Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The fourth chapter of Brant Pitre's Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist is appropriately titled "The Manna of the Messiah"

If you have not read my synopsis of chapters one through three, please follow the links to do so.
Intro- ch 1- ch2  ...... http://lambs-supper.blogspot.com/2011/08/intro-through-ch-2-of-jesus-and-jewish.html
Ch 3 ...................... http://lambs-supper.blogspot.com/2011/09/chapter-3-and-i-ask-for-some-help.html

Now, we've seen how the Exodus and Passover were prefigurements of Jesus death and last supper, but the Jews weren't immediately let into the promised land, just as we are not all just poof'd into heaven right when Jesus rose. Rather, they wandered the desert for 40 years (Numbers 32:13) experiencing many trials and tribulations. And during that time, God sustained them on a daily basis by giving them a special food: the manna from heaven.

"As we will see, just as Jesus used beliefs about the Jewish Passover to reveal the sacrificial nature of the last supper, so, too, he used the hope for new manna-- the manna of the Messiah-- to reveal the supernatural nature of the Eucharist."

After the Jews were delivered from their bondage in Egypt, as they started their journey to the promised land, they complained to Moses. They accused him of taking them away from their slavery (where they had food infield bellies) to starve them in the desert where they were free. They would rather be fed in slavery than die of hunger in the wilderness.

God answers their prayers in Exodus 16:4-5, 11-15.
Read this passage and note the four important qualities of the food.
1. The Manna was no ordinary bread. It was miraculous bread from heaven. It is referred to in Psalm 78:23-29 as the "bread of angels". And in Wisdom 16:20-21 as "food of angels".

2. The gift of the manna was a double miracle. Not only did God give the Israelites bread from heaven, He also gave them flesh from heaven in the form of quail (Exodus 16:12). Psalms reiterates this also: Psalm 78:27

3. The israelites not only consumed the manna daily, but they also preserved it, by placing it in the Tabernacle, more specifically, inside the Holy of Holies, and inside the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 16:32-34, and Hebrews 9:2-4).

4. Also, the Manna had a distinct flavor. Exodus 16:31 says it tasted like "wafers made with honey". But why? The answer is simple, yet important. Read Exodus 3:8. The manna was a foretaste of the promised land.

The Jews developed many different traditions outside of scripture, concerning the manna and the coming of the Messiah. First, some Jews believed that the manna was not only miraculous, but also "preexistent" and existed before the fall of Adam and Eve. There was also a tradition that the Manna was a supernatural reality, kept on high in the heavenly temple for the feeding of God's people. Finally, a widespread expectation existed that when the Messiah finally came, he would bring back the miracle of the manna (it stopped when the Israelites reached the promised land [Joshua 5:10-12]).

With this background, we can ask ourselves, did Jesus ever refer to the ancient Jewish hope for the new manna from heaven? The answer is yes!!

First, in the Lord's prayer (Matt 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4) Jesus tells us to pray "give us this day our daily bread." why did Jesus repeat and emphasize the daily nature of the bread? And Is he asking us to pray for daily sustenance? Or something more...

The Greek word used in the original New Testament is "epiousious." this is a very interesting word because it was never used in any Greek literature before this text. That makes translating it very difficult and debatable. The common translations are "for the current time" (epi ten ousan), "for existence" (epi ousia), or "for the coming day" (he epiousa). But none of these are what the Greek actually says.
Dr. Pitre argues that it should be translated by breaking the word "epiousios" into it's two main parts: "epi" meaning on, upon, or above, and "ousia" meaning being, substance, or nature. Put these two together and it seems to be "give us this day our supernatural bread."
In fact, I looked it up in my Douay-Rheims version of the Bible (an older version, the catholic church regards it as the most accurate english translation) and it says "give us this day our supersubstantial bread" (Matt 6:11)

If Jesus is saying this to a mass of first century Jews, then they would most likely interpret it in only one way: in the context of their hope for the Messiah to restore the Manna from heaven. Jesus was teaching them to pray daily for the miraculous food that the messiah himself would give them during the journey to the new promised land.

The second place Jesus talks about the New Manna is in my favorite bible passage. I got giddy reading this part of the book;).

In John 6, the whole context of Jesus' bread of life discourse is centered on the Jewish hopes for the coming of a new Moses and the return of the manna from heaven.
I think John 6:30-34 shows this quite nicely. The Jews ask Jesus if he has the new manna, Jesus says he has it, they ask for it, and then he says: "the bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (John 6:51). Contrast that with 1 Corinthians 11:24.
John 6:51 ---> 1corinthians 11:24
The bread which I will give ---> this
Is my flesh ----> is my body
For the life of the world. ---> which is for you.

Now comes the most interesting question from this chapter...
"If a first-century Jew believed that the old manna was supernatural bread from heaven, then could the new manna be just a symbol?" if so, "that would make the old manna greater than the new." But almost all biblical scholars, Catholic and protestant, agree that old testament prefigurements are not as great as their new testament fulfillments. So the new manna must be a supernatural bread from heaven! The end of this chapter also addresses the debate over Leviticus 17, when the jews are commanded not to drink blood.

This is such a phenominal book, i really recommend you get it, read it, highlight it, and give it away. Everyone ought to have this information.



I thank you very much for your support, and as always, my readers and your families are in my prayers.
God Bless!
Luke