Book review: The Messianic Feast - Moving Beyond the Ritual by T. Alex Tennent
Messianic Publishing LLC/2014/579 pages/$29.95 paperback (Amazon.com price)
Reviewed by Jim Burns on 12-15-2025
Although I read The Messianic Feast from cover to cover, I must say that writing a comprehensive book review on it would be a daunting task due to the sheer volume and complexity of the subjects and material covered. What T. Alex Tennent accomplished in this book was amazing. Fortunately an unknown reviewer at Barnes & Noble (B&N) wrote a valuable overview of the book which I will share with UPCC site readers before adding my final comments.
B&N overview:
For too long, God’s people have clung to a false conception of “communion.” God is not seeking a communion ritual with unleavened bread, but rather a true spiritual communion with every believer, a spiritual feast. The groundbreaking winner of a gold 2014 IPPY award, The Messianic Feast solves the long-held controversy of whether the Last Supper was the Passover or if Christ was crucified on the exact day of Passover (in Jewish law, both cannot be true). But this is just the start, as this truth then opens the door to a much larger one that reveals how the Church came to practice an unleavened-bread ritual communion instead of the true spiritual communion that God desires.
This important book also directs attention to other issues intrinsic to our understanding of the Messiah’s teachings:
● It reveals the way to God’s true spiritual feast, first pictured in the Tabernacle’s Showbread service, then anticipated in Jewish writings as a future messianic banquet and also referenced in the bread and wine parables Jesus brought at the Last Supper. It sheds light on how God wants us to enter into this spiritual feast today, fulfilling the Feast of Tabernacles.
● It offers proof that the Last Supper teachings by Jesus were not about a ritual communion with unleavened bread, but that the bread and wine (fruit of the vine) in his parables point to the true spiritual communion that God desires for all believers.
● It offers conclusive proof that the Protestant communion ritual with unleavened bread evolved from the Roman Catholic ritual and that neither ritual reflects what the Messiah or his early Jewish disciples taught.
● It reveals how three Greek language keys were instrumental in unlocking the truth on the age-old controversy mentioned above, as to whether the Last Supper was truly the Jewish Passover as most believe, or if Jesus was crucified on the 14th day when the lambs were offered, as our true Passover.
Using logic supported by historical and scriptural forensics, Tennent connects the chronological dots to reveal amazing new truths that have not previously been seen - and raises a scripture-based challenge to many deeply held traditions. For those who love God and wish to be a part of His plan, The Messianic Feast is a keystone to truly understanding God’s plan in these last days.
My final comments: Not only did I love the scholarly way in which Tennent approached the various subject matters, but I appreciated The Template Challenge that forced various belief camps (Roman Catholic, Saturday Resurrection proponents, etc...) to logically lay out the scriptural events with the Jewish template of the Passover feast. As a result of this exercise the reader could see that the Last Supper was not the Passover and that Thursday was the day of Crucifixion.
The only disagreement that I had with Tennent was with his view that all New Testament biblical references to eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ were purely figurative with no actual elements consumed. This is because the Apostle Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 make it clear that early Christians were partaking in a literal agape feast involving physical elements. Early Church evidence seem to indicate this as well.
For those wanting to read more articles from T. Alex Tennent be sure to visit his website www.messianicpublishing.com as well as his Facebook site. The Messianic Feast definitely deserved a 5 out of 5 rating from me. I highly recommend that students of Early Church history add this book to their personal library.
