The Pilgrim Feast of the Unleavened Bread which follows the sacrifice allowing the covenant people of the Old Testament to relive the theme of the redemption and judgement which the Israelites experienced in the first Passover event was a sign of the covenant renewal and continuation.

The Law of Moses required that the Passover and eating of the sacred meal must be done on the night of the unleavened bread and was to take place in the early Spring Equinox, according to Exodus 12: 6. This requirement continues to be observed since the Church established the date of Easter in the same way — on the first Sunday after the full moon of the Spring Equinox. Christianity supersedes Judaism.

The eating of the sacrificial meal in the middle of the month of Nissan AD 30 at the time of the full moon was the last legitimate meal of the Old Covenant . It was a sacred meal that was transformed and fulfilled in the first Eucharistic sacrifice of the Old Covenant people of God.

It was absolutely necessary for the faithful remnant — the apostles — who became the restored Israel of the New Covenant to participate in the last Old Covenant ritual meal in order to comprehend its transformation and fulfilment as a true sacrificial offering of Christ, the Lamb of God, in the Eucharist banquet.

Four communal cups of wine, mixed with a little water, were consumed during the meal, each cup representing the blood of the victims. We also add a little water in the cup of blessing, which becomes Christ’s precious blood in the mass after consecration.

The cup of sanctification and ritual prayers begin the meal and the cup of acceptance closes the meal and seals the people’s commitment to the covenant for another year when the host utters the words, “It is finished.”

Jesus was the host of the last meal. He came to the meal dressed in a seamless garment of a priest, signifying the liturgical nature of the meal (John 19:23-24). When the meal was concluded the ritual required the formal blessing — the passing of the fourth cup of wine mixed with a little water, the cup of acceptance, and the assembly singing Psalm 136 followed by the host announcing, “It is finished.” This was a declaration of Israel’s covenant obligation to see the Passover meal fulfilled for another year and the people continuing to accept the commitment to their covenant.

However, Jesus did not drink the fourth cup, so Jesus could not have completed the meal by drinking from the cup of acceptance; instead, they sung the Psalm and left the city (Matthew 28:30, Mark 16:26).

The ritual meal of the Sinai covenant, therefore, was not completed. Jesus would take the fourth cup on the cross when He said “It is finished,” declaring the Old Covenant completed and fulfilled as He promised in Matthew 5:18, and the establishment of the New Covenant.

The words New Covenant (Luke 22:20) recalls Jeremiah 31:31-34, in which the prophet prophesied that the Messiah will bring a new covenant and a new knowledge of God. His disciples would recall Jesus’s bread of life discourse when He uprecedently and shockingly promised that eternal life was theirs if they eat His flesh and drink His blood (John 6:48-58).

Christ’s death is both a sacrifice that accomplished the redemption of mankind through the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the sacrifice of the New Covenant, which restores man’s communion with God by reconciling Him to God through the blood of the covenant which was poured out for many for the forgiveness sins (Luke 22:20).

God sets the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ and the redemption of mankind that would open the gates of heaven within the context of 3 annual sacred feasts:

1. The Passover, 14th of Nissan, in which Jesus became the sacrificed Lamb.

2. The Feast of Unleavened, Bread 15th of Nissan, which became the Eucharistic bread and wine of holy mass, which is transubstantiated into Jesus’s body and blood after consecration.

3. The feast of the first fruits, the first day after the Sabbath of Holy Week of Unleavened Bread which becomes The Lord’s Day — Sunday.

Modern Jews do not observe Passover as there is no temple in which to sacrifice on the altar, which is the only place where sacrifice could be offered (Exodus 12:5-6).

The temple was destroyed AD 70 when the period of 40 years allowed to the Jews to accept Christianity expired.

alvalj@cwjamaica.com