Scripture, starting in Genesis, is the story of God preparing us and leading us to total unity with Him. Much of the story is about how we reject this plan, over and over again, but God never gives up on us. He loves us so much. He uses everything that is and everything that happens to lead us to Him. Even our rejection of Him in all our sinful actions is used to try to get us turn back.
God’s goal of unity between us and God is realized in heaven, but it is also on earth. We are called by God to receive God’s love, and His very being, into us. This is given spiritually but also physically. In the Eucharist, we receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus.
The fulfillment of God’s plan, the gift of the Eucharist, gets started with the Incarnation. God must become man in order to give His flesh and blood. The fulfillment is completed with the gift of the Eucharist, started in the upper room at the Last Supper and completed on Calvary when Jesus pronounces that, “It is finished.”
This is not the end, though. The Eucharist is a perpetual offering, given from the rising of the sun to its setting, and offered everywhere. The blood of Jesus is poured out at every Mass, and each of us has the opportunity to enter into this sacrifice and covenant every bit as fully as the Apostles at the Last Supper.

Scripture passages listed below:
- Luke 2:4-7 – Incarnation
- John 1:26-29 – Behold the Lamb of God
- Matthew 26:17-20 – Jesus celebrates the Passover
- 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – Institution narrative
- Matthew 26:26-29 – Institution Narrative
- Mark 14:17-25 – Institution Narrative
- Luke 22:15-20 – Institution narrative
- John 19:18-35 – Crucifixion
- Luke 24:15-16, 25-35 – Journey to Emmaus
- Matthew 28:18-20 – I am with you always
- Acts 2:38-42 – They devoted themselves to the breaking of the bread
- Acts 20:6-12 – Mass in Troas
The Incarnation
Luke 2:4-7

Behold the Lamb of God
John 1:26-29
When John sees Jesus, he explains that Jesus is the Lamb of God. The implications of this are enormous. The lamb was predicted by Abraham, and the lamb an integral element is Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. John is saying that Jesus is the fulfillment of both of these.
Jesus is the Son offered in sacrifice. He is the pure offering, a lamb without blemish, offered in sacrifice. He is the sacrifice of atonement that takes away sin and restores the relationship between God and His people.
In the Passover, the lamb had to be eaten. The people needed to participate personally in the sacrifice. Jesus, as the Lamb of God sacrificed for us, had to give His flesh for us to consume so that we could personally enter into His sacrifice. God’s love for us is infinite, and the Eucharist is the ultimate sign of this love.


Jesus Celebrates the Passover
Matthew 26:17-20
The Institution Narratives
In all four accounts, the language is declarative and unambiguous. Jesus is clear in stating that the Eucharist is His body and blood.
The Crucifixion
John 19:18-35
Jesus wears a seamless linen garment, a priestly vestment typical of liturgical celebrations. The crucifixion is liturgy with Jesus the High Priest offering the sacrifice.
At the Last Supper, Jesus says He will not drink wine again until He does so in the Kingdom of God. This leaves the Last Supper open-ended. We are awaiting the Jesus to drink His final cup of wine. He does exactly this on the cross. In His last act, He says “I thirst.” He is given wine to drink, and He says “It is finished” as He dies.
This concludes His sacrifice started in the upper room. With this conclusion, the Eucharist is complete. It is a total gift of His body and blood. To reinforce how He pours out His blood for us, His death is followed by the soldier piercing Him with blood and water pouring from His side. He gives every drop of His blood for us.

Journey to Emmaus
Luke 24:15-16, 25-35
They say their hearts burned as Jesus taught them, but they could not recognize Jesus. This is an important lesson. The Scriptures are extremely important, but Scripture alone is not sufficient. To encounter Jesus, we need more. If two disciples who knew Jesus well could not recognize as He walked with them and opened the Scriptures to them, how can we recognize Him from just reading the Bible?
Then, just like every Mass today, they moved into the Liturgy of the Eucharist. At the meal, Jesus does what He commanded us to do. He consecrated the bread, changing it into His body. It is through the Eucharist that the disciples eyes are opened. Although Jesus was previously visible as He walked with them, He was hidden from the disciples. Then, He was revealed to them in the Eucharist.
It is through the Eucharist that we truly encounter Jesus.

I am Always with You
Matthew 28:18-20
If two cherubim with a fiery revolving swords guarded the way to the Tree of Life in Genesis, how much must the angels bow before the Son of God in the Eucharist? If we truly appreciated this Sacrament for what it is, we would be terrified to approach, awed by the majesty and humility of the King of Kings. We would be even more terrified to leave the Word made flesh. Where could we ever find anything better than our infinitely powerful and infinitely loving God?
They Devoted Themselves
Acts 2:38-42
Paul’s Mass in Troas
Acts 20:6-12
With the raising of the boy, his life on earth was restore and his body healed. This is inconsequential next to the eternal life offered through the Eucharist. Jesus said that without the Eucharist, we have no life within us. It is clear the people in Troas with Paul understood that. They remained focused on the Mass and the Eucharist despite seeing a boy raised from the dead.
This Mass was not typical of what we see today. Most Sunday Masses are approximately one hour. Paul talks all night. The text even says he went on and on. The people could not get enough of the Word of God, and waited patiently for the Eucharist. They treated the Sacrament as we all should, with true devotion and love.
Images:
Unknown, The Nativity, mid-1200s, Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 23.5 x 16.5 cm (9 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Follower of the Egerton Master (French / Netherlandish active about 1405 – 1420), The Nativity, about 1410, Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 19.1 x 14 cm (7 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Unknown, The Baptism of Christ; The Marriage at Cana, about 1400 – 1410, Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 33.5 x 23.5 cm (13 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Willem Vrelant (Flemish, died 1481, active 1454 – 1481), The Baptism of Christ, early 1460s, Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 25.6 x 17.3 cm (10 1/16 x 6 13/16 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Taddeo Crivelli (Italian, died about 1479, active about 1451 – 1479), The Last Supper, about 1469, Tempera colors, gold paint, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 10.8 x 7.9 cm (4 1/4 x 3 1/8 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Book of Hours, Last Supper, Walters Manuscript W.246, fol. 41v
Unknown, The Last Supper, illumination about 1190; written about 1490, Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment, Leaf: 11.9 x 17 cm (4 11/16 x 6 11/16 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Workshop of Valentine Noh (Bohemian, active 1470s), Initial S: The Last Supper, about 1470 – 1480, Tempera, shell gold, and gold leaf on parchment, Leaf: 14.1 x 10.2 cm (5 9/16 x 4 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Unknown, The Last Supper, about 1030 – 1040, Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 23.2 x 16 cm (9 1/8 x 6 5/16 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los AngelesGiorgio Vasari II (Italian, 1511-1574) (Artist)
Giorgio Vasari II (Italian, 1511-1574) (Artist), The Last Supper, ca. 1545 (Renaissance), Florence, Italy (Place of Origin), Painted surface H: 12 11/16 x W: 31 9/16 x D excluding cradle: 3/8 in. (32.2 x 80.2 x 1 cm)
Unknown, The Crucifixion, first quarter of 11th century, Tempera colors, gold, silver, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 23.2 x 17.9 cm (9 1/8 x 7 1/16 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (Italian, about 1590 – 1625), The Supper at Emmaus, about 1615 – 1625, Oil on canvas, 139.7 x 194.9 cm (55 x 76 3/4 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles