Since the Reformation, the majority of those reformers who were so enthusiastic to prove the Catholic Church wrong in its teaching by teaching the literal meaning of the words of the Bible and claiming the Catholic Church wrong in its oral tradition have unknowingly begun distorting God’s word. For example, many Christian denominations teach that Jesus is not present in the Eucharist as the Catholics teach and perform the rite at each Mass. There are those who claim that they instruct some form of cannibalism. Or others show it is only a form of remembrance. When the non-Catholic Christian want to argue in the literal word of the Bible they seem to want to ignore “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.’” (John 6:53 NIV) Oh! They have all types of explanation for what Jesus said. In this short blog, I will present what took place at the Last Supper on that Passover Night. To understand, we must go back to the Old Testament to view what non-Catholic ignore.

So Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank. Here we have 74 men having a meal with God. (Exodus 24:9-11) Now I am guessing that you’re surprised to read that they had a meal with God. Notice that the verse begins with Mose saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.”

Before we fast forward to the Passover Last Supper with God as Jesus Christ having a meal this time with 12 men, let’s exam another bread, ‘The Bread of Presence.’ It is very significant and the root of the Catholic Churches position of tradition. “And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly.” (Exodus 25:30 NIV ) You may be wondering what is or was this bread.

The bread of the Presence also called the showbread or shewbread in some translations and was a special bread always present on a table in the tabernacle. (Leviticus 24:5–7) The Lord provides instructions on how to prepare. The bread is to be a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. This bread could only be eaten by Aaron and his sons in a holy place and was set out every Sabbath day (Leviticus 24:8–9). The fact that only Aaron and his sons could only eat of the sacred bread was because it contained the presence of God. It was Holy Bread. Therefore we have a tradition of priests eating a Holy Bread.

Now we shall fast forward to a Passover Meal we call the Last Supper. God in the physical form as a man Jesus Christ takes the Bread in Hand. “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19 NIV) There are several things taking place in the one simple action. The first act is the breaking of the bread. The Bread of Presence was not broken and eaten by a priest in memory of what God had done during the first Passover. At this Passover, the Lord’s Supper the Bread is broken to symbolize that God’s Presences, God Himself is to be broken for humanity. The next important factor in the transformation of the Old Covenant with the New Covenant is that 12 men who are not priest are to eat of this Bread. No more will only a Priest eat of the Bread of Presences, but now everyone could eat of it. Therefore for nearly 1395, the only person that could eat Bread with God’s Presences was a Priest. Now all men and women who accepted Jesus Christ could enjoy eating the Bread of Presence, the Bread of Life. Therefore, “Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53 NIV) Therefore be sure to eat the Eucharist often. 

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