Chapter 3

The following is my summary, commentary, and some quotations from Chapter 3 of Brant Pitre’s Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist.  

If you missed Chapters 1 and 2, read my summary first, by clicking here. 

Chapter 3:  The New Passover

"If there is going to be a new exodus, then there must be a new Passover as well."  The Passover was VERY important to the first exodus, so much so, that the Jews continue to celebrate it ever since, even to this day.  Any Jew in Jesus' time would know the steps to take in celebrating the Passover meal.  (we may have to refresh our memory). 

1. Choose an unblemished male lamb.   The lamb had to be perfect, not maimed or diseased, and it had to be in it's prime (1 year old).  (Exodus 12:1-6). 

2.  The second step was for the father of each household to sacrifice a lamb. (exodus 12:6).  This was to be done "without breaking a single bone of it."   Pitre states, "It's necessary to point out here that the sacrifice of the lamb was a specifically PRIESTLY action. Although modern readers sometimes forget the fact, in ancient Israel, no one but a priest could offer a blood sacrifice.  This is what priests did, they were set apart for sacrificial worship. The reason this matters for us, is that at the time of the exodus from Egypt, the priestly right of offering sacrifice belonged to all twelve tribes of Israel.  All twelve tribes were called to be a ‘kingdom of priests’(exodus 19:6).  At that time there existed in Israel what might be called the ‘natural priesthood’ of fathers and sons so that ‘every man’ (exodus 12:3) would act as priest over his own household by both selecting and sacrificing the Passover lamb."   This was the nature of the priesthood until exodus 32:39.

3. Spread the blood of the lamb.  Exodus 12:7, 21-23 lays out how this is done.  The blood is spread on the wood of the doorpost with hyssop (the blood, wood, and hyssop will reappear later when we talk about Jesus’ own passover).

4.  Eat the flesh of the lamb.  (Exodus 12:8-12) This step is most commonly forgotten, yet arguably the most important step for understanding Jesus' actions at the last supper.   The act of eating the lamb, Pitre states, was known as a "thank offering" or a "todah" sacrifice.  Pitre also notes that "the Passover was not an ‘open table’ but a covenant feast.  Only Israelites could eat of it.  Any gentile ‘foreigner’ who wanted to eat the flesh of the lamb first had to be circumcised and become a member of Israel (Exodus 12:43-49). In other words this was no ordinary meal, but a sacred family ritual.  Only members of the covenant family of God were able to partake of it."

5. Keep the Passover as a "day of remembrance" (Exodus 12:14).

Pitre goes on to describe different ways that the Passover ritual changed between the time of the exodus and the last supper.   These are really interesting, and I highly recommend you check them out. But for the sake of brevity I'll omit them.  (just to tease you into getting the book, Pitre describes a Jewish tradition of crucifying the sacrificial lamb, how ICONIC).

Pitre goes on to ask, "If Jesus saw himself as inaugurating a new exodus, and if he expected the new exodus to be preceded by a new Passover, when did he think this new Passover would take place?".   The answer: the Last Supper.

But, I think it's important to note that there will be similarities as well as differences in the two Passovers.   The first similarity, and what seems to most obviously connect both events is that the last supper was celebrated on the night of the Passover celebration.  Also, Jesus explains the meaning of the bread (Exodus 12:26-27) just as is done by the father of each household in the Passover.  And there are other similarities With the Jewish traditions I left out.     

Some huge differences are, for one, that the Passover was celebrated in families, with the father as the head.   But Jesus wasn't the father to any of the apostles.  Also in the old Passover, the focus was on the old abrahamic covenant, while Jesus speaks of a new covenant (1 Cor 11:25, Jeremiah 31:31-33).   Also, as modern readers might easily miss, as Jesus said in 1 Cor 11:25 “do this in memory of me” he was not just echoing His Father’s words in the Old Passover (Exodus 12:14).  He was commanding His disciples to perpetuate this new passover sacrifice in the future.  In effect, by these words, as any ancient Jew would know, He was re-instating the priesthood, because, in Judaism, as in Catholicism, only the Priests could “pour out” the blood (Matt 26:27-28).  

Most significantly, in the Passover, the lamb is the focus.  The lamb is sacrificed, the lamb is explained, and the lamb is eaten.  But, in the last supper, instead of talking about the body and blood of the lamb... He draws attention to his own body and blood, as the new lamb of sacrifice.   So, Jesus is sacrificed, Jesus explains and is explained, and Jesus is EATEN.  That last step is very important to understanding how Jesus saw His Last Supper as a new Passover.  In the first passover, if a family didn’t particularly like the taste of lamb, there is no indication that they had the choice of eating something else that signified or represented the lamb.  The situation is the same, if not more extreme in the new passover.  Sacrificing the lamb was not enough, you had to eat the lamb.  Sacrificing Christ is not enough, we have to eat the Lamb of God.  

Now, there are still unanswered questions about the Last Supper, and Dr. Pitre will cover them in the next chapters.

I want to thank all of you for reading these blog posts/ emails.  I’ve gotten two people to inquire about this wonderful book and one person I think is going to or has bought and read it, and another is going to borrow my copy.  It is truly an amazing perspective looking at the Catholic faith through ancient Jewish eyes.  It has changed my whole perspective on the Eucharist and what Christ did for us at Calvary.  

As always, my readers and your families are in my prayers.

In Christ’s Love, 

Luke