The Deeply Biblical Celebration: Part 4-The Concept of the Eucharist
Have you ever heard something crazy, seemingly totally made up, and later found out it is true? Someone healed through prayer, God existing, the Creator becoming a part of creation, gas prices, and lightning is all very crazy. Our curiosity is meant to draw us into mysteries when we encounter them. The Eucharist after 2000 years and really even an institution that has lasted that long makes us wonder how it came to be. It may seem made up or supported but impure things, but the more one investigates the more those expectations dissolve. The Eucharist extends its origin to Christ, Himself, and was prefigured by the old testament, and mentioned several times in the New Testament by Paul, not to mention in the Gospels.
From the earliest moments described by the Bible bread and wine were offered and shared (Genesis 14:18-20). In the Passover, the partakers engage in both a sacrifice and a meal.[1] They shared this ritual meal repeatedly (Exodus 12:43-51; Leviticus 23:4-14; Numbers 9:1-14; Numbers 28:16-25; Deuteronomy 16:1-8). Like this covenant, everyone one of God's covenants is made in blood. A similar meal was shared using unleavened bread (Exodus 12:14-20; Exodus 13:3-10; Exodus 23:14-15; Exodus 34:18, and others). The Prophet Elisha feed many with very little (2 Kings 4:42-44). Jesus also does this on more than one occasion (Mark 6:30-44; Matthew 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14; Mark 8:1-10; Matthew 15:32-39). Jesus often describes ritual/celebration meals in parables (Matthew 22:1-14; Matthew 25:1-13; Luke 12:35-40; Luke 14:15-24, and others). Jesus communes with those He is present too with meals (Mark 2:15-20; 14:3-9; Luke 14:1-14, and others). Jesus shares a different version of the Passover with particular importance to the New Testament writers (Mark 14:12-27; Matthew 26:17-30; Luke 22:7-39; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25). The only action Christ completes in His resurrected form of standard human life is to have a meal with his disciples and yet even this was given a supernatural character, especially on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35 and also John 21:1-14). From the beginning of God's encounter with man's sacrifice and meals, pointed in a particular way the sacrifice and the meal.
Now that we have seen the idea of the Eucharist being formed in the minds of God's people through all sorts of mysterious ways, we must consider what happened after Christ sent His spirit and conferred aspects of his priesthood on the Apostles and they on others making them Apostles. We can find what we now call the mass in images in the New Testament and also described as the breaking of bread (Acts of the Apostles 2:42-47, Acts of the Apostles 20:5-11). Even Corinthian Christians celebrated the Last Supper (1 Corinthians 10:16-17; Corinthians 11:17-34; cf. Revelation 19:9). The Celebration, which we already have discussed for several weeks, is also described in its aspects as aforementioned and in the following ways by the New Testament writers:
- St. James says the books of Moses were read aloud in Jewish synagogue services (Acts of the Apostles 15:21).
- Jesus reads from the book of the prophet Isaiah during one such service (Luke 4:16-22, citing Isaiah 61:1-2)
- The risen Jesus explains the meaning of the scriptures on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:25-47)
- The Apostles base their preaching on the scriptures (Acts of the Apostles 2:14-36; Acts of the Apostles 7:2-53; Acts of the Apostles 7:1-11)
- Christians read from the books of “the Law and the Prophets” (Acts of the Apostles 13:15-44)
- Christians sing the Psalms and other hymns in their worship (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:18-20)
- The scriptures are applied to all aspects of the Christian life (1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
- The letters of Paul are already considered by early Christians as canonical scripture (2 Peter 3:15-17; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:27; Colossians 4:16)
From a purely historical perspective, early apologists like Justin Martyr defend the dignity of the celebration where God is consumed by His people to pagans who we not only confused but scandalized by such a thought.
In conclusion, is it really that difficult to imagine that the same God that became man and promised he would be present to us "until the end of the age", would make Himself in some way present in bread considering He even describes Himself as manna (John 6)? Truly, to deny the possibility of the Eucharist is to call the Jesus of John 6 not only incorrect but heretical. From the earliest of recorded history, in the life of Israel, the life of Jesus, the New Testament writings, and even in researchable history the Eucharist is not only Biblical but lies and the root from which Scripture came. This is notably something God had always been working His people toward. Does it seem crazy? Absolutely, but it is no less true. With this post, we conclude an intentional investigation of the biblical nature and sources of Sacred Tradition and in particular its tip-top convictions about the spiritual locus of the Christian's life. Therein we found something of the mystery that is the relationship between Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
