Revisioning the Lord's Supper as a Covenant Renewal Meal
Wineskins Contributor・04/13/19
When Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” in Luke 22:19, the question would soon have to be answered by the Christian community as to exactly what they would be celebrating. Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have grappled with this statement of Christ. The Lord’s Supper has been a subject of much exegetical and theological debate as to the nature of the Supper, the frequency of its celebration in the life of the Church, and its sacramental or nonsacramental nature.
This essay will come to the Supper from another angle. For a long period of time the debate has centered around the concept of the real presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. Since the sixteenth century, Christians have been divided on whether Jesus is truly, mystically, and sacramentally present in the elements of the bread and wine. Some have simply asserted that the Lord’s Supper is purely a memorial service. Paul Blowers challenges the simple memorial view of the Supper by stating, “it was never merely a repeated funeral for the martyred Jesus.”[1] Blowers points out that the Lord’s Supper was viewed as a multilayered mystērion by the earliest Christians.[2] The simple debate that devolved into the either/or of the sacramental versus the memorial view may have clouded some biblical concepts that can be recovered by rigorous exegesis and by reading the Bible as a complete story. A reassessment of the biblical data and renewal of emphasis may help this impasse.
This essay proposes that looking atthe Supper through the lens of the Old Testament covenant meals will givetheologians, ministers, and lay people a new perspective on what exactly happensduring the Supper. This discovery haspractical ministerial applications. Ifthe Lord’s Supper is truly a covenant renewal meal it gives new emphasis to theSunday assembly and the shape of that assembly.[3] For many free-church and Zwinglian influencedchurches the view of the Supper as a covenant renewal will challenge the viewof the Supper as being purely a memorial.
To achieve an understanding of theLord’s Supper as a covenant renewal meal some groundwork will need to be laiddown. Part of this foundational work will be exploring the possibility ofantecedents for the Lord’s Supper, found in the Jewish Scripture, as a lensthrough which to understand the institution narratives found in the SynopticGospels as well as Paul. It will pick up those antecedents and explore thepossibility of understanding the Lord’s Supper in sacrificial terms. Theestablishment of a connection between the Lord’s Supper and sacrificial termsis critical due to the connection of sacrifice and covenant. Because this conceptof sacrifice and covenant is so important, this essay will show therelationship between sacrifice and covenant in the Jewish Scriptures. Afterthis, the pertinent phrases of Jesus from the Last Supper will be investigatedin light of the subject of this exploration. Lastly, the essay will considerthe Supper in light of covenant renewal and explore the ramifications of thisunderstanding for practical ministry.
ANTECEDENTS TO THE LORD’S SUPPER
Hartmut Gese points out the following concerning the background to the Lord’s Supper:
Even if we hold that the Lord’s Supper had its origin in a specific situation in the life of Jesus, we cannot ignore the assumptions and the traditions that lie behind it. Deriving an observance from a situation is not an alternative to understanding it in terms of tradition. Neither is it the purpose of a historical investigation to ignore what is specific and distinctive. By investigating the origin of the Lord’s Supper in the pre-Christian tradition, we are not overlooking what is distinctive; we are seeking to understand it correctly.[4]
Gese skillfully points out that an investigation into the Lord’s Supper will not to rob the Supper of its Christian distinctiveness, or its central role in the life of the church, but the purpose of understanding the Supper’s background is to bring more meaning and significance to the Church. One must consider how the earliest Christians would have understood the Lord’s Supper in light of the revealed Scripture of Israel. It is a legitimate pursuit to delve into the possible traditions and assumptions that shaped the early Christian understanding as to what exactly took place at Jesus’s Last Supper, and how that understanding related to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in the life of the Church.
The PassoverFeast and the Lord’s Supper
The most obvious antecedent through which to filter the action of Jesus is the Passover feast of the Jews.[5] The Passover is a fitting backdrop for Jesus to institute the Lord’s Supper due to the Jewish expectations swirling around the Passover feast. Joachim Jeremias demonstrates the Passover, in the time of Jesus, was a feast looking ahead toward a final deliverance in which the Exodus from Egypt was only a prototype.[6] Jeremias also points out that Messianic hopes and expectations were tightly bound to the time of Passover.[7] Understanding the Jewish expectations that were connected to Passover will shed light on the words and actions of Jesus at the Final Supper.
One could proposethat the understanding of the Lord’s Supper is multilayered, and the Passovergives one lens through which to observe the Lord’s Supper.[8] Jeremiaspoints out that the Lord’s Supper is to be considered in light of the PassoverSeder due to fourteen parallels witnessed between the Gospel accounts and theSeder customs.[9] In 1 Cor 5:7–8Paul makes it clear that Jesus’ sacrifice is connected with the Passover lamb. Forthe thesis of this paper, examining the Passover as a possible background tothe Supper is helpful due to the Passover’s connection to covenant renewal. ThePassover celebration immediately followed the renewal of the covenant withJoshua (Josh 3:7–5:12). The Passover feast also accompanied the covenant renewaland reform of Josiah (2 Kgs 23). Taking note of the close connection betweenthe Passover feast and the times of covenant renewal in the Jewish Scripturesdemonstrates the importance of examining the Passover for the purpose ofconnecting the Lord’s Supper with covenant renewal.
Since the Lord’sSupper occurred during the Passover feast of the Jews, it will help to examinewhat is known about the structure of the Passover meal during the time ofJesus. According to the Mishnah, the Passover meal had a basic fourfoldstructure: a small preliminary meal, the Passover liturgy, the main meal, andthe concluding rights.[10]If this pattern reflects first-century custom, one can reason from thisinformation that the breaking of bread by Jesus would have occurred before themain meal, but the cup that Jesus offered would have occurred after the mainmeal as Luke tells us in Luke 22:20.[11]Jesus clearly departs from the Passover liturgy when He pronounces that thebread is “My body which is given for you” and by calling the cup “the newcovenant in my blood.” There is a definite continuity and discontinuity as onecompares the celebration of the Passover to what occurred in the Lord’s Suppernarrative of the Gospels.[12]One can quickly discern that the early Christian community did not understandthe Lord’s Supper to be a re-creation of the Passover feast because thePassover is a yearly feast, and the Lord’s Supper was at least a weeklycelebration in the early Church.[13] By the synoptic tradition’s singling out thebread and the cup from the Passover setting it becomes obvious that thoseelements will be the focus of this new celebration. Only after the crucifixionand resurrection, could the earliest Christians understand exactly the referentto which to attach the Last Supper of Jesus. One cannot understand the LastSupper without the passion and resurrection of Jesus. Also, it should be noted that one of thefullest explanations of the meaning of the cross is given by Jesus at the LastSupper. It appears that the cross and Supper are inseparable and both castmeaning on one another. The sacrificial death of Jesus can be connected to thePassover, and the Passover provides a beautiful background by connecting thework of Jesus as a type of new exodus.[14] Also, one cannot ignore the deficiencies ofthe Passover liturgy as the Sitz im Leben for the Lord’s Supper intoto.[15]When one considers the deficiencies of the Passover as being the onlyantecedent for the Lord’s Supper, it is evidence that a more holistic approachmust be attempted at understanding the background of the supper. The Passoveris just one of the many lens through which to view the Lord’s Supper.
The Todah Offering and theLord’s Supper
Another possible Old Testament lens through which to view the supper is the thank (todah) offering of Israel. The thank (todah) offering is important to this current investigation due to connection of this sacrifice to the Davidic Kingdom. As will be demonstrated below, the todah sacrifice would be especially connected to God’s covenant with David. The thank offering, more specifically, was usually offered by someone that had been delivered from great peril.
According to Leviticus, the todah was a subset of the peace offering (sh’lamim) (Lev 7:11–17). The sh’lamim offering was multifaceted and the Hebrew word behind this offering has been interpreted as peace offering, communion offering, or fellowship offering.[16] Specifically, the sh’lamim is broken down into the thank (todah) offering, vowed (neder) offering, and the freewill (nedaba) offering (Lev 7:11–17 ).[17] The general occasion for a peace offering would be for the following reasons: for an unexpected blessing, for deliverance when a vow was made, and for general thankfulness.[18] Jacob Milgrom points out that the purpose of all of the types of the peace offering is to “provide a ritual by which all the Israelites could acknowledge the miracles of their lives and express gratitude for them.”[19] Usually the todah sacrifice was offered by someone who had been delivered from peril and came to God with a heart of thankfulness. Examples of todah being offered in the Hebrew Scriptures would be Jonah promising to offer a todah in the Temple if he is delivered (Jon 2:3–10), and Hezekiah offering up a todah song at his deliverance from his life-threatening illness (Isa 38).[20] There are four compelling reasons to consider the todah as a background to understanding the Supper and they are the following: the Passover and todah sacrifice were closely related to one another in Jewish thought, Justin Martyr connects the Supper with the leper’s thank offering, the concept of the New Exodus and its connection with the Davidic covenant, and the possible connection between 1 Cor 10:18 and the todah sacrifice.
The Todah Sacrifice and Passover
C. John Collins posits that the early church (immediately after the Apostles) began to see the Lord’s Supper in terms of a Christian sacrifice.[21] If Collins’s assertion is true, it becomes evident that the Passover provides an inadequate background for this understanding. The weekly repeated pattern of the Lord’s Supper demonstrates that the early Christians saw the Supper through an augmented Passover lens or through multiple Jewish antecedents. Jutta Leonhardt points out that in Philo’s writings about the Jewish festivals the Passover feast was special because the laity had the purity of priests and could offer the sacrifice.[22] Leonhardt goes on to propose that the entire Passover feast can be categorized as a time of thanksgiving and a festival of thanks-offering.[23]
Stephen Pimental andBrant Pitre claim that both the Passover and the todah were peaceofferings.[24]The closest scriptural connection between the Passover and the peace offeringcan be found in 2 Chr 30:21–22 which states:
the sons of Israel present in Jerusalem celebrated the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day after day with loud instruments to the Lord. Then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the Lord. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord God of their fathers. (NASB)
This passage shows that during the seven-day cycle of the feast of Unleavened Bread there were peace offerings being performed. It cannot be stated for sure that the Passover meal and the peace offering were one and the same, or that the Passover feast was a subset of the peace offering. What can be determined is that there were similarities between the Passover meal and the peace offering. Both in the Passover feast and in the peace offering the worshipper was allowed to eat the sacrificed victim. One can take this a step further by looking at the todah’s similarity with the Passover meal. Passover and the todah had elements that separated them from the peace offering such as the following: unleavened bread, an assumed narrative of deliverance, and the requirement to consume the sacrifice entirely on the day it is offered.[25] The Passover feast also employed Ps116, which is part of the Hallel Psalms, and it follows the todah pattern.[26] In Ps 116 the psalmist laments his suffering to the point of death (v. 3) and prays that God would deliver him (v. 4).[27] When God delivers the psalmist the response is a sacrificial meal in which wine is consecrated (vv. 12–13), and the sacrifice described in the final section is classified as a todah sacrifice (v. 17).[28] Josephus sheds more light on the possible connection between the Passover and todah when he says the Israelites "offered sacrifices of thanksgiving (χαριστηρίους) because the divine will had brought them again to the land of their Fathers and to the laws of this land."[29] Josephus gives a possible direct link to the todah and Passover by calling the sacrifices offered during the time of Passover thanksgiving sacrifices. The Greek word χαριστηρίους that Josephus uses to refer to the sacrifices during Passover will be important later in this essay due to its connection to early Christian language used to refer to the Lord’s Supper. One can see a possible connection between the Passover meal and the todah offering. Since the Passover feast was connected to the todah offering in the time of Christ, it is not a giant leap to consider the todah sacrifice as one background to understanding the Lord’s Supper.[30] Reasons to connect the Passover to the todah are the following: both in the Passover and the todah sacrifice the laity could participate in the sacrifice, both celebrations allowed for the celebrants to eat the sacrificed victim, both sacrifices marked a time of thanksgiving due to God’s deliverance, 2 Chr 30:21–22 connects the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a time marked by peace offerings, one of the Hallel Psalms sung at Passover has been categorized as a Psalm to be used in the liturgy of the todah offering, and Josephus refers to the offerings during Passover as thanksgiving sacrifices.
Justin Martyr and the TodahOffering
Justin, in his dialogue with Trypho, makes a connection between the thank offering made by a leper in Lev 14 with the Eucharist. Justin’s attitude toward the Eucharist is important because it dates to the middle of the second century and gives us an early insight into the understanding of the Lord’s Supper by the generation that comes immediately after the apostolic age. In making the case for a connection between the Eucharist and the todah sacrifice, the following quotation from Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho is critical for the argument:
“Likewise,” I continued, “the offering of flour, gentlemen, which was ordered to be presented for those cleansed from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, which our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us to offer in remembrance of the Passion that he endured for all those souls who are cleansed from sin, and that at the same time we should thank God for having created the world, and everything in it, for the sake of mankind, and for having saved us from the sin in which we were born, and for the total destruction of the powers and principalities of evil through him who suffered in accordance with his will.
Thus, as I stated already, God speaks through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, concerning the sacrifices you then offered up to him, I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord and will not receive your sacrifices from your hands. For from the rising of the sun even to its going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a clean oblation; for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord, but you profane it.”
By making reference to the sacrifices which we Gentiles offer to him in every place, namely, the bread of the Eucharist and the chalice of the Eucharist, he predicted that we should glorify his name, but that you should profane it.[31]
Justin makes adirect reference to the leper’s thank offering for healing as a type of theEucharist. This provides early evidence that Christians in the mid-secondcentury were making a connection between the thank offerings of Israel and whattakes place at the Lord’s Table. In his Dialoguewith Trypho 41, Justin also quotes Mal 1:10–12 in reference to a puresacrifice that would continue into the Messianic age, and many of the prophetspointed toward an age when the thank offering would continue. Justin actuallyuses sacrificial language and directly connects it to the Lord’s Supper in thatsame passage. In Dialogue with Trypho 41, Justin refers to the bread asἄρτος τῆς εύχαριστίας.[32]Hartmut Gese quotes from Pesiqta de RabKahana and claims that in rabbinic thinking Malachi 1:10–12 was interpretedas a todah offering.[33]“In the coming Messianic age all sacrifices will cease, but the thank offering[todah] will never cease.”[34]According to Leviticus Rabbah 9:7 andPesiqta Rabbati 12 many rabbis lookedto the ending of the sacrificial system of the Second Temple period to give wayto a Messianic Age that would focus on a todah-centric sacrificialsystem. There is a universal aspect of the todah that is found inJustin’s thoughts when he makes reference to the Gentiles. In connecting thelines of thought, one can see that Mal 1:10–12 has a history of beinginterpreted as a todah sacrifice, and in Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho 41 there is an early Christian sourceconnecting the passage from Malachi directly to the Lord’s Supper.
New Exodus, The Davidic Kingdom,Covenant, and Todah
The period of Second Temple Judaism was shaped by a hope for vindication. N. T. Wright frames the situation in the following terms:
The great story of the Hebrew scriptures was therefore inevitably read in the second-temple period as a story in search of a conclusion. This ending would have to incorporate the full liberation and redemption of Israel, an event which had not happened as long as Israel was oppressed, a prisoner in her own land.[35]
This hope for liberation is tied together with the expectation of a new exodus in which the Messiah would become a new Moses.[36] Israel was waiting for God to conclude his story of redemption in the messianic age. The old covenant that Moses established was put in place with a burnt offering, peace offering, ratification of the covenant, and a fellowship meal in the presence of God on Sinai (Exod 24:9–11).[37] Understanding the method in which God established the old covenant with Moses may shed light on how God would form his new covenant in the age to come. Jeremiah speaks of a new covenant that God would establish with all Israel.
“Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Jer 31:31–33 NASB).
A few striking details stand out inthis text. First of all, God will establish a new covenant with His people andtherefore it is differentiated from the covenant made with Moses. Secondly,this covenant is made with the two southern tribes found in Judah and the tennorthern tribes. Isaiah 11:11–13 also speaks of a restoration of the twelvetribes of Israel to the land and a time of renewal.[38]This would be a difficult task because of the scattering of the ten northerntribes by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. The new covenant will also focus on theinternalization of the covenant.
As was presented prior, there is apossible connection between the todah and the Passover, and this is animportant point when one considers the concept of a new exodus. N.T. Wright pointsout the expectation of the new exodus and its connection to the Passover whenhe states the following:
“Passover looked back to the exodus, and on to the coming of the Kingdom. Jesus intended this meal to symbolize the new exodus, the arrival of the kingdom trough his own fate. The meal, focused on Jesus’s actions, with the bread and the cup, told the Passover story, and Jesus’s own story, and wove the two into one.”[39]
Wright shows that the Passover feast was a natural time for Jesus to inaugurate a new exodus and a true return from exile. Another piece of the puzzle that helps this connection come into focus is the LXX version of Jer 38:7–9 (MT’s Jer 31: 7–9). According to the Septuagint, the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the new covenant explains that the establishment of this new covenant would come during the feast of Passover.[40] The todah and Passover both have connections to the concept of the new exodus and the establishment of a new covenant.
Part of the expectation of a newexodus is bound up in the expectation of God’s placing of a Davidic King backon the throne of Israel.[41]In 2 Sam 6 the text tells of David bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Zion,which leads to God making an everlasting covenant with David in 2 Samuel7. This covenant made with David would also shape much of the expectations ofSecond Temple Judaism in that the new exodus was tied together with the returnof the Davidic King.[42]Of the importance of the Davidic covenant Michael Barber states the following:
In all of this, then, we see how the Davidic covenant is not simply a private oath sworn to David. It is a climatic event in the history of God’s covenant dealings with mankind in the Old Testament. Through the Davidic king, God will restore his covenant relationship with humanity that was lost since Adam fell at the dawn of time.[43]
This future return from exile andnew exodus will also be marked with a change in the entire focus of the cult ofIsrael. The Old Testament comes to an end in the book of Malachi with apossible prophecy about sacrifice in the age to come to focus on the todah sacrifice.Earlier in this essay it was demonstrated that rabbinical interpretations ofMal 1:10–12 with that of Justin Martyr connected this passage to the todah sacrificeand the Lord’s Supper. If those assumptions are correct, one can see Malachi,as one of the later prophets of the Jewish Scriptures, looking forward to atime of the todah sacrifice as the only sacrifice remaining in themessianic age to come.[44]
Scott Hahnproposes that the covenant made with David concerning the kingdom will beshaped by the todah, and this covenant looks forward to a universalopening to all nations so that even the Gentiles will be able to truly worshipGod.[45]The fulfillment of the Davidic covenant will be marked by todah and willinclude all the nations. In this new time of deliverance, the Deuteronomiccovenant will finally reach its main objective of the circumcised heart with aninternalization of God’s teachings. According to Barber:
The todah Psalms are principally a request to be delivered from suffering. Deliverance is not understood as the alternative to the self-offering of the individual, but as the acceptance of his sacrifice, since it reveals that the Lord has truly heard his prayer. The todah represents the internalization of and, thus, fulfillment of the Deuteronomic covenant.[46]
Barber connects the internalization of the Deuteronomic code with the todah centric worship during and after the reign of David. A time of deliverance, renewal, and heart transformation will mark this new epoch in God’s dealings with Israel.
One passage that pulls the streamsof thought of the new Davidic King, new covenant, and new exodus is found inZech 9:9,11.
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you (italics mine); He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant (italics mine) with you, I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. (italics mine)” (Zech 9:9,11)
Zechariah connects the coming of the king to the images of a blood established covenant and freedom from bondage. Zechariah is casting an eschatological vision of a day when the king would come and a covenant would be established to release the prisoners from Sheol.[47]
All of these hopes of new exodus,the realized Davidic Kingdom, and the internalization of God’s law find theirperfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The hope of the new exodus is marked byfollowing: a Davidic king coming to power, establishment of a new covenant, theexpectation of the new covenant being established at Passover, and the todahsacrifice as the only sacrifice to remain during this epoch. It is alsoimportant to note the connection of the Passover and todah in the comingof the new exodus.
1 Corinthians 10:18 and the TodahSacrifice
The most compelling and complete case one could make in connecting the todah sacrifice to the Lord’s Supper is the proverbial smoking gun of a direct scriptural reference linking the two. One possible direct scriptural link to the Lord’s Supper and the peace offering is found in 1 Cor 10:18. Connecting the Lord’s Supper to the peace offering is important due to the fact that the todah offering was a subset of the peace offering. Johnathan Klawans points out that 1 Corinthians 10:18 underscores the seriousness and legitimacy of Israel’s sacrificial service and connects the Eucharist as similarly serious, legitimate, and efficacious.[48] In 1 Corinthians 10:18 Paul states, “Look at the nation Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?” This passage is interpreted by some as referring to the peace offering. The reason for this interpretation is that only the peace offering would be shared by the people of Israel. The other sacrifices of Israel would only be eaten by the priests. The peace offering is the only offering that could be consumed by the laity.
If this is referring to the peace offering, asGordon Fee asserts, it would be very fruitful to this study because the contextof this passage is Paul’s teaching on the Lord’s Supper.[49]In verses 16–17 of that same chapter Paul says, “Is not the cup of blessingwhich we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which webreak a sharing in the body of Christ? Since there is one bread, we who aremany are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” Paul is linking thetaking of the Lord’s Supper and the sharing (koinonia) in Christ with the sharing of the altar of Israel.
C. John Collinsbelieves this passage forms the backbone of the basis of sacrificial languagein the earliest Christian writers as they relate to the Lord’s Supper.[50]Gordon Fee makes the point that 1 Cor 10:18 is specifically referring to apeace offering such as found in Deuteronomy 14:22–27.[51] Thelogic for seeing this passage’s connection to the peace offering is found inthe fact that only in the peace offering could the laity actually partake inthe sacrifice from the altar. If Fee is correct in his interpretation, it wouldmake a definite connection between the peace offering and the Lord’s Supper. Thiscould explain how sacrificial language arose very early in the history of theChurch surrounding the Lord’s Supper.
Looking at theSupper through the lens of the Passover and the todah sacrifice is veryhelpful in trying to understand how the earliest Christians viewed the Lord’sSupper. The todah sacrifice is an important possible antecedent to theSupper because of the following: the todah had an assumed narrative ofdeliverance, it was connected with covenant making, and its celebration oftable fellowship in the presence of God. Also, it was believed by some that theMessianic age would be identified as a todah centric epoch in thehistory of redemption. In the next section of this paper, the focus will turnto sacrifice and covenant. It will be observed that covenants and covenantmaking were many times accompanied by sacrifice and table fellowship.
COVENANT AND SACRIFICE
One attribute of the Hebrew scriptures that is very helpful for the investigation laid out in this thesis is the connection between sacrifice and covenant making. This connection is important due to the fact that God had promised in Jeremiah 31 to establish a new covenant with all of Israel. It is important to observe the connection in the Hebrew scriptures between covenant and sacrifice as we follow those lines into the New Testament.
Ps 50:5 states,“Gather to me the faithful ones who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Thecovenants that God established in scripture were established by sacrifice andconfirmed in the eating of meals.[52]Throughout the narrative of the Jewish Scriptures God forms and ratifies hiscovenants by sacrifice.[53]In the story of Laban and Jacob found in Genesis 31 the idea of covenant,sacrifice and meal are connected. According to John Mark Hicks the very purposeof God leading Israel out of Egypt was to form a covenant with Israel so thatcommunion could be experienced in the wilderness.[54] InExod 19–24 the ideas of covenant, sacrifice, and fellowship meal are displayedin great detail. Exod 19:3–8 exhibits God’s desire to form a covenant withIsrael, a covenant ratified by blood sacrifice and a meal in Exodus 24. Becauseof this sacrifice and covenant, Moses and the elders are called into God’spresence to experience this sacrifice and covenant making. On Mount Sinai thefollowing takes place: the word of God is spoken and the people affirm it (Exod24: 3), Moses writes down the words of God (Exod 24:7), sacrifices are offered(Exod 24:4–6), the words are read by Moses (Exod 24:7), the people affirm thecovenant along with blood being sprinkled from the sacrifice (Exod 24:7–8), andMoses and the elders sit and eat in the presence of God (Exod 24:9–11). In thisexample of covenant making we see many of the same elements that are found inthe todah sacrifice of Israel. Just as the example of God’s covenantwith Israel on Mount Sinai, so also in the todah we see sacrifice and ameal in the presence of God. The idea of meal and covenant being closely linkedsheds light on our current investigation due to the fact that Jesus identifiesthe cup of the Lord’s Supper with the “new covenant in my blood.” Richard Haysdirectly connects the institution narrative in Matthew’s Gospel with Exod 24when he states the following:
Just as Moses and the chief men of the people ate and drank in the presence of God, so also the twelve disciples (Matt 26:20) eat and drink in the presence of God in order to celebrate and solemnize the covenant of which Jesus speaks—a covenant that foreshadows an eschatological future (“that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom”) in which God’s presence with Israel will be fully realized and celebrated.[55]
With the echoes of Exod 24 playing in the background of Matthew 26 one can see the close connection between the establishment of the old covenant with sacrifice and the establishment of the new covenant with sacrifice. God established his covenant with Israel at Sinai through animal sacrifice, and he forms his new covenant through the sacrifice of Jesus and his blood.
Covenant and Sacrificial Language inthe Institution Narrative
If one is to posit that the Lord’s Supper is possibly connected to covenant making and covenant renewal the most obvious place to look would be in the institution narratives of the Lord’s Supper. This essay will not try to work back to an original narrative or pit the “Lukan-Pauline” narrative over and against the “Markan-Matthean” narrative of the Supper. This current study will look at basic elements that appear in all of the narrative traditions of the Supper.
The Blood of the Covenant
All four accounts of Jesus’ words over the cup of the Last Supper agree in claiming that Jesus takes a cup of wine, and speaks words of interpretation over it in which he identifies “my blood” with the establishment of a “covenant.”[56] In the accounts of Mark and Matthew, Jesus explicitly says that this “blood is being poured out for many” while Luke and 1 Corinthians connect the blood with the formation of a “new covenant.”[57] What does it mean for Jesus to establish a new covenant in his blood? How would the first-century reader understand these words of Jesus in the context of the Jewish Scriptures? What does Jesus mean by stating that his “blood is being poured out for the many?” These important questions must be addressed if one is to work toward an understanding of the narrative as it relates to covenant.
The basic issue atplay is the connection of Jesus’ blood (haima) to the establishment of acovenant (diathēkē). As was mentioned prior, Exodus 24 gives us a fullpicture of God forming a covenant with His people through blood sacrifice andthen celebrating that covenant through table fellowship. Many commentatorspoint to Exodus 24 as a background to understanding Jesus’ words concerning hisblood and covenant.[58]Pitre acknowledges that Exodus 24 is the most explicit connection to the wordsof Jesus in the institution narrative, but it is not the only backgroundpassage.[59]The following is the main passage that many believe is in the background ofJesus’ words:
Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. Moses alone, however, shall come near to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.” Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar (italics mine). Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words (italics mine).” Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank (italics mine). (Exodus 24:1–11)
The similaritiesin the account found in Exodus 24 and the Lord’s Supper institution passagesare striking. In the Markan-Matthean account of the Supper, Jesus’identification of the cup with “my blood of the covenant” (to haima mou tēs diathēkē)parallel the words of Moses “the blood of the covenant” (haima tēs diathēkē)found the LXX of Exodus 24:8.[60]The original readers would have certainly understood Jesus’ words to have aconnection to the covenant ceremony at Sinai.
Another similarityis found in the image of Jesus’ blood being “poured out” in sacrifice in theMarkan-Matthean accounts. This image is similar to the blood of the peaceoffering being “thrown against” or “poured out” on the altar as is reported inExodus 24:6.[61]The image of Jesus’ blood being poured out and the blood being poured upon thealtar at Sinai are pictures of sacrificial libations of blood.[62]
Next, one symbolicaction that Jesus accomplishes at the Last Supper is eating in the presence ofthe twelve disciples. Pitre proposes the twelve disciples of Jesus representthe twelve tribes of Israel.[63]One can see the connection between the Last Supper and Moses’ covenant ceremonyat Sinai when it is observed that Moses forms the covenant with the twelvetribes of Israel. In Exodus 24:4 we witness Moses build an altar with twelvepillars to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. The connection between theforming of the new covenant through the blood of Jesus with his new communityof twelve is obvious when one considers that Moses ratifies the covenant withGod in blood with the twelve tribes of Israel.
It should be remembered that Jesus speaks of his blood andthe covenant in the context of a banquet. Moses’ covenant ceremony culminatesin a heavenly banquet where Moses and the elders of Israel are invited toascend the mountain and eat in the presence of God.[64] Inputting the Exodus 24 text in summary, the reader can observe that burntofferings and peace offerings are offered to God. Blood is poured out to bindIsrael to the covenant, and a banquet is participated in to celebrate this newcovenant relationship.
Jerry Hwang focuses on Paul’s statement in 1 Cor 11:25 of “the new covenant in my blood” in relation to covenantal feasting.[65] Hwang points out that past scholarly studies focused on the words “new covenant” in its relation to Jer 31:31.[66] Hwang asserts that what scholars have overlooked in the past was the genitival relationship between “blood” (τὸ αἵμα) and “covenant”(τὴσ διαθήκης).[67] This is important due the fact that this genitival connection between blood and covenant only appears in the LXX version of Exod 24:8 and Zech 9:11.[68] Hwang goes on to conclude that Paul’s argument in 1 Cor 10 is centered around covenantal feasting as it relates to the abuses of the Corinthian church and the Lord’s Supper.[69]
In summary,several aspects of the Institution Narrative of the Lord’s Supper present uswith significant parallels to Exod 24. The following are the most obviousparallels: Jesus’ identification of the cup with “my blood of the covenant,”the image of Jesus’ blood being “poured out,” the celebration of this covenantmeal with the twelve disciples, and the context of the blood of the covenantwith a banquet meal. Michael Barber sums up these connections by stating thefollowing:
all four accounts have Jesus linking his blood with the motif of a covenant while celebrating a meal mirrors not only Moses’ words concerning the “blood of the covenant” but also the fact that the ceremony in Exodus 24 culminates in a sacred feast (Exodus 24:8-11). These points of contact are too strong and numerous to be written off as mere coincidence.[70]
When one considers the connection of the phrase “my blood of the covenant” to Exod 24 and Zech 9 some fruitful insight starts to emerge. The phrase “my blood of the covenant” refers to the atoning blood of Jesus as well as a future release of the captives.[71] The future release of the captives achieved by the blood of Jesus is reminiscent of the bloody sacrifice of the Passover lamb on the occasion of the Exodus.[72] By attaching the “blood of the covenant” to the cup, Jesus is pointing the disciples to the atoning nature of his blood as well as the new exodus achieved by the release of the captives.
Do This!
When Jesus commanded, “Do this!” the question would soon have to be answered by the Christian community as to exactly what they would be celebrating.[73] When considered in the cultic actions of Israel, the command to “do this” (touto poieite) (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24–25) takes on new meaning.[74] Barber contends that the phrase “do this” has cultic connotations that connect Jesus’ commands with the cultic actions found the Jewish Scriptures.[75] Two passages from the Jewish Scriptures that bring out this possible cultic connection are Exodus 29:31–33, 35 and Numbers 15:8–11, 15.
“You shall take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the doorway of the tent of meeting. Thus they shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy. “Thus you shall do (LXX poiēseis…houtōs) to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; you shall ordain them through seven days. (Exodus 29:31–33, 35)
When you prepare a bull as a burnt offering or a sacrifice, to fulfill a special vow, or for peace offerings to the Lord, then you shall offer with the bull a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-half a hin of oil; and you shall offer as the drink offering one-half a hin of wine as an offering by fire, as a soothing aroma to the Lord. Thus it shall be done (LXX houtōs poiēseis) for each ox, or for each ram, or for each of the male lambs, or of the goats. As for the assembly, there shall be one statute for you and for the alien who sojourns with you, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; as you are, so shall the alien be before the Lord. (Numbers 15:8–11, 15)
When consideringJesus commands to “do this” one can see the possible connection between Jesuswords and the cultic, repeated actions in the sacrificial system of Israel.When Jesus utters touto poieite during theinstitution narrative one could possibly hear the resonant echoes of God’scommand in Israel’s priestly ordination rite (Exodus 29), and God’s specialinstructions for burnt offerings and peace offerings (Numbers 15). This opensthe possibility that Jesus command to “do this” has cultic implications and canbe connected to the concept of sacrifice. Jeremias strengthens this possibleconnection by connecting touto poieite with Exod 29 and Num 15 as wellas the Qumran texts.[76]Jeremias asserts that touto poieite is specifically designated to be usedas a repetition of a rite as is evidenced in the Jewish Scriptures and theQumran texts.[77]With this in mind, one could understand that Jesus meant the Supper to be arepeated rite that had sacrificial connotations.
Remembrance
When Jesus toldhis followers to “do this,” he specifically told them to do this in“remembrance of me.” Pitre proposes that the concept of “remembrance” isconnected to the Jewish Scriptures and the idea of ritualized reenactment.[78]Pitre states, “the ritualized reenactment of the Passover sacrifice that setthe exodus in motion is consistently associated with the remembrance of theoriginal saving event.”[79]With Jesus’ command to repeat his actions “in remembrance of me” (anamnēsin)in mind, one might compare the following passages from the Jewish Bible withthe words of Jesus:
Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder (italics mine) (LXX ἀνάμνησις) of you before your God. I am the Lord your God. (Numbers 10:10)
Now this day will be a memorial (LXX μνημόσυνον) to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. (Exodus 12:14)
There is a direct parallel between Num 10:10 and Jesus’ words “in remembrance.” In Num 10 there is a connection to sacrifice and the concept of remembrance. The sacrificial ritual was intended to help the worshipper remember the mighty saving acts of God in the past and appropriate those acts to the present. Remembrance in the Jewish Scriptures was not simply recalling a past event from Israel’s history, but it often entailed extending the efficacy of that past event into the present.[80] An example of this past-coming-to-the-present motif can be found in Exod 6:5–6. God “remembers” the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and because of his remembering he delivers Israel from Egypt.
The fact that Jesus states “do this in remembrance of me” during the Passover adds even greater significance to his words. Barber states, “Given the Passover context of Jesus' meal, it may be significant that the word ἀνάμνησις, closely resembles the term μνημόσυνον used for the Passover (Exod 12:14)”[81] This is important when one considers Rabbinical teachings from the Mishnah concerning the Passover such as the following:
In every generation a man must so regard himself as if he came forth himself out of Egypt, for it is written, And thou shalt tell thy son in that day saying, It is because of that which the Lord did form when I came forth out of Egypt [cf. Exod 13:8]. Therefore we are bound to give thanks, topraise, to glorify, to honour, to exalt, to extol, and to bless him who wrought all these wonders for our fathers and for us.[82]
Those who participated in the Passover feast were to take the great saving acts of God by liberating Israel from Egypt, and bring those actions present into their own contemporary context. In some sense, the worshipper at Passover in the time of Jesus was with Moses and the Israelites on the great night of the original Passover. Pitre says that Passover “memory” is not a mere recollection of past events, but it is best understood as a participatory commemoration.[83]
Connecting this concept of “remembrance” from the Jewish Scriptures to the context of the Lord’s Supper can shed light on the words of Jesus and how the original readers of this text would have understood it. “Remembrance” would certainly be connected to sacrificial concepts in the Hebrew framework. David Garland aptly summarizes this realization for the Lord’s Supper by stating:
The memorial requires Christians reenact ritually what Christ did at his last meal to betoken his death and to explain its significance. The repeated imperative, ‘do this unto my remembrance,’ then, commands ritual remembrance of this foundational saving event (cf. Exod 12:14; Ps 77:12—12; 105:5). It is related to Jewish liturgical remembrance that praises and proclaims the mighty acts of God.[84]
By looking at thewords of Jesus at the institution of the Lord’s Supper, a fuller picture startsto emerge. Jesus statements concerning his blood and the blood of the covenantdefinitely have a connection to sacrifice and covenant. The command to “do this”also carries with it cultic connotations of an action that would be repeatedwith sacrificial overtones. Jesus declaration to “do this in remembrance of me”also firmly connects the words of institution with the Jewish Scriptures’narrative concerning sacrifice and cultic ritual actions. One can conclude thatthe words of institution further buttress the hypothesis that the Lord’s Supperis connected to sacrifice and covenant.
CONCLUSION
When reading thewords of Jesus and the Institution Narrative for the Lord’s Supper it becomesevident that the words of Jesus were not uttered in a vacuum. When Jesus spokethem, there was a capital of language that was built up from the Hebrew Bibleand possibly the intertestamental literature. When Jesus spoke those few words,they would have been read and filtered through the past experience of Israel.If we ignore that tradition of covenant, sacrifice, and ritual we will rob thewords of Jesus of their real power.
It is evident fromthis exploration that Jesus’ words of institution were connected to the pastcovenantal rituals of Israel. Specifically, one can easily see the connectionbetween the words of Jesus at the Last Supper and the covenant formed withMoses at Sinai in Exodus 24. The similarity in language, especially between theLXX and the Institution Narrative, is too great to be a coincidence. With thatthought in mind, the concept of covenant making, sacrifice, and tablefellowship are tied to the Lord’s Supper.
Also, the ChurchFathers early in the life of the church started to use sacrificial language inreference to the Lord’s Supper. This sacrificial language may sound strange toour modern ears but one must consider how that language developed early in thelife of the church. Alexander Campbell once said:
I have endeavored to read the Scriptures as though no one had read them before me, and I am as much on my guard against reading them today, through the medium of my own views yesterday, or a week ago, as I am against being influenced by any foreign name, authority, or system whatever.[85]
One can appreciateAlexander Campbell’s devotion to the Bible and to the Bible alone, but astudent of the Bible may be deprived of great insight and wisdom fromgenerations of Christians from the past if we take this stance. It would beprudent to consider the views of the Christians who lived immediately after thewriting of the New Testament to mine some insight from their knowledge andinterpretation of Scripture. It cannot be denied that early Church Fathers suchas Justin Martyr and Ignatius were using sacrificial categories for the Lord’sSupper at a very early date in the history of the Church. Ignatius statedconcerning the Supper, “Be ye careful therefore to observe one eucharist forthere is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup unto union in Hisblood; there is one altar,….”[86]The question must be taken on as to just how did these sacrificial categoriesarise so quickly among the Christians living within a few decades of thewriting of the last book of the New Testament canon. The best answer to thisquestion can be found in going back to the Bible and being open to thepossibility that the Supper was meant to be much more than a mere memorialservice or as Blowers put it not just, “a funeral for the martyred Jesus.”[87]
It also logical toconsider the concept of the todah sacrifice being a type of fulfillmentof the new covenant and the sacrifice par excellence of the new DavidicKing. Some scholars, as was displayed prior in this essay, believe that Jesuswas bringing a true return from exodus and the Messianic Age would be marked bytodah sacrifice. If this view was in the water of Second Temple Judaism,it would not be a stretch to believe that some early followers of Jesus mayhave filtered their view of the Lord’s Supper through that expectation of todah.
Also, compellingevidence for the connection of the Lord’s Supper as viewed as a sacrifice comesfrom the Apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians 10:18 may be the closest connection in theBible between the Lord’s Supper and sacrificial categories. One must stronglyconsider the possibility that Paul is connecting the Lord’s Supper with thepeace offering of Israel and in doing so is giving a strong argument for theimportant of the Supper in the life of a Christian.
The proposal of this essay is that a new and fresh look should be taken on the Lord’s Supper and the concept of covenant and sacrifice.
First of all, wemust realize that the Lord’s Supper is a time in which we eat in the presenceof God. Just as Moses and the elders went up to Sinai to eat in God’s presencewe do the same on Sunday when we gather around the Table of the Lord. TheLord’s Supper is best understood as a time of remembrance of that greatnarrative story that we celebrate. There is also a sacrificial element to theSupper. Dennis R. Lindsay points out that the Christian worshipper brings theoffering of bread and wine but most importantly gives himself as a livingsacrifice.[88]The true sacrificial nature of the Supper is found in that we bring theelements to the table and offer up our lives before God. Just as the knife wasused to cut up the victim, the word of God cuts up the worshipper as they bringtheir life as the sacrifice.
The Supper is also a time ofcovenant renewal. It was at the original Supper that Jesus connected the newcovenant with his sacrifice. The Table is connected to the sacrifice of thecross. One could theorize that the Lord’s Supper should be a time for believersto renew and reflect on their vows made at their baptism. Just as the todah celebratedthe worshippers’ communion with God and their fellow Israelites, we celebrateour communion with God through the blood of Jesus and our unity as the body ofChrist as we assemble together. One of the most important aspects that we couldbring to our assemblies is that communion with one another and communing inGod’s presence is something we should celebrate and desire. To understand theLord’s Supper in that light we not only tell the story of Scripture proclaimingthe Lord’s death until He comes, but somehow, we become part of that grandnarrative of salvation.
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——— TheEucharistic Words of Jesus. London: SCM Press, 1966.
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“Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Judaicae B. Niese, Ed.” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0145.
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[1] Paul M. Blowers, "The Lord’s Supper asCovenant Renewal," Leaven Vol. 22.4.6(2014): 196.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid., 196.
[4] Hartmut Gese, “The Origin of the Lord’sSupper,” Essays in Biblical Theology (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press,1981), 117.
[5] This paperassumes that Jesus saw the Last Supper as a Passover meal (Luke 22:15–16, Mark14:12, Matt 26:17-19).
[6] JoachimJeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus (London: SCM Press, 1966),206–207. Also see Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist(New York: Doubleday, 2011), 66–67.
[7] Ibid.
[8] For a morerobust discussion on the other possible Jewish undercurrents for the Lord’sSupper see Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist (NewYork: Doubleday, 2011).
[9] Jeremias, TheEucharistic Words of Jesus, 42–61.
[10] Cf. m.Pes. 10.5. I have used the translation by Hebert Danby, The Mishnah:Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes (1933;repr. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2001), 150–51. Also see E.P.Sanders, Judaism: Practice and Belief 63 B.C.E.–66 C.E. (London: SCM Press,1992) for a discussion on judicious use of the Rabbinic sources to construct aview of practices in the time of Jesus.
[11] There is greatdebate as to the reliability of the Mishnah in giving an accurate descriptionof the Passover during the first century. For a more skeptical approach to theMishnah’s description of a first century Passover see Joseph Tabory, “Towards aHistory of the Passover Meal,” Passoverand Easter: Origin and History to the Modern Times (ed. Paul F. Bradshawand L. A. Hoffman; Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame, 1999), 63. Brant Pitre tends to give more credence tosources such as Philo and the Mishnah in their depiction of a first centuryPassover. For Pitre’s view see BrantPitre, Jesus and the Last Supper (GrandRapids: Eerdmans, 2015), 318-319.
[12] For adiscussion of the Last Supper as a Passover meal see Johnathan Klawans, “WasJesus’ Last Supper a Seder?,” Bible History, 12 January 2017, https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/was-jesus-last-supper-a-seder/
[13] I. HowardMarshall, The Last Supper and the Lord’sSupper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1981), 155.
[14] For a fullerdiscussion of the motif of Jesus as a type of “New Moses” see Dale C. AllisonJr., The New Moses: A Matthean Typology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993).
[15] Stephen C.Barton, ed. The Cambridge Companion tothe Gospels (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 146.
[16] Philip P. Jenson, “The Levitical SacrificialSystem,” in Sacrifice in the Bible,ed. Roger T. Beckwith and Martin J. Selman(Carlisle, UK:Paternoster Press, 1995), 30–31.
[17] Gary A. Anderson, “Sacrifice and SacrificialOfferings,” Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1.878.;Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16: A New Translation with Introduction andCommentary, AB 3 (New York: Doubleday, 1991), 218–19.
[18] Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, 218–19; JohnH. Walton and Andrew E. Hill, The Old Testament Today: A Journey FromOriginal Meaning to Contemporary Significance (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,2004), 76.
[19] Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus: A Book of Ritualand Ethics (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004), 28.
[20] Tim Gray, “From Jewish Passover to ChristianEucharist: The Story of the Todah,” Lay Witness (Nov–Dec, 2002), 20.
[21] C. JohnCollins, “The Eucharist as Christian Sacrifice: How Patristic Authors Can HelpUs Read the Bible,” Westminster Theological Journal 66 (2004): 1.
[22] Jutta Leonhardt, Jewish Worship in Philo ofAlexandria (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2001), 29.
[23] Ibid., 29.
[24] Stephen Pimental, “The Todah Sacrifice asPattern for the Eucharist,” Inside the Vatican 16.3 (March 2008), 46–47;Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Last Supper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015),336. See also Richard Averbeck, “Peace Offering,” NIDOTTE 4:141.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Stephen Pimental, “The Todah Sacrifice asPattern for the Eucharist.” Inside the Vatican 16 no. 3 (March 2008),46.
[27] Ibid., 47.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Flavius Josephus, Josephus: The Complete Works,trans. William Whiston (Nashville: Nelson, 1998), 351; “Flavius Josephus,Antiquitates Judaicae B. Niese, Ed.,” http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0145.
[30] For a morerobust discussion on the possibility of the Lord’s Supper as having a todahbackground see the objections of Joachim Jeremias and answers to thoseobjections by Hermut Loehr. For thenegative opinion see Joachim Jeremiahs, “Ist das Dankopfermahl der Ursprung desHerrenmahls?” Donum Gentilicium: New Testament Studies in Honour of DavidDaube (ed. E. Bammel et al.; Oxford,1978), 64–67. For the rebuttal toJeremias see Hermut Loehr, “The Eucharist and JewishRitual Meals: The Case of the Todah.” Early Christianity 7.4 (2016),474–480.
[31] Justin Martyr, St. Justin Martyr Dialoguewith Trypho, trans. Thomas B. Falls (Washington D.C.: Catholic UniversityPress of America, 2003), 62-63.
[32] Rev. W.Trollope, ed., S. Justini Philosophi et Martyris cum Tryphone JudaeoDialogus (Cambridge: Pitt Press, 1846), 84.
[33] Hartmut Gese, “Origin of the Lord’s Supper,”133.
[34] Ibid., 133.
[35] N.T. Wright, The New Testament and thePeople of God (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), 217.
[36] Brant Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots ofthe Eucharist (New York:Doubleday, 2011),28–31.
[37] Ibid., 27.
[38] Jason A.Staples, “What do all the Gentiles have to do with “All Israel”? A Fresh Lookat Romans 11:25-27.” Journal of BiblicalLiterature 130, no. 2 (2011), 277–280.
[39] N.T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God(Minneapolis, MN: Fortress, 1996), 559.
[40] Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper, 388.
[41] Barber, Singing in the Reign, 52–57.
[42] Mark L. Strauss, The Davidic Messiah in Luke-Acts: ThePromise and its Fulfillment in Lukan Christology (Sheffield: SheffieldAcademic, 1995), 294.
[43] Barber, Singing in the Reign, 57.
[44] See George L.Klein, “An Introduction to Malachi,” Criswell Theological Review 2.1(1987) 24. for an examination of the dating for Malachi.
[45] Scott Hahn, Letter and Spirit (NewYork: Doubleday, 2005), 66.
[46] Michael Barber, Singing in the Reign (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road, 2001),79.
[47] The term pitis used to refer to Sheol in the following passages: Ps 28:1; 30:3; 143:7; Isa 38:18;Ezek 31:16.
[48] JohnathanKlawans, “Interpreting the Last Supper: Sacrifice, Spiritualization, andAnti-Sacrifice,” New Testament Studies 48 (2002): 11.
[49] Gordon D. Fee,The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987),470–71.
[50] Collins, “The Eucharist as ChristianSacrifice: How Patristic Authors Can Help Us Read the Bible,” 3.
[51] Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians,470–71.
[52] John Mark Hicks, Come to the Table:Revisioning the Lord’s Supper (Orange, CA: Leafwood, 2002), 27.
[53] Ibid., 28–29.
[54] Ibid., 30.
[55] Richard B.Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press,2016), 134.
[56] Brant Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2015), 92.
[57] Ibid.
[58] Craig Keener, The Historical Jesus of the Gospels(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 300.
[59] Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper, 93.
[60] Ibid., 94.;Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, 134.
[61] Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper, 94.
[62] Ibid.
[63] Ibid., 95.
[64] Ibid.
[65] Jerry Hwang,“Turning the Tables on Idol Feasts: Paul’s use of Exodus 32:6 in 1 Corinthians10:7,” JETS 54.3 (September 2011), 586.
[66] Ibid.
[67] Ibid.
[68] Ibid.
[69] Ibid.
[70] MichaelBarber, “The Historical Jesus and the Cultic Restoration Eschatology: The NewTemple, the New Priesthood, and the New Cult” (PhD diss., Fuller TheologicalSeminary, 2010), 601.
[71] G. K. Bealeand D.A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the OldTestament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), 382–383.
[72] Ibid.
[73] Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, God Is Near Us(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2003), 58.
[74] Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper, 417.
[75] Barber, “TheHistorical Jesus and the Cultic Restoration Eschatology,” 673–674.
[76] Jeremias, TheEucharistic Words of Jesus, 251–252.
[77] Ibid., 252.
[78] Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper, 419.
[79] Ibid.
[80] Barber, “TheHistorical Jesus and the Cultic Restoration Eschatology,” 631.
[81] Ibid., 603.
[82] Herbert Danby,The Mishnah: Translated from the Hebrew with Brief Explanatory Notes (Peabody,Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publisher, 2011), 150-151.
[83] Pitre, Jesusand the Last Supper, 420.
[84] David E. Garland, 1 Corinthians (Grand Rapids:Baker Academic, 2003), 548.
[85] Cecil K.Thomas, Alexander Campbell and His New Version (Eugene, OR: Wipf &Stock, 2011), 117.
[86] J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers (New York:MacMillan, 1889), 564.
[87] Blowers, "The Lord’s Supper as CovenantRenewal,” 196
[88]Dennis R.Linsay, “Todah and Eucharist: The Celebration of the Lord’s Supper as a ‘ThankOffering’ in the Early Church” Restoration Quarterly 39,2 (1997): 90–91.