The Holy Eucharist I Jesus is our Passover

The Holy Eucharist I. Jesus is our Passover

In the Old Testament Melchisedech, priest of the Most High, offered God bread and wine, figures of the Eucharist.

God gave Abraham a son, as He Himself promised to Abraham God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, in order to test his fidelity. But an angel sent by God stopped him. Isaac’s sacrifice prefigures the Sacrifice of the Cross which is made present in each Eucharist.

Israel’s descendants lived as slaves of the Egyptians. But God wanted to free them and give them the land He promised to Abraham. God told them to sacrifice a lamb and eat it in the evening. They also had to put some of its blood on the upper part of the doors. They were thus freed from the plague God sent to the Egyptians. An angel took away all the first-born. The lamb’s blood prefigures the blood Jesus shed for us, which is made present in each Eucharist.

The people of Israel was saved from Egyptian slavery. The Israelites celebrate it yearly in the Passover feast. Jesus, in the New Passover, which is His Death and Resurrection, brought salvation to all. This New Passover is made present in each Eucharist.

God fed His People in the desert with a miraculous food. Every morning, God let down from the heavens food that replaced bread. The Israelites called this food mannah. The mannah was a clear announcement of the gift of the Eucharist, the food of our spiritual life.

Jesus wanted to celebrate the Passover with His disciples in the Last Supper. THE END The lamb sacrificed in the temple was replaced by Jesus: He is the Lamb of God sacrificed for us in the New Passover. Jesus gave His life to save us from the slavery of sin.