It’s come up again on a forum that I partipate on. How is it that we Roman Catholics can be in “complete denial” and “blindly follow” in believing that the Eucharist is the actual Body and Blood of our Lord? The short answer is, of course, from Sacred Scripture,
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) and “
Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and believed.” (John 20:29) I think the words of Jesus to St. Thomas are especially applicable to this since it was a matter of seeing Jesus bodily. As a Catholic I believe that I receive the actual Body and Blood of Jesus which is miraculously made present at the moment of consecration. I do not believe that Jesus is re-sacrificed but rather that I mystically enter into the eternal worship of the Lamb as pictured in Revelation. The One Perfect Holy Sacrifice of Jesus which is eternally present at the altar in heaven (as discussed in Revelation) is made present in the Mass.
While the Eucharist was instituted as a Sacrament at the Last Supper it does little good to parse only the words of the events of the Last Supper without looking at the broader context of Scripture itself. (Please note I am not saying that the account of the Last Supper are not in themselves meaningful and important only that by concentrating on them alone we are perhaps likely to come away with a different meaning that that portrayed by Sacred Scripture as a whole.) Scripturally this is why I believe in the Real Presence in Holy Communion.:
1. It is pre-figured in the OT.
- In Genesis 14:18 Melchizadek offers bread and wine and prefigures the bread and wine offering instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper. Hebrews 6:20 confirms this connection by describing Jesus as a “high priest for ever after the order of Melchizadek.” (Hebrews 7:1-7 is also helpful)
- The Passover Lamb was killed and eaten. In perhaps one of the most powerful metaphors for Salvation written by God into the very lives of the Chosen People to secure their deliverance from Egypt (literally a land of death) the Angel of Death passes over the homes with the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. Those without the blood of the lamb on the doorposts lose their firstborn. Here we see that the lamb not only provided blood for the doorposts but nourishment for the journey to the Promised Land.
- When wandering through the dessert for 40 years God provides manna which sustains them on the journey to the Promised Land. It looks like bread but acts like meat (gets wormy and rots not molds — Exodus 16:20).
- The Sin Sacrifice in a powerful confirmation of the meaning of the Passover Lamb. It too is killed and eaten.
While the Eucharist was instituted as a Sacrament at the Last Supper it does little good to parse the words of the events of the Last Supper without looking at the broader context of Scripture itself.
2. Jesus set the stage for it before the Last Supper.
Quote:
| John 6:30-69 So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” |
I find it interesting that the “Bread of Life” discourse comes right after the people ask him for a sign that they might see and believe. He has just fed 5000 people (prefiguring the multiplication of His Body for the Church in the Eucharist) but they are asking for more. What follows is “the sign” that will help us “see and believe” but at the end of his discourse many LEAVE him and He doesn’t call them back because they misunderstood!
Quote:
| 32 So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. 36 But I told you that although you have seen (me), you do not believe. 37 Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, 38 because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 39 And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it (on) the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him (on) the last day.”
41The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 42 and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59 These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” 61 Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? 62 What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. 65 And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” 66 As a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. 67 Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” |
First Jesus claims the superiority of His Bread over that of the manna given in the wilderness. (Verses 48-50) How can earthly natural bread acting only as a symbol be superior to the miraculous manna provided by the Heavenly Father in the wilderness?
Second, everyone present understood Jesus to be speaking literally of his own body. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” v 52 and “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” v 60 Many of his disciples who had spent much time with Him. Who spoke the same language as He did, who understood that He often spoke inparable and symbolically and allegorically understood that Jesus meant exactly what He said and LEFT HIM!!
Contrast this to other places in scripture where Jesus corrects and explains what He means when He is misunderstood. For example in John 3:3-5.
Quote:
| Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born 3 from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother’s womb and be born again, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. |
Nicodemus clearly misunderstands what Jesus meant and Jesus corrects his understanding. He does similarly in John 11:11-14; Matthew 19:24-26; John 8:21-23; John 8:31-36: and John 6:32-35.
When his audience rightly takes him literally, Jesus confirms what He has said and repeats it. For example: Matthew 9:2-6.
Quote:
| And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.” 3 At that, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” –he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” |
If I may paraphrase…the Scribes say to themselves “Did He just forgive someone’s sins!? That’s Blasphemy!” and Jesus replies “Yep. That’s exactly what I did! And it isn’t blasphemy because I have the authority to do so!”
Another example of Jesus confirming and repeating a literal statements is in John 8:56-59 (and John 6:41-51.)
So in this case where Jesus’ audience is clearly taking Him literally. What does He do. Correct and explain? Or confirm and repeat? Look at verses 53-58 again….
Quote:
| 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. |
repeats and confirms
Quote:
| 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. |
repeats and confirms
Quote:
| 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. |
repeats and confirms
Quote:
| 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. |
repeats and confirms
Quote:
| 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. |
repeats and confirms
Quote:
| 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” |
repeats and confirms
This does not sound like the language of symbolism. His disciples are leaving. The 12 Apostles are shaken so badly Jesus asks them if they are going to leave too; but, Jesus didn’t back away one iota from what is a VERY hard teaching to accept.
And it IS hard. But OT Sacred Scripture is clear. Deliverance from sin involves sacrifice and that sacrifice is eaten. NT Sacred Scripture is also clear Jesus is our Perfect, Spotless, Sin Sacrifice….the Lamb of God. Jesus himself makes sure we don’t miss the connection in the Bread of Life Discourse and in the Institution of the Eucharist when He says “This IS my Body.” and “This IS my blood.” Maybe, just maybe, we could parse our way around the language the accounts of the Last Supper were the only words of Jesus we had regarding this mystery but it isn’t.
Then we have the confirmation in the testimony of the Church as found in the events that happened after the Last Supper.
In 1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 11: 23-29 23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread, 24 and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. 12
28 A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment 14 on himself.
How can unworthily participating in a symbolic remembrace bring judgment on someone. It’s disrespectful, yes, but making one “answer for the Body and Blood of Our Lord”?
John the Baptist calls Jesus “The Lamb of God” in John 1:29. He is called the Paschal Lamb in 1 Corinthians 5:7 and the symbolism is repeated frequently in Revelation. The Paschal Lamb was to be eaten (Exodus 12:8 and 46)
Beyond the evidence of Sacred Scripture we have the witness of the early church. This witness is important because in a way, it is our first commentray on Sacred Scripture. What the earliest Christians believed and practiced was taught to them by the Apostles themselves and reflect the understanding the Apotles themselves had of what Jesus said. St. Ignatius, a disciple of the Apostle John wrote this in 110 AD:
Quote:
| Take not of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God….They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Letter to the Smyrnaeans |
The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist was believed and taught in the church from the beginning. Denying the Real Presence was one of the first heresies! The Romans tossed early Christians to the lions for cannibalism…a charge that would have been VERY easy to refute by simply making clear the symbolic nature of the Eucharist but these brave men and women died for what they knew to be the Truth. Jesus is present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist.
