Christ's Fulfilment of the Law


Christ fulfilled the Old Testament law perfectly through
the two related Temple Feasts of "Passover" and "Yom Kippur".
The innocent Lamb of God without sin, sacrificed as a Scapegoat on the Cross, bearing our sins


Jack P. Oostveen


January 2024, Last updated 11 October 2024



Christ's fulfilment of the Law

Introduction

While discussions of the Holy Mass by the "Liturgical Movement" [01; 02; 03; 04] generally is about a Christianized Synagogue Service and the Last Supper with a Nucleus of the Euchrist's Proper as the origin of the Holy Mass without referring to the essential link to the Old Testament Temple Cult. These discussions are more about (alleged) historical developments regarding the form than about the essence of the Holy Massl, founded on archeology. Furthermore, especially this latter had led to a misunderstanding of the true distinction between the natural and supernatural orders, by which they went so far as to judge the correctness of development by "Organic Growth". Indeed, all this is then based on an amateurish archeology, in which they set aside the Doctrine and Practices, which have been preserved by the Holy Spirit throughout the ages through the "Organic Growth" under the refutation of heresies and the adoration of Christ in all aspects of how He has fulfilled the Law. It is this pride that resulted in their blindness to see the essence that Christ was born to fulfill the Law and how that is connected to the fulfillment of the Temple cult of the Old Testament. Namely that Christ fulfilled the Law that regulates the Jewish Temple cult in its entirety, which also means that the Holy Mass is the fulfillment of the Temple cult of the Old Testament: the Eucharist is a Sacrifice.
Without claiming to be complete an overview of the fulfilment is given here in its main points concerning the last week of Passion.

The fulfilment of the Law

The fulfilment of the Law, certainly, did not start with Christ hanging on the Cross, Christ standing before the Sanhedrin or Christ instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper or something like that. Apparently, Christ's fulfillment of the Law refers to His entire earthly life, from Conception to His Death on the Cross. He was born as the "Innocent Lamb of God" in the Stable of David. This was the stable from which the lambs came to be sacrificed in the Temple. So, also Christ, as the "Innocent Lamb of God", was born in this Stable to be sacrificed in the Temple. However Christ, the "Innocent Lamb of God" was led out of the City of Jerusalem as a "Scapegoat" where He offered Himself on the Cross for our sins and then rose from the death because He was without sin. Thus it is Christ, Priest in the order of Melchisedech, who ultimately fulfilled the Law by offering His Body for our sins on Golgotha (Lk 24:44-49). The Holy Mass can therefore only be associated with this ultimate culmination of the fulfillment of the Old Testament Temple Cult through the two related Temple Feasts of "Passover" and "Yom Kippur".

This fulfillment is therefore connected to the books of the Old Testament which proclaimed the Law. It therefore follows Exodus and Leviticus among others in its context of the "Exodus from Egypt, the land of slavery", which had a paradigm shift by its fulfillment to the "Exodus from the land of the slavery of sin".

Christ and the Law

Therefore, this process of fulfillment follows the Law as given in the Temple cult of the Old Testament. A rough outline of the fulfillment is given here with reference to the main points in the last week, the week of Passion, as follows:

  1. Ex. 12:3

    According to Exodus 12:3 the "Children of Israel" had to choose an unblemished lamb for the Passover Sacrifice on the 10th day of the 1st month (Nissan), so 4 days before the actual slaughter would take place. Indeed, that day the "Children of Israel" shouted (Matt. 21:9), "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" (Hosanna means, "Please save us!"). In doing so, the messianic prophecy was fulfilled as given by Psalm 118, one of the Hallel Psalms (Psalms of Praise) recited during Passover meal "Save us, pray I! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the Kingdom to come! Our father David! Save us from the highest. Save us son of David! Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord, yea, the King of Israel!" So, by mass acclaim, Jesus is designated the Messiah. Unconsciously, the "Children of Israel" choose their Passover Lamb on the day the lambs were to be chosen.
  2. Ex. 12:5

    Exodus 12:5 instructs that the Lamb must be checked for blemishes. Only a perfect, spotless and unblemished Lamb would suffice for the Passover.
    1. Now, while Christ is teaching in the Temple, he was approached by Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodian and other teachers of the Torah. Each group poses questions, trying to trap Him in his words. They were looking for any blemish, which might disqualify Him as Messiah. The narrative of these tests are preserved in Matthew 22. They could not find any fault with Him, the [Eternal] Passover Lamb indeed was without blemish.
    2. And after Last Supper, on the same evening before His Crucifixion, the Sanhedrin continued this search of blemish by themselves and could not find any blemish too and finally they condemned Him to death for His claim to be the Son of God.
    3. Then, Pilate and Herod respectively, representing the worldly Government, could not find any blemish either,
  3. Lev. 16:8-10

    Then Pilate let the "Children of Israel" choose between Jesus and Barabbas. So, the "Children of Israel", who had acclaimed Christ being the innocent Passover Lamb without sin, now like at the associated Feast of "Yom Kippur" they designated Him as Scapegoat who bore the sins of the "Children of Israel" (Lev. 16:8-10).
  4. Num. 29:11

    As Scapegoat He was then taken outside the City of Jerusalem, where He as Eternal High Priest, in the order of Melchisedech, sacrificed Himself. The innocent Passover Lamb as Scapegoat sacrificed for our sins on the Cross at Calvary at the appointed time for the Passover Lamb to be slaughtered, i.e. the 9th hour of the 14th day of the 1st month (Exodus 12). Herewith Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament Law concerning the associated Temple Feasts of "Passover" and "Yom Kippur" (Num. 29:11).
  5. Ex. 13:1

    The Resurrection of Christ on the third day, took place on the Old Testament Temple Feast of the "First Fruits" (Exodus 13:1) that caused a paradigm shift by which Jesus Christ as the "Firstborn" is the "First Fruit" (Hebr. 1:6).
  6. Lev. 23:15-16

    And the Old Testament Temple Feast of Pentecost (Lev. 23:15-16), concerning the remembrance of the gift of the Law of God, has been transformed now into the commemoration of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the gift of God's Law spiritually into our hearts and our consciences (II Cor. 1:12; II Cor. 3:7). Then, while God had said of the Israelites "and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6) it was after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Peter said similarly "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (I Peter 2:9).

The Remembrance of Christ

Thus "a holy priesthood" who "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5) during which the ordained priests "in Person of the High Priest, Christ" offers the Passover Lamb and then "in Person of the High Priest, Christ" eats and drink the Body and Blood of Christ,the Passover Lamb, as Sacrificial (Spiritual) Meal, after which the faithful are invited as the "Holy Priesthood" to join the Sacrifice by eating the Body of Christ. This is the one, true and eternal Sacrifice of the Eternal Passover Lamb, who is unblemished and appointed to be a "Scapegoat" He is bearing our sins. In this way Christ used the context of the Passover as a Memory of the "Exodus from Egypt, the land of slavery" through the associated Feast of "Yom Kippur" for a paradigm shift into a remembrance of Christ as a memory of the "Exodus out of the land of slavery to sin" of which He is the door to Heaven.

The Eucharist

While the institution of the Eucharist by Christ at the Last Supper was on the Thursday evening. This Last Supper could therefore neither be a Sabbath meal, as suggested by the new Offertory prayers of the 1969 Reform, nor the Sacrificial Passover Meal of Pesach itself. While the Old Testament day is from sunset to sunset Thursday evening was one day too early for it. Rather, it was the first meal of the 14th day of the first month when the 7-day Feast of the Unleavened Bread began. Whereas the Unleavened Bread signifies being unblemished (I Cor. 5:7, I John 3:5, Hebr. 7:26) in contrast to the leaven bread that stands as the common symbol for Sin (Amos 4:5, Hosea 7:4, Lk 12:1, Matt. 16:6-12, Gal. 5:9, I Cor. 5:6-8). So, the Last Supper was the first Passover Meal at which the symbolic Unleavened Bread was eaten in the evening before the Sacrificial Passover Meal. It was from this meal that Christ used the symbolic Unleavened Bread and Wine for a paradigm shift into His innocent and unblemished Body and Blood. That is why Christ had to institute the Eucharist at the Last Supper by commanding the apostles, "Do this in remembrance of me". With "Do this ..." He did not command them to repeat the Last Supper, but to repeat His Acts in union with and in remembrance of His Sacrifice on the cross as the ultimate climax of the fulfilment of the Law: "He took the Bread and blessed it", "He took the Cup and blessed it" (= Offertory: taking Bread and Wine from profane use to prepare them by offering it to our Lord for sacred use), then "He consecrated both, Bread and Wine" (= Consecration) with "the Remembrance" (= Anamnesis), after which "He broke the consecrated bread" (= Fraction) and finally "he gave to eat the consecrated bread and wine, his flesh and blood" (= Communion as the Sacrificial/Spiritual Meal). This all means that ". . . in remembrance of me" can only be the remembrance of Christ's fulfillment of the law in all its facets, how He has redeemed us.

Conclusion

The institution of the Eucharist, therefore, does not refer to the Last Supper or the Synagogue Service, but as the fulfilment of the Old Testament Temple Cult the H. Mass is in its entirity the New Testament Temple Cult focussed on the Sacrifice of our Lord as the innocent Lamb of God bearing as Scapegoat our sins. As such, the Eucharist is the same true and eternal Sacrifice for our sins in which Christ ultimately fulfilled the entire Old Testament Temple Cult. Mystically, the Eucharist at the Last Supper, preceding the Crucifixion, as well as all those taking place since then at each H. Mass by Christ in His "Mystical Body" is one and the same as the physical Sacrifice at Golgotha, It is Christ, the Eternal High Priest, who offers and sacrifices Himself on the cross for our sins, a Sacrifice that still continues in our temporary conditions.

References

  1.   "The Mass: a study of the Roman Liturgy", Adrian Fortescue, second edition of 1913 and printed 1917 [public domain on the internet (print of 1914): https://archive.org/details/massstudyofroman00fort];
  2.   "On the Historical Development of the Liturgy, Anton Baumstark (1921), reprint by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minesota (2011), ISBN 978-0-8146-6096-6, [an internet link to the pdf version can be found here: [https://litpress.org/Products/GetSample/6096/9780814660966];
  3.   "Het Heilig Misoffer, het middelpunt van onze eredienst", Pio Parsch (Dutch translation from 1937), Wed, J.R. van Rossum, The Neterlands;
  4.   "The Mass of the Roman Rite: its origins and development" (Missarum Sollemnia, Volumes 1 and 2), Rev. Joseph A. Jungmann, S.J., 1951, ISBN-13 978-0-87061-274-9 [an internet link to the pdf version can be found here: https://www.ccwatershed.org/2014/01/25/josef-Fr. Jungmannstudy-roman-rite-mass-pdf/];



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