The Biblical Story of the Mass

If you’ve ever wondered why—at the Last Supper—Jesus offered his Body and Blood under the forms of bread and wine, today’s First Reading gives us insight: Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Who’s Melchizedek? He’s the ancient high priest who made an offering of bread and wine in the presence of the patriarch Abraham (Gen. 14:18-20). Many of our Protestant brethren will counter that bread and wine don’t constitute the sacrificial rite stuff, pun intended.

Not so. Exodus 29:40 and other scriptural passages show that bread and wine can serve as offerings.

Still, our Protestant brethren will argue that Jesus died “once for all” (Heb. 7:27; 9:28), and that our Lord declared that his Sacrifice was “finished” on the Cross (John 19:30). No doubt Jesus died only once, and yet the Church teaches that his one Sacrifice of Calvary is offered anew (re-presented) at each and every Mass.

How can that be?

In today’s First Reading, we learn that every high priest is “appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins” (Heb. 5:1). So, the prime function of a priest is to offer gifts and sacrifices. In addition, we learn that Jesus’ one Self-Offering on our behalf did not begin and end on the Cross. Indeed, as great as his Resurrection was and is, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene on that first Easter Sunday, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 19:17, emphasis added). Christ’s Ascension into the heavenly sanctuary, not a mere earthly Temple, was essential to his fulfilling the annual Day of Atonement sacrifices (Heb. 9:11-14; see Lev. 16).

Also, Jesus’ one Sacrifice culminated in everlasting glory in the heavenly sanctuary. We know this because Hebrews 8 begins by reaffirming that “every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices;” (Heb. 8:3) And then immediately adds, “hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer” (Heb. 8:3, emphasis added). Notice the present tense: offer. Jesus, the high priest in heaven, must have something to offer. This aligns with Hebrews 7, which proclaims that Jesus “holds his priesthood permanently, . . . since he always lives to make intercession for” us (Heb. 7:24-25, emphasis added).

Thus, contrary to what many of our Protestant brethren think, the Catholic Church doesn’t teach that Jesus’ Sacrifice of Calvary was somehow insufficient. Rather, it’s the ultimate Gift that keeps on giving: now and forever!

And because Jesus commanded his apostles, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19), heaven and earth become most profoundly one at the Mass, which is also the fulfillment of the Old Covenant Passover.

How?

For the ancient Hebrews, remembrance was not simply a recollection of past events but rather calling forth the power of a past event and feeling its impact in the present. For the Old Covenant Israelites, this meant experiencing God’s timeless Passover blessing every year, even though new lambs would be offered each subsequent year, and Levitical priests could only serve twenty years.

In the New Covenant Passover/Mass, remembrance is much more wondrous. We not only become mystically present at the foot of the Cross but also sacramentally united with Jesus’ one Sacrifice, which culminated in everlasting glory in the heavenly sanctuary. And here’s why I wish today’s reading included Hebrews 5:10, because it would help Catholics better understand that Christ’ one offering of Calvary continues—i.e., is made sacramentally present on our altars on earth—at every Mass:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and

supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who

was able to save him from death, and he was heard

for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned

obedience through what he suffered; and being made

perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who

obey him, being designated by God a high priest according to

the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:7-10, emphasis added).

The Letter to the Hebrews establishes a close connection between the Last Supper and Jesus’ One Sacrifice of Calvary. That Christ’s being designated a priest according to the order of Melchizedek is intimately and inextricably linked with his one priestly Sacrifice of Calvary. And thus that Jesus will continue his priestly ministry, his work of eternal salvation, according to the order of Melchizedek. Recall that at the Last Supper, Jesus tells his apostles, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) after consecrating the bread and wine.

So, what happens at Mass? Heaven and earth become one. Jesus’ one Sacrifice that culminated in everlasting glory . . . becomes present on altars worldwide through the power Christ imparts to his priests at ordination (CCC 1566), as they offer anew that one Sacrifice on their behalf and ours, and we also partake anew of the same sacrificial Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, consuming his Body and Blood that we might have eternal life (see John 6:53-58). And Jesus is made present according to the order of Melchizedek, that is, under the appearances of bread and wine.

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Nowhere are these words of the Lord’s Prayer more profoundly fulfilled than in the Mass! That is, when we have eyes to see and ears to hear, Paradise is as close as your local parish church, and receiving Jesus in the Eucharist provides a foretaste of the heavenly “marriage supper of the Lamb”! (Rev. 19:9).

For a deeper dive on this glorious subject, see my book The Biblical Roots of the Mass (Sophia Institute Press), or a more distilled treatment in my book “To Whom Shall We Go?”: The Biblical Case for the Catholic Church (Emmaus Road Publishing).

[Readings: Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 2:18-22]

Tom Nash

Tom Nash is a Contributing Apologist and Speaker for Catholic Answers, and has served the Church professionally for more than 30 years. Tom is also a Contributing Blogger for the National Catholic Register and a Contributor for Catholic World Report. He formerly served as a Theology Advisor at EWTN and is the author of What Did Jesus Do?: The Biblical Roots of the Catholic Church (Incarnate Word Media), and The Biblical Roots of the Mass (Sophia Institute Press), and the forthcoming 20 Answers: The Rosary (Catholic Answers Press). Tom is also a Regular Member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars.

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