The 4th Cup A.K.A. The Most Important Thing You Will Ever Read About.

"The Body of Christ."

"...Amen." 

"Twenty Bucks"

"AMEN"

"A Brand New Car"

"AMMEEEN!!!!"

Have you ever had to explain the Eucharist to somebody who doesn't know what it is, or rather, who it is? 

"It's like...ummm...well. It's Jesus. He's hiding in the bread....body blood soul and divinity...Transubstantiation. Ummm..." 

(Wipes sweat from brow and awkwardly chuckles.)

It's ridiculously difficult, especially as we never will fully grasp the beautiful mystery of this gift! The church even declares it a mystery, giving us scriptural reasoning and many helpful teachings, but the truth is that they in all of their detailed theology and reason, will never be enough, just as any definition that man could possibly give in regards to God will never measure up to the very definition of infinite goodness. 

Which leads me to my hopefully relevant point; What if our parish priests announced Jesus in the Eucharist in the same way that Bob Barker announces a shiny new car? What if we responded with similar jaw dropping, awe inspired, joyful, undeserving, screaming and wholehearted YES'S in our AMENS? I think that if we knew truly and deeply what we receive when we hold out our hands or stick out or tongues for that stale little wafer, we would fall to our knees and die, as if struck by an invisible trillion-ton force field of truth.

But! For the sake of a very small and imperfect sliver of understanding of the greatest gift we will ever receive, we need to think like a Jew. After all, Jesus was Jewish, and the Last Supper was, in itself, the Jewish Passover meal that was shared between Jesus and his apostles.

The Passover was a covenant between God and his chosen peeps in order to claim them as his own, his family, his very flesh and blood. It's pretty legit. It also saved them from death, as they were marked with the blood of the lamb that they cooked up, so that was pretty cool too.

The supper itself consisted of 4 parts with 4 cups of wine to "seal the deal" for each one. It went as follows:

• 1st Cup: Pray/Bless/Sanctify
• 2nd Cup: "Story Time" of how God delivered Israel throughout the ages
• 3rd Cup: PIG OUT!!!! Meal time - roasted lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs etc. 
• 4th Cup: Great Hillel ("Great Hallelujah") Long Praises. THIS IS THE CLIMAX OF THE WHOLE STINKING THING!!! OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE CONSUMMATION CUP. 

The 3rd Cup is where Jesus instituted the Eucharist,  and this is were the ever mysterious and unpredictable Jesus continues to amaze and confuse his followers:

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body." Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it. "This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them. "Truly I tell you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God." 

Mark 14:22-25

Jesus, you make no sense....

In the words of Bob Barker; "But wait! There's more...." You see, Jesus was very clear. They all drank of his blood, the 3rd Cup, then they sung a hymn and left. They skipped the 4th Cup, the very CLIMAX of the feast, the CUP OF CONSUMMATION that marked the finality of the family bond to God, the feast wasn't over. If that seems like nbd to y'all, it would be the same thing as going to mass and the priest went through the whole liturgy and consecration then just skipped communion. If a bride and groom went through their whole beautiful and tearful wedding, then skipped the vows and rings and called it a day. It's a huge deal. 

Fast-forward through the passion of Jesus. Hours of agony in worry, lonely imprisonment, a bloody and torturous scourging, carrying the crushing wood of the cross up a hill, and being nailed to a tree. This is the sacrifice of Calvary. This is what we think of when we think of the great sacrifice of our Lord. But right before Jesus dies, what does he muster the strength to say?

"I Thirst"

So the soldiers "put a sponge full of wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished." Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:29

"It" is the Passover sacrifice, as well as the Calvary sacrifice. For before his betrayal, in the agony in the garden, Jesus prayed to his father; Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will. Matthew 26:39. The cup he speaks of is the 4th Cup of the Passover sacrifice that he has not drunk yet, the Cup that will finish the Passover Meal. Which means that Jesus' Calvary Sacrifice actually started in the upper room during the Last Supper with his apostles, and the Last Supper didn't actually end until Calvary. Making the two of them one inseparable and unified sacrifice. Do you know what this means?

It means that the mass, and most especially the EUCHARIST, is our 4th Cup. Jesus drank of the 4th cup, but his apostles did not. When we kneel before the altar at mass, before Jesus in the bread and wine, we are kneeling before the Crucified Jesus, the Lamb of God, the PASSOVER LAMB (it's in the bible),  accepting both our 4th Cup of the sacrifice, the consummation cup, the communion and crucifixion of our Lord, inseparably. Mind Blowing? Yes. Do we need to fully grasp it? No. We never will. If we could totally and completely understand this mystery, our minds would be bigger than his sacrifice, his passion subordinate to our intellects. 

So what do we do? We pray for the grace to see Jesus in the Eucharist, not with our eyes, but with faith. We receive him and let him receive us, sharing flesh and blood, consummating our love with our heavenly bridegroom. And we say "AMEN" when he gives himself to us, because he is oh-so-much better than a new car.