Feeding the Multitudes, Last Supper, Lord's Supper, Eucharist

The Feeding of the Multitudes, the Last Supper, the Lord's Supper, and the Eucharist
by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.

The various New Testament accounts of Jesus feeding the multitudes, the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, and the Early Christian Church's commemoration of the Lord's Supper (also called the "Breaking of the Bread" or later the "Eucharist" ), contain similar patterns of four key verbs (or their synonyms):

The Feeding of the 5000 (in all four Gospels):

Mark 6:41 - "Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven,
and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people;
and he divided the two fish among them all."
Matt 14:19 - "Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven,
and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds."
Luke 9:16 - "And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven,
and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd."
John 6:11 - "Then Jesus took the loaves,
and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated;
so also the fish, as much as they wanted."

The Feeding of the 4000 (only in Mark and Matt, not Luke or John):

Mark 8:6 - "...and he took the seven loaves,
and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute;
and they distributed them to the crowd."
Matt 15:36 - "...he took the seven loaves and the fish;
and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds."

The Last Supper (as narrated in the Synoptic Gospels and mentioned by Paul; but very different in John's Gospel):

Mark 14:22-24 - "While they were eating, he (Jesus) took a loaf of bread,
and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them,
and said, 'Take; this is my body.'
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it.
He said to them, 'This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.' "
Matt 26:26-28 - "While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread,
and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples,
and said, 'Take, eat; this is my body.'
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you;
for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.' "
Luke 22:17, 19-20 - "Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks
he said, 'Take this and divide it among yourselves;...'
Then he took a loaf of bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them,
saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'
And he did the same with the cup after supper,
saying, 'This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.' "
1 Cor 11:23-26 - "For I (Paul) received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it
and said, 'This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.'
In the same way he took the cup also, after supper,
saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."
John 13:1-30 - The above "words of institution" are not narrated in John, but replaced with the story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet. Yet the setting is clearly Jesus' last meal before his death, as mentioned in vv. 4, 12, and 26-30. The "Eucharistic teaching" of John's Gospel is found earlier, at the end of the "Bread of Life Discourse" (6:22-59; see below)

The Supper at Emmaus (only in Luke):

Luke 24:30-31, 33, 35 - "When he was at table with them, he took bread,
blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight...
That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem;
and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together...
Then they told what had happened on the road,
and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread."

The Early Christian "Breaking of Bread" (a.k.a. Lord's Supper or Eucharist):

1 Cor 10:16-17 - "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?
The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?
Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."
1 Cor 11:17-21 (Paul scolding the early Christians in Corinth for not conducting the Lord's Supper properly) -
"...when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, to begin with,
when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you...
When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord's supper.
For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper,
and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk." (see also 11:23-34)
Acts 2:42, 46 - "They (the community of believers in Jerusalem) devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship,
to the breaking of bread and the prayers... Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple,
they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts..."
Acts 20:7, 11 - "On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread,
Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight...
Then Paul went upstairs, and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left."
Acts 27:35 (Paul speaks to everyone on a ship after fourteen days of riding out a storm at sea) -
"After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat."
John 6:35, 47-58 (the Johannine teaching about the Eucharist is found at the end of the "Bread of Life Discourse") -
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty...
Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;
for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.
Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died.
But the one who eats this bread will live forever."
Didache 9 (The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, ca. 80-120 AD):
"And concerning the Eucharist, hold Eucharist thus:
First concerning the Cup, 'We give thanks to thee, our Father, for the Holy Vine of David thy child,
which, thou didst make known to us through Jesus thy child; to thee be glory for ever.'
And concerning the broken Bread: 'We give thee thanks, our Father, for the life and knowledge
which thou didst make known to us through Jesus thy Child. To thee be glory for ever.
As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains, but was brought together and became one,
so let thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy Kingdom,
for thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.' "

"The Words of Institution" at the Christian Eucharist

Throughout the centuries, whenever the "Liturgy of the Eucharist" (also known as the "Lord's Supper," the "Mass," the "Divine Liturgy," and/or a "Communion Service") is celebrated in Christian Churches, the priest or minister usually speaks some words based closely on the above NT texts:

Before he was given up to death, a death he freely accepted,
Jesus took bread, and gave you thanks.
He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said:
"Take this, all of you, and eat it:
This is my body which will be given up for you."
When supper was ended, he took the cup.
Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said:
"Take this, all of you, and drink from it:
This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.
It will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven.
Do this in memory of me."

The above text is from Eucharistic Prayer II of the English translation of the Roman Missal. The versions used in the other Eucharistic Prayers of the Catholic Church and in the various Communion Services of other Christian Churches and Denominations are very similar, with only slight variations in wording or translation.

"The Words of Institution" - Comparative Overview

.	Mark 14	Matthew 26	Luke 22	1 Cor 11	Catholic Mass
Words over the Bread	"Take; this is my body."	"Take, eat; this is my body."	"This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me."	"This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me."	"Take this, all of you, and eat it: This is my body which will be given up for you."
Words over the Cup	"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."	"Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."	[third cup]: "Take this and divide it among yourselves;..." [fourth cup]: "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."	"This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."	"Take this, all of you, and drink from it: This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me."