"Chris, don't talk like that to your sister; tomorrow is mass and Jesus is going to be touching that tongue of yours? You want it clean before you eat him!" "Yes grandma, I'll watch what I say to Steph." (actual conversation from back in the day) If the previous conversation sounds crazy to you, then you have never grown up with a Polish Catholic Grandma. If it sounds normal to you, then you may not realize how crazy some of your beliefs sound to outsiders. Communion confusion: are Christians truly flesh-eating cannibals as they eat the body of Christ; or are they somber undertakers conducting the funeral service Sunday after Sunday of a man long dead? This Sunday we are jumping into the bible text that has stirred centuries of controversy: John 6:53-54... So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Eat flesh? Drink Blood? Is this really the road to eternal life? There are three traditional views on how to interpret this passage. (The intent of this chart is to get you interested in this topic so you can go back and do research on your own. It is not a comprehensive study of the historical interpretations by the vast array of church fathers and their take on the Lord's Supper. It is a way to categorize, inform and evaluate what Jesus' intent was concerning this text and the Eucharistic meal. Eucharist literally means a sacrifice of thanksgiving.) TWO APPROACHES TO THE MEAL: (1) As Sacrament: Sacrament means a ritual that transfers divine grace, power & blessing to the believer. Concerning the Eucharistic Sacrament, Roman Catholics and Protestant's differ on the specific substance of the elements. "Transubstantiation" for the Catholic, means that during the mass, the "bread and wine" are actually converted into the real true "body and blood" of Jesus. That is why my Grandma said we are eating Jesus on Sunday. "Consubstantiation" for some Protestants, is the belief that the "bread and wine" and "body and blood" are in mystical union, both substantive qualities are alongside one another in the communion meal. (2) As Symbol: To a large population of Protestant churches the Lord's Supper is a very important memorial rite (Ordinance) that Jesus instituted for his church to remember his atoning death. It anticipates the day when we will all be united in his Kingdom and where he will once again share this meal with all believers. It is meant to be metaphorical, an act pointing to the spiritual reality of atonement. (Christ dying on our behalf) A CLOSER LOOK AT TRANSUBSTANTIATION: For most Catholic Theologians they see John 6:55-56 as the key to interpreting the whole section: "This is real food." They would say that if you do not interpret it at face value you are doing violence to the text. A. Richardson says, "This verse asserts clearly that participation in the liturgical worship of the Christian community is the indispensable means of attaining the life of the world to come. The words except ye eat...and drink...cannot refer to anything but participation in the Church's Eucharist." Participation in the Eucharistic meal to the Catholic is critical. Not only is it the avenue of having your sins cleansed (expiated), but the imputation of righteousness (being made holy & worthy of God's acceptance) is a daily co-operative endeavor. God's grace and human obedience must work together in a person's progressive salvation. That is why there is EXTREME danger in not taking part in the Eucharistic meal each and every Sunday. Recently I attended the funeral of a devout Roman Catholic. During the eulogy the priest offered this statement as evidence of the deceased person's eternal security, "Every Sunday she took the communion bread and drank the wine, and as it says in John, if anyone eats this bread they will live forever (verse 51)." Questions to ask about transubstantiation: - If we are to take literally when Jesus says "I am the Bread of Life," are we to also take literally when Jesus says "I am the Door" or "I am the Light of the World," or "I am the true vine?" Does he also become wood, does he light up, and will he produce grapes off his finger-tips? Or are each of these statements a metaphor communicating a deeper reality? - If he tells his disciples to "drink his blood" is he not asking them to violate Leviticus 17:10-16 & Acts 15:20? - Do people really go to heaven just because they ate the communion supper? (Contrast this to John 6:26-27) Personally, I ate a lot of communion bread as a Catholic, and at the time I know I knew nothing of real salvation and relationship. A CLOSER LOOK AT CONSUBSTANTIATION: Consubstantiation is a middle-way, both to respect the physicality of Christ's words while at the same time acknowledging the spiritual significance of faith and believing. Dietrich Braun, a Lutheran theologian, makes this statement about the meal, "What happens in the Lord's Supper can only be known from the witness of Scripture to the Lord's Supper. This witness speaks to us of a real action of Christ with his disciples. Christ connects - however else we want to understand the words 'body' and 'blood' in particular - the disciples with himself, the Incarnate One." Two things to note about this position: (1) There is an acknowledged mystery to the commands and workings of God. The moment we think we fully understand his ways is when we lose the wonder. Don't ever lose the wonder! (2) The sayings of Jesus are troubling: body and blood are meant to be taken seriously. When we treat his word haphazardly we place ourselves above scripture and, quite possibly, even Jesus himself. He wants us to always take him seriously. Questions to ask about consubstantiation: - The same question applies as it did for transubstantiation: If we are to take literally when Jesus says "I am the Bread of Life," are we to also take literally when Jesus says "I am the Door"? - Doesn't scripture constantly bear witness to the truth that belief and faith are the means for genuine connection with Jesus? (John 6:29, Romans 10:17, & Galatians 3:2, 5) Should we not be careful of adding more to the purity of faith; as if by eating bread I can have a deeper connection - - does physical eating and ingesting actually get more of Him? A CLOSER LOOK AT MEMORIAL RITE: For the majority of Protestants, communion is a spiritual act of both remembering and looking ahead. The contextual key of this text for communion as symbol is John 6:63 where Jesus says, "The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing." Over and over again in this section of scripture Jesus emphasizes the singular requirement for acceptance into the Godhead: belief. Look how specific Jesus is: - John 6:29, "The work of God is to believe..." - John 6:35, "He who comes and believes in me..." - John 6:40, "Everyone who looks to the Son and believes..." - John 6:47, "He who believes has everlasting life..." So why the words "eat my flesh; drink my blood"? I like what Frederick Godet says about the specific use of those words, "The shed blood represents expiation; and "to drink" this blood is to appropriate to oneself by faith the expiation and find in it reconciliation with God, the basis of salvation. The flesh broken represents the holy life of Christ; and "to eat" it, is to appropriate to oneself that life of obedience and love." This Eucharistic Supper is to remember the singular life giving event of the cross: consider his cost, treasure the priceless gift of Jesus' work in saving me. Participating in this is, no more and no less, genuine, God pleasing, worship! "A true sacrifice of praise!" Questions to ask about the memorial rite: - Have we watered down the significance of the meal by treating it as relatively insignificant part to normal church life? Should it be more central to the life of the body? - Isn't God watching us and evaluating our heart as we approach the meal? (Meditate on 1 Corinthians 11:27 - - these are some serious warnings!) One final consideration: Often how theologians get to a specific conclusion in a confusing text is directly impacted by their particular approach to understanding the whole of scripture. There is much debate in how to establish proper Biblical understanding (Hermeneutics: the science of scriptural interpretation). My intent right now is to show you how I think some churches have arrived at seeing the words "bread & wine" as real "body & blood" - - and I believe it is all based on their hermeneutical approach to scripture. (see chart) There is a hot debate that has been raging in theological circles: "What is the relationship between the church and Israel?" Some schools of thought believe the church has directly inherited all the responsibilities and promises that God first gave to Israel. If you note on the chart, where God instituted specific practices for Israel (ie: building a temple, mandating circumcision, establishing a priesthood and listing specific sacrifices that were ongoing), they have now transferred over to the church after Jesus came. This school of thought believes the church is now responsible for continuing the practices just as Israel did. That is why some denominations want you to be reverential in the church building because it is the new temple where God's "Shikinah glory" dwells. Some have actual priests wearing robes, some churches teach the sign of circumcision is now expressed in infant baptism. AND...they believe you need to have a continual sacrificial system to pay for sin. That is where "transubstantiation" (and to a smaller part consubstantiation) comes in. Every mass requires a new living sacrifice...in fact the Eucharist is known as the "perpetual sacrifice" of Jesus' body and blood. It is not mere symbol, it is real flesh and blood. It has to be if the church is going to continue Israel's required animal sacrifices. But the other school of thought (I believe the correct New Testament approach), is to see all the practices in Israel as shadows pointing to the reality fulfilled completely in Christ. The temple is now us because through the Holy Spirit God resides in ME! The covenantal sign is a Holy Spirit heart circumcision (baptism is a public symbol of joining to a local body in community). And, now all true believers are priests serving before God! And... finally...the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross "IS FINISHED." God requires no more blood payment for sins - - Jesus' one payment was perfect! Think about how important that is. And to take his words as "My flesh and my blood" as real, is to forget what he really did for us already! Let us not let the literal understanding obscure the real freedom we now have forever in Christ. So, "take and eat!". . .you better believe it!
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