NO GREATER LOVE: THE OLD TESTAMENT BASIS OF THE EUCHARIST

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At the Last Supper, the Lord did something which was very new but was also still based on the Old Covenant. In the New Testament there are four accounts of the institution of the Eucharist. St. Matthew’s Gospel tells us that Jesus blessed and broke bread and gave it to the disciples saying “Take, eat; this is my body” (Mt 26:26) Then He took a chalice, gave thanks and said “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:27-28)

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St. Mark’s Gospel is similar. “Take; this is my body.” (Mk 14:22) The Lord then gives the chalice to the Apostles to drink saying “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mk 14:24).

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St. Luke’s account is somewhat different from Matthew and Mark. Here Jesus takes bread and says “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Lk 22:19) He then takes the chalice and tells the Apostles “This chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Lk 22:20)

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St. Paul also records the Lord’s words at the Last Supper. After giving thanks and breaking the bread, Jesus says, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1Cor 11:24) In the same way, after supper, Jesus takes the chalice and says, “This chalice is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1Cor 11:25)

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The Lord is telling us that He is giving His Body and His Blood for us in a New Covenant. Pope Benedict gives us the Old Testament basis for the Lord’s actions using three Scriptural references.

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In Exodus 24, the Covenant between God and Israel is ratified. In this Covenant God promises to bless Israel in the Promised Land with peace, security, and victory over their enemies if Israel obeyed the Commandments and Laws given to Moses in Exodus 20-23. Moses had written these down, and then he commanded that certain young men kill and offer to God as burnt offerings animals from the flocks of the Israelites. Half the blood of the animals Moses cast on the altar of sacrifice and the other half was put into basins. Moses then read the Mosaic Law to the people and the people promised that they would obey the Mosaic Law. Moses then cast the blood in the basins toward the people saying, “This is the blood of the Covenant that Yahweh has made with you, containing all these rules.” (Ex 24:8) The Covenant between Israel and God was ratified in the body and blood of an animal. Half the blood was cast on the altar toward God and the other halve was cast toward the people who promised to obey the Mosaic Law. Israel immediately broke their part of the Covenant with the golden calf idolatry related in Exodus 32 and many other infidelities to the Covenant after that. Isreal was troubled with many wars, defeats and eventually exile away from the Promised Land because of their infidelities. 

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The book of Jeremiah tells us of a “New Covenant”. “See, the days are coming-it is Yahweh who speaks-when I will make a covenant with the House of Israel (and the House of Judah) but not a covenant like the one I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant of mine so that I had to show them who was master. It is Yahweh who speaks. No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel when those days arrive-It is Yahweh who speaks. Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts. I will be their God and they shall be my people.” (Jr 31:31-33) Pope Benedict explains the meaning of this passage for us. At this moment, the hope of a "new covenant" arises, one that is no longer built upon the perennially fragile fidelity of the human will but that is written indestructibly on men's hearts (cf. Jer 31:33). In other words, the New Covenant must be founded on an obedience that is irrevocable and inviolable. This obedience, now located., at the very root of human nature, is the obedience of the Son, who made himself a servant and took all human disobedience upon himself in his obedience even unto death, suffered it right to the end, and conquered it. 

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God cannot simply ignore man's disobedience and all the evil of history; he cannot treat it as if it were inconsequential or meaningless. Such “mercy", such "unconditional forgiveness" would be that "cheap grace" to which Dietrich Bonhoeffer rightly objected in the face of the appalling evil encountered in his day. That which is wrong, the reality of evil, cannot simply be ignored; it cannot just be left to stand. It must be dealt with; it must be overcome. Only this counts as true mercy. And the fact that God now confronts evil himself, because men are incapable of doing so-therein lies the "unconditional" goodness of God, which can never be opposed to truth or the justice that goes with it. "If we are faithless, he remains faithful-for he cannot deny himself", writes Paul to Timothy (2 Tim 2: 13). 

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The original covenant was ratified in blood. Part of the blood was cast to the altar (to God). The other part was cast to the people. In the New Covenant (The Eucharist), at the Last Supper, Jesus gives His Body and Blood to us in the form of Bread and Wine. He also gives His Body and Blood to the Father on the Cross on Good Friday. His Sacrifice is accepted by the Father on Easter Sunday. This shows again how Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday go together. No part makes sense without the other two parts. 

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Finally, Pope Benedict also cites Isaiah 53:12 as a third scriptural basis of the Eucharist. In this passage, God is speaking of His “Suffering Servant”. “Hence I will grant whole hordes for his tribute, he shall divide the spoil with the mighty, for surrendering himself to death and letting himself be taken for a sinner, while he was bearing the faults of many and praying all the time for sinners.” The “New Covenant” had also to involve the shedding of real blood.to “bear the faults of many”. Of course, the “faults of many” did not crush Him. This passage also refers to the Resurrection, the Lord’s triumph over sin.

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The Church has applied the four songs of the “suffering servant” to Jesus Christ. (Is 42:1-9, 49;1-6, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12). Pope Benedict has pointed out that the narratives of the Last Supper, Crucifixion, and Resurrection were not created or molded to conform to Old Testament Scriptures. Rather, the Old Testament Scriptures explained and interpreted the events of the Gospels and visa-versa. In the Book of Acts, an Ethiopian eunuch is puzzled by the meaning of part of the fourth Suffering Servant Song. The deacon Philip preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ which makes quite clear that the Suffering Servant is Jesus Christ. The eunuch then asks to be baptized by Philip. Here, the New Testament was used to explain the Old Testament. (Acts 8:26-40) 

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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Mt 5:17) The Lord’s institution of the Eucharist is an example of His fulfillment of several Old Testament scriptures. The Lord fulfilled the goal of the animal sacrifices of Exodus, provided the “New Covenant” predicted by Jeremiah, and fulfilled the promise of the Suffering Servant predicted by Isaiah. Many modern scholars and theologians, however, assert than Jesus superseded the Old Covenant’s emphasis on Law and John the Baptist’s call for reform and repentance before the coming Judgment. John’s stern message of penance, reform and repentance was replaced by Jesus Christ’s message of peace, love and forgiveness in the Kingdom of God. 

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Traditionally, the Church has rejected the idea that Jesus abolished the teachings of the Law and the prophets. To receive the Eucharist, a person is required to be in the “state of grace”. (free of mortal sin). Why? John the Baptist came to be “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” (Mt 3:3 quoting Is 40:3) John did this by preaching in the manner of Old Testament Prophets that people need to flee from the “wrath to come” (Mt 3:7) by repentance, confession of their sins and being baptized with water as a sign of their repentance. They had to turn away from their sins and return to the teachings of the Mosaic Law and the prophets.

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The gospels relate that many from the Jordan valley area, where John was preaching, did repent of their sins and received John’s Baptism with water. Jesus tells us that even tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. “For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and harlots believed him.” (Mt 21;32)

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Of course, John’s message of repentance and conversion was a preparation for the ministry of Jesus and especially the Eucharist. Just as John had to turn people away from sin before they could receive and accept Jesus, we need to turn away from sin through the Sacrament of Penance, if we are not in the state of grace, before we can receive the Lord in the Eucharist. 

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Many modern people would like to skip over John’s message of repentance and conversion and proceed right to the message of Jesus. Yet, how can we truly love our neighbor the way Jesus did if we rationalize our sins against them? Jesus said, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers” (Mt 7:21-23) – Jim Nugent, CfP