CC#6--The Fourth Cup--An Offering You Can't Refuse

Welcome to the theory to action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately, and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now, here's your host, David Kaiser.


Hello, I'm David and welcome back to the theory to action podcast in this segment we call the Catholic corner, where we attempt to pull faith and the supernatural life from the corner of our lives, so to speak, and bring it back to the center of our lives to help us live a life of virtue, a life of freedom, pursuing excellence, a flourishing life. Now, some time ago, we had the great Catholic honor author, Scott Hahn, he came in to address the Columbus Ohio men's conference. And because we are in Holy Week, and this episode will air on Holy Thursday, I thought we would talk about what I believe is his latest book. And that book is the fourth cup, unveiling the mystery of the Last Supper, and the cross. At 182 pages, this book was a great little read for me. And like I said, I wanted to share this gym with you today on Holy Thursday. Now Holy Thursday is when worldwide Christians and Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Christ, Passover meal, it's also the commemoration of the washing of the feet, and the Last Supper of Jesus Christ. This is where he established the sacrament of Holy Communion, which was prior to his arrest and crucifixion. The holy day, this holy day always falls on the Thursday before Easter. And with that, let's check out our first spiritual nugget of wisdom. From our book, the fourth cup, unveiling the mystery of the Last Supper and the cross. Let's go to the book. 

Quote, among the difficulties presented by the Last Supper narratives is the way they end the Seder prematurely, leaving the liturgy unfinished. Jesus and his disciples exit the room, and go off into the night singing a hymn see Mark 1426, but they neglect to drink the cup of wine prescribed to accompany the hem, the fourth cup, this is a glaring omission. And D Jesus draws attention to the omission and signal that it's intentional. He takes the third cup, as he takes the third cup, he says, quote, truly I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine. Until that day, when I drink it new in the kingdom of God, unquote. 14, this is Mark 1425, unquote. So the fourth cup, which is the next cup in line to be consumed, will not be consumed. Hmm.

And Scott, in his book shares with us that even as a pastor of a traditionally non liturgical church, he knew what would happen when he would violate the people's expectation at their Sunday worship. He says, quote, If you skip a customary song or hymn, the people complain, and everyone notices so much more in Jesus day, when he does not follow the Jewish rubrics of leading the Passover meal, unquote. So let's back up real quick so we understand what the Passover is, and what are these four cups number? I'm taking this from the book. First, there's the preliminary course of the Passover, which is consist of the festival blessing, the Kurdish spoken over the first cup of wine and it's followed by a serving dish of herbs. The second course including included a recital of the Passover narrative, along with the psalm known as the little Hello, Psalm 113. Halal means praise. Then came the drinking of the second cup of wine. The third Chorus was the main meal consisting of lamb and unleavened bread, after which was drunk the the third cup of wine known as the cup of blessing. The Passover climax Next with the singing of the Great Hall ah, Psalms 114 through 118, in the drinking of the fourth cup of wine, the Mishnah attributes its Seder instructions, to no less a teacher than Gamal, the great, a contemporary of Jesus recognized in the New Testament as the teacher of St. Paul. See acts 22 Three, and indeed the greatest teacher of his time, see acts 534 gumballs pay Gamal pays close attention to the ritual signs, the foods and the cups, and he insists that they must be interpreted aloud, unquote. 

So we have the four courses of the Passover meal that we just talked about. But let's let's back up even further, what is Passover and why is it important, will pass over as the most sacred Jewish festival. It commemorates the fest the freedom of the Israel, Israelites from Egyptian slavery, and it's one of the most dramatic of the many miracles God bestows on his chosen people. After all, what happens is after facing many plagues against the Egyptian pharaoh, God instructs Moses and Aaron, Moses and Aaron to give sacrifice by offering a lamb. God gives precise instructions to use the lambs blood to paint the Hebrew doorpost. And when the angel of death comes, their firstborn sons would be spared. They would be quote, passed over. They would be saved, redeemed, in fact, that's a pretty big deal. Let's go back to the book as the Jewish scholar Hyman Shalash sorry, if I, if I said that name wrongly, Hyman shoutouts, observed that Passover was for first century Jews, and modern day observing Jews was, quote, more than a holiday, it has been the holiday, the festival of redemption. So we can assume if it was that important for Jewish people in first century Jerusalem, then it was important for Jesus since Jesus was a Jewish Jew, unquote. So back to this Passover meal. It's called a Seder. And it's a ritual meal to celebrate what we just talked about in Passover. So we have, there's four parts, we have the first part, to celebrate the festival blessing.

It's followed by a dish of bitter herbs, that that bitter represents the bitterness of slavery. The second course the Passover narrative is recited, followed by Psalm 113, we talked about which is known as the little holla, then the second cup of wine is drunk. Then the third course was the main meal of unleavened bread and lamb. And after which the third cup of wine known as the cup of blessing was to be consumed, and then it ends with the fork, the fourth course. And this is the climax, they sing the Great Hall, Psalms 1/14 through 118. And they drink the fourth cup of wine. And the four cups represents the four expressions of deliverance promised by God and Exodus six, six through six, seven, quote, I will bring you out, I will deliver, I will redeem, and I will take that's pretty straightforward, right? Four cups, four parts to this ritual meal. And there's explicit instructions on how to celebrate this holiday reverently, before God and to change this whole ritual practice that commemorates Passover would be a huge deal, right. So now let's go back to that missing cup. As he takes the third cup, he says, Truly, truly I say to you, I shall not drink again, of the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it a new in the kingdom of God. Mark 1425 So he does not drink the fourth cup. 

And let's go back to the book. A pivotal point in the Catholic mass, where the liturgy turns from the readings to an offering is the offertory It is then perhaps that the prayers are most recognizably pastoral considering first these blessings from the Passover Seder The first is pronounced over unleavened bread and the second over the cup of wine. If you're a Catholic, or even if you're a non Catholic who's attended to Catholic mass, these words should have a familiar ring about them. Quote, Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of earth. Amen. Blessed are you Lord, our God, King of the universe, creator of the fruit of the vine, amen. And here are the blessings pronounced with the bread and wine at the offertory of the mass. Blessed are you Lord of all creation, for through your goodness, we have received the bread we offer you, the fruit of Earth and the work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life. And that Blessed are you Lord of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you, fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drank. Scott Hahn goes on to say you don't need an advanced degree in history or Hebrew. To see the development here. The traditional table blessings used at the Seder have been supplemented to note the Passover is fulfillment in Jesus Christ, and specifically Jesus Christ as he is about to appear, really present in the Eucharist. Unquote. 

Now for most Catholics, I don't think they recognize the incredible resemblance from the Passover words, the blessing to the mass prayers said at the offertory. In fact, I know I didn't, until I started studying the maths, more in depth. But what a blessing literally. And I was just extremely grateful as I re as I prepare for this Mojo minute in this, this Catholic corner segment. Just what an incredible blessing it is. So let's go back from the first blessing over the Passover Seder meal, over the unleavened leavened bread. Quote, Blessed are you Lord, our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of Earth, amen. And then the blessing from the offertory of the mass over the unleavened bread, quote, Blessed are you Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you, fruit of the earth and work of human hands it will become for us the bread of life. Unquote.

Do you recognize particularly that Bread of Life reference reference rather reference? Where have we heard that before? Remember, Jesus uses the bread of life example in his discourse on the Eucharist. And John 631, through 36, where he says, quote, our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly I say to you is not Moses, who gave you bread from heaven. My father gives you the true bread from heaven, and give life to the world. And they said to them, 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 believe in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe and quote, now from our Catechism of the Catholic Church, we learned that, quote, in the communion, preceded by the Lord's Prayer and the breaking of bread, the faithful received the bread of heaven, and the cup of salvation, the body and blood of Christ, who offered himself for the life of the world. catechism number 1355. 

But Jesus doesn't end there. He comes back to this bread of life reference again, later, in John 47, through 51, as if to cement this concept of the bread of life and connection with Moses in the manner during the Exodus. Quote, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes, has eternal life, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 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 give for For the life of the world is my flesh unquote. And those who heard this had much trouble believing what was taught to them, and we find that out from John 652. And then Jesus gives it a third try, he makes them an offer they can't refuse, quote from my flesh is food indeed. And my blood is drink indeed, He who eats my flesh and drinks, my blood abides in Me and I in him. As the Father sent me, I live, and I live because of the father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came from heaven. Not such as the father's ate and died. He who eats this bread will live forever. John 654 through 658, the bread of life. Now the close ties from the Passover Seder meal to the Catholic mass, and the repeated offerings from Christ about his flesh and his blood. Explaining that deep connection from one to the other is beyond incredible. 

All Catholics and Christians would do very well to study these connections of the Passover meal from the Old Testament, and the links to the now present Catholic mass, which has been presented down through the ages. Scott's scholarly teaching in this book helps deepen helps deepen my faith. And it certainly has helped deepen many of my peers faith. So I encourage you to check out the book for more stunning details and connections between this Passover Seder meal and the Catholic math mass. And so in today's Catholic corner, I hope you will attend a Catholic mass. I hope you'll attend one where it's said devoutly and reverently and if you do, I would ask that you listen attentively to the words and the actions of the celebrant. Because there are many stunning details that will touch your heart most especially after reading this book from Scott on. And thank you, Dr. Hahn, for writing this book and to helping to deepen my faith most especially but to deepen many Catholics faith. And for many, including me, it's simply a holding holy offering that we can't refuse. So may you all have a happy and Holy Thursday.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this theory to action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at T Mojo academy.com where we have everything we discussed in this podcast as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on