Reflections
Eucharist, sacrificial meal Readings Between the Lines Father Glenn LeCompte
“While they were eating, (Jesus) took bread; he blessed, broke and gave it to them and said, ‘Take (it), this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, offered thanks, gave (it) to them and they all drank of it. And he said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is being poured out for many. Amen, I say to you, no longer, absolutely not, shall I drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God’” (Mark 14:22-26, translation by Father Glenn LeCompte). In the foregoing passage from Mark’s Gospel, the evangelist narrates Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper with his disciples. As I comment on this passage, I intend to point out a particular aspect of the Eucharist—that it is a sacrificial meal. In last month’s article, you may recall that I spoke about the Eucharist as a symbol and source of unity. In the context of Mark’s narrative, the meal described in 14:22-26 is a Passover meal. Jesus and his disciples are gathered as a family with Jesus taking the role of the paterfamilias presiding over the meal. The Passover meal is celebrated methodically, with each member eating the same elements simultaneously as the father relates the significance of each to the Exodus event. The unleavened bread represented the bread of people in flight, since the leavening process is not done. Bitter herbs recall the harsh experience of the Hebrews as slaves. The lamb recalls the lamb whose blood God commands the Hebrews to spread on the lintels of their homes. The firstborn of the Egyptians, who do not have the blood applied to their doorposts, die, whereas those of the
Hebrews live. All this symbolizes the breaking of the Egyptians’ power over the Hebrews and the preservation of life for the latter, who are rescued from Pharaoh’s intended genocide (Exodus 1:8-22). In the Exodus story, God acts as gô,ēl, (redeemer) of the people. In Leviticus 25:47-55, during the Jubilee Year, the next of kin is to buy back the freedom of people who have become indentured slaves. This role of God looms large over the Passover. In addition, the Passover meal enables Israelites of later generations to identify with the Exodus experience of their ancestors. If they are able to celebrate the Passover in the present, it is because God rescued their ancestors from annihilation. Therefore, the Passover meal creates an experience which transcends time. Eating the Passover foods is what enables them to connect with their ancestors’ experience. All of this is important to understand the meal depicted in Mark 14:22-26 as a sacrificial meal, and what the effective significance of that meal is. While Jesus and his disciples are partaking of a Passover meal, only two of the Passover foods, bread and wine, are mentioned. Jesus identifies the bread, which in the Passover represented the Israelites escape from Egyptian slavery, with his body. Three
18 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • March 2022
times in the course of Mark’s story Jesus predicts his passion, death and resurrection (8:31; 9:30-31; 10:32-34), and in 10:45 he says that he will give his life as a “ransom” for “many.” By giving his life on the cross, Jesus acts as the gô,ēl, redeeming people from the slavery of sin. Whereas in the traditional Passover meal three cups of wine are drunk, Mark’s Jesus only refers to one cup. Jesus identifies the cup with his blood. Whereas the Israelites’ firstborn are saved by the blood of the Passover lamb, so Jesus’ blood, poured out, saves people from sin. More specifically, Jesus identifies the cup of wine as his “blood of the covenant.” This is a reference to Exodus 24:1-8, where Moses takes the blood of sacrificed young bulls, puts it in bowls, splashes half of it on an altar he builds and the other half he sprinkles on the people. He announces to the people that this blood is the blood of the covenant. And since life is perceived to be in the blood (Leviticus 17:14), the people who have blood sprinkled upon them share God’s life. Jesus’ blood is now the covenant blood through which people share in the life-giving aspects of the covenant relationship with God. By identifying his blood shed on the cross with the Passover wine, Jesus’ blood takes on, in an even greater way, the
a
