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Week 19 Genesis to Jesus – A Church Universal (Catholic)

Part 2 – The Gospel of Luke – The New Testament is the Eucharist

That is a strong statement to make, the New Testament is the Eucharist, but it truly is. When protestants ask where in the New Testament is the sacrifice of the Mass, our answer is simple, but profound. The sacrifice of the Mass, is the New Testament. Jesus declared it so, in Luke 22…Luke 22:20 (RSV2CE) 20 And likewise the chalice after supper, saying, “This chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Testament and Covenant are inter-changeable, they mean the same. Right there in the middle of the Eucharist Jesus says the chalice of wine has become His blood, the blood of the New Covenant. The Eucharist is the New Covenant, the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ Himself. Therefore, the Eucharist is the New Testament, and the New Testament is the Eucharist. Simple to say, sadly, not so simple for many of our protestant brothers to believe. It is important to remember that the New Covenant or New Testament did not become a document for hundreds of years. It was “the sacrament” of the Church long before it became a book. That is important for protestants to understand and this passage in Luke 22 makes that clear.

The Book of the New Testament points beyond itself to this powerful and beautiful sacrament, Jesus did not say, write this in My memory, or even speak this in My memory. He said, “do this in My memory”. If He had said, “write this” in my memory, a book would have been sufficient. Or if He would have said,

“speak this in my memory”, oral tradition would take care of it. But every sacrament has a “doing” involved with it, and it is in the doing of the sacraments that the grace of God is imparted and our participation in the sacrament demonstrates our cooperation with that grace…He offers His grace and we receive it and then walk in it. Half of the Apostles never contributed one single book to the 27 books of the New Testament, but

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all 12 of them went out “doing this in memory of Him” exactly as He commanded them to. The sequence of the “doing this” is significant, He takes, He blesses, He breaks, and He gives is the exact same sequence we read about in chapter 9, in the feeding of the five thousand…and Luke 24 with the two on the road to Emmaus.

Something that gets overlooked many times is the argument going on during that Last Supper, who is the greatest among them. Jesus has announced His new kingdom on the earth, and they are already trying to hammer out a pecking order. Before you and I condemn them too harshly, it is very possible that we might have been caught up in that argument too. Luke 22:24–30 (RSV2CE) 24 A dispute also arose among them, which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.

Jesus defines true greatness contrasting Himself against the kings of the Gentiles that lord over them. “Let the greatest among you be the youngest, and the leader one who serves”. That brought an abrupt end to their dispute, gray haired wisdom and honoring elders was the heart of the Jewish culture, and servants were way down on the list of greatness. Jesus blows up their argument, and asks this question, 27 For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves?

Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves. The question is one of those “duh” moments, when everyone would have said, the one who sits at the table is greater, surely not the one who serves. And then Jesus drops another bomb, “but I am among you as one who serves.” And what is it that Jesus

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had just served them at the table they have all gathered around, Himself, His body and His blood. In this moment of silencing their petty dispute, He is empowering the twelve to go and do what they have just been witnesses to in that Upper Room.

28 “You are those who have continued with me in my trials; 29 as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This word “appointed” and I “appoint” for you, is the Greek word for “covenanted”. In other words, in my kingdom Jesus says, I am placing the serving of my Body and Blood into your hands, I am covenanting this blood covenant meal, eating and drinking at the table into the hands of My Apostles…do this in memory of me.

The Eucharist is the Passover of the New Covenant leading to a “new exodus”, not from empire of Egypt, but instead to set us free from the slavery of sin and death. And the ramifications not only impact the whole world, but the whole universe, from earth to heaven. That is the true meaning of Catholic, not international over even worldwide, but universal, far beyond earth spreading to the whole universe, with the militant Church on earth, the suffering Church being purged and purified in purgatory, and the Church triumphant in heaven. The progression once again begins with a couple in the Garden of Eden, to a family on the ark of Noah, followed by a tribe in the tribe of Abraham and then Isaac and then Jacob, growing into a nation with the exodus of Moses and the Jews from Egypt, exploding into the Davidic Kingdom that embraced all the nations of the whole world, and finally the New Covenant encompassing the entire universe, from all of earth to all of heaven.

That last two meals in the 10 meals Luke included in his gospel are found in chapter 24, and perhaps the most interesting of the last two, is the one that happens with Cleopas, and his companion on the road to Emmaus. It is Jackie and

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my personal favorite, that is when I began to see with Catholic glasses on for the first time.

Luke 24:13–35 (RSV2CE) them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from

recognizing him.

What do you think God’s purpose was in keeping their eyes from recognizing Him? By the way it is OK to imagine a bit as we meditate on this passage. It seems clear, the story is showing us that these two are headed in the wrong direction, resurrection and the birth of the Church are back in Jerusalem, not Emmaus.

17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” I just love the way Jesus askes these seemingly ridiculous questions, these two blinded disciples are

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talking to the Son of God, who just three days ago died on a Roman cross, and this very day has been raised from the dead.

And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since this happened.

The third day is the clue that tells us this is the very day that Jesus was raised from the dead. Using your imagination for further meditation, why did Jesus come along side these two, why not the disciples in Jerusalem first?

22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Jesus is taking through at least two of the five of the blood covenants that we have been studying all summer and into the fall. And He is about to give them a firsthand view of the New Covenant, that last and eternal covenant.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, 29 but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward

evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened and they

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recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he

talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the Eleven gathered together and those who were with them, 34 who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

May that be what each of us experience at every Mass, that the world would know that Jesus “was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Notes from the Ignatius Study Bible – the two on the road to Emmaus

24:13 Emmaus: A Judean village of uncertain location (1 Mac 9:50).

24:18 Cleopas: Probably the same person as the one called “Clopas” in Jn 19:25. Early Christian tradition identifies him as the brother of Joseph, the legal father of Jesus (3:23), and the father of Simon/Simeon, the second bishop of Jerusalem (see Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3, 11, and 4, 22).

24:19 mighty in deed and word: Moses is described in these terms in Acts 7:22. The implication is that Jesus is the awaited prophet-like-Moses announced in Deut 18:15 (Acts 3:22–23; 7:37). Jesus was often viewed as a prophet by his contemporaries (Lk 7:16; Mt 16:14; 21:46; Jn 6:14). See note on Lk 9:35.

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24:21 redeem Israel: The discouraged travelers had hoped that Jesus would reign as king in Jerusalem and rescue their nation from Roman oppression (19:11; Mk 11:10; Acts 1:6). Their expectations are out of step with God’s plan to free Israel from sin and death, not from political subjugation (Mt 1:21; Jn 1:29; CCC 439). See note on Lk 4:18–19.

24:27 all the Scriptures: Jesus gives an overview of salvation history from the OT. His entire life was foreordained in Scripture, including his birth (Mt 1:23; 2:6), ministry (4:18–19), death (20:17; Acts 8:32–33), and Resurrection (Mt 12:40; Acts 2:24–28) (CCC 601, 652).

24:30 took … blessed … broke … gave: A sequence of actions recalling the Last Supper accounts (22:19; Mt 26:26). Here the disciples encounter Christ in a spiritual way, discerning his presence in the meal (24:35). See note on Mt 14:13–21. ● The structure of the Emmaus episode reflects the structure of the eucharistic liturgy, where Jesus gives himself to the Church in word and sacrament, in the proclamation of Scripture (24:27) and in the eucharistic Bread of Life (24:30, 35) (CCC 1346–47). The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: The New Testament. (2010). San Francisco: Ignatius Press.

Exported from Verbum, 9:35 AM November 10, 2017.