In their study of 2 Baruch (AKA The
Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch), Rivka Nir addressed the early Christian
beliefs about the Eucharist and its relationship to eschatology, and parallels
to that of the Essenes at Qumran:
The Messianic
feast is based upon the last supper, in which the Lord is blessed (ευχαριστειν, ευλογειν) by means of bread and wine,
symbolizing the new covenant. This meal is the realization of Jesus’ promise,
given at the Last Supper, that he would no longer drink of the fruit of the
vine “until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of heaven” (Mark 14:25;
Matt 8:11ff.; 26:29. Matthew adds “with you”; Luke 11:39; 14:15; 22:16-18). The
kingdom of heaven is here the kingdom of paradise expected upon the second
coming of Jesus, expressed in the eucharistic sacrament: “For as often as you
eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes”
(1Cor 11:26) (Mark 14:22-25 & par.; 1 Cor 10:3-4, 16-21; Did. 10.2; Ign. Eph. 20:2; Justin, 1 Apol.
66 [PG 6:428-29]). The anticipation of the second coming also appears in
several places in Aramaic: “Marana ta:
Our Lord, come!” (1 Cor 16:22; Rev 22:17-20; Did. 10.6). This is an ancient prayer, recited at the ceremony of
the holy meal associated with the day of Jesus’ resurrection. Just as on the day
of the resurrection Christ appeared to his disciples at the time of the meal,
so too will he reappear at the meal to take place at the End: “therefore Maranatha is above all a prayer that
belongs to the Eucharist” (Cullman, Early
Christian Worship, 13-14). Hence in the ancient Christian approach the
Eucharist expressed the eschatological anticipation of the return of the Lord
following his resurrection, and the believer’s eating and drinking with him at
his table in the new world. The daily meal of the early church was thus an act
of eschatological joy in anticipation of the coming reception, and a kind of
enjoyment in advance of the messianic feat at the end of time.
The Last Supper
conducted by Jesus with his disciples, in which he himself instituted the
sacrament of the Eucharist, is understood as a prefiguration of the great
messianic meal to be conducted at the end of time with the Messiah and the
saints who are to enter the messianic kingdom. Just as the Eucharist was part
of the act of accepting Christianity and of sharing in the lot of Jesus and the
believers, so too the eschatological Eucharist is an act of acceptance into the
kingdom of heaven and participation in the accompanying blessing . . . A
similar eschatological feast is described in the Qumran writings. The Rule of the Congregation ii 11-12 (1Q28a)
describes a meal to take place at the end of days when the coming of the Messiah will
be revealed and they will bless the beginning
of the bread and the wine, and thereafter break bread. This unique
eschatological-cultic meal will be conducted upon the coming of the Messiah,
that is, the Parousia. The use in this context of the expression,, “his coming
will be revealed” (Hebrew: ), indicates the similarity between this tradition
and that of Baruch, which uses
identical terminology to describe the appearance of Messiah. Only the
high-ranking members of the sect, “men of renown, those summoned to the
gatherings of the community” (to identify these, compare 1Q28a i 27-ii
3), will participate in this meal; first they will bless the bread and wine,
and as the Christian feast, and thereafter break the bread:
For he is the one
who blames the first-fruit of bread and of the new wine and stretches out his
hand towards the bread before them. Afterwards, the Messiah of Israel shall
stretch out his hands towards the bread. And afterwards, they shall bless all
the congregation of the community.
As in the Christian
Eucharist, the common meals of the members of the sect conducted upon earth in
the present, at which they bless the bread and the wine, are no more than an
anticipation of the eschatological meal to take place when the Messiah will
appear among them (1Q vi 2-5). (Rivka Nir, The
Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the Syriac Apocalypse of
Baruch [Leiden: Brill, 2003], 144-45, 146-47)
In a footnote for the above, we find the following which is also
informative:
For further hints
of the messianic feast in the NT, see Rev 19:9, 17-18; Luke 22:28-30. This
subject may also be connected to the stories about miraculous eating (Mark
6:30-44; Mark 8:1-10; John 6:5-14). These descriptions involve a projection of
the Eucharist or of the messianic feast into the historical life of Jesus.
Another allusion to the messianic feast appears in Jesus’ answer to his mother
in John 2:4: “my hour has not yet come.” Jesus refers here to the day on which
he will be able to provide the wine at the messianic feast (cf. Cross, The Ancient Library of Qumran, 168-69).
For a similar description . . . see Aphraates, Sermons, 6.6 (Ps, vol. 1, vv. 265-68; SC 349:381): “the curse is
fixed on the cross, and the sword was removed from the tree of life, which was
given as food to the believers. Paradise is promised to the righteous to the
virgins and the saints, and the fruits of the tree of life are given as food to
the believers and to the virgins who perform the will of God. The door is
opened and the way is clear, the spring flows and satiates the thirsty, the
table is set and the feast is prepared. The fattened calf has been slaughtered
and the cup of salvation is mixed. The fast has been prepared and the
bridegroom comes in order to take his place next to the table. The messengers have
made the invitations, and many are called. (Ibid., 145 n. 75)
