The Last Supper and The Lost Tribes of Israel
The Last Supper and The Lost Tribes of Israel
The Last Supper and The Lost Tribes of Israel
Brant Pitre
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go to www.brantpitre.com
The Last Supper, the Messianic Banquet, and the Ingathering of the Tribes
And when it was evening he came with the Twelve And as they were eating, he took bread, and
blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, Take; this is my body. And he took a cup, and
when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the
fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God. (Mark 14:17-25)
You are those who have continued with me in my trials; as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so
do I covenant for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging
the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:28-30)
Jesus Hour: Drawing All Men to Himself
Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who
was from Beth-sa'ida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." Philip went and told
Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come
for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth
and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who
hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If any one serves me, he must follow me; and
where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him. "Now is my
soul troubled. And what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come
to this hour. Father, glorify thy name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will
glorify it again." The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel
has spoken to him." Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the
judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I, when I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show by what death he was to die (John 12:20-36)
Pope Benedict XVI: The Eucharist and Eschatology
31. Reflecting on this mystery [of the Eucharist], we can say that Jesus' coming responded to an
expectation present in the people of Israel, in the whole of humanity and ultimately in creation itself. By
his self-gift, he objectively inaugurated the eschatological age. Christ came to gather together the
scattered People of God (cf. Jn 11:52) and clearly manifested his intention to gather together the
community of the covenant, in order to bring to fulfillment the promises made by God to the fathers of
old (cf. Jer 23:3; Lk 1:55, 70). In the calling of the Twelve, which is to be understood in relation to the
twelve tribes of Israel, and in the command he gave them at the Last Supper, before his redemptive
passion, to celebrate his memorial, Jesus showed that he wished to transfer to the entire community
which he had founded the task of being, within history, the sign and instrument of the eschatological
gathering that had its origin in him. Consequently, every eucharistic celebration sacramentally
accomplishes the eschatological gathering of the People of God. For us, the eucharistic banquet is a real
foretaste of the final banquet foretold by the prophets (cf. Is 25:6-9) and described in the New Testament
as "the marriage-feast of the Lamb" (Rev 19:7-9), to be celebrated in the joy of the communion of saints
(100). (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Sacrament of Charity, 30-31).
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