The Jewish roots of the Eucharist in the Jewish Passover meal and Temple sacrifice

Abstract

Jesus himself was a first-century Jew and must be understood in his ancient Jewish context. Even Jesus drew directly from the Jewish Scriptures, and therefore it is of great importance to interpret his words within such a context. The Jewish hope was for a new exodus. Amongst the various aspects of this hope were: the coming of a new Moses, the making of a new covenant, the building of a new Temple and the journey to a new promised land. My interest in this dissertation is the celebration of the Passover Meal, from which the institution of the Eucharist knows its roots. It is important to know how it was celebrated and how Jesus instituted the Eucharist with the Passover Meal serving as background. Two central aspects of the Passover according to the Bible were the meal and the killing of the lambs in the Temple. One must keep in mind the historical development of the Jewish Passover. It evolved through the years from the time of the Exodus as found in the book of Exodus itself till the time of Jesus. During Jesus’ time the liturgy of Passover used to begin within the Temple of Jerusalem with the slaughtering of the lamb and continued with the eating of the lamb as a meal during the Seder. Later because of the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 A.D. the Passover liturgy changed again as the lambs could no longer be slaughtered in the Temple.