DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

Where did liturgical worship and especially the Divine Liturgy of the Orthodox Church or the
Mass of the Roman Church come from? What were its origins? How much change has there
been over time from the beginnings of Christian worship in the first century Jerusalem
Church? One should begin by answering the most basic question: what is liturgy? The best
translation is "the work of the people." That is the collective work which assembled believers
do together in offering praise and worship to God.

The Old Testament Basis for Christian Worship

Jews at the time of Jesus Christ had already had a history of worship almost 1500 years long.
Their history was full of interaction with God Who called them to be His people, and who
had revealed to them specific instructions as to the offerings and sacrifices which were part of
the way in which He was to be worshiped. The Bible is clear that God revealed to Israel how
to worship, and it was patterned after things in heaven. [1] These specific forms or liturgies of
worship were first seen in the Tabernacle of the early Israelites, and were consummated in the
Temple worship which took place later in Jerusalem. The worship of God in the Temple in
Jerusalem was the first and most prominent focus of Jewish worship, which included the
form and frequency of prayer and sacrifice.

For Judaism there had always been a constant cycle of prayers, blessings and meals: daily,
weekly, monthly and annually. These constituted the second focus of worship for the Jews. In
its most regular form it included practices in the daily hours of prayers and the annual High
Feast Days. The High Feast Days included the sacrificial offerings of the Temple and
contained Jewish messianic expectation. These meals included the "breaking of bread" and
the "blessing of the cup", and contained parallels with both the temple sacrifice and the
messianic feast.

As Fr. Louis Bouyer points out, "The synagogal worship, already before Christ, had its
necessary complement in the ritual of the meals: the family meal, and better still at least at the
time of Christ, the meals of those communities of the faithful brought together by a common
messianic expectation..." [2]

There was a "meal liturgy" for the prayers of the meals, and in principle they were required
for every meal. However, it took on the greatest importance in family meals and especially
the meals of the Holy Days. The entire structure of the Last Supper as recorded by St. Luke
mirrors the meal liturgy as practiced within Judaism at the time. [3] These meal prayers and
their structure contributed directly in the formation of the early Christian celebration of the
Lord's Supper.

The third and later focus of worship was that of the synagogue. For the average Israelite, the
Temple was a place of worship only on certain days of the year, and it was most specifically
a place of sacrifice. During the Babylonian captivity, worship in the Temple was impossible.
A new form of worship came into being, a form focused patterned on temple worship, but

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without the sacrificial element which took place only in the Temple, and with a strong
didactic element of teaching and remembering. These two elements of Jewish worship —
synagogue and temple — together formed the very basic components of the form or order of
the liturgy for the early Christian Church.

Besides the structure or order of worship that came from Judaism into Christianity, one can
also find the cycles of liturgy — the daily, weekly and yearly cycles of worship-coming from
the Old Testament as well. Acts 2:46 says that "day by day, continuing steadfastly with one
accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and
singleness of heart". On a daily basis the Apostles continued their Jewish worship practices in
the temple, and on a daily basis broke the bread of communion. This regularity of time is
further confirmed in Acts 3:1 where Peter and John were going to the temple because it was
the hour of prayer. Not only did they continue in Jewish worship practice, but they kept the
liturgical cycle of daily prayers at set hours of the day as well as the major feast days.

Christian worship, then, was a Christ-centred pattern that continued and preserved the
traditional structure of synagogue worship and the meaning of temple worship that the Lord
had established in Israel. This basic structure included the Old and New Testament practices
of liturgy, baptism, and Paschal feast that became the Eucharist, and certain of the feast days.

The Shape of Temple Worship

The continuity of temple and synagogue worship practices characterized the Church in its
earliest days, and the synagogue form became the basic order or worship for the Christian
Church. This structure was set very early during the New Testament era while the Church
was still seen as essentially a Jewish sect, a messianic sect believing in Jesus Christ. The
setting of this order or form of worship took place even prior to the admission of Gentiles
into the Church, and before the spread of the Gospel outside of Judea. Therefore, by the time
the Gentile missions began in about 38 A.D. (and later enhanced by Paul's missionary
activity), this order was established and accepted as the form of Christian worship. Into the
basic synagogue form were blended other elements from the temple as well as some uniquely
Christian elements.

Regarding the Temple, it is important to realize two things about its worship. First, the
primary type of activity was sacrifice. The cadence in the spiritual lives of most Old
Testament Jews was the celebration of the Holy Feast days — and their corresponding
offerings. And what determined the manner in which these sacrifices would take place? God
had given the instructions in Exodus and Leviticus which describe in detail the manner in
which worship is to be offered to God. Secondly, worship in the temple — and in fact all
Christian worship — was and is to reflect worship in Heaven.

The Scriptures provide glimpses of heavenly worship. There are reports of it in Isaiah 6,
Daniel 7, and Revelations 4 and 5. It was upon this heavenly worship that the worship of God
on earth was patterned. Exodus 25 through 27 provides detailed information about the nature
of temple worship, including the physical structure of the temple and its dimensions,

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instructions for the Ark to be built, the internal d�cor of the Tabernacle, details of the
priests' vestments, the use of incense, the presence of an altar, the daily offerings, the use of
anointing oil, and the use of images.

Exodus 25:17 begins the command of God regarding the making of the Ark of the Covenant.
It includes the command to make two cherubim of gold, between which God said that He
would "meet with thee and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from
between the two cherubim". The mercy seat, or Ark of the Covenant, was understood as "the
empty throne where nothing was to be seen; on this throne God was present — the sole object
of worship in Israel... God spoke from between the cherubim — invisibly present on His
throne — to Moses, Aaron, Samuel ... to His people. Here the blood of atonement had been
sprinkled each year." [4]

The original Ark, which disappeared in the exile, had held the Tablets of the Law. It was
understood both as the place of sacrifice and the place from which God spoke — the place of
communion. This is one reason that in Eastern Orthodox Churches there are representations
of two cherubim behind the altar on which the bread and wine are consecrated to become the
Body and Blood of Jesus Christ who was sacrificed for mankind. And between and before
them is the altar at which the communion takes place in the Eucharist. Further, on the altar
stands a candleholder with seven candles, in the manner of the Jewish Menorah, the light of
which is the sign of the presence of God. Some of these elements remain in Western Roman
Catholic Churches, although a great deal of it has changed since Vatican II.

Sacrifice in Christian Worship

These elements constituted the revealed manner in which the worship and sacrifice of Israel
were to be made to God. Again, the primary function here was that of sacrifice: the offering
of an animal to propitiate and atone (make amends or reparation) for the sin of God's people.
The belief of the early Church was that the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and His
subsequent resurrection supplanted all temple sacrifice as a means of propitiation and
atonement. In the sacrifice of Himself, Jesus Christ becomes the propitiation for all of
mankind's sins; He is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
Thereafter, for Christians, there was no need for an additional sacrifice. The Good News of
Jesus Christ is that sins are forgiven in Him, and in Him Christians are reconciled to the
Father.

So why continue any of the temple practices? Because they included communion as well as
sacrifice, and because they constituted revealed worship — they were part of God's intent
from the beginning. And because temple worship was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the worship
which Christians offer to God goes on forever. It continues both here on earth and in Heaven
before the Throne of God. To be specific, heavenly worship is the worship, the liturgy. That
is, Heaven is a dynamic condition of praise and worship — of liturgy — to the Father. And
earthly worship partakes now of the eternal, heavenly worship.

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For example, Hebrews Chapter 8 describes the role of Jesus Christ as the heavenly High
Priest in contrast with the Old Testament priesthood. And what is the word used to describe
what the High Priest is doing? It is liturgy. The passage properly reads from the first verse of
the chapter as follows: "We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the
throne of the Majesty in heaven, a liturgist (leitourgos) in the sanctuary and true tabernacle
which is set up not by man but by the Lord." (8:1,2). The worship of heaven, the liturgy, has
been established forever by God Himself. Hebrews then goes on to demonstrate that what is
done on earth should be patterned after that in Heaven — both in the Old and New
Covenants. Literally, "now Jesus has been given a liturgical work (liturgist) which is superior
to theirs, just as the covenant which He arranged between God and His people is a better
one..." (8:6).

According to the Bible there is worship in Heaven, and it is to be our pattern. The original
Greek word in every major early test is leitourgos. It means liturgy, or liturgical worship. It is
easy to understand why the early Christians continued in their synagogue and temple
practices. Worship had been revealed to them by God. Jesus Christ was the fulfilment of all
that God had promised in the Old Testament; in Him all the hopes of Israel were fulfilled. It
was only natural that in worshiping God through Jesus Christ, believers would continue to do
so as they had been told, in the manner God revealed to them.

This was natural, almost automatic for the Jews who accepted Jesus Christ as Messiah. There
was, however, one major change for these Jews which had been completed in Jesus Christ.
The animal sacrifices of Old Testament practice had been fulfilled in the person of Christ. All
that had been anticipated was now completed. All that had been prophesied was now reality.
The Messiah had come. So for these early Christians, the Jewish worship practices were
continued with a brand new understanding of the centrality of the victorious Christ, and new-
found joy. Christians did not view their Jewish liturgical practices as pass�. Nor did they
simply continue in some kind of mindless habit of outmoded ritual. They maintained this
liturgy as their own, as described in the inspired Scriptures of the Old Covenant carried over
into the New. In fact, that Jewish liturgy made the work of God in Jesus Christ
comprehensible. The Old Testament worship practices now fulfilled and given new meaning
in Christ, became the core of Christian worship within this New Covenant.

Early Worship in Antioch

If one realizes that Jewish worship was liturgical and provided the worship structure for the
early Church, and then one reads the New Testament seriously, a whole new side to the
question becomes clear. The earliest and clearest reference to liturgy comes in Acts, the book
which chronicles the inception and growth of the early Church. The church at Antioch was
the first Gentile church outside of Jerusalem, established approximately A.D. 38 when
Barnabas was sent to teach there (Acts 11:25 ff.). Acts 13 describes the selection of Barnabas
and St. Paul for the first missionary journey. This would have taken place approximately
A.D. 46, in what by then was a well-established and structured community of believers.

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Luke records that the calling of Paul and Barnabas was the work of the Holy Spirit, and that it
took place during the "liturgy". The text reads, "as they were 'liturgizing' (leitourgounton)
before the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul to the
work to which I have called them'"(Acts 13:2). Luke was a physician and well educated. He
must have understood what he meant to say about worship: namely, that the community was
together in formal and ritual worship, accompanied by fasting, when the Holy Spirit spoke.
So in A.D. 46, this early church was worshiping in a liturgical manner using a Christian form
carried over from the synagogue. And this was within sixteen years of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. The continuity of worship between the Old and New Covenants is very evident.

----------------------------
Parts of this page are excerpted from: Williams, B. and Anstall, H.; Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity
with the Synagogue, the Temple and the Early Church; Light and Life Publishing, Minneapolis, 1990.
[1] Consider Exodus Chapters 12 & 13, 25-31; Isaiah 6; Daniel 7; Revelation 4 & 5, among others.
[2] Louis Bouyer; Liturgy and Architecture, Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, p. 23
[3] Louis Bouyer; Eucharist; Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, p. 78
[4] Bouyer, Liturgy and Architecture, p. 13

https://www.liturgica.com/html/litEChLitDev.jsp

JEWISH COMPONENTS OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP

The Shape of Synagogue Worship

Most scholars agree that the structure of Christian worship came almost directly from the
Synagogue form of Jewish worship. [1] The importance of the synagogue to the Jews was
due to a historical experience, the Babylonian exile. With no Temple in which to worship and
sacrifice, faithful Jews were forced to gather around their elders to listen to the Word of God,
for teaching, and to worship. This form was retained and matured after the return from the
exile, and became a normal part of Jewish religious life. It was patterned on Temple worship,
and was held at the same times as services in the Temple.

A brief description of the architecture of the average synagogue in the time of Christ can help
explain these factors. There were several very distinct features. The first was the seat of
Moses, which was represented by seats in the synagogue occupied by the rabbis. These seats
were located on a raised platform called a bema, which had a central location in the
synagogue building. Each synagogue had an Ark, which was protected by a veil and before
which burned a seven-branched candlestick — the Menorah. "The Ark in the synagogue
contained the Scriptures and spiritually pointed to the Ark of the Temple, as the physical
alignment of the synagogue pointed toward Jerusalem. The ultimate focus of synagogue
worship was the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem, just as the focus of worship in the Temple was
likewise the Holy of Holies." [2] Note that the synagogue was oriented toward Jerusalem, as
can be seen in the diagram below.

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Synagogue

Luke tells us Jesus went to the synagogue as was His custom and was asked to read the
prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:16-30). Alfred Edersheim in his book about the life of Jesus cites the
typical order which Jesus Himself experienced the day he began his ministry in Nazareth.
"On his entrance into the Synagogue, or perhaps before that, the chief ruler would request
Jesus to act for that Sabbath as the Sheliach Tsibbur (the representative of the people). For,
according to the Mishnah, the person who read in the synagogue the portion from the
Prophets, was also expected to conduct the devotions... Then Jesus would ascend the Bema
and, standing at the lectern, begin the service by two prayers:

"Blessed be Thou, O Lord, King of the world, who formest the light and createst the
darkness, Who makest peace, and createst everything; Who, in mercy, givest light to
the earth, and to those who dwell upon it, and in Thy goodness, day by day, and every

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 day, renewest the works of creation. Blessed be the Lord our God for the glory of His
handiworks, and for the light-giving lights which He has made for His praise. Blessed
be the Lord our God, Who has formed the lights.

"With great love has Thou loved us, O Lord our God, and with much overflowing
pity has Thou pitied us, our Father and our King. For the sake of our fathers who
trusted in Thee, and Thou taughtest them the statutes of life, have mercy upon us, and
teach us. Enlighten our eyes in Thy Law; cause our hearts to cleave to Thy
commandments; unite our hearts to love and fear Thy Name, and we shall not be put
to shame, world without end. For Thou art a God Who preparest salvation, and hast in
truth brought us hear to Thy great Name that we may lovingly praise Thee and Thy
Unity. Blessed be the Lord, Who in love chose His people Israel.

"After this followed what may be designated as the Jewish Creed, called the Shema,
consisting of three passages from the Pentateuch. This prayer finished, he who officiated took
his place before the Ark, and there repeated what formed the eulogies or Benedictions. After
this, such prayers were inserted as were suited to the day. The liturgical part being thus
completed... the (chief ruler) approached the Ark and brought out a roll of the Law. On the
Sabbath, at least seven persons were called upon successively to read portions from the Law,
none of them consisting of less than three verses. Upon the Law followed a section from the
Prophets the reading of which was in olden times immediately followed by an address,
discourse or sermon."

From Edersheim's description we can see the six basic components in synagogue worship,
and with minor differences most scholars agree with his observation.

The Litany. The first and opening part of the synagogue service was a series of
prayers, a litany, blessing God for His love toward mankind. In its present form, the
Orthodox liturgy begins with the Great Litany. The celebrant says, "In peace let us
pray to the Lord," and the people respond, as they do to each of the following
petitions, "Lord, have mercy."

The Confession. The Litany was immediately followed by a confession of God's

Intercessory Prayer. The third part was the Eulogy, the prayers of intercession.
Likewise these intercessory prayers complement the confessions in preparation for
the Scripture readings.

Scripture Readings. This was followed by the Reading from the Law and the
Prophets. In today's Orthodox Church, as with any church using lexionary readings,
these include Old Testament readings as well as Epistle and Gospel readings.

Preaching. The reading was followed by a discourse or sermon which expanded upon
the reading and clarified its application to daily life. This is the homily or sermon in
modern services.

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 Benediction. The service concluded with a Benediction, which means "good word."

On the Sabbath, the assembly gathered around the Ark with the rabbi to hear his teaching and
to meditate on the Law and the Prophets, at a time in conjunction with worship in the
Temple. Although the synagogue service centred on the reading of the work of God, it was
not exclusively so; it was also communion with God in prayer and praise. It was also one of
the forms of worship which Jesus practiced. Upon entering the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus
was asked by the ruler of the synagogue to be the liturgist; He participated in the antiphonal
litanies which blessed God and began that synagogue service. He joined His neighbours in
confessing the faithfulness of God. The intercessory prayers were His prayers also. Then after
the reading of the Law, He was asked to read the Prophets. This He did, and then to the
amazement of those gathered, He did more — He interpreted them! It is unlikely that He
heard the benediction, however, given the reaction He received that day.

The most common translation of leitourgos is "the work of the people". It is that common act
of God's people together offering praise to Him in the manner which He revealed that they
should. This was the type of worship which took place in the synagogue, and which came
into the early Church. Edersheim goes so far as to say that "the synagogue became the cradle
of the Church." [3] And as if that weren't enough, the components of Jewish worship which
came into Christianity did so in the same order. This is evident in that the basic six-point
structure of synagogue worship previously described still constitutes the core of Christian
worship, and more or less has for two thousand years. This "dependency of order" verifies the
historical and theological truth of the worship practices of the Christian Church as the
fulfilment of that which God began in Israel.

As previously described, early Christian Churches used a design very similar to Jewish
synagogues. A natural development occurred as the new Christian Church formulated its own
theology and understanding, but the core connection to Judaic form was never lost. This can
be seen in the oldest Syrian churches that have been excavated: "...the chair of Moses has
become the Episcopal seat and the semi-circular bench that surrounds it the seat of the
Christian 'presbyters.' But as in the synagogue they remain in the midst of the congregation.
The bema is also there, not far from the Ark of the Scriptures which is still in its ancient
place, not at the far end, but some distance from the apse. It is still veiled with its curtain and
the candlestick is still beside it. The apse, however, is no longer turned toward Jerusalem but
to the East, a symbol of the expectation of Christ's coming in His parousia�in the Syrian
church this eastward apse now contains the altar before which hangs a second curtain, as if to
signify that form now it is the only 'holy of holies' in the expectation of the parousia." [4]

The Passover

Passover is perhaps the ultimate example of how Jesus Christ transformed a Jewish worship
practice into something new and different. One of the three major holy days of Israel,
Passover celebrated their deliverance by God from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. It
included the sacrifice of a lamb in the forecourt of the Temple, and the partaking of the Seder
or Passover supper including part of the sacrificed lamb. This lamb called to mind the lambs
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slain in Egypt; their blood brushed on the doorposts and lintels to stay the destroying angel.
More than just symbolic, this sacrificed lamb accomplished the deliverance of the people of
God for yet another year, while the Seder, the Passover supper, established the reality of
communion between God and mankind. That is why every Jew made it a point to be in
Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover at least once in their life; only in Jerusalem was it
possible to celebrate the Passover completely.

Jesus had entered the city of Jerusalem prior to Passover, desirous of sharing this final supper
with His disciples. They asked Him what they must do to prepare for the Passover (Jn. 13:1
and Mt. 26:17), and He instructed them about preparing the upper room. The disciples
undoubtedly expected to celebrate the actual Passover meal with their Lord, for they were in
Jerusalem. What they were not expecting was that which took place: Jesus Christ in the
context of a supper, offering Himself as the Lamb of the world. Jesus undoubtedly gathered
them for a supper, for all the Gospels record it.

But the supper which Jesus and His disciples celebrated together was not the Seder supper of
Passover. It certainly was a supper in the context of Passover, and the types of the Passover
festival were present, including the breaking of bread and the drinking of the cup, but it was
not the actual Passover Seder because it took place on Thursday evening. The Passover Seder
would have had to be celebrated on Friday evening, at the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath,
and in this case the beginning of the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Because the supper took place on Thursday night, the day before Passover, there was no
slaughtered lamb from the Temple to partake of; and without the sacrificed lamb from the
Temple, the meal would not be a Seder. According to St. John, the death of Christ took place
the next day, Friday, while the lambs were being sacrificed in the Temple (18:28). Thus, the
Last Supper is an anticipation of the sacrifice of Golgotha, rather than an actual Passover
meal. Jesus was crucified on Golgotha the following day, on Friday, in order that the Jewish
authorities could complete His death before the Sabbath and the beginning of Passover on
Friday evening.

Luke tells us that Jesus told the disciples at the table that he "desired to eat this Passover with
you before I suffer; but I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the
Kingdom of God" (Luke 22:15-16). Jesus himself said that He would not eat another
Passover until it had been fulfilled in the Kingdom; therefore, what was eaten by Him and the
disciples must not have been a Passover meal. Our Lord gathered His disciples for a ritual
meal, which was the same as the prayer of sacrificial representation�in the Temple. Jesus
did not intend to eat Passover with His disciples in Jerusalem, for He knew that He was the
lamb to be sacrificed on Friday!

The lambs being slaughtered in the Temple are of the Old Covenant; the Lamb being
sacrificed on the cross is the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, the fulfilment of the Law and the
Prophets. Jesus Christ, in the offering of His Body and His Blood, is the sacrificial Lamb.
Rather than sharing lamb from the Temple to accomplish their deliverance for yet another
year, Jesus was offering Himself in whom they and all the world would be delivered from sin
and death. Our Lord himself took a specific Jewish worship practice, one that had been
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revealed by God, filled it with the new meaning of the New Covenant, and transformed it into
Christian communion. He had become The Passover Lamb, ready to be sacrificed for the
deliverance of God's creation. And while the Eucharist was instituted for the Twelve within
the context of the Passover Feast, it was not instituted at a Passover meal. In this Jesus
actualized the Church and brought it into being. It is no wonder that the early Christians
thought of the Eucharist as delivering them from death (bestowing life) and establishing
communion with God (unity in Christ). Deliverance and communion were the focus of the
Passover, which had now been refocused in Christ Himself.

The problem with understanding the Last Supper as the Passover seder and by extension of
understanding the Eucharist as a re-presentation of the Last Supper is that it results in the
observance becoming a dramatic memorial. The Last Supper was a historical event that
occurred once. In contrast, the Eucharist is the actual experience of the Lamb who was
eternally offered on the cross. True, the crucifixion occurred once in time and need not occur
again, as the New Testament clearly states. But, the crucifixion of Christ is an event with
eternal consequences. Through this event all humankind before and after the cross, in fact all
creation, may be saved; and in this sense it is an eternal sacrifice. Not that Christ is eternally
re-sacrificed, but that the scope of the crucifixion is eternal — reaching out to each
communicant in the Eucharist.

That is why in the Orthodox prayer before Communion, the priest says: "remembering... the
cross, the tomb, the resurrection on the third day, the ascension into heaven, the sitting at the
right hand and the second and glorious coming..." What do Christians remember? Those
actions of Jesus Christ which are eternal (past, present and future), which transcend time and
space and in which Christians are saved to eternal life. The Eucharist is the actualization of
the Cross, the Tomb, the Resurrection and the Second Coming.

The Jewish Berakoth

If the Last Supper wasn't a Seder and if it wasn't a Passover meal, then what was it? Many
scholars, led by Roman Catholic scholar Louis Bouyer, make a direct connection to the
Jewish tradition of berakoth prayers. This Jewish word has been translated into Greek and
English as thanksgiving, but is best translated in its Jewish usage as "blessings." Unlike the
contemporary English usage of thanksgiving as meaning gratitude, berakoth, like the Greek
word eucharistia is primarily a proclamation of the miraculous work of God, and is not
limited to the gift received or the human response that it may prompt.

There are two principal types of berakoth in the Jewish tradition: "One type is a brief formula
that became very soon stereotyped and is composed merely of a praise-thanksgiving, a
'blessing' in the narrowest sense. The other is a more developed formula in which the prayer
of supplication has its place, although always in a 'blessing' context. The first is destined to
accompany every action of the pious Jew from his awakening in the morning to the moment
that sleep overtakes him in the evening. The second has its place either in the Synagogue
service (in the morning, at noon and at night) or in the meal prayers, particularly those
accompanying the final cup shared by all the participants." [5]
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Of specific interest for understanding the development of the Eucharistic component of early
Christian worship is the meal berakoth. In principle it was required for every Jewish meal,
and included the expectation of the messianic banquet by the remnant of Israel, and so
became a unique sacrifice of its own. The meal was preceded by an obligatory hand-washing,
followed by the drinking of a first cup of wine by each person who repeated the following
blessing:

"Blessed be thou, Yahweh, our God, King of the universe,

The meal then began, with the father of the family or presiding member of the community
breaking the bread which was to be given to all present, with the following blessing:

"Blessed be thou, Yahweh, our God, King of the universe,

Following the meal, the father or presiding member, with a cup of wine mixed with water,
invited those present to join with his act of thanksgiving, saying:

"Let us give thanks to the Lord our God."

And those present responded:

"Blessed be he whose generosity has given us food and

Then the father or presiding member chanted a series of berakoth (typically three), the first of
which went back to Moses and was a blessing for nourishment. The second went back to
Joshua and was a blessing for the Promised Land. The third went back to David and Solomon
and was a supplication that the creative and redemptive action of God in olden times be
continued and renewed today, and find its ultimate fulfilment in the coming of the Messiah
and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

Fr. Bouyer points out that the Passover meal followed this pattern, but was "distinguished by
special foods, bitter herbs, and the lamb, which were used together with the special
corresponding prayers and the dialogued recitation of the haggadah (a kind of traditional
homily on the origin and the ever fresh sense of the feast). But the Last Supper was not a
Passover meal, because it preceded Passover, and Jesus did not connect the Eucharist ic
institution to any of the details that are proper to the Passover meal alone. In every case,
however, the essential ritual act came at the end of the meal." [6] A lamp was brought in and
blessed by the father or presiding member of the community, with a blessing that recalled the
creation of the luminaries to light up the night. After this, incense was burned with a proper
blessing, and then a second general hand-washing took place; the one who presided received
the water from a servant or the youngest person at the table.

If we consider the elements of the berakoth and compare them to the New Testament
accounts of the Last Supper, we see a very high degree of similarity. The first cup that

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followed the first hand-washing is mentioned by St. Luke as the fruit of the vine which he
would no longer drink with his disciples before they met again in the Kingdom. The breaking
of the bread correlates directly with the bread which Jesus Christ blessed and broke. The
second ritual hand-washing was changed by Jesus, in that rather than washing hands, He took
the water brought by St. John, the youngest disciple, and washed the feet of his disciples,
beginning with Peter.

The origins of the form of Christian worship come from and combine the praise and teaching
elements of the Synagogue service with the sacrificial elements of Temple worship. At the
very core of Christian worship is the Eucharist. Its form and structure is also Jewish, given
new content and meaning by Jesus Christ. Fr. Bouyer provides this summary:

"From this point on we can understand that we must place what we call today the 'words of
institution' of the Eucharist back into their own context which is that of the ritual berakoth of
the Jewish meal, so that we may perceive the sense and the whole import of their expression.
The words announcing everything that was to follow in the Last Supper, as preserved for us
by St. Luke, are connected with the preparatory berakoth over the first cup. The blessing over
the body (or the flesh) of Christ is connected with the initial berakoth of the breaking of
bread, and that over the blood of the new covenant with the second and the third final
berakoth. Finally, the sentence about the 'memorial' corresponds to the feast day
interpolations in the third berakoth.

"We must go further. These words of Christ which were to give rise to the Christian Eucharist
arise from a whole structure underlying the Gospels, the Jewish liturgy in which they were
inserted. If we separate them from it, we misunderstand the whole movement which inspired
them. Reciprocally, their exact meaning risks being lost once we no longer perceive all that
they accomplish and complete. Early Christianity was preserved from ever committing such
an error by the fact that Christian prayer continued to develop within the forms of the Jewish
berakoth and the tefillah, i.e. the prayer of petition which evolves without ever becoming
actually detached from it. The first formulas of the Christian Eucharist, in imitation of what
Christ himself had done, are but Jewish formulas applied by means of a few added words to a
new context, which, however, was already prepared for them." [7]

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Parts of this page are excerpted from: Williams, B. and Anstall, H.; Orthodox Worship: A Living Continuity
with the Synagogue, the Temple and the Early Church; Light and Life Publishing, Minneapolis, 1990.
[1] Alexander Schmemann, Introduction to Liturgical Theology; St. Vladimir's Press, New York, 1973
[2] Louis Bouyer, Liturgy and Architecture; Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, p. 13
[3] Edersheim, op cit, p. 55
[4] Louis Bouyer, Eucharist; Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, 1968, p. 26
[5] Bouyer, op cit, p. 50
[6] Bouyer, op cit, p. 80
[7] Bouyer, op cit, p. 106

https://www.liturgica.com/html/litEChLitJ.jsp

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