While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
Matthew 26, 26-29

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 10, 16

The celebration of the Eucharist for New Covenant believers is based on the event of Christ offering himself as the paschal lamb during the Last Supper. During the traditional sacrificial meal of the Passover lamb, Jesus transformed the ceremony that night. To understand what happened, we need to look at the traditional sequence of events for the Lord's supper. During the Passover Seder meal, Jesus presided over the meal with his apostles who had to drink four cups of wine. Matthew's narrative, however, begins at the serving of the third cup (Berekah), which is known as the "Cup of Salvation" and the "Cup of Blessing." This is because Jesus is looking towards his own immolation as the Passover lamb (Mt 26:29; Mk 14:25). ₁ Paul refers to the Eucharist as the "Cup of Blessing" (Berekah), connecting the Seder meal to the Eucharistic sacrifice (1 Cor 10:16). The third cup represents the Paschal sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb who was slain for our sins (Isa 53:7; Jn 1:29).

Jesus did not serve the fourth cup, also known as the "Cup of Consummation," during the Last Supper, which is a significant omission. This omission connects the Eucharistic sacrifice that was offered during the Seder meal to the sacrifice made by Christ on the cross. In other words, they form one single sacrifice. Therefore, the Last Supper is a preview of our Lord's sacrifice on the cross, which is made present during the Seder meal. This one and the same sacrifice is not completed until Jesus drinks the fourth cup of wine just before dying on the cross. He says, "It is consummated" (Jn 19:29, 30; cf. Mt 27:48; Mk 15:36) to signify the completion of the sacrifice.  ₂

In the Bible, it is said that Jesus was given sour wine on a branch of hyssop. This same branch was used to sprinkle the blood of a lamb on the doorposts during the first Passover (Ex 12:22), as well as in the sacrificial offerings of the Old Covenant by the priests. ₃ This connects Christ's sacrifice to the lambs that were slaughtered and consumed by the Jews during the Seder meal. The Seder meal was completed by drinking the wine in the Cup of Consummation. Therefore, Christ's sacrifice began in the upper room and ended on Mount Golgotha.

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the Catholic Church is a re-enactment of Christ's single sacrifice. It represents the Lord's Supper or Seder meal of the New Covenant, which makes Christ's sacrifice on the cross continuously present as a visible sign of the marriage feast in heaven (Rev 19:9). St. Paul instructs us to worthily celebrate the Eucharistic feast: "Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor 5:8). In other words, we must worthily consume the flesh of the Lamb of God and drink His blood in the Blessed Sacrament to be in holy communion with God and receive the benefits of Our Lord's sacrifice (1 Cor 11:17-22).

The Lord’s Supper is not merely a symbolic memorial meal, as most Protestants believe. Rather, it is a marriage feast that signifies God's establishment of the New Covenant, in which the Eucharist makes Christ's one eternal sacrifice present. This truth is confirmed in the words of consecration used by Jesus in the Last Supper: "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19; cf. 1 Cor 11:24-25). Our Lord is telling us to "Offer this as a memorial sacrifice." The Greek verb "poiein" (ποιεῖν) or "do" is used in the context of offering a sacrifice. For example, in the Septuagint, God uses the same word "poieseis" (ποιέω) in reference to the sacrifice of lambs on the altar (Ex 29:38-39). The noun "anamnesis" (ἀνάμνησις) or "remembrance" also refers to a sacrifice that is actually made present in real-time by the power of God in the Holy Spirit, as it reminds us of the actual event (Heb 10:3; Num 10:10). ₄

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is not just a mere memorial of a past event, but rather a past event made present in time. The Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ is a reminder of what our Lord has accomplished for us and continues to achieve through his single sacrifice. It is not a memorial of something that is already finished and accomplished in time, but an ever-present sacrifice that is made present to us in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Only the crucifixion itself remains a past historical event.

In Leviticus 24:7, it is written that "By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the LORD." In the sacrificial sense, the Hebrew word for "memorial" is "azkarah" (אַזְכָּרָה), which means "to actually make present." The Old Testament uses "azkarah" to refer to sacrifices that are currently being offered and are present in time (Lev 2:2,9, 6:5; 16; 5-12; Num 5:26; 10:10). ₅ Jesus commanded us to offer bread and wine (which are transubstantiated into his body and blood) as a memorial offering. This shows that the sacrificial offering of his body and blood is made present in time over and over again, while also serving as a reminder of what he accomplished for us through his one, single sacrifice of himself. Therefore, the Holy sacrifice of the Mass is sacramentally a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, which began at the Last Supper and historically occurred on Calvary.

In John 6, Jesus speaks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Some Protestants argue that he is speaking metaphorically, and that the bread only symbolizes his body. However, the Greek verbs used in this discourse make it clear that he is speaking literally. In fact, Jesus repeats himself nine times using the verb "phago" which means to physically consume or eat. He does this to challenge the faith of the Jews who were disbelieving, and to emphasize the importance of his message. His use of an even more literal verb "trogo," which means to gnaw or chew, further confirms the literal interpretation. While "phago" can be used metaphorically, "trogo" is never applied symbolically. Many of Jesus' disciples deserted him because they thought he was mad, but those who remained understood the truth of his words. ₆

Jesus stated, "For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" (Jn 6:55) in response to those who refused to believe in what he was saying. Additionally, when Jesus established the sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, he said, "This is my body and blood" (Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19-20), which translates to "Touto estin to soma mou" in Greek, meaning "This is really or actually my body and blood". St. Paul uses the same phraseology in his First Letter to the Corinthians 11:24, reaffirming that "the cup of blessing" and "the bread of which [the Corinthians] partake" is "actual" participation in Christ's body and blood (1 Cor 10:16). The Greek noun "koinonia" (κοινωνία) denotes a "participation" that isn't merely symbolic. 7

In John's Gospel, the Greek text uses the word "sarx" which means "flesh". The phrases "real food" and "real drink" in John 6:55 contain the adjective "alethes" which means "really" or "truly". This word is used to remove any doubt surrounding the reality of something, in this case, it is about Jesus' flesh being food to eat and his blood being something to drink for everlasting life.  Jesus is reassuring his doubters that what he is saying is true. After listening to Jesus' discourse, the Apostles refused to desert him. They attended the Seder meal with him and consumed the flesh of the sacrificed Lamb of God and drank his blood, just as the Jewish people ate the flesh of the sacrificed lamb and were sprinkled with its blood for the forgiveness of sins (Ex 12:5-8; 24:8). 8

Early Sacred Tradition

“For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like
manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh and blood for our
salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the
prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are
nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.”
Justin Martyr, First Apology, 66
(A.D. 155 )

“He acknowledged the cup (which is a part of the creation) as his own blood,
from which he bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of creation) he
affirmed to be his own body, from which he gives increase to our bodies.”
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, V:2,2
(c. A.D. 190)

“It is good and beneficial to communicate every day, and to partake of the holy
body and blood of Christ. For He distinctly says, ‘He that eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood hath eternal life.’ And who doubts that to share frequently in
life, is the same thing as having manifold life. I, indeed, communicate four times a
week, on the Lord’s day, on Wednesday, on Friday, and on the Sabbath, and on the
other days if there is a commemoration of any Saint.”
Basil, To Patrician Caesaria, Epistle 93
(A.D. 372)

“Perhaps you will say, ‘I see something else, how is it that you assert that I receive
the Body of Christ?’ And this is the point which remains for us to prove. And what
evidence shall we make use of? Let us prove that this is not what nature made, but
what the blessing consecrated, and the power of blessing is greater than that of
nature, because by blessing nature itself is changed…The Lord Jesus Himself
proclaims: ‘This is My Body.’ Before the blessing of the heavenly words another
nature is spoken of, after the consecration the Body is signified. He Himself speaks
of His Blood. Before the consecration it has another name, after it is called Blood.
And you say, Amen, that is, It is true. Let the heart within confess what the mouth
utters, let the soul feel what the voice speaks.
Ambrose, On the Mysteries, 9:50
(A.D. 390-391)

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger,
and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
John 6, 35

PAX VOBISCUM