In this episode, John explores how an understanding of the New Testament transformed his understanding of Christian faith. From the blood of the lamb in Exodus to the transformative sacrifice of Christ, John breaks down how Jesus's new perpetual Passover is a necessary part of Christianity. Contemplate with us what it all truly means, confronting the profound implications of the New Covenant. Through a tapestry of scriptural wisdom and the intimacy of the Eucharist, we come to understand the indispensable aspect of this sacrament in our daily walk with God. Join us as we share in the revelations that have reaffirmed John's faith within the Catholic Church, and potentially, could fortify yours.
Article on Passover: https://www.alexisrael.org/pesach---past-present-or-future
Have something you'd love to hear Fr. Stephen and John talk about? Email us at myfriendthefriar@gmail.com or click here!
In this episode, John explores how an understanding of the New Testament transformed his understanding of Christian faith. From the blood of the lamb in Exodus to the transformative sacrifice of Christ, John breaks down how Jesus's new perpetual Passover is a necessary part of Christianity. Contemplate with us what it all truly means, confronting the profound implications of the New Covenant. Through a tapestry of scriptural wisdom and the intimacy of the Eucharist, we come to understand the indispensable aspect of this sacrament in our daily walk with God. Join us as we share in the revelations that have reaffirmed John's faith within the Catholic Church, and potentially, could fortify yours.
Article on Passover: https://www.alexisrael.org/pesach---past-present-or-future
Have something you'd love to hear Fr. Stephen and John talk about? Email us at myfriendthefriar@gmail.com or click here!
Welcome to the my Friend the Friar podcast and thanks for listening. If you like my Friend the Friar and want to support us, please consider subscribing or following us. If you haven't already done so, and if you found us on YouTube, then don't forget to click the notification bell when you subscribe so you'll be notified of new episodes when they release. Thanks again and God bless. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for joining me in, bertha, and thank you for being patient with us while we continue our bi-weekly releases as we get caught up here at the start of season 3. Just a quick reminder, to be sure to please check out our previous episodes, since this is a continuation of that one where I broke down what I learned about Apostolic authority and how following the teaching of the apostles was and is still fundamental and absolutely necessary to be able to be considered a true Christian. We left off after having established that only the apostles and not all of Jesus' disciples were given an indisputable authority from Jesus himself and that they had seemingly passed this authority on to only specific disciples of theirs. So now, as I continued my pursuit in the past of what it meant to really be a Christian, I was learning the importance of the Bible since now I saw how it supported the teaching of the apostles. I realized it helps inform how we live our lives as disciples of Jesus and how we engage with our religion and faith, just like the Scriptures did for the Israelites. And this would ultimately lead me to what that second foundational Christian teaching was, which would lead me back to the Catholic Church. You know anyone who has to tell you a story to set you up so they can tell you a story. Well, I gotta do that real quick. Regarding what I learned about the Bible, see our Bible, in case you haven't noticed, is broken into two parts the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Scriptures have been translated many times, so a lot of the scholarly type people they like to go back to the Greek versions of Scripture that existed around the time of Jesus, and I learned that the Greek word used for Testament is diafiki, which also means covenant. And in the time of the Church after Jesus and the apostles, the collection of Scripture was translated from Greek and anything else into Latin. So the entirety of what the Church considered sacred Scripture would be in one common language. And you know those Romans were sort of all over the place, so it makes sense to use Latin, since it was such a commonly used language. The Latin word chosen for the translation of diafiki or covenant was testamentum Very cool.
Speaker 1:So the Bible is made up of two collections of writings, each of which point to testaments or covenants the Old and the New. So what are those covenants? The Old Testament you've got four covenants that God makes along the way with various people, starting with Noah, but the big stuff happens when it gets to Abraham, and then, eventually, god forms covenants with Moses and then again with King David, and these are all extremely fascinating, but all that really matters right now is that you understand that these all happened. The Old Testament Scripture informed the Israelites how to be in relationship with God. Yes, there was the law, but if you read the entire Old Testament, you learn that collectively, it's about more than just the law. Covenant with God is not a contract. Covenant is about relationship and yes, thank you, father Stephen, I hear you. And the Old Testament is about God's relationship with humanity through His chosen people. So I assumed that, since the Old Testament is not called the Old Testament by Jewish people either then or now, then it has to have been called that by the Christian Church because there is a New Testament or covenant that replaced it. It's funny, I don't know. I never knew of any of this stuff growing up, right, I guess I'd never thought of it before, I just took it all for granted.
Speaker 1:But now, putting the pieces together, what is this new covenant that replaced the Old ones? The easy guess is it has something to do with Jesus. So again I turn to my Bible. Paul wrote in Hebrews, chapter 13, verses 8, 20 through 21,. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good, everything good that you may do his will Working in you, that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. So the blood of the eternal covenant is, is the thing which informs how you live out your Christian discipleship, your relationship with God. It equips you so that you can do God's will. But what is this blood of the eternal covenant? Keep in mind throughout this whole episode the covenant and testament are translations of the same word the entirety of the collection of scripture in the New Testament then should be pointing us to this new covenant the same way that the entirety of the Old Testament points to the Old Covenants. If the Old Test, if the Old Covenants, describe how God and his chosen people were in relationship, then the New Covenant should describe how God and the Christians are in relationship.
Speaker 1:In our last episode, ignatius of Antioch said that, if you could sorry, he said that you could not be a Christian if you did not participate in the communal Christian sacrifice. But he didn't reference a covenant. So is there a sacrifice in the New Testament that ties together the concepts of what Paul was writing about and what Ignatius wrote about? Sure enough, you can find it, and you can find it straight from the mouth of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22, verses 8, 15 and 17 through 20. It says so.
Speaker 1:Jesus sent Peter and John saying go and prepare the Passover for us that we may eat it. And he said to them I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And he took a chalice and we need of get. When he had given thanks, he said take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on, I Shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. And he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying this is my body which is given for you. Do this in memory or, sorry, do this in remembrance of me. And Likewise, the chalice after supper, saying this chalice which is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. And as far as I know, this is the only time Jesus uses the word covenant. So Jesus told his apostles to do this, to participate in this new Passover by eating his flesh, the bread, and drinking his blood, the wine. Here Jesus is telling us what the new Testament or the new covenant is. This new Passover meal is a covenant sealed with his blood, very much an Old Testament Abraham blood covenant kind of thing. But what is it that he's really asking us to do?
Speaker 1:The Gospel of John in chapter 6 helps us to understand, a year prior to this famous Last Supper scene in the Gospel of Luke. Listen to what is recorded in the Gospel of John, john, chapter 6, verses 3 through 6 and then 10 through 11. Jesus went up to the hills and there sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the Feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, jesus said to Philip how are we to buy bread so that these people may eat this? He said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Jesus said make the people sit down Now. There was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, in number about 5,000. Jesus then took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, also the fish, as much as they wanted.
Speaker 1:On the next day, after the loaves and fishes thing that just happened, the apostles and some of the people had left. But the story continues. On the next day, the people who remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. That's John, chapter 6, verse 22. So they said to him then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
Speaker 1:Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him Lord, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe. That's verses 30 through 36. Continuing it says Jesus answered them. Do not murmur among yourselves. Truly, truly, I say to you he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.
Speaker 1:The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Many of his disciples, when they heard that, say this is a heart saying who can listen to it? That was verses 43, 47 through 48, 51 through 53 and 60. And it ends after this. Many of his disciples drew back and no longer walked with him. That's John, chapter 6, verse 66. So Jesus is clear that the person who has eternal life is he who believes, believes what Believes, that Jesus is the bread of life. Again, jesus is clear unless you actually eat his flesh and drink his blood, you have no life in you. So if you just look at the scripture as a whole, unified piece now and without any bias, it seems very clear what is happening.
Speaker 1:At the time of Passover, a year prior to Jesus' crucifixion, he was teaching or foreshadowing what he would do the following year Incarnate himself as bread and wine so his apostles could eat his flesh and drink his blood in a covenant meal. Everyone who could not or would not accept this teaching and believe that his body and blood were the bread and wine walked away and they would have no life within them. And those who followed this teaching and believed would have eternal life. Is it a coincidence that the verse where people stop following Jesus because they could not accept his teaching that his body is actually the bread from heaven and that you have to actually eat. Him is John 666. Chapter 6, verse 66,. Let me ask you real quick if you stop following Jesus, are you really a Christian? And if you're not following Jesus, who are you following? So what then is the significance of the Passover From Exodus?
Speaker 1:Chapter 12, verses 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, it says your Lamb shall be, without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep or the goats. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat them. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall eat it, for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you upon the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial day and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall observe it as an ordinance forever.
Speaker 1:The Jewish concept of observance of Passover is a perpetual participation in the same event, not a participation in a recreation or a remembering of an event that took place in the past. So each year they participated in the same Passover event that is taking place, as God declares, forever. This concept itself is super fascinating and I'd love to talk about it more here, but to try and keep this episode as short as I can, I'm going to put a link instead in the description to an article I've recently read on the nature of time and the Passover. Is written by Arabi. I highly recommend giving it a read. It's really cool.
Speaker 1:So, just like what God commanded the Israelites, jesus making a similar command when he says do this in remembrance of me during his celebration of the Passover, it's important. It isn't meant for his apostles to recreate Jesus's Passover meal so they can remember the event in the future after he's gone. No, it's a command to participate in the perpetual Passover that he is celebrating with them. Jesus, as God, commands his apostles to enter into this same moment, so that his Passover event is ever present in their lives forever. And there's even more connection between the Passover and Exodus to the Passover that Jesus institutes. In Exodus 12, verses 22, it says take a bunch of his up and dip it in the blood which is in the basin and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood which is in the basin, and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
Speaker 1:Now flash forward to Jesus' crucifixion. John, chapter 19, verses 28 through 30. Jesus is crucified at this point. After this, jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. A bowl of vinegar stood there, so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on his up and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said it is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit.
Speaker 1:Jesus had said to his apostles in his Passover, regarding the chalice of wine shared at the meal, take this and divide it among yourselves, for I tell you that from now on, I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes. The vinegar made from wine, made from the fruit of the vine is what he had incarnated as his blood, with his apostles. When he drinks it, he finishes the sacrificial Passover celebration. The kingdom of God is realized. His blood is as important as his flesh. If you ate the Passover meal but your home was not marked by the blood, god would not pass over you and any first born in that house would die. Similarly, jesus' blood in his new Passover is a necessary part of the new covenant. The blood marks you for life and it protects you from death. So I want to share one last connection between what Jesus did in Exodus and it's regarding what happens after Passover. Earlier, when we referenced John's Gospel, when the Passover was at hand and they fed the 5,000, the next day is when Jesus teaches about the bread of life, which is his flesh and blood.
Speaker 1:In perfect parallel, the Feast of Unleavened Bread follows the Passover. So what's this Feast of Unleavened Bread? Exodus 12, verses 15 and 17, says 7 days. You shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day. You shall put away any leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel and you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore, you shall observe this day throughout your generations as an ordinance for ever.
Speaker 1:Can you more beautifully prefigure how Jesus would institute a new Passover with this element of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which follows where he is the sacrificial Lamb of God, incarnates himself as bread and wine with salvific and covenantal blood, so that his apostles and disciples could perpetually participate in that moment with Jesus himself and eat his flesh and be marked by his blood, so that they could have eternal life and not be cut off from God. They could then forever be set apart and perpetually participate in this new covenant, be liberated from slavery to sin and granted eternal freedom in life, and this is all in terms and actions that those first Christians and disciples would deeply understand back then. If you do not eat the flesh of the Lamb or the Unleavened Bread and believe that it is the flesh and blood of Jesus, as he himself said it was, then you are not participating in the sacrifice which was necessary to be a Christian and the communal Christian sacrifice that Ignatius of Antioch wrote about, that I mentioned in our last episode. It wasn't just any little sacrifice, it was a covenantal sacrifice. So it's the new covenant sacrifice. It's clear that the first Christians understood it, just like the apostles did, and they taught it because we see it in the early Christian writings. I mean, it's not just the new covenant sacrifice, it's the New Testament. That's what brings us into relationship with Jesus and keeps us from being cut off, then and now and forever. The New Testament writings, then, should be read and understood in the light of the new covenant, of the new Passover, which needs to be perpetually participated in in order to be in relationship with Jesus. And that's it. That's what I found to be the second fundamental aspect of being Christian. Right, not in any priority order, just the second thing that was so foundational. The first was apostolic authority and the second was this, and they support one another so powerfully.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to leave you with several questions for reflection, because these questions, these are the questions I found myself asking after I had learned all this, and the answers to these questions are what drew me back to the Catholic Church. All right, if when God speaks, he speaks things into existence and Jesus is so explicit that you have to eat His flesh and blood, to have life within you. And he says this is my body and my blood. Can it possibly be anything else? Can the bread and wine be anything other than Jesus' actual flesh and blood and still fulfill the requirement for the Passover sacrifice? Would it have been acceptable for the ancient Israelites in Egypt, if they didn't have a lamb, to substitute the lamb with chicken or something and still have a valid sacrifice? Or what about a modern Jew using plant-based vegan meat if they wanted to celebrate Passover?
Speaker 1:Was Jesus simply a symbol of the sacrificial lamb at Passover or was he actually the sacrificial lamb? If Jesus was simply symbolic, could it sacrifice? Could it actually do anything? Can the bread and wine be symbols of Jesus' flesh and blood and still be a valid sacrificial covenantal meal at His new Passover? And if you don't participate in the covenantal sacrificial meal and you don't believe that the bread and wine are Jesus' flesh and blood, like those who walked away from Him in John 666, are you really a Christian? And whatever church you may go to, is the New Testament scripture at your church taught without the context of the Old Testament and without the context of Jesus' covenantal Passover sacrifice?
Speaker 1:Finally, last one, when you go to church, what happens in your church service? What is it that you are participating in? Seriously, think about it. And if you listened to us on YouTube, you know we'd love it if you would take the time to leave a response to one of these questions in the comments section. And if you didn't listen to us on YouTube, why not go find us there anyway and help join the conversation by just leaving a comment anyway? Or maybe there's something you disagreed with or something you'd like to hear us discuss deeper in a future episode? All of it's welcome. Come on, don't forget like, share the episode with others. Please share the episode with others and subscribe so you don't miss out on anything new. And, while you're at it, check out all of our other episodes and I'll see you all next time. God bless.