Prefiguring the Eucharist in the Old Testament

Presented by James J. Bitting Jr.

6/20/17

The Story as the Context • Fr. Hezekias (Institute of Catholic Culture) Lecture

6/18/17 – Genesis is necessary to understand the Eucharist – We can’t understand the Eucharist unless we

understand what we lost in the garden – God intended them to eat from the tree of life

• The Method of the Catechism = All doctrines situated within the framework of Salvation History. – Road to Emmaus (Luke 24; The Craft p. 82-83)

• Model of Biblical Catechesis (Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini 74).

– The Story is the Context for All Doctrines – It conveys the “big picture” giving meaning to all the

details. – We become familiar with the unity of God’s plan

The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation (CCC 1333-1344) -OT, NT, Church (Compare Cavaletti’s “3 stages”)

• OT

– The signs of bread and wine become…the Body and Blood of Christ…they continue also to signify the goodness of creation

– in the Offertory we give thanks to the Creator for bread and wine

– The Church sees in the gesture of the king-priest Melchizedek, who "brought out bread and wine," a prefiguring of her own offering.

– In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in sacrifice among the first fruits

– the Exodus: the unleavened bread that Israel eats every year at Passover… the manna in the desert…

– The "cup of blessing"157 at the end of the Jewish Passover meal adds to the festive joy of wine an eschatological dimension: the messianic expectation of the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

The Eucharist in the Economy of Salvation (CCC 1333-1344) -OT, NT, Church

• NT

– The miracles of the multiplication of the loaves…

– The sign of water turned into wine at Cana…

– the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom…

– The first announcement of the Eucharist divided the disciples… (see Jn 6:52)

– In order to leave them a pledge of this love, in order never to depart from his own and to make them sharers in his Passover, he instituted the Eucharist…

– commanded his apostles to celebrate it until his return…

– It is directed at the liturgical celebration, by the apostles and their successors, of the memorial of Christ

– It was above all on "the first day of the week," Sunday, the day of Jesus' resurrection, that the Christians met "to break bread…

• Hist of Church

– From that time on down to our own day the celebration of the Eucharist has been continued so that today we encounter it everywhere in the Church with the same fundamental structure. It remains the center of the Church's life.

– from celebration to celebration, as they proclaim the Paschal mystery of Jesus "until he comes," the pilgrim People of God advances, "following the narrow way of the cross,"170 toward the heavenly banquet, when all the elect will be seated at the table of the kingdom. (note the eschatological)

Typology

• Typology in General – Definition Typology = “the discernment of realities, events, deeds,

words, symbols, or signs in the Bible that foreshadow the fulfillment of God’s plan in Jesus Christ” (Cf. Roza pgs. 21-23)

– CCC 128-130 – Cavalletti, The History of the Kingdom of God part 1, pgs. 16ff.

• Value of this approach to Biblical Interpretation. – The Church has used this way throughout her history so we are

thinking with the mind of the Church (Cavalletti 17). – Is a practical way of implementing the principle of interpreting in light

of the “content and unity of the whole of Scripture” (Dei Verbum 12). – Fosters contemplation of God who…

• Writes history as humans write books. • Has a plan for man(Cf. Eph 1:3-10; CCC 1). • Reveals this Christocentric plan gradually, in stages, through words and deeds

in history leading to the climax in Christ.

Eucharistic Typology (pre-Moses)

• The Fruit of the Tree of Life

– “the Church commemorates with deep spiritual union the death of the Son of God on the cross; in his cross she sees the tree of life, which blossoms in new hope” (BXVI address 4/6/12)

– See Genesis 2:9, 3:22, 3:24; Rev 2:7, 22:2, 22:14

• Gifts of Abel – Gen 4:2

• Cain kills his brother Abel

• “we should love one another, and not be like Cain who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous” (1 Jn 3:11-12).

• Abel as a type of Christ – Younger Brother, Shepherd, Righteous, Offering best sacrifice, Sacrifice = lamb, murdered though innocent, blood cries out to God, God has Mercy on the Murderer

Eucharistic Typology (pre-Moses)

• Offering of Melchizedek, A Mysterious Priest-King

• “Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything” (Gen 14:18-20).

Eucharistic Typology (pre-Moses) • Sacrifice of Isaac & Ram

caught in a thicket of thorns (Nichols p. 185)

• God provided the sacrifice

• A sign of the resurrection (Hebrews 11:17-19)

Eucharistic Typology (Moses & Exodus)

• Passover & Passover Lamb (Roza 123-124; Pitre 46ff.)

– The first exodus required the sacrifice and eating of the unblemished male lamb

– Jesus’ exodus will require the same (Luke 9:28-31; Pitre 46-48)

– Jesus institutes a new Passover – speaks of his future suffering, body and blood instead of the exodus from Egypt (Pitre 49)

– Crucifixion of the lamb (Pitre 63)

Pitre’s Summary (p. 58) • Step 1-Choose an

unblemished male lamb • Step 2-Sacrifice the lamb • Step 3-Spread the blood of

the lamb on the home as a “sign” of the sacrifice

• Step 4- eat the flesh of the lamb with unleavened bread

• Step 5-every year keep the Passover as a “day of remembrance” of the exodus forever

- “Jesus Identified Himself as the lamb of God whose ‘flesh’ must be both offered and eaten ‘for the life of the world’”(Pitre p. 174). -“Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed…” (1 Cor 5:7) -Chrysostom quote in Roza p. 126

“Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29)

• Blood of the Covenant (Roza 133; Pitre 29) – Ex 6:7; 24:5-11 – the covenant is

sealed by the blood poured on the altar (God) and on the people.

– God will institute a new covenant which surpasses this covenant (see Jer 31:31) • The only time the NT refers to the New

Covenant (Testament) is in reference to the Eucharist. “New Testament” didn’t refer to the written texts until the second century (see Hahn, Consuming the Word)

• Offering of the First Fruits (Roza 131; de Vaux 490-493) – “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the

firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ (1 Cor 15:20-23)

• Manna (Roza 141, 183; Pitre 180-181) [Psalm 78:23-25]

– Ex 16:2-8, 15, 31 “murmuring”

– Jn 6:41-51

• “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…”

Biblia Pauperum

• Typically 40-50 pages

• On a page –

– 4 corners used for explanation

– Central Scene from our Lord’s Life

– Above and below there are images of prophets

– Left & right are scenes from the OT

We read in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis that when Abraham returned from the slaughter of his enemies, bringing with him much spoil which he had wrested from his enemies, then Melchizedek, the high priest of God, brought him bread and wine. Melchizedek is a type of Christ, who at supper gave to His disciples bread and wine - - that is, His body and blood -- to eat and drink.

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We read in the 16th chapter of Exodus that the Lord commanded Moses to tell the people each of them to gather of the manna from heaven enough for himself for the day. Now this manna from heaven which the Lord gave the Israelites is a type of the holy bread, to wit, of His most sacred body, which He Himself gave to His disciples when He said, "Take of this, all ..." etc.

David (Ps. 78.25). Man did eat angel's food.

Proverbs 9.5.

Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled.

Image: Melchisedec meets Abraham Image: Last Supper Image: Manna falls from Heaven They mark the sacred things of Christ which Melchizedek gave to them.

He holds himself in His hands; the food partakes of itself.

Isaiah 55.2.

Hearken ye that hear me, and eat ye that which is good.

Widsom 6.20

Thou didst send them from heaven bread prepared without their labor.

The King sits at supper, surrounded by a company of twelve.

Last Supper

• Bread of the Presence / Cereal Offerings (Roza 144; Pitre 119ff.)

• Lehem ha Pannim = Bread of the Presence/Face (Ex 25:23-24,29-30)

• In Ex 24 Moses, Aaron and 70 elders went up the mountain and “beheld God, and ate and drank” (Ex 24:11).

• Bread and wine present on the table. Consumed by the priests. The Bread itself is a visible sign of the face of God (Pitre 121).

• The Bread of the Presence was a perpetual sign and memorial of the covenant…the flames of the Menorah were to be kept burning when it was present (Pitre 123).

• Incense also on the table indicating the contents on the table constitute an unbloody and “most holy” sacrifice offered every Sabbath(Pitre 124).

• Water from the Rock (Roza 148 [see Ambrose p.150])

• “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ” (1 Cor 10:1-4)

Reasons why Christ instituted the Eucharist

• “so to entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church… – a memorial of his death and

resurrection

– a sacrament of love

– a sign of unity

– a bond of charity

– a Paschal banquet 'in which Christ is consumed, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.'“ (CCC 1323).

• “May partaking of Christ's table sanctify us, we pray, O Lord, that, being made members of his Body, we may become what we have received”

- Proper of Saints – August 28 (St. Augustine) – Prayer after Communion

Sources

• Bible NAB and RSV • Catechism of the Catholic Church • Cavalletti, The History of the Kingdom of God part 1 • De Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions • Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum • Hahn, Consuming the Word • John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia • Nichols, Lovely Like Jerusalem • Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist • Roza, Fulfilled in Christ: The Sacraments Guide to Symbols and Types in

the Bible and Tradition • Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini • Willey et al., The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Craft of

Catechesis • Wood, Speaking the Love of God: An Introduction to the Sacraments

Eucharistic Typology (Moses & Exodus)

• Passover & Passover Lamb (Roza 121; Pitre ?)

• Blood of the Covenant (Roza 133; Pitre ?

• Offering of the First Fruits (Roza 131; de Vaux 490-493)

• Manna (Roza 141, 183; Pitre ?) [Psalm 78:24]

• Bread of the Presence / Cereal Offerings (Roza 144; Pitre ?)

• Water from the Rock (Roza 148 [see Ambrose p.150])

STOP

• Old Testament Passover and Christ

• 1) Lamb – no broken bones or blemishes

• Christ(Lamb of God) – no broken bones on the cross and no sin (Jn 19:33-37).

• 2) Lamb – blood on wooden door posts/frame (the door is attached to the posts/frame).

• Christ – blood on wooden cross (Jesus refers to Himself as the Door in John 10:8-9).

• 3) Lamb – prevented death of firstborn

• Christ – conquers sin and death by the Paschal Mystery

• 4) Lamb – slaughtered at certain time of day, twilight 3pm

• Christ – crucified at the same time the lambs were being slaughtered in the temple, twilight 3pm.

• 5) Lamb – the third cup represented the blood of the Lamb

• Christ – at the Last Supper it was the third cup that Christ changed into His blood of the New Covenant.

• 6)Lamb – required to eat the Lamb.

• Christ – we eat the Body and Blood of Christ when we receive Holy Communion at mass.

• Fruit of tree of life

• Gifts of Abel

• Melchizedek

• Sacrifice of Isaac / The Ram

Later Eucharistic Types

• MAYBE ADD Wisdom’s Banquet (Roza 146)

• New Covenant (Jer 31:31)