Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Exodus

[Banana Peel]

Is the shewbread in Exodus 25:30 a foreshadowing to the Eucharist?

It mentions the bread of the “Presence” and I’m sure it could foreshadow Jesus’ last supper maybe. But I’m more concerned about does it relate to the Eucharist in Catholic Mass? Catholics believe in the transubstantiation where God becomes the piece of bread.

[jimwalton]

I would say "only indirectly." It could easily be said that the loaves point toward Jesus who declared Himself to be "the Bread of Life" (Jn. 6.32, 35). In the Tabernacle, the bread was a thank offering to God. The Eucharist (communion) was a remembrance, not a thank offering.

When Jesus made His declaration in Jn. 6, the more direct reference was to the manna, not the shewbread. Robertson says that Jesus is the bread of life in two senses: (1) He has life in himself (cf. Jn. 1.4), and (2) He gives life to others. He is the source and sustainer of life. Neither of these senses has any relation to the shewbread.

I would also say it has no reference therefore to transubstantiation.