Today, I heard the most fabulous presentation on the 4th Cup. It’s just screaming for me to blog about it, even though I’m not sure I can do it justice.
The 4th Cup, for those who have never heard of it, refers to the last cup of wine in the Jewish Passover Seder. It is the culmination of the Passover Seder from the Last Supper to the institution of the New Covenant of God as the Eucharist.
Again, any error in my writing, is strictly that–my error. At the end of my summary, I will link to several sources for more information.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 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 6:25-53, New International Version, ©2011)
Many people know that John 6 (above) is called the Bread of Life discourse and that Catholics believe that the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ is present in the Eucharist. Indeed, there are many Eucharistic miracles that unexplicably stand as proof from hundred’s of years ago. There are several examples that are typologies to help prove that this is true in the Old Testament. That is, events in the Old Testament that forshadow events in the New Testament.
The first was that of Abraham. Most people are familiar with the story of Abraham being called to sacrifice his only son and God’s angel stopped him. Here is the passage:
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2 Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. (Genesis 22:1-13, New International Version, ©2011)
There are several similarities between Isaac and Jesus.
- They are both beloved sons of their Fathers.
- Isaac carried the wood on his shoulder, just as Jesus did with his cross.
- Isaac cooperated in the sacrifice.
How do we know that Isaac cooperated in the sacrifice? Abraham was over 100 years old (Genesis 21:5) when he was born. Isaac was a strong young man and I’m sure, knowing that they had brought no lamb to offer that HE was the offering. He could have surely overpowered his elderly father. Or he could have cooperated in the offering.
The Lord, after testing Abraham’s faith, sends an angel to tell him not to harm his son. Why? Because God is setting himself apart from the pagan God’s who “required” offerings of children. He is not doing to have Abraham sacrifice his son. God, however, will sacrifice his own son.
In the end, they don’t find the sheep to sacrifice, but a Ram. We will continue to search for a sheep until Christ comes.
Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow.
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