The Cup of Consummation

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0:30 Today we're going to start with what we've been talking about, which is that in the New Testament, the authors kick up the theme of the New Exodus. Remember last week we talked about how our Lord in the Lord's Prayer uses petitions that come from the Old Testament in passages in the Old Testament that pertain to and prophesy and talk about the salvation to come, the redemption to come, the restoration to come. And these passages speak of this, what's to come, in terms of a new Exodus. This is a huge prophetic theme and Jesus takes this up in his ministry. And so, for instance, in Luke 9, verses 30 to 31, Luke 9, 30 to 31, Jesus at the Transfiguration has Moses and Elijah appear in glory.

1:40 And Luke says that Moses and Elijah spoke of Jesus' exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. And he uses that word, exodus, which means to draw out of. And Luke is very particular. He includes this detail, exodus, because he's showing that Jesus, what he's going to do in Jerusalem, is going to be the new exodus. And, of course, Moses was present for the first exodus. Okay, so let's think for a moment. Okay, the first exodus, what happened? Israel was 12 tribes. They were not a nation yet. They were just 12 tribes who were united by familial ties. And they're in captivity under a foreign, you know, to themselves, because they're not really foreign because they're living in their land. But their Gentile power is over them.

2:35 And they're in captivity. And what happens is God, through Moses, delivers Israel from Egyptian captivity, takes them across the Red Sea. And they're formed as a nation at Mount Sinai through the Mosaic Covenant. So, they go across the Red Sea, they go to Mount Sinai, and the Mosaic Covenant is formed. We call it the Mosaic Covenant because it was formed between God and Israel through the covenant mediator, Moses. And they became a nation. They were unified. Well, so, later on, when Israel became a kingdom, they became a united kingdom under David and under his son Solomon. But then they were divided. In 722 BC, the northern kingdom, which consisted of 10 of the 12 tribes, was defeated by Assyria and was exiled and was assimilated among the nations. Later on, in 586 BC, the southern two tribes were conquered by Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar.

3:38 And they were sent into exile, but they retained their national identity. And then they returned to the land. And so, in Jesus' time, we called them the Jews because the majority of them were from the tribe of Judah. And then there were also some Benjaminites and Levites. You know, Paul's a Benjaminite. John the Baptist is a Levite. Jesus and Mary and Joseph are Judahites. And so, the prophets in the Old Testament, when this exile occurred, the prophets said, Okay, what's going to happen is that the son of David, who is going to be called the Messiah, the anointed one, the Messiah, the son of David, is going to be this figure under which Israel, all 12 tribes, are going to be reunited from the exile. They're going to come out of exile.

4:35 So, like in the first Exodus, they came out of Egypt. Well, so they're going to come out of the foreign nations. And just as these 12 disparate tribes became a nation, so the 12 tribes in exile are going to come together in unity under the Messiah. And not just the 12 tribes, but the Gentiles as well. And so, there's this new Exodus theme. There's going to be a... And this, remember we looked last time at the terminology used. This event is going to be used, is going to be called redemption, or to be redeemed. And, by the way, even the term redemption comes from the first Exodus. Because, remember, the Passover lamb redeemed the firstborn, we're told. Okay, so the term redemption, even that comes from the first Exodus.

5:26 Restoration. So, when Israel is redeemed, and there's a forgiveness of sin, because sin brought on the exiles, so to undo sin, to get rid of sin, to forgive sin, means to undo the exile. Israel is going to be restored as a people. Redemption, restoration. And then, this entails forgiveness of sins. This is going to happen under a new covenant, we're told, by the prophets. A new covenant. So, just as there was a Sinai covenant, so there's going to be a new covenant under the Messiah. And, we've seen, we've seen, in the last couple of classes, we've seen that, just as Israel crossed the Red Sea, so Jesus crosses through the waters of the Jordan River. And, just as Moses went up Mount Sinai, and got the law, so Jesus, in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 5, verse 1, goes up the mountain, sits down, and gives the new law.

6:41 He sits down, because that's a position of teaching authority for rabbis. And, we're going to see, in this class, that just as there was a Passover, in the first exodus, and just as there was manna, that came down from heaven, in the first exodus, so there's going to be a new Passover, and new manna, in the new exodus. And, this is the way that, in this new Passover, is going to be the Lord's Supper. And, the new manna, is going to be, Christ's own flesh and blood, at the Last Supper. And, Paul, when he spoke about baptism, and, this reality of the Last Supper, which, I'm going to use this term, Eucharist, this is the traditional term, that the early church used to refer to this. This is probably the most, prevalent term.

7:34 It's called different things, it's called the breaking of the bread, it's called Holy Communion, it's called, many different things, but Eucharist is, the most popular term. Paul, himself, spoke of the sacraments, baptism in the Eucharist, in this way, and we've already seen this, but I'm going to revisit 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 1 to 5. 1 Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 1 to 5. Let's look at that real quick. So, this is, Paul, writing to, you know, fairly new Christians in Corinth. And, basically, what he's telling them is, guys, look, the sacraments don't magically change you. You don't have it made in the shade just because you were baptized and you celebrate the Lord's Supper.

8:24 You still have to be faithful. These are sacraments of faith. So, he says, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. Okay, he's talking about that first exodus, the Red Sea. And, all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. Well, if you go back and you look at the Exodus narrative, there's nowhere about being baptized into Moses. What is he talking about? Well, these converts are being baptized into Jesus. And, he's saying, look, you know, they were baptized with Moses as their leader. And, so, Jesus is the new Moses and baptism is the new crossing over the sea. And, then he says in verse 3, all ate the same spiritual food.

9:15 All ate the same spiritual food. And, he's referring to the Eucharist. And, he says, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For, they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them. And, the rock was the Christ. And, then here's the caveat. He says, yet God was not pleased with most of them. For, they were struck down in the desert. God was not pleased with most of them. For, they were struck down in the desert. And, then he continues to give warnings. And, he says, guys, look. This side, I mean, the, the, you know, many of these Israelites who were redeemed. Who crossed the Red Sea, who were there, ended up falling away. And, so, he's using this as a warning. He's using scripture in order to edify and to exhort the Christians in Corinth. Let's turn to Matthew 26, 18.

10:05 Matthew 26, 18. All four gospels recount the Last Supper. The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, recount the narrative. The narrative of the institution of the Eucharist. John does not. He presupposes the other three gospels. So, he's like, why do I have to spill more ink and just say the same thing over again? So, instead, he gives us a theology of the Eucharist. But, in Matthew 20, Matthew 26, 18. We, we discover something about the Last Supper that's very, incredibly important. And, what is that? My appointed time draws near? 26, 18.

11:00 He says, my appointed time draws near. In your house, I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples. So, there's going to be a celebration of the Passover meal. And, the Passover meal had been celebrated ever since the first Exodus. Every single year, this was commanded in Exodus 12 to be celebrated. So, we can go back to Exodus 12 and we can read the narrative that Moses gives of how to celebrate this Passover. Now, why is it called the Passover? Why Passover? Yeah. The angel of death passed over those houses that had celebrated the Passover correctly. Okay?

11:53 Basically, there were 10 plagues. The 10th plague was the death of the firstborn. And, no matter, I mean, unless if you did something, your firstborn was going to die. This was the plague, the 10th plague in Egypt. And, the plague came upon Egypt so that Pharaoh would let Israel go. This was like God kicking Pharaoh in the shin, saying, let my people go, you know. And, Pharaoh would not let them go. And, so, God said, well, unless if you let my firstborn go, I will slay your firstborn. And, so, the Lord says, if you sacrifice a one-year-old unblemished lamb from either the sheep, not sheeps, but the sheep. Or, the goats, a one-year-old unblemished lamb, if you sacrifice this lamb, take its blood, spread it on the doorposts and on the lintel with a hyssop, a hyssop branch.

13:00 And, if you eat the Passover lamb, and you couldn't leave any part of it over for the next day, then your firstborn will be spared. But, if you don't do this, your firstborn will die. And, then, of course, what happens? The Egyptians don't celebrate it. There's a great, we were told that there's a great wailing throughout the land. And, Pharaoh says, get out of here. You killed, my son is dead. Get out of here. Okay, so they were delivered. Well, the angel of death passed over those houses that celebrated the Passover. So, Passover is an English word. You know, we put pass and over together. Just like atonement is an English word, it's at one-ment. That's where we get atonement from.

13:47 If we go back to the Hebrew, the Hebrew word for Passover is Pesach. P-E-S-A-C-H is a transliteration. That's the Hebrew. That means to pass over. Pesach. And, in Egypt, that's also an Egyptian word. But, in Egyptian, Pesach does not mean to pass over. It means the destructive blow. Because, for Israel, it was the passing over of the angel of death passed over the houses. But, to Egypt, it was the destructive blow. And, if you read the Exodus narrative in Exodus 12, it'll say it was a destructive blow to the Egyptians. It's presupposing that you know what Pesach means in both Hebrew and in Egyptian. And, in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, in Aramaic, the Aramaic word for Passover is Pascha.

14:51 Pascha. And, this is why you'll hear Jesus referred to by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 as the Paschal Lamb. This is where we get Paschal from. The Paschal Mystery is the way we speak of Christ's redemption. And, that comes from the Aramaic for Passover. Pascha. The Passover meal. Who here has read all of this chapter that we're supposed to read? Chapter 21. Raise your hand. All right, we've got some faithful people out there. The rest of you, well, you know, not all survived the Sinai wilderness. But, this chapter in this book, Understanding the Scriptures, that we're following, describes the Passover meal as being structured around four cups of wine, of oinos.

15:56 And, the first cup is, kind of starts it off. You have a solemn blessing. You begin with a solemn blessing. And, then, you drink a cup of wine. Okay, first cup of wine. And, then, what do you do? We read the Passover story. No, you don't read the Passover story yet, Gloria. Well, it says number two. You eat the bitter herbs. Why, why are we going to eat bitter herbs? Symbolizes the bitterness of captivity in Egypt. Yeah.

16:43 Symbolizes the bitterness of captivity in Egypt. And, then we have the second cup of wine. Not yet. Before the second cup, after we have the bitter herbs, we read the Passover story from Exodus 12. So, we need to read Exodus 12. Let's go back to Exodus 12, quickly. Let's turn back there. To Exodus 12. Let's look at Exodus 12, verse 11. Exodus 12, verse 11. This is how you are to eat it.

17:35 With your loins girt, sandals on your feet, and your staff in hand. You shall eat it like those who are in flight. It is the Passover of the Lord, the Pesach. For on this same night, I will go through Egypt, striking down every firstborn of the land, both man and beast. So, not just the human firstborns were killed, but also the beast's firstborn. And executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt. Now, how is he executing judgment on all the gods of Egypt? Yeah. They worshipped animals. So, if the firstborn of the animals die, their gods are dying. Because they worshipped sheep, goats, cattle, frogs. These were gods.

18:30 And so, when they die, their gods die. But the blood will mark the houses where you are. Seeing the blood, I will pass over you. Thus, when I strike the land of Egypt, no destructive blow will come upon you. There it is. Destructive blow. This day shall be a memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord as a perpetual institution. Now, when it says memorial feast, there's a special Hebrew word used. Zikkaron. Z-I-K-K-A-R-O-N is the transliteration. And it comes from the root zakar, which means to remember. But guys, biblical scholars who study the Passover and study the meaning of Hebrew will tell us that there is no English word that can accurately translate this.

19:32 There is no English word that can accurately translate this. So, when I say it means to remember, I mean it's kind of like to remember. But it was much more realistic than just to intellectually remember. The early rabbis, in the time of the early church, you know, after Jesus had come, the early rabbis, in their writings, they tell us that every Jew who celebrates the Passover should consider himself as having personally left Egypt. So, it's not just saying, you know, let's just remember what God did, but somehow that event becomes real for you. This is the type of memorial that the Passover is. This is what zikaron means. And if we look down in verse 22, we'll see that you're supposed to take a bunch of hyssop and dipping it in the blood that is in the basin to sprinkle it on the lintel in the two doorposts.

20:34 And then, of course, you're supposed to eat it. We see this earlier in chapter 12. We also see it later on in chapter 12. We see on verse 46, we see it must be eaten in one and the same house. You may not take any of its flesh outside the house. You shall not break any of its bones. The whole community of Israel must keep this feast. This is the Passover of the Lord. So, let's get back to our narrative here. We just saw Exodus 12. Then, what do you do after reading Exodus 12? You read Psalm 113. Psalm 113. Which is called the Little Hallel. The Little Hallel Psalm. Hallelujah. It comes from two words.

21:22 Hallel and Yahweh. Hallelujah. You know, for Yahweh. So, it's praise the Lord is what hallelujah means. It's Hebrew. So, every time you say hallelujah in mass, you're saying Hebrew. Okay. And so, it's a little hallel. You sing that. And then, you partake of the second cup. The second cup. And hopefully, these aren't too strong. I'm sure I'm going to know what you're doing by the third cup. Then, you partake of the main meal of lamb. You know, the Passover lamb that you have to eat. And unleavened bread. Unleavened bread. And then, you take the third cup.

22:17 Which is specifically called the cup of blessing. And then, you read from Psalms 114 to 118. By the way, if you look at these in the Bible, they begin with hallelujah. And that's the great hallel. First, you have the little hallel. Then, the great hallel. You sing that. And you sing it. You don't just say it. And then, you drink from the fourth cup. Which is known as the cup of consummation. Because that's what consummates the Passover. Cup of consummation. So, this is the structure of the Passover.

23:06 And Jesus is celebrating the Passover meal with his disciples in the upper room. Okay, now we need to turn to Matthew 26 again. Let's look at the narrative that Matthew gives us. We could look at Luke or Mark. But I'm going to go with Matthew. Matthew 26, 26. While they were eating, Jesus took bread. Okay, where are we in the Passover narrative?

23:57 They're between the second and the third cup. Because he's taking the bread, the unleavened bread. They've already eaten the bitter herbs. They've already read the Exodus narrative. They've already sung the little halel. They're eating the unleavened bread. While they were eating, Jesus took bread. Said the blessing. Broke it. And giving it to his disciples said, Take and eat. This is my body. Then he took a cup. Okay, he's taking a cup. So, this would be the third cup. The cup of blessing. Gave thanks and gave it to them. Saying, drink from it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant. Which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. And when he says, blood of the covenant, this is the only time Jesus uses the word covenant.

24:53 So, it would be very important. And when he says, blood of the covenant, he's specifically quoting Moses in Exodus 24, verse 8. Because at Exodus 24, verse 8, Israel was at the foot of Mount Sinai. And they were entering into the Sinai covenant. Becoming a nation with Moses as the covenant mediator. And the blood of the covenant was the blood of these sacrificial animals. So, Jesus is saying, you know, just as there was a covenant formed through Moses with you at Mount Sinai. So, the new Exodus has come. I'm forming this new covenant that the prophets have talked about. And I'm somehow redeeming and restoring you and bringing Israel back together through this action. So, this has the Exodus themes.

25:51 Or here at the Last Supper. Verse 29. I tell you, from now on, I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father. Then, after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. So, he had the third cup, the cup of blessing. They sang a hymn. That would be the great Hillel. And then they went out to the Mount of Olives. That would be like Father David celebrating Mass. He gives the consecration. You know, he partakes of the Eucharist and he goes out the back door. And we're all sitting there and we're like, Father, Mass is still Holy Communion. You know, the Rite of Holy Communion, Father.

26:40 Where are you going? And he's like, we need to go to the Mount of Olives now. You know, or he goes, we need to go over to the rectory. It's like, have you lost your mind? This is a major liturgical faux pas. And if you were reading the narrative from Jewish eyes from the first century, you would see this. You would go, wait a minute. There are four cups and there's something wrong here. Well, Jesus goes out and he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane. And let's look at verse 39 of the same chapter. Just a little bit further now. Verse 39. Jesus says that he advanced a little, or I'm sorry, Matthew says that Jesus advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer. And he prays, what? My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.

27:33 Okay, the fourth cup. He says, please, I don't want this cup. His human will is repulsing suffering and death. But of course, you know, because they do the hypostatic union, the human will follows the divine will. But he prays a second time in verse 42. My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done. And then in verse 44, he prayed a third time saying the same thing again. So three times Jesus prays specifically that this cup will pass. And so we have the narrative of Jesus' passion. And let's turn a little bit further in the gospel.

28:26 Let's turn down to verse, chapter 27, verse 34. Chapter 27, verse 34. And this is Jesus carrying his cross. It says that they gave Jesus wine to drink mixed with gall. But when he had tasted it, he refused to drink. Let's look in verse 46. It says that at about three o'clock, actually it says at the ninth hour. And the hours begin at six o'clock in the morning for the Jews. So the ninth hour would be three o'clock in the afternoon. Matthew 27, verse 46.

29:14 At the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lima sabachthani. Which is Aramaic, Jesus' native tongue. And, of course, there are people from all over there for Passover. And not everybody speaks Aramaic. And so, people who don't speak Aramaic, it sounds like he's calling for Elijah. Eli, Eli! You know, it's like, oh, he's calling for Elijah. Maybe Elijah will come and help him. But they're misunderstanding him. He's quoting the first verse of Psalm 22. And as a Jew, when you quote the first verse of a Psalm, or a verse in a passage in the Old Testament, you're invoking the wider context.

30:03 Because as a good Jew, you really know your Bible. You really know your Old Testament. You know your Torah. You know your prophets. And so, he's expecting for you to know the entire Psalm. He's bringing this all to mind. And Psalm 22 begins with, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? As if the person is just despairing. You've abandoned me. But as we read the Psalm, we realize that the person really does not feel abandoned. I mean, it looks to the outsiders like he's abandoned. But he actually has this great trust and hope in God. And God is there with him all along. And he knows that he will be vindicated by God, who is with him. That's the sense of Psalm 22.

30:52 So, Jesus is relying and trusting upon God, who's with him, who will vindicate him. And this is how he quotes. And so, sometimes we misunderstand what's happening on the cross, because we don't understand the Old Testament context of a verse. Verse 48 of Matthew 27. Immediately, one of them, whoever them are, ran to get a sponge. He soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. Not to kind of sip on, not to kind of lap at, but to drink. Jesus partakes of the wine. He said he wouldn't, until he drinks it anew with you in the kingdom of God. And he's doing it, here upon the cross. And then we see, immediately in verse 50, Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.

31:45 Let's turn to John's Gospel to get more details. John fills in the gaps. John gives us more of a closer perspective. Now, he was there, you know. He was the only one of the 12 apostles that didn't abandon Jesus at the cross. In fact, there were more women than apostles there at the cross. I mean, the women were those who were not afraid. And so, we'll look at John 19, verse 28. John 19, verse 28. Barbara, would you please read from 28 to 30?

32:33 After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, Okay, so while in Matthew's Gospel and Mark's Gospel, we, you know, it kind of seems like he takes of it. They're like, they gave it to him to drink, but it never really says, did he take it? Well, they kind of assume that you know, but that you're kind of like, well, yeah, he did, because he doesn't say that he didn't. But John's very specific.

33:21 He says that Jesus not only takes it, but before he takes it, he says, I thirst. It's, I'm thirsty. But why does he say it? We're told in John 19, 28, the same verse, Aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. What scripture? Well, I mean, some people have seen allusion to maybe some, a couple of passages, but there's no real scripture that you can really say, you know, the Messiah is going to say, I thirst. You know, it's not there. Rather, it's more of the whole idea of the Passover. And Jesus is saying, I thirst for the fourth cup. And so there's a vessel filled with common wine, and he partakes of this wine and dies. Now, remember, the Passover has not ended.

34:15 The Passover is still going on, because the fourth cup has not been taken. So what's finished? Our redemption? No. Paul tells us in Romans 4, that Jesus was raised for our justification. No third day, no Sunday, no resurrection, we're not saved from our sins. The redemption is not complete yet. So what's finished? The Passover. Because he took the fourth cup, the cup of consummation. He would not take the wine drugged with myrrh, or that had gall in it. But now he'll take the wine from a common vessel. And what is the wine put on? A hyssop branch.

35:02 And that's why I pointed that out in Exodus 12. John is expecting for you to get the allusion back to Exodus 12. And if we look a little bit further in verse 36, we see that in order to speed up the death process of the people upon the cross, they break the legs of the people on the cross. They see that Jesus is already dead, so they don't break his legs, but they break the legs of the good thief and the bad thief. Why? Because they can't push up on their legs, if they're broken, to breathe. So they'll die of asphyxiation. They'll basically suffocate upon their own blood if their legs are broken. So they'll die very quickly. And the Jews want this to happen because the Passover, I mean, the Sabbath is very near, and they can't bury anybody on the Sabbath. So they want to get this over with real quick.

35:50 But it's very specific that Jesus does not have his bones broken. In fact, in verse 36, John tells us, For this happened so that the scripture passage might be fulfilled, not a bone of it will be broken. In your Bibles, what is that reference to? What scripture passage is that? Where is it? Not a bone of it will be broken. Exodus 12, 46. Back to Exodus 12, the Passover lamb. That's right. Okay, so John is using this Passover theme. And remember how we were told that the Passover lamb had to be unblemished? Well, let's look back at John 18, verse 38. John 18, verse 38.

36:42 When Pilate is examining Jesus. It says that Pilate went out to the Jews after examining Jesus, and he said to them, I find no guilt in him. So as the priests are inspecting in the temple area, are inspecting the Passover lambs to see if they're unblemished. So Pilate is examining Jesus. You know, so are you committing insurrection? So what have you done? And then he declares, I find no guilt in him. He's unblemished. There's the idea of the Passover lamb. Let's turn to the beginning of John's gospel. John chapter 1, verse 29. John chapter 1, verse 29.

37:45 What's the first thing John the Baptist says when he sees Jesus coming toward him? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Okay, so the very first thing that's really said of Jesus by, you know, John the Baptist is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. So we have this Passover lamb. Let's turn back to the end of John's gospel again. I forgot something. Let's turn to John 19, 14. John 19, 14. John gives us a curious detail. He says, It was preparation day for Passover. And it was the sixth hour, which is noontime.

38:39 And he said to the Jews, Behold your king. They cried out, Take him away, take him away, crucify him. Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. When was he handed over to be crucified? Noon. Noon, the sixth hour. Now, if you're a Jew, And if you, you know, You know about what goes on with the Passover, You would know that that is the hour When the Passover lambs are prepared for Passover. They're sacrificed. Because that's what it means When he says That it was preparation day for Passover And it's about noon. That's when the priests in the temple Are sacrificing all of the lambs.

39:31 Let's turn to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. To the very beginning of John 6. Verse 3. Jesus went up on the mountain And there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. So here's the Passover theme. In John's gospel, In the public ministry of Christ, There are three Passovers. John, you know, In one point he says, You know, There was Passover.

40:19 And there was time for... And here he says, It's Passover. And then there's another Passover. So there's three Passovers. And so in John's gospel, There's a three year public ministry of Christ. Because Passover only happens once a year. So if you have three Passovers, You have three years. Does that make sense? Yeah. Only if you sell it, right? Then it'll make sense. It'll make lots of sense. It might even make a couple of dollars. So the... It's pitiful. Did you just get that? Okay. Good. I'm trying to bring some humor into this, guys. We're talking about death and blood. And I want to make you laugh a little bit. Okay. So it's Passover is near. And Jesus chooses the Jewish feast of Passover to work one of his miracles. He raises his eyes in verse 5.

41:09 And he sees that there's a large crowd coming to him. And he said to Philip, Where can we buy enough food for them to eat? You know, Philip, where do you think we can go? Local 7-Eleven? He said this to test him. Because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, 200 days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little bit. You know, and Jesus is testing Philip. He's seeing if Philip has faith in Jesus. Jesus, can you feed these people? You know, Jesus is like, you know, so who do you think I am? Do you think I'm, you know, somebody who can work a miracle here or not? He's testing him. Verse 8. One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good are these for so many?

42:00 Jesus said, have the people recline. Now, there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about 5,000 in number. And that's just the men. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave Eucharistia. Eucharistia is the root word that's being used here. He gave thanks, Eucharist, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. Okay. He had them recline, and there was lots of grass, we're told. The Lord is my shepherd. There is nothing I lack. In green pastures you let me graze. To safe waters you lead me.

42:48 You restore my strength. You guide me along the right path for the sake of your name. Okay, so Psalm 23 is being alluded to here where there's grass and being fed and taken care of. And we'll see a bunch of, we'll see water in just a moment. When they had gathered their fill, when they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, gather the fragments left over so that nothing will be wasted. So they collected them and filled them with 12 wicker baskets. With fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. Five. There were five barley loaves. There were two fish. There were 12 wicker baskets. How many books of the Torah are there?

43:37 Five. And what people are associated with the Torah, you know? The Jews. And fish live in the sea. And the sea was kind of a symbol of the Gentiles. Okay, so in the book of Revelation we'll talk about the dragon or the beast. You know, I think it's the beast coming out of the sea. Well, that's a symbol of that, you know, it's a Gentile power, not a Jewish power. And then there are 12 wicker baskets, like the 12 tribes of Israel, like the 12 apostles. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is truly the prophet. The one who is to come into the world. You know, back in Deuteronomy 18 that Moses prophesied of. The prophet who's like unto Moses.

44:25 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew to the mountain alone. The idea of the mountain. Okay? Again, this should harken back to Mount Sinai, where there was, you know, which is associated with the Exodus and the Passover. When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. Okay? So they get in the boat to go across the sea from where they are. Jesus doesn't come with them. It starts getting really stormy, and all of a sudden, they began to be afraid.

45:13 And they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they began to be afraid. I would be afraid, guys. If I saw, you know, my master, my rabbi, walking on the sea, and I'd be like, they would think it's practically a ghost. But he said to them, It is I. Do not be afraid. Is that what they said? Is that what he said? No. That's my New American Bible translation, which you know I love so much. He did not say, It is I. He said, I am. Do not be afraid. I am. Which is Yahweh, the divine name. He applies to himself. There's an Old Testament passage that talks about somebody treading on water. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. That's Job 9.8.

46:06 Talking about Yahweh, God. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. The idea of walking on water, treading on the crest of the water, is only attributed to Yahweh in the Old Testament. Jesus says, I am. So there's a divinity, you know, he's kind of, he's applying divinity to himself. He had just multiplied bread, miraculously to feed the people, near the feast of Passover. And they all fell asleep. Because they were getting very sleepy. No, I'm just kidding with you. It says that the next day, oh, they wanted to take him into the boat, but the boat immediately arrived at the shore to which they were heading.

46:58 So all of a sudden, boom, they're at their destination with Jesus. It's like, whoa, how did this happen? You know, they're rowing for miles, it tells us. They're automatically there. Well, because Jesus is divine, you know, he's showing his divinity. The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. Other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they had eaten the bread, where the Lord gave Eucharistia, where the Lord had given thanks, Eucharist. So there's a second mention of Eucharist. There's a mention of Passover, multiplication of loaves, second mention of Eucharist, specifically recounts when the Lord gave thanks. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

47:49 So the idea is, Jesus is like a Hollywood celebrity. Everybody's like, where's Jesus? He just fed us. He fed us, and there were 12 wicker baskets left over. There were 5,000 men, not counting women and children. Where is this guy? Verse 24. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you get here? How did you do this? Did you teleport? Are you David Copperfield? What's going on here? Jesus answered them and said, Amen, I say to you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. In other words, you guys just want more food to fill your bellies.

48:41 Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him, the Father God has set his seal. In the early church, in the time that John wrote this gospel, the seal, this is also used by Paul quite a bit, is, it refers to baptism. Because it's the Holy Spirit coming upon you and anointing you. And Paul talks about how you've been sealed with the Holy Spirit. And so, if the Father gave his seal upon Jesus, this happened at his baptism. You know, this is the seal of the Spirit anointing Jesus, making him Messiah. So they said to him, what can we do to work the works of God? Okay, so, okay, we're kind of following here.

49:27 What do we, how do we work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent. Don't just, don't just come looking for more bread, but believe in me, follow me, not, not this multiplication of loves, not just, don't just be looking for, throughout John's gospel, we have people looking, wanting signs, wanting more miracles, but they don't believe in Jesus. They don't follow him. They don't trust him. They don't do his will. They just want to see more signs. So they said to him, what sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? And Jesus is like, don't you get it? Just, you know, I'm God, hello, didn't you see the David Copperfield thing? I just went across the sea immediately. Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written in Psalms, 78, 24.

50:25 Actually, I didn't say that. Psalm 28, Psalm 78, 24. That's, put there later on. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. So they go, come on, Moses, you know, he, he gave us manna. Well, what can you do? So Jesus said to them, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven. My father gives you the true bread from heaven. Okay, don't just stop with Moses, but go beyond Moses. Who's the giver? For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. So they said to him, sir, give us this bread always. It kind of reminds us later on, before in John chapter four with the Samaritan woman at the well, where he says, I have living water.

51:15 And she thinks that it's running water, but he's using this word Zoe, which means both living and running. And he means living water, but she thinks it's running water. So she's like, you know, wow, running water. I could just get it all the time. She's like, give me this water, you know, give me this water always. Well, he says, give us this bread always. There's kind of a parallel to John four. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. One of the seven I am sayings. Remember John, I mean, I'm sorry, Jesus in John's gospel says, I am the good shepherd. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am, He's applying the divine name to himself. Whoever comes to me will never hunger. Whoever believes in me will never thirst. So associates belief with hunger and with thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you don't yet believe.

52:05 Well, it's quite evident they don't believe. I mean, they still want signs. They won't just trust him and believe in him. Everything that the father gives me will come to me and I will not reject anyone who comes to me. Because I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, that I should raise it on the last day. And I came here so you people would believe in me and have eternal life and you'd be, you'd share in my resurrection. For this is the will of my father, that everyone who sees the son and believes in him may have eternal life and I shall raise him on the last day. The Jews murmured about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. Okay, somehow he's, I mean, what came down from heaven in the Old Testament?

52:55 What bread came down from heaven? The manna. Jesus says, basically, I'm the new manna. You're looking for bread to eat? Don't look for bread that fills you up. Look for the true bread that will give you life. Me, I'm the new manna. And they're like, they murmur among themselves. And they said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, I have come down from heaven? Weirdo. Jesus answered and said to them, stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draw him. And I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets, they shall all be taught by God. Which is a quotation from Isaiah 54, 13. Shall all be taught by God.

53:43 Everyone who listens to my father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the father except the one who is from God. He has seen the father. Amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. Believe guys. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven. So that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, flesh for the life of the world. Okay, Jesus, you were, you were doing well here. You, you were doing, you were using the, the, the manna analogy quite well.

54:32 You were associating eating and drinking with believing in you. Okay. You say that we, we don't have belief. Okay. That's, that's not so much, that's not a very good PR. Uh, that's kind of a faux pas, but okay, this is, but now you're saying, well, wait a minute, you're going to give us your flesh for the life of the world. And what is, what, what's the response that the Jews have to this last statement of Jesus? That the bread that he's going to give is going to be his flesh for the life of the world. What's, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? How can this man give us his flesh to eat? And Jesus, and I want, I want to point something out here. The Greek word for eat in verse 52 is phago, which if you look it up in a strong concordance, it means to eat.

55:33 Duh. It also can be used metaphorically or figuratively to eat. You know, like today, if you offend a teenager, you might say, you know, eat me, you know, or I could just, oh, I, that baby, I just love him. I could just eat him up, you know? Yeah. Okay. That's phago. Verse 53, Jesus said to them, okay, so they say, how can this man phago his flesh to eat? And they're interpreting phago in a metaphorical sense. I mean, in a literal sense, they're like, how could he give us his flesh to eat? You know, Jesus said to them, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man, and he uses the same verb, phago, in verse 53, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

56:29 So Jesus reaffirms their, their literal interpretation using the same word. And then Jesus says in verse 54, whoever trogo my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. So he switches verbs for to eat. He switches from phago to trogo. And if you look trogo up in a Strong's concordance, it'll say to gnaw, chew or munch as an animal feeding from a trough. And it's never used metaphorically. It's so literal.

57:22 And then Jesus says in verse 55, he reaffirms the Jewish interpretation, this literal interpretation of phago for the third time. Jesus says, For my flesh is true food. It's really food. It's food. It's true food. And my blood is true drink. And then in verse 56, he says, Whoever trogo my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Communion Whoever trogo my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Verse 57.

58:08 Just as the living father sent me and I have life because of the father, so also the one who trogo on me, who gnaws on me, who chews on me, who munches on me, will have life because of me. So eating his flesh, feeding on him is going to give life. It's going to bring about communion and it's going to give life. We see trogo again in verse 57. Verse 58. Are you saying bees is the verb trogo also? Yes. Verse 58. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever trogo this bread, whoa, again, four times, will live forever.

59:05 These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. I want to point something out real quick. I did a Strong's Concordance search. And phago occurs 105 times in 90 verses. In 90, 105 times in 90 verses, phago appears. In all, in the New Testament. Just looking at the New Testament here. In the New Testament, trogo appears six times in six verses. We just saw four of those instances with four of those verses. There are only two other times in the New Testament that the verb trogo is used. One in Matthew 24, 38.

59:59 When it taught, when Jesus is talking about the tribulation that's going to come upon Jerusalem, the destruction of Jerusalem, he's prophesying it. It's called Matthew's mini apocalypse. He's talking about how in the days of Noah, when they were eating and making Mary. Okay. That's where he uses it. Matthew uses trogo. He says, just as in the days of Noah, you know, the flood came upon him. So, you know, so it's going to be when there's a destruction that comes upon Jerusalem, basically, is what he's saying. And they were really eating in the days of Noah. But that's one instance. The sixth and final and only other instance in the New Testament where trogo is used is in John's gospel. Guess where it is? The Last Supper. John 13, 18. Jesus talks about Judas Iscariot who's going to betray him.

1:00:52 This is at the Last Supper. And he quotes Psalm 41, 9. He's quoting Psalm 41, 9 when he gives this verb. And it's also verse 10. It's verse 9 in some translations, verse 10 in other translations. Psalm 41. Which was known as a Psalm of David. And it's when David is talking about Ahithophel, his fellow comrade who shared the table with David and ate bread with David, but he betrayed David, Ahithophel. And just as Ahithophel betrayed David, so David's son, the Messiah, the son of David, he's going to have his close companion, Judas Iscariot, betray him. And so he quotes this Messianic Psalm, this Psalm of David.

1:01:43 And if you look at the beginning of Psalm 41, it will say a Psalm of David pertaining to himself. And we know that John is trying to tie John 6 and the Last Supper together, because in the Greek version of the Old Testament, trogo is not used. If John wants to quote, and we know that the apostles used the Greek version of the Old Testament. We know this because of the way that they quote the Old Testament. The Septuagint is different from the Hebrew version in quite a few passages. So we know that the apostles' Bible was the Greek Old Testament. John doesn't use the same verb. The verb used in this Psalm is estheo. Estheo. And phago and estheo are basically kind of the same exact, the same exact, have the same exact meaning.

1:02:35 It's just, phago is just another way of saying estheo. But instead of John quoting the Septuagint like it was written, quoting the Psalm, he changes this verb to trogo, to tie the Last Supper with Psalm, I'm sorry, with chapter 6. And of course, for John, it wasn't chapter 6. There were no chapters in his gospel, but that part of his gospel, which we call the Bread of Life Discourse. Now let's get back to the narrative. Let's look back at what continues to happen here. Okay, so basically the Jews, Jesus associates eating and drinking with believing in him, believe in me. And if we go back further, it's tied up with Eucharistia, giving thanks. And we see that at the Last Supper, it says specifically that Jesus gave thanks.

1:03:24 That's why we call it the Eucharist. And we also see that it was near the time of Passover, you know, and there was a miraculous multiplication of real bread, but that was just earthly. The Jews quarrel among themselves in verse 52. You know, we already saw this. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus reaffirms their literal interpretation six times. Four of those times using Trogo, which is only used six times in the New Testament. And this is what continues in verse 60. Then, many of his disciples who were listening said, this saying is hard. Who can accept it? Why was it hard? I mean, yeah, it's hard. I mean, eat me.

1:04:10 I'm really going to give you my flesh. Okay. Cannibalism. Hello. But what's also hard about this? What are Jews specifically commanded not to do in the Torah? Drink blood. They are commanded not to drink the blood of any living thing. Why? Because the blood was seen as the life of the animal. I mean, you deer hunters, what happens if you cut someone's, you cut a deer's jugular? It dies. The blood was seen as the life. And so what did the Israelites worship in Egypt? Animals. And so if the life of the animal is seen in the blood, then drinking the blood of those animals would mean what? They're getting their life from that animal which they worship, their idol.

1:04:57 And so why are they commanded that they can't drink the blood? Not just because it's bad for you or whatever, but because Yahweh, again, just like all the commandments, the ceremonial commandments in the Mosaic Law, God is giving commandments to get Israel away from idolatry and to follow Him. The commandment is basically, don't get your life from these idols, get it from me. I'm your true life. We just saw that Jesus used the divine name for Himself, I am. He tread upon the waters. We see Him constantly in the Gospel of John saying, I am, the seven I am sayings. We see in the beginning, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

1:05:44 In the beginning, it was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Constantly, John is affirming the divinity of Jesus. So if Jesus says, drink my blood, what is He also saying other than drink my blood? I'm Yahweh. I'm God. It's okay for you to do this. Why? Because my humanity is inseparable now from my divinity in the hypostatic or the hypostatic union. But this is repulsive to Jews. So it says in verse 61, since Jesus knew that His disciples were murmuring about this, He said to them, does this shock you? Talk about shock therapy. I mean, this is a homily that John would never forget. What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? So He ties us in again with the ascension.

1:06:37 It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. It is the Spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. Let's turn back to John chapter 3. Verse 6. Remember Nicodemus? Who didn't quite believe Christ, wasn't quite fully committed to Him yet, and Jesus is like, Jesus knows human nature, so He says that man must be born again, or must be born from above by water and the Spirit, to enter the kingdom of God. Well, He says in verse 6, of John chapter 3, what is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of spirit is spirit.

1:07:27 Elsewhere we'll see Paul in the New Testament talking about how, are you still in the flesh? Have you not risen above this? I mean, can't you overcome your sins because you have the Spirit? Are you still fleshy people? Are you not spiritual men? Now I have to refer, I have to talk to you as babes in Christ. I mean, you're so slow at growing in Christ. The idea in John 6, 63, is the same idea all throughout John 6, is the flesh is of no avail, relying upon your own human understanding, your own human comprehension, your earthbound perspective, is profitless in the face of divine mysteries. If you look at Jesus and you say, well, we know your father and your mother, there's no way that you're God.

1:08:16 How can God prove, how can Jesus prove that He's God? Multiplying loaves? No. We saw this done in the Old Testament. Was it, I believe it was Elisha who did that. Performing miracles is not, I mean, we saw Elijah raise the widow's son. Jesus raising people from the dead doesn't mean He's God. How do we know that Jesus is God? What's the proof? The resurrection? Rising from the dead? Or He could just be a human that God raised from the dead. How do we know He's divine, guys? Mary was assumed into heaven. Elijah was assumed into heaven. Enoch was assumed into heaven. God said He was His only begotten son, but we've already seen that only begotten son, the only beloved son is actually what it is, referred to Isaac.

1:09:10 And Solomon was also called the son of God. How do we know that Jesus is God? What's the proof, guys? What's the sign that Jesus can perform so we know He's divine? There is none. There is no way He can prove that He's God. Because God could have just given a human lots of powers. Or the devil could have. We know that He's divine because of faith. Only faith can comprehend His divinity. This is what John 6 is about. This is a contrast between the Spirit's ability to enlighten our minds and for us to accept revelation because God has granted us the gift of faith.

1:10:01 John 6, we saw earlier that, you know, no one comes to me unless if the Father draws him and the Father, they listen to the, going back a little bit here. Verse 37, everything that the Father gives me will come to me and I will not check to anyone who comes to me. Verse 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him and I will raise him on the last day. So you can only have, you can only accept these types of things if you have faith. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 10, 16.

1:10:50 1 Corinthians 10, 16. Paul says, the cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Let's turn to, later on in chapter 11, to verse 27. Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and the blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

1:11:43 Krimah, damnation. That is why many among you are ill and infirm and a considerable number are dying. That's from 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 27 through 30. John's apostle, Ignatius of Antioch, who we've seen in the scripture study already, says, take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ, which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. He's talking about the Gnostics, who don't believe that God really took flesh in the incarnation. Ignatius says of them in his letter to the Smyrnians, they abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

1:12:32 Flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father and his goodness raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes. And of course, we don't really have any Gnostics anymore. I mean, they did perish. Justin the Martyr, who wrote in 150 A.D. in his first Apology, chapter 66, we call this food Eucharist and no one else is permitted to partake of it except the one who believes our teaching to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration. Baptism. Basically, only baptized people can receive the Eucharist. And is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these, but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the Word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too as we have been taught the food which has been made into the Eucharist

1:13:26 by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him and by the change by which our blood and flesh is nurtured is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus. That's St. Justin Martyr in 150 A.D. in his first Apology, his defense of the Christian faith before the Romans, before those in the court. Is St. Justin also the one that did what mass were? Yes, yes. Justin gave us basically what the liturgy of the early Christians looked like and it was the liturgy of the Word followed by the liturgy of the Eucharist. This is what's always gotten me. Think about this just for a moment. Let's read this narrative, the Last Supper, just as an ordinary...

1:14:15 I'm not going to read it, by the way. It would take too long. But let's just read the narrative, okay? Guys, I would interpret Jesus as saying he's being symbolic. I would. I would just read it and I would say, yeah, Jesus didn't really mean that bread somehow became his body and that wine became his blood. I wouldn't think that. I would think that would be a symbol, okay? And so, people in the early church, Christians, you would think that there would be a dispute somewhere. Somebody saying, no, it's symbolic versus, no, it's literal and there would be a dispute and there would be a council over it or something. But there's silence in the early church. There's no disputes disputes on whether or not Jesus is God, disputes on the Trinity, disputes on is Mary the Theotokos or the, or something else.

1:15:05 Is she the God-bearer or the man-bearer? I mean, what is she? You know, there are lots of different, none of this. The dispute doesn't arise until, basically, 1000 AD the dispute arises because Baron Garius of Tours, France, said that the Eucharist was metaphorical, that it was a symbol and not really Christ. Baron Garius of Tours said this around 1000 AD and all of a sudden the whole church is up in arms. Now, think about this also. He was a monk who lived in the, in the, in the low middle age or the middle middle ages. And, but think about this. I mean, all of the Eastern Orthodox churches which have been separated from the Catholic church ever since, well, I mean, there was no one separation in 1066.

1:15:52 There were lots of separations and east from west have always been kind of splitting and coming back together. It's been, it's a long, sordid history. But, think about it. I mean, all these churches believe the same exact thing. There's no difference in doctrine. We, you know, there's, the Eucharist is worshipped because it's Christ himself. And yet, there's the same belief. You would think that, okay, one of these churches that claims apostolic succession would teach a metaphorical, because, I mean, you just read it. I mean, use common sense, guys. I mean, this is metaphor, right? But everybody believes it's literal. I mean, this type of universal witness could only be true if that was really what the apostles taught and that's really what was being affirmed. I mean, St. Augustine says that at the Last Supper, Christ held himself in his own hands.

1:16:43 You know, and this is why we call, this is why at the Council of Trent, the church called this trans, that what happens at the consecration when the presbyter or the episcopoi says the words of consecration is that what happens is transubstantiation not transformation. because the form of the bread and wine remains. It appears like bread, it appears like wine. I mean, otherwise, we couldn't eat Christ. Could you guys imagine actually eating? No, of course, Christ made this possible because he allows the form to remain, but the substance, what it is, remain.

1:17:31 I mean, it's changed. And we see the reverse happening with water. Water, the substance remains while the form changes. It's a liquid, it's a gas, it's ice. But it's still water in all three forms and the substance never changes. So the substance is not tied to the form, like inseparably. If the form changes, the substance, well, so likewise, the substance can change while the form remains. And this is how Christ can change bread and wine into his resurrected body, blood, soul, and divinity while leaving the form the same. All right, well, let's close in prayer. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Lord, thank you so much for this cold weather.

1:18:20 We ask for all the people who are sick that they would get well. We ask for, again, we ask, Lord, for the time to study and especially the time to pray. We ask that you would take away those distractions in our life which take us away from you, take us away from an intimate conversation with you. And so, Lord, I ask for not only the time but the willingness and the effort this week to pray and to draw closer to you, to believe in you more fully, to trust in you. Lord, we love you tremendously. Thank you for the witness of St. Valentin. Thank you for his gift to the church. We love you, Lord, and we praise you.

1:19:14 Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.