Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper

by Brant Pitre

“How can you Catholics teach that bread and wine actually become Jesus’ body and blood?

“Don’t you understand that if the Lord’s Supper were really Jesus’ body and blood, then you would be eating Jesus. That’s cannibalism!” Then, pausing for dramatic effect, he said, “Don’t you realize that if you were really able to eat Jesus, you would become Jesus?”

I also had no recollection of ever not believing, or even doubting for a single moment, that the Eucharist was really the body and blood of Jesus. That might sound hard to believe, but it’s true. I had just accepted it by faith.

But when I opened that Bible, something remarkable happened.

I just opened up my Bible, looked down, and immediately saw these words of Jesus, written in red letters:

If you really want to know who Jesus was and what he was saying and doing, then you need to interpret his words and deeds in their historical context. And that means becoming familiar with not just ancient Christianity but also with ancient Judaism.

You will find that many ancient Jews were waiting for much more than just a military Messiah. You will find that many of them were waiting for the restoration of Israel in a new exodus.

The essentials of this new exodus can be summarized by four key events: (1) the coming of a new Moses; (2) the making of a new covenant; (3) the building of a new Temple; and (4) the journey to a new promised land.

According to Jewish tradition, in the new world created by God, the righteous will no longer feast on earthly food and drink, but on the “presence”

As any ancient Jew would have known, if there is going to be a new exodus, then it would seem that there would need to be a new Passover as well.

Five times the Bible states that they must “eat” the lamb; five times it emphasizes the sacrificial meal. The Passover was not completed by the death of the victim, but by a “communion” of sorts—by eating the flesh of the sacrifice that had been killed on your behalf.

They point out that the word commonly rendered as presence is actually the Hebrew word for face (panim). Therefore, the most literal translation of the Hebrew is the Bread of the Face.

The Four Cups of Wine

1st Cup: Introductory Rites; 2nd Cup: The Proclamation of Scripture; 3rd Cup: Eating of the Meal; 4th Cup: Concluding Rites

According to the Mishnah, it was forbidden to drink any wine “between the third and the fourth cups” (Pesahim 10:7). This fourth cup of wine was known as the cup of praise—in Hebrew, the hallel cup. When it was drunk, the Passover meal was complete.

It means that Jesus did in fact drink the fourth cup of the Jewish Passover. It means that he did in fact finish the Last Supper. But he did not do it in the Upper Room. He did it on the cross. He did it at the very moment of his death.

“Daily” (epiousios) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Taken in a temporal sense, this word is a pedagogical repetition of “this day,” to confirm us in trust without reservation. Taken in the qualitative sense, it signifies what is necessary for life.… Taken literally (epi-ousios: “super-substantial”), it refers directly to the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, the