah 5:2

n Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Not just because the prophets said so.n “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah,

From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; Whose origin is from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2

The Bread of Life!

n What does the word Bethlehem mean?n In Hebrew the word Bethlehem means ‘House of Bread.’n What was in Mary’s womb as she was making that 70 mile journey from

Nazareth to Bethlehem ...n The ‘Bread of Life!’n Mary was going to the ‘House of Bread’ to DELIVER THE BREAD!n And where does she put Jesus when she get’s there.n She puts Him in a ‘Manger,’ ... well, what is a Manger?n A Manger is a trough where animals ... sheep would come to eat from. We

are the sheep of God, so what does Mary do ... she puts Him a DISH!n Jesus the ‘Bread of Life,’ the Eucharist would be given unto us ... the

sheep of God ... as our spiritual food!n Indeed, an echo of the Eucharist from the time of the Nativity!n WOW!

The Old Testament and the Eucharist

n Exodus 12:5 - the paschal lamb that was sacrificed and eaten had to be without blemish. Luke 23:4,14; John 18:38 - Jesus is the true paschal Lamb without blemish.

n Exodus 12:7,22-23 - the blood of the lamb had to be sprinkled on the two door posts. This paschal sacrifice foreshadows the true Lamb of sacrifice and the two posts of His cross on which His blood was sprinkled.

n Exodus 12:43-45; Ezek. 44:9 - no one outside the "family of God" shall eat the lamb. Non-Catholics should not partake of the Eucharist until they are in full communion with the Church.

n Exodus 12:49 - no uncircumcised person shall eat of the lamb. Baptism is the new circumcision for Catholics, and thus one must be baptized in order to partake of the Lamb.

The Old Testament and the Eucharist

n Exodus 12:47; Num. 9:12 - the paschal lamb's bones could not be broken. John 19:33 - none of Jesus' bones were broken.

n Exodus 24:9-11 - the Mosaic covenant was consummated with a meal in the presence of God. The New and eternal Covenant is consummated with the Eucharistic meal - the body and blood of Jesus Christ under the appearance of bread and wine, in the presence of God the Son.

n Exodus 29:33 – God commands that they shall eat those things with which atonement was made. Jesus is the true Lamb of atonement and must now be eaten.

n Lev. 7:15 - the Aaronic sacrifices absolutely had to be eaten in order to restore communion with God. These sacrifices all foreshadow the one eternal sacrifice which must also be eaten to restore communion with God. This is the Eucharist.

The Old Testament and the Eucharist

n Lev. 17:11,14 - in the Old Testament, we see that the life of the flesh is the blood which could never be drunk. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ's blood is the source of new life, and now must be drunk.

n Gen. 9:4-5; Deut.12:16,23-24 - in these verses we see other prohibitions on drinking blood, yet Jesus commands us to drink His blood because it is the true source of life.

n 2 Kings 4:43 - this passage foreshadows the multiplication of the loaves and the true bread from heaven which is Jesus Christ.

n 2 Chron. 30:15-17; 35:1,6,11,13; Ezra 6:20-21; Ezek. 6:20-21- the lamb was killed, roasted and eaten to atone for sin and restore communion with God. This foreshadows the true Lamb of God who was sacrificed for our sin and who must now be consumed for our salvation.

It is Finished

n In the ancient days, when the Jewish priest had killed the last lamb of the Passover, he uttered the Hebrew word Kalah, “it is finished.”

n At the end of the passover seder, the priest or celebrant also declares Kalah, “it is finished.”

n Moments before He died on the Cross, Jesus said, Jn 19:30 Kalah (it is finished).

The Apostles and Jewish Worship

n The apostles celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Acts 2:46 "Day by day, attending the Temple together and breaking bread in their homes…"

n When these Jewish Apostles remembered Christ's command, Lk 22:19 "Do this in remembrance of Me," they added it to their synagogue and Temple worship. They began with synagogue prayer and Scripture readings, and then went to their homes to celebrate the Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood.

n To this very day, the Introductory Rite and Liturgy of the Word come directly from Jewish synagogue worship. The Liturgy of the Eucharist comes directly from the Apostles' breaking bread in their homes.

The Lord’s table

n When you go back to the very, very earliest documents in the Church, you will find that communal worship had taken on a very specific form … and centered round the Eucharist

1st Corinthians

n St. Paul explained clearly what "breaking bread" meant.n 1 Cor 10:16 "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a

participation in the Blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the Body of Christ?"

n St. Paul continued, 1 Cor 11:27 "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."

n St. Paul in these words confirmed Catholic teaching that the "bread … of the Lord" is truly Christ's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, and that the "cup of the Lord" is the same substance: "Whoever … eats the bread or drinks the cup … will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord."

1st Corinthians

n St. Paul added, 1 Cor 11:29 "For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself."

n If we receive the Holy Eucharist without acknowledging, at least in our hearts, that it is His true Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, we send ourselves to hell.

1st Corinthians

n No wonder St. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 5:7, “Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us.”

n Therefore, what?n Therefore we don't have any more sacrificial offerings or

ceremonies or feasts and so on to celebrate because all those ceremonies are outdated and done with?

n No. He goes on to say, “Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed for us; therefore, let us keep the feast.”

n And he goes on to talk about how we take out the leaven of insincerity and we have this unleavened bread. What's he talking about? Christ, our Passover has been sacrificed; therefore, we've got to achieve the whole goal of that sacrifice, the second half is communion where we eat the lamb.

1st Corinthians

n 1st Corinthians, 11:23-26. “For I received from the Lord what I shall deliver to you. That the Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way also the cup after supper saying, 'This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes."

1st Corinthians

n "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a coenia, ‘a communion,’ a participation in the blood of Christ?" 1 Cor 10:16

n Not a symbol. But a share, a communion. The bread which we break , is it not a ‘coenia,’ a communion in the body of Christ. "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one bread."

n He doesn't mean to say that there's one enormous loaf that we all take a piece from. There are many loaves of bread. There are many breads in that earthly sense, but there's only one bread in the heavenly sense, and that's Christ. Because we receive from one bread Christ, the Bread of Life, we who are many become one body, namely, the Body of Christ.

n He's suggesting that we become what we eat.

John 6

n "Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand.”

n So everything that transpires within John 6 is within the context of the Passover. Jesus is talking to them now.

n At the time of the Passover, after multiplying these loaves, ending up filling twelve baskets with the fragments from the five barley loaves, He uses that as his point of departure for one of the most important sermons that He ever preaches and also one of the most disastrous from a human perspective.

The Synagogue in Capernaeum

Synagogue in Capernaeum

John 6

n 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 And when they found him across the sea they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered them and said, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." 28 So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." 30 So they said to him, "What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?

John 6

n 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat (Phago). 32 So Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 So they said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

John 6

n 36 But I told you that although you have seen (me), you do not believe. 37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, 38 because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 39 And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him (on) the last day." 41 The Jews murmured about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven," 42 and they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

John 6

n 43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Stop murmuring among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate (Phago) the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat (Phago) it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats (Phago) this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

John 6

n 52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat (Phago)?” 53 Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat (Phago) the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats (Trogo) my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true (alethes) food, and my blood is true (alethes) drink. 56 Whoever eats (Trogo) my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats (Trogo) this bread will live forever." 59 These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

John 6

n 60 Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" 61 Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock you? 62 What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. 65 And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." 66 As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Phago - Trogo

n You may have noticed a not so subtle change in the Greek verb to ‘eat.’n In John 6:50-53 the Greek verb phago, “eating.” is used, which is refers to

simply eat.n However, after the Jews begin to protest at the thought of having to ‘eat,’

Christ’s flesh and drink His blood, in verse 54, John shifts the language from Phago to ... Trogo.

n So what some might ask ...n What many Evangelicals fail to realize or simply ignore, is that the word Trogo

is a decidedly more graphic term, meaning “to chew on” or to “gnaw on”—as when an animal is ripping apart its prey.

n It’s as if Jesus was saying ... No I’m not speaking metaphorically, I said what I mean and I mean what I said! And to empahsize the point He went from Phago-Eat to Trogo-Chew and Gnaw!

n So in no way could John 6 be taken in a metaphorical way ... Jesus meant it literally ... He was pointing to the EUCHARIST!

Jesus Must be Nuts?

n What happened then ... The Jews were shocked and disgusted ...n John 6:60 - as are many anti-Catholics today, Jesus' disciples are scandalized by

these words. They even ask, "Who can 'listen' to it (much less understand it)?”n Jews can’t even touch a dead body.n Jews couldn’t even drink animal blood and now they are expected to drink human

blood …n JESUS MUST BE NUTS!n Wouldn’t we be scandalized too?n It was the only time as recorded in scriptures ... that many of Jesus’s own disciples

left Him. And notice that Jesus didn’t try to call them back and say ... I was only Joking ... I didn’t mean it literally.

n But He didn’t ... again because He said what He meant and he meant what He said!n It would echo what would happen 1500 years later with the coming of the

Protestant Reformation, that would split from the Catholic Church on many doctrinal issues. One of which ... was over the Eucharist!

John 6

n 67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God."

The Last Supper

n Jesus, dressed in the priestly seamless robe (which could only be worn by priests in the Temple liturgical services) offered Himself Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity in what only appeared to be bread and wine to the disciples in the Upper Room.

n This was the first liturgical offering of the sacrifice of the Eucharist Banquet (Jesus' priestly dress signified the liturgical significance of this event).

n At the moment of His death, the huge veil of the temple that separated the people from the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple on the Mt. Moriah was torn in half from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:37; Luke 23:45).

n Jesus' sacrificial death removed the barrier of sin.  No longer will God be separated from His covenant people.  There is also in this passage, the promise of the future Eucharistic heavenly banquet' the Communion of Saints in heaven that is intimately connected to the Eucharistic banquet on earth.

The Last Supper

n On the night before His crucifixion Jesus celebrated and transformed the last legitimate sacrificial Passover meal with His disciples. 

n Through the symbolism of that ancient holy day, Jesus revealed to His disciples that the liberation they celebrated from slavery and death in Egypt was only a foreshadow of the liberation from sin and death that His perfect sacrifice on the Cross would bring to the world. 

n It was that night that He began His walk to the Cross by the giving of Himself, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, to His faithful disciples in the Upper Room. 

The Last SupperThis is - This Represents

n Mk 14:22-24 While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many.“

n Mt 26:26-28 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.“

n Lk 22:15-20 He (Jesus) said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer, for, I tell you, I shall not eat it (again) until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, "Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you (that) from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me." And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you."

Road to Emmaus

n In the Gospel of Luke, (Luke 24:13-35) Jesus suddenly appears walking alongside two of his followers after his resurrection, however his followers did not recognize him to the point that they began to give Jesus the account of his own trial and crucifixion.

Road to Emmaus

n Jesus then proceeded to interpret Scripture passages that made reference to his passion, death and resurrection. Still not recognizing him, the two then asked Jesus to stay with them for a while to which he agreed.

Road to Emmaus

n Later as they were having dinner, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. Luke tells us in verse 31 that it was only when Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them that the two followers recognized him.

n We come to know Jesus in the breaking of the bread, The Eucharist.

n Let us continue to recognize Jesus when we come to his table at Mass, and always remember his words, "This is my body, which will be given for you”

The Lamb Standing as Though Slain

The Lamb Standing as Though Slain

n Many non-Catholic as well as Catholic scholars have noticed that the whole structure of Revelation is a big Passover liturgy where Christ, the Priest King, the firstborn Son and the Lamb looking as though it's been slain conducts and celebrates the heavenly liturgy.

n And the earthly liturgy is meant to be a reflection in that, a participation in that, and the early Church took it for granted. There is the Lamb looking as though it's been slain.

The Lamb Slain from the Foundations of the World

n “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8

n Wait a minute, you might ask. How could the Lamb have been slain from the foundation of the world if Jesus was crucified in 33AD?

n Confusing to a Protestant but a Catholic already knows the answer.

n The sacrifice of our Lord ... the Eucharist, as prefigured throughout the Old Testament ...

n Made manifest at the Last Supper and on Calvary ...

n And as offered on tens of thousands of altars for almost two thousand years ... The Eucharist indeed!

The Lamb

n "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Weep not. Lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, he has conquered so that he can open the scroll and seven seals.'“

n You could almost feel the hallelujah rising up from within your soul. The Lion of the tribe of Judah! You turn. You look and John turns to look and what does he see …

n "And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw," what …

n Aslan, the lion?n No. David crowned with glory?n No.n "I turned and I saw a lamb standing, looking as though it had

been slain.“ Rev 5:5-6

The Lamb Standing as Though Slain

n Jesus Christ is the son of David and the king of the new and heavenly Jerusalem.

n He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah and He is the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world.

n But here in heaven on the throne of glory, after His crucifixion, Hs resurrection, His ascension, His enthronement, He still looks like a lamb. He still looks as though He had been slain.

n Why not clean up the body? Why not wipe away the wounds? Why continue resembling a lamb?

n Because He's continuing the Passover offerings, the sacrifice. Not by dying, not by bleeding and not by suffering but by continuing to offer up Himself as the firstborn and as the unblemished lamb, as the perpetual, timeless, everlasting sacrifice of praise to the Father.

The Everlasting Covenant

n So we have reason to believe that this sacrifice of the New Covenant Passover begun in the Upper Room and consummated on Calvary and ultimately as 1st Corinthians 5 suggests continued and celebrated as a climactic communion on the altars of the Church around the world when we receive the Eucharist in Communion.

n All of this is right from the Bible but you've got to know your Bible.

n Evangelicals have got to get past their anti-catholic prejudices.n You've got to know John. You've got to know Matthew, Mark and

Luke. You've got to know Exodus. You've got to know the Psalms. You've got to know Corinthians and you also have to know Revelation.

n Through the teaching authority of the Magisterium of the Church, the successors of St. Peter.

n Amen!