Read the two articles below, then completethe assignment at the bottom. Jump to Article 2
ARTICLE 1: Esoteric Symbolism of the Last Supper / Eucharist from”The Origins and Purposes of the Holy Sacraments excerpt from a lectureby Paul Solomon.
Found online here: http://www.wisdomofsolomon.com/pslec18.htmlSymbolism ofthe Last Supper/Eucharist
. . . Some call the sacrament of taking bread and wine the Lords LastSupper. Some call it the Holy Eucharist. Others call it Holy Communion. Ifwe look at the origins and evolution of this ritual, we find that it didnot originate with Jesus, nor in Judaism. It was practiced in ancient Egyptand probably in other ancient cultures.
The practice was a recognition of energy meeting matter. In these ancientceremonies, matter was reduced to its simplest form, which was ground graincombined with water. Leavening was not added, nothing to make it more palatable.There was just the dry wafer of earth. As they introduced water to the drygrain, they wanted to invoke a greater symbolism. In fact, the intentionwas to create a marriage of earth, air, fire and water. It was believed thatthe coming together of these four elements produced a dynamic result. Thesum of the parts would be greater than the whole.
There was one more piece to the ritual. That pivotal piece says thatWhatever I am thinking when I bring these elements together dictatesthe nature of the power that is released when they meet each other withinme. So, I take the bread and the wine, knowing that I am introducing withinmyself the four elements simultaneouslyearth, air, fire andwaterknowing that they will meet together in an explosion of energy.The objective of the ceremony was to commit that energy to a specific purpose.The moment was made holy through the release of the energy within towarda higher purpose, a holy intent.
On at least two recorded occasions when this ritual was practiced, the teacher,the one introducing the practice, said, When you do this, you can literallytransform yourself to work miracles. Melchizedek said it to Abraham,claiming him to be possessor of heaven and earth. (Genesis 14:18-19)Jesus told his disciples when he served the sacramental meal, He thatbelieveth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater worksthan these shall he do. (John 14:12) He said that You are capableof doing anything that I have done. There are things greater than this thatyou can do. And the power to do it is released in this experience.
In todays churches, we have a ritual celebration occurring, which Jesusdid not institute or practice, generally called communion. Communion is thetaking of bread and wine within a community for the purpose of cementinga congregation as a church. It is not a sacrament. The sacrament is the sacredmeal that is taken as a communion with God, involving the holy marriage ofthe elements for the purpose of transformation.
Why did Jesus say, My flesh is meat and my blood is drink. Whatdid he mean? His message was not esoteric. It was made crystal clear in thefourteenth chapter of John. Jesus said that The things that you haveseen me do that you consider miracles really did happen. They are miraclesin that they are expressions of laws that you do not understand. They didhappen. I really did do them. The reason that I can do these miracles isnot because of myself as this body or this flesh. The reason I can do themis because my Father is in me. The word father should be examined.The word would have been better interpreted as sourcenot necessarilyfather or mother, not necessarily masculine or feminine.
Jesus said that The source of myself is in me, the source of life itselfis in me. And that source of life gives life, heals life, creates laws,transcends laws, creates miracles, because it is in me. Because I am notin competition with it, I can produce these miracles. When you look at me,because I am not in competition with my source, you can see my source whenyou see me. My source and I are one. You have come to know me. If you havecome to know me, you have come to know my source, because my source and Iare one. If through knowing what I am, at harmony with my source, if youhave that same thing inside you, if you have me in you as I have God in me,then everything that I do you can do and greater things than these.
The next step was for Jesus to say, Lets just illustrate this.Lets say this piece of bread is my body. Take it into your body. Now,you have got me inside you. Because you have got me inside you, you can dowhat I have done. This wine is my blood. Drink it. My source that is in meis now in you, and you can do whatever I have done and more.
Then Jesus said, Now, take it one step further. Every time that youdrink or eat anything, from now on, for the rest of your life, make it aholy experience. Take me into you and release within yourself all the powerthat I have had.
That was the original intent and purpose of this holy sacramentnothingshort of personal transformation.
© Paul Solomon Foundation 1994
ARTICLE 2: The Eucharist as the Meal ofMelchizedek Top
from a talk by Scott Hahn (you can find this on line at: http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/euchc4.htm )
[Please note this is a Catholic point of view, but we are happy to see howwell it resonates with our Ancient Order of Melchizedek’s teachings and beliefs]
Another key foreshadowing of the Eucharist — the sacrifice and food of theNew Covenant — is the bread and wine offered by the priest Melchizedek.Let’s see what this means for our understanding of the Eucharist.
I’d like to call your attention to the Book of Hebrews. Hebrews, chapter6 describes how God had made a promise to Abraham and then he changed thepromise to an oath. When God swears an oath to Abraham, he makes a covenant.In Genesis 22:18, right after Abraham went to Moriah to sacrifice his firstbornthrough Sarah, God prevented it and then swore an oath saying, “Surely allthe nations of the earth will be blessed through your seed.”
The New Testament begins, “This is Jesus Christ, the seed of the son of Abraham,the Son of David.” Jesus Christ is the one in and through whom God fulfillsthat oath he swore to Abraham. Where did he swear it? On Moriah, where thetemple was later built and where Christ, the New Temple was later destroyedand rebuilt three days afterwards. It talks about this oath and then it goeson to talk about the priesthood of Melchizedek. In chapter 7, the first tenverses, it describes how Abraham met Melchizedek. It talks about the meaningof his name. He’s the king of righteousness, that’s what Melchizedek meansin Hebrew. He is the King of Salem, which means peace, shalom. He is thepriest of God Most High and he blessed Abraham, so he was superior to Abraham.Everything is mentioned about the meeting between Abraham and Melchizedekexcept one thing, the bread and the wine.
Now we are going to ask a question. Is that because the bread and the winewas the only thing that was unimportant about Melchizedek and Abraham meeting,or is it because the importance of the bread and the wine is so great butso obvious that it goes without saying? Let’s study the next few chapters.
For one thing we already saw back in Hebrews 5, verses 5 and 6 where Godhas sworn an oath to Jesus Christ. He says, “Thou art my Son. Today haveI begotten thee.” And he also says in another place, “Thou art a priest foreverafter the order of Melchizedek.” To be God’s Son is like the same thing asbeing a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Remember way back in the OldTestament before the Golden Calf, fathers were high priests and firstbornsons were priests under their authority. This seemed to be the natural familypattern of Melchizedek. This is how the ancient Jews as well as the ancientChurch Fathers understood it.
Jesus Christ is not a Levite so Old Testament Jews might be tempted to say,”Well, he can’t be a priest, then.” But Hebrews is talking all about thewilderness generation under Moses and how they committed idolatry and rebelledagainst God and how God sent all these punishments. The first rebellion wasthe Golden Calf, and the first punishment was to take the priesthood awayfrom the firstborn, which had been theirs for centuries, and to give it tothe Levites temporarily. What the writer of Hebrews is suggesting is thatJesus Christ, God’s Son, is righteous enough to restore the original patternof the father-son family priesthood, because this is a divine family thatGod, through Christ, is adopting us into through the sacrifice of Christ.
He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. The word “order” does notmean order like the Dominican Order. It means after the manner of Melchizedek’spriesthood. The writer goes on to make a big, sharp contrast between theLevitical priests who continue to offer these animals in sacrifice. Theyhad to offer. They had to kill. They had to sacrifice millions of sheep,millions of goats and millions of cattle with millions of gallons of bloodrunning down through the temple. Why? It was all after and because of theGolden Calf, whereas before all of that, you had a father and a son and aclean priesthood that Melchizedek represents. “After the manner of Melchizedek”suggests that Melchizedek’s manner of priestly sacrifice was bread and wine.This is how all the early Fathers understood this, as well.
Now, it says in Hebrews 7 in verse 18, “On the one hand a former commandmentis set aside because of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothingperfect. On the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which wedraw near to God.” And it was not without an oath and it talks about howGod swore this oath, and the oath that has been talked about is the oaththat was sworn by God on Moriah where Christ was slain. Verse 22: This makesJesus the surety of a better covenant. The former priests were many in numberbecause they were prevented by death from continuing in office; whereas Jesusis one. There’s the single priesthood, and he lives forever up in heaven.But he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues a priest forever.Consequently, he is able for all times to save those who draw near to Godthrough him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
“For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless,unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no needlike those high priests to offer sacrifices daily.” In other words to killand to have blood shed continuously. “…first for his own sins and thenfor those of the people. He did this once for all when he offered up himself.Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests.” That isthe Levitical law that was given after the Golden Calf, “…but the wordof the oath which came later than the law appoints a son who has been madeperfect forever.”
Now the point in what we are saying is this. We have such a high priest,one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.Notice that the Lamb is the one enthroned in Revelation. The Lamb and thefirstborn Son of the Passover is the priest who ministers in a sanctuary,the heavenly sanctuary. He is a minister in a sanctuary. It isn’t complete.He is ministering in the heavenly sanctuary and the true tabernacle whichis set up not by man but by the Lord. “For every high priest is appointedto offer gifts and sacrifices. Hence it is necessary for this priest to havesomething to offer.”
I read that a hundred times before the obvious meaning hit me like a brickin the face. He is a priest in heaven ministering now in the sanctuary andhe’s got something to offer and he’s continually offering it. He’s just notbleeding and dying and suffering any more. He’s not killing any more animals,but he’s continually offering the once and for all sacrifice which is himself;but it’s a continual sacrifice. It’s a perpetual offering. He’s not dying,but he’s still offering. That’s exactly what the Catholic Church teachesabout the Mass.
In fact, we’re going to be offering this sacrifice forever in and throughand with Christ. Not bloody animal sacrifices but our hearts and our soulsand our bodies in union with the One whose body and blood, soul and divinityare perfect and pure — the only acceptable sacrifice which makes our otherwiseunacceptable sacrifices perfectly acceptable. “Holy and righteous,” Paulsays. He goes on talking about the superiority of the New Covenant that Christestablished. “The days will come says the Lord when I will establish a NewCovenant with the House of Israel” (Isaiah 31). Verse 9, “Not like the covenantI made with your fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to leadthem out of the land of Egypt. That covenant, they broke.” When? At the GoldenCalf. The covenant that he made with them out of Egypt they broke at theGolden Calf.
It won’t be like that covenant because this firstborn Son won’t break it,and that’s what makes it new. “This is the covenant that I will make withthe house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws intheir minds and write them on their hearts and I will be their God and theyshall be my people.” Verse 13, and in speaking of the New Covenant he treatsthe first as obsolete and what is becoming obsolete and growing old is readyto vanish away. The Old Testament only uses “New Covenant one time. Jesusin the gospels only uses the phrase “New Covenant” one time. When? At Passovertime. Where? In the Upper Room. Why? To institute the Eucharist.
And so he goes on in Hebrews 9 to talk about the superiority. Back in theOld Testament, verse 9, we read, “According to this Old Testament arrangement,gifts and sacrifices were offered which cannot perfect the conscience ofthe worshipper. What is the contrast implied? Back then sacrifices were offeredwhich couldn’t perfect the worshipper’s conscience, implying that in theNew Covenant, what? Sacrifices are offered which do perfect the conscienceof the worshipper.
That’s what the Eucharist does. It cleanses our soul. It wipes away all venialsin. These Old Testament sacrifices, verse 10, deal only with food and drinkand various ablutions, baptismois, in the Greek, regulations for the bodyimposed until the time of reformation. Do you know when the real Reformationcame? Not in 1517. The real reformation came in the Upper Room when the Eucharistwas instituted, when the Catholic Church was formed. The time of reformationwiped away the weak ineffective Old Testament sacrifices. To do away withall sacrifices altogether? No. To initiate a new sacrifice which has intrinsicpower to cleanse our consciences.
Verse 11, now, “The one Christ appeared as a High Priest of the good thingsthat have come. Then through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, notmade with human hands, that is not of this creation, he entered once andfor all into the holy place, that is heaven, taking not the blood of goatsand calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.” He tookhis own blood up there. He’s not bleeding in the sense that he’s sufferingand dying, but he’s up there as a Lamb looking as though he’s been slain,offering his own blood. That’s a Eucharistic Passover sacrifice and that’swhy the entire structure of Revelation is a Passover liturgy.
And it goes on to talk about the Old Testament’s weakness in comparison withthe New Testament’s power. “For if the sprinkling of defiled persons withthe blood of goats and bulls or with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies forthe purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ whothrough the Eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God purifyyour conscience?” The body was cleansed externally in the Old Testamentsacrifices, but with Christ’s Passover sacrifice which he continues to administerup in the heavenly sanctuary, our consciences are cleansed as we offer andreceive that down here below on earth.
“Therefore,” verse 15 says, “he is the mediator of a New Covenant.” He onlysaid that word covenant one time. “This cup is the blood of the New Covenant,”when he instituted the Eucharist. That fulfilled Jeremiah 31. That’s whenhe offered what appeared to be bread and wine. That’s when he became a newMelchizedek, feeding the new children of Abraham so that through Abraham’sseed, Jesus, all the nations of the world, all the families of the earthshall be blessed. Something which God had sworn but had not performed untilChrist, the son of Abraham, was sacrificed on Moriah on the peak called Calvary.
And he began it in the Upper Room when he instituted the Eucharist whichgoes on and on and on here on earth and in heaven above forever and ever.He is the mediator of this new, everlasting covenant so that those who arecalled may receive the promised eternal inheritance which goes back to thepromise that God gave to Abraham. Verse 24, “For Christ has entered not intoa sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself,now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.”
Abridged from Scott Hahn’s audio and video tape presentation,
“Eucharist: Holy Meal” as it appears in the “Catholic Adult Education onVideo Program” with Scott and Kimberly Hahn.
Full text available to EWTN Online Services members as EUCHARST.TXT.
Both the individual audio and video cassettes and the entire 20 cassettelibrary, complete with study guides, are available from:
St. Joseph Communications
PO Box 720
West Covina, CA 91793
Electronic text (c) Copyright EWTN 1996. All rights reserved
ASSIGNMENT:
You are in the First Degree and that sort of means college level as opposedto high school level. Therefore what we’d like you to do for the abovearticles is to outline each of them. To do an outline you simply type upall the major points made by the author and put subheadings below them. You should have at least one line for each paragraph, be it a headingor a sub-heading. Headings are marked with a Roman Numeral I, II, III, IV,etc.and sub-headings with A. B. C. — think outline. Yes, I know it’skinda boring, but it’s part of serious spiritual study. Send in yourcompleted outlines to the Mystery School with the subject line: AOM 1st Deg Lesson 1 from _____(your magikal name). And be sure to list the title of each article atthe top of the outline.
