Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist takes as its starting point Jesus' words in Capernaum, known as the discourse of the Bread of Life. The author wonders what a Jew of that time would have understood when he heard such radical words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him"; or "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you".... In this way, he analyzes in depth different passages of the Bible and Jewish literature of the time in order to understand the Lord's listeners. The same exercise is done with the words pronounced by Jesus at the Last Supper.
Pitre explores the ancient Jewish beliefs about the Passover of the Messiah, the miraculous Manna from heaven and the mysterious Bread of the Presence. As he shows, these three keys (the Passover, the Manna and the Bread of the Presence) have the power to unveil the original meaning of Jesus' Eucharistic words, both in the Bread of Life discourse and at the Last Supper. Along the way, Pitre also explains how Jesus linked the Last Supper to his death on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
A very interesting book, which will help readers to deepen their understanding of the mystery of the Eucharist and to better understand the gestures and words of the Lord in the Gospel, as well as those of the Holy Mass.