by W. Hartono
(last update: 05 November 1998)
After His resurrection and when He was about to ascend to heaven, Jesus promised His followers that He will be with them to the end of age (Mat. 28:20). Today all Christians believe that Jesus is in the hearts of His believers who love Him and keep His commandments (John 14:23, 1 John 3:24). He is also present when there are two or three gather in His Name (Mat. 18:20). He is present in the poor, the sick and the imprisoned such that whatever we do for them we do it for Him (Mat. 25:31-46). To the Catholic and Orthodox Christians Jesus is also present and is present most especially in the Eucharist (CCC # 1373). In every Eucharistic celebration (or the Holy Mass), Catholics also believe that Jesus Himself presides invisibly (CCC # 1348). Through His death on the cross, Jesus (the eternal High Priest, Heb. 7:24) offered Himself (the Lamb of God, John 1:29) as sacrifice. Catholics believe that His sacrifice on the cross is made present in every Holy Mass (CCC # 1366). Consequently Catholics believe that the Eucharist is a sacrifice. It is Jesus Himself (acting through the ministry of the priests) who offers this Eucharistic sacrifice (CCC # 1410). The Eucharist is also the memorial of His Passion and Resurrection (CCC # 1330). In the night He was betrayed, Jesus gathered His disciples. Catholics believe that Jesus instituted the Eucharist in this Last Supper and gave order to His disciples to celebrate it until His return (CCC # 1337). As Jesus offered bread and wine in the Last Supper, in the Holy Mass bread and wine (the two Eucharistic species) are also offered. The most important thing is Catholics believe that at the moment of consecration the bread and wine truly become the Body and the Blood of Jesus. The Catholic Church teaches that the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially present in the Eucharist (CCC # 1374). Therefore the Eucharist is referred as the Sacrament of sacraments or the Most Blessed Sacrament (CCC # 1330). Catholics refer the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as the Real Presence because Jesus as God and man makes Himself wholly and entirely present. Unfortunately, what Catholics believe in the Eucharist and in the Holy Mass may puzzle non-Christians and scandalises some non-Catholic Christians. Therefore, it is essential to know the source and the background of this belief. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek eucharistein which means thanksgiving. Jesus gave thanks before He broke the bread in the miracle of feeding five thousand (John 6:11) and in the Last Supper (Luke 22:17, 1 Cor 11:24). Most Catholics can recall the event in the Last Supper where Jesus instituted this sacrament. It is recorded in the three Gospels (Matthew 26::26-30, Mark 14:22-26 and Luke 22:14-20) and in 1 Cor 11:23-26. The Gospel of John although gives the longest account of the Last Supper (Chapters 13 to 17) does not mention the event. However this Gospel (its Chapter 6) becomes the main source of what Catholics believe in the Eucharist. John Chapter 6 starts with the miracle of multiplication of bread (verses 1 to 13). The crowd fascinated by this miracle looked for and found Him in Capernaum synagogue on the next day (verse 22-25). Jesus, who knew that they are after the physical food, began talking about the bread that endures for eternal life, which He will give (verse 27) and then asked them to believe in Him (verse 29). The crowd drawn by His words demanded a sign in order to believe in Him, a sign comparable to the feeding of Israelites with manna during the Exodus (Exo. 16:4-5). Jesus solemnly replied that what He will give is the bread of God which gives life to the world (verse 33). Such bread definitely makes His listeners wish to eat and Jesus replied that He Himself is the bread of life who came down from heaven (verses 35-38). At this state the crowd still understood Him to speak metaphorically (after all He does not look like a piece of bread). They only questioned His statement that He came down from heaven (verses 40-42). Jesus again summarised His previous statements (verses 44-50) and then stated that the bread of life is His flesh (verse 51). From their reaction (verse 52), we know that they understood Him to speak literally. They asked: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Then Jesus even gave more emphasise on His statement when He solemnly said (John 6:53-58, RSV): "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; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." Even many of His disciples found His words hard to believe (verse 60) and then left Him (verse 66). Did they misunderstand Him, i.e. He actually spoke figuratively? In a number of occasions, Jesus did use figurative words to express Himself. For examples He said that He is the vine (John 15:1), the way (John 14:6), the door (John 10:9) and the light (John 8:12). However, if they misunderstood His word, then why Jesus did not correct it? Note that Jesus always corrected if His disciples or listeners misunderstood Him. For example in John 3:3-8 He corrected Nicodemus misunderstanding of the meaning of being born from above. Other examples are John 4:32-38, John 11:11-15 and Matthew 16:6-12. On the contrary, Jesus said that if they could not accept His word, how can they believe when they see the Son of man ascending to heaven (verse 61). Then He said: "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:63, RSV). Note that Jesus did not refer to His flesh (if He did then He contradicted Himself) but to that of the disciples. For comparison in the garden of Gethsemane He said to Peter, John and James: "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mark 14:38, RSV) referring to their weak human nature. So in John 6:63 Jesus told His disciples not to rely on their carnal thinking to understand His words. It is also worth to mention that the Greek verb (Greek is the language of the New Testament) translated as "to eat" actually means "to chew" or "to gnaw", a verb that cannot be used in figurative sense. To fulfil what He promised in John 6, Jesus instituted the Eucharist in the Last Supper. The Gospel of Mark (Mark 14:22-24, RSV) gives the record as follows: And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And said, " Take; this is my body" And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many. Catholics believe that when Jesus said "This is my body" and "This is my blood", the bread and wine truly became His Body and Blood. Whilst it is true that the word "This is" can be used in figurative sense, the New Testament gives supports that it is not the case. Writing about the Eucharistic celebration, Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 11:27-30 (RSV Whoever, therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. If the Eucharist is a just a mere memorial meal, how can one be guilty of profaning His Body and Blood? The Catholic Church states the belief in the change of bread and wine into the Body and Blood of the Lord as follows: "... by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place of change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation (CCC # 1376). The word " Transubstantiation" itself was introduced in 1215 at fourth Lateran Council. Note that it does not mean that the Church started to adopt this belief in 1215 as some might say. We have the testimonies of the early Christians that they too had the same belief even they did not use the word transubstantiation to express it. A few examples are: Ignatius bishop of Antioch (d. AD 107) wrote about the Gonostics: "They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins and which, in his goodness, the Father raised. Letter to the Smyrna 7 Justin Martyr (d. AD 165) wrote: "This food we call Eucharist, which no one is allowed to share except the one who believes that our teaching is true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto generations, and so lives as Christ has handed down. For we do not receive these as common bread and common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we learned that the food over which thanks has been given by the prayer of the word which comes from him, and by which our blood and flesh are nourished through a change, is the Flesh and Blood of the same incarnate Jesus. The First Apology 66 Because the bread and wine truly become the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus, the Catholic Church encourages all Catholics in the Eucharist adoration (CCC # 1378, # 1418). Catholics also express this adoration by genuflecting or bowing whenever they pass the tabernacle where the species of the Eucharist are kept. Unfortunately some Non-Catholic Christians may consider the Catholics adoration of the Eucharist as idolatry. To reply Catholics can point out to the biblical facts that God appeared to Moses in the burning bush (Exod. 3:4), as column of cloud and fire during exodus (Exod. 13:21-22). In 1 Cor 10:4 Paul wrote about a rock who accompanied the Jews during exodus and then said that the rock was Christ. The Old Testament says nothing about this moving rock, so Paul must quote it from extra biblical source. It is idolatry to worship fire and rock but it is compulsory to worship God who appears in those physical forms. The sacramental presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is therefore not against the Bible. The Catholic Church acknowledges that His Presence in the Eucharist is something that cannot be apprehended by the senses but only by faith, which relies on divine authority (CCC # 1381). His Presence in the Eucharist begins at the moment of consecration and endures as long as the Eucharist species subsist. He is present whole and entire in each of the species and each of their parts, such that by the breaking of bread does not divide Christ (CCC # 1377). One may wonder why Jesus needs to establish His Real Presence in the Eucharist if He is present in the hearts of believers (1 John 3:24) and among those who gather in His Name (Matt. 25:31-46). The answer is our human nature needs physical things to express our intimate relation. For comparison parents may express their love to the children (and vice versa) by hugging and kissing (i.e. by touching) them. They do it on top of orally saying "I love you" and other non-physical expression of love. In the same way Jesus loves us to the end (John 13:1) and before His departure from His visible form He established His Real Presence in the Eucharist to communicate His love for us. Jesus gave order to celebrate the Eucharist as a remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19, 1 Cor. 11 24-25). The New Testament gives evidence that the first Christians (Acts 20:7) obeyed His commandment by gathering on the day of the Lord (i.e. Sunday) to break bread (other name for Eucharistic celebration, CCC # 1329). Catholics agree that the Eucharistic celebration is a memorial of Jesus passion (CCC # 1330) which He Himself commanded. However the Bible indicates that it is not just a mere memorial. The Greek word "remembrance" is used in relation to sacrifice as shown by the following verses Heb. 10:3: But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sin year after year. Num. 10:10: On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; they shall serve you for remembrance before your God; I am the Lord your God. There are other biblical supports that the Eucharist has a sacrificial nature. In 1 Cor. 10:18-21, Paul compared the Eucharist celebration with the pagan sacrifice. The Bible says that Jesus is the priest of the order Melchizedek (Heb. 7:17, Psalm 110:4). By definition a priest must offer sacrifice and the Old Testament testifies that Melchizedek offers bread and wine in his position as priest of God when he met Abraham (Gen. 14:18). In parallel, Jesus also offered bread and wine in the Last Supper. In addition, it is not just by coincidence Jesus chose the Jewish Passover (Matt. 26:17, Mark 14:12, Luke 22:7) to institute the Eucharist. In the Passover the Jews celebrated the event when their ancestor sacrificed the Passover lamb (Exod. 12:1-28). The New Testament refers Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 1 Pet. 1:19, Rev 4:6). As the Lamb of God, Jesus was sacrificed through His death on the cross (1 Cor. 5:7). Therefore the Catholic Church teaches that the Eucharist is a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross (CCC # 1366) and that the Sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice (CCC # 1367). What the Catholic Church teaches about the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist and that the sacrifice on the cross is made present in every Holy Mass may puzzle non-Christians (and maybe even Catholics) and scandalises some non-Catholic Christians. They may ask how the sacrifice on the cross and the Eucharistic sacrifice can be one single sacrifice noting that (1) when Jesus instituted the Eucharist He was not yet crucified and (2) that the Holy Masses are offered daily in many places for almost two thousand years. The non-Catholic Christians may even accuse the Catholic Church of re-sacrificing Jesus in every Holy Mass. To them the sacrifice on the cross was final and perfect; and there is no need for other sacrifices. To reply Catholics can point out that the Old Testament has a prophecy on a continual offering of sacrifice: Mal. 1:11: For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering; for my name is great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts. This verse says that a pure offering will offered to God at every place continuously and it can only find its fulfilment in the Holy Mass offering. There is another prophecy in Jer 33:18, which says that the Levitical priests will continue offering sacrifice forever. The ministerial priesthood of the Catholic Church is modelled after the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. The Old Testament has a prophecy that non-Jews will become priests and Levites (Isaiah 66:21). The New Testament also testifies that Jesus is the Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation (or creation) of the world (Rev. 13:8, 1 Pet. 1:20). In contrast the crucifixion (when He was sacrificed) happened in circa 30 AD. The following verse gives clearer picture: Heb. 9:24-26: For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly , as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. This verses compared Jesus (the New Testament eternal High Priest, Heb. 7:24) with the Old Testament High Priest. The latter must offer sacrifice on yearly basis in the Sanctuary made by men (Exod. 30:10). Note that the verse says that if Jesus did not offer His sacrifice in the heavenly sanctuary, then He must suffer repeatedly not from the year He was crucified but from the foundation of the world. While it may look confusing, we should realise that in heaven there is no time dimension. If it has then what the saints do in heaven as described in Rev. 4:8-11 will be boring even for a former choir member. Because we live in the world bounded by time dimension, His Sacrifice on the cross took place in c. 30 AD. Thus the Catholic Church has biblical reason to say that Jesus sacrifice on the cross remains ever present (CCC # 1364) and therefore can be made present in every Holy Mass. Jesus is therefore not re-sacrificed in every Mass. His ever-present sacrifice also explains why the Eucharist can be a sacrifice if Jesus instituted it before His crucifixion. Thomas Howard (a Catholic convert) explains the ever-present Sacrifice of Jesus as follows: This difficulty of locating just where in time we are in the Mass suggests at least one aspect of the mystery that cloaks Calvary and the Incarnation it self. Jesus Christ was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world", and yet this was not played out in our earthly time "until" he suffered sub Pontio Pilato. (On Being Catholic, page 82) When Catholics go to church they are doing something they did yesterday or last week, and doing it "again". But the "again" applies only to them, not to the mystery that is always taking place in the heavenly Mysteries, where our Great High Priest offers himself at the heavenly altar (the whole epistle of the Hebrews is about this). The Mass unites us with this offering. Is is we who go and come. It is we who experience it as "again and again". The mystery is present. It is "always" present (we have to reach for adverb of time), and to go to Mass is to return to the center. (ibid, page 83) The beauty of the Mass is it makes possible for all of us who are separated by time dimension with Jesus sacrifice on the cross to participate in His Offering (CCC # 1368). There are historical supports that the early Christians already recognised the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist of which two are given below: Didache 14 (written between 50 AD - 150 AD) says: And on the Lord's own day gather together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure. And let no man having a dispute with his companion join your assembly until they have been reconciled so that your sacrifice may not be defiled; for that is that sacrifice spoken of by the Lord: "In every place and time offer me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great king, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations (cf. Mal 1:11). Ignatius, bishop of Antioch (d. 107 AD) wrote: Be careful to observe [only] one Eucharist; for there is only one Flesh of Our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup of union with His Blood, one altar of sacrifice, as [there is] one bishop with the presbyters and my fellow servants, the deacons [Epistle to Philadelphia 4] One might wonder what is the purpose of the Holy Mass. It was Jesus Himself who encouraged us to receive Him in the Eucharist. "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" (John 6:53, RSV). He indicated that receiving Eucharist will result in intimate union with Him. "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:56, RSV). Finally we can conclude that what the Catholic Church teaches on the Eucharist has biblical support and it has been the constant teaching of the Church since the apostolic times. Reference:
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