When considering the Catholic faith, one of the first teachings I examined was the doctrine that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist, the communion meal. When I did this, I was surprised what I found: the doctrine made sense. I wasn’t immediately convinced, but I had to at least acknowledge the Catholic interpretation of Christ’s words in John 6 and other chapters was reasonable and fair. Slowly, though, I realized that the Catholic view was not just reasonable-it was true.
Now that I am a Catholic, I recognize that the Eucharist–this gift of Christ’s true presence in the bread and in the wine–is the most intimate, most profound, most powerful gift that we have as Christians. It is truly the source and summit of the Christian life. I desire nothing more than that my Protestant friends and family will come to share in this precious gift.
Jesus Christ – John 6:1-14; 25-71 – AD 90-110 AD
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 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; 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 for ever.” This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Caper′na-um.
Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where he was before? 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. But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that should betray him. And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.
Takeaways:
The miracle of the five loaves and two fishes recalls the miracle of the manna in the desert. This is important, as the Jews recognized that the Messiah would come as the New Moses, and that he would once again provide bread from heaven. The miracles of the manna, the five loaves and two fishes, and the Eucharist are all linked.
When Jesus explained that he is the bread from heaven, the Jews grumbled. When Jesus clarified his meaning, he didn’t explain away what he had said as symbolism. Instead, he doubled-down, calling his body, “Food indeed” (true food)” and his blood “drink indeed” (true drink).
The specific meaning of “to eat” in verse 54 is literally “to chew” or “to gnaw”. Why would Jesus use this language, accept to accentuate the true, literal meaning of his words?
After this episode, many of his followers left him, and even his closest disciples struggled to accept this teaching. Why would this be the case if Jesus had merely been speaking metaphorically?
Saint Paul – 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 – AD 53-57 AD
But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you meet together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 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.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
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. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
So then, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— if any one is hungry, let him eat at home—lest you come together to be condemned. About the other things I will give directions when I come.
Takeaways:
Paul warned to carefully examine oneself before receiving the body and blood of Christ, as receiving it in an unworthy manner would be profaning the body and blood of Christ. This warning implies that the communion meal is truly and literally the body and blood of Christ.
Paul goes on to say that he who eats and drinks without discerning the body brings judgement upon himself. Again, this implies a literal interpretation.
Finally, Paul points out that receiving the body and blood of Christ in an unworthy manner has caused some to fall ill or even die. How could a mere metaphor or symbol have this effect? Again, this implies that the communion meal is truly the body and blood of Christ.
Didache, or “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” Michael Holmes Translation (See also online: Roberts Translation ), Chapters 9, 10, and 14 – Circa 100 AD
Chapter 9. The Eucharist.
Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks as follows. First, concerning the cup:
We give you thanks, our Father,
for the holy vine of David your servant,
which you have made known to us
through Jesus, your servant;
to you be glory forever.
And concerning the broken bread:
We give you thanks, our Father,
for the life and knowledge
that you have made known to us
through Jesus, your servant;
to you be the glory forever.
Just as this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and then was gathered together and became one,
so may your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom;
for yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.
But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for the Lord has also spoken concerning this: “Do not give what is holy to dogs.”
Chapter 14. Concerning the Lord’s Day
On the Lord’s own day gather together and break bread and give thanks*, having first confessed your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure.
*(The Greek word here is also a variation of “Eucharist”)
Takeaways:
The Eucharist was a central part of early Christian worship.
It was Holy.
In order for their sacrifice to be pure, one ought to have first confessed their sins. Again, this is much more reasonable when one understands that to receive communion is to receive the Holy body and blood of Christ.
Saint Ignatius of Antioch to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 6b-7, Roberts-Donaldson Translation – Circa 110 AD
But consider those who are of a different opinion with respect to the grace of Christ which has come unto us, how opposed they are to the will of God. They have no regard for love; no care for the widow, or the orphan, or the oppressed; of the bond, or of the free; of the hungry, or of the thirsty. They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. But it were better for them to treat it with respect, that they also might rise again. It is fitting, therefore, that ye should keep aloof from such persons, and not to speak of them either in private or in public, but to give heed to the prophets, and above all, to the Gospel, in which the passion [of Christ] has been revealed to us, and the resurrection has been fully proved. But avoid all divisions, as the beginning of evils.
Takeaways:
In his letter to the Smyrnaeans, Saint Ignatius warns believers against those who do not maintain the true teaching of the Gospel. Saint Ignatius is likely referring to the Gnostic heretics, who believed, among other things, that the material world is evil, and that Christ never took on flesh. For this reason, they also rejected the idea that Christ was truly present in the Eucharist. This should be alarming to any Christian who does not confess the Eucharist to be the flesh of Jesus Christ, as they may find that they have more in common with Gnostic heretics than with the Early Church.
Saint Justin Martyr, First Apology, Chapter 66 – Circa 100-165 AD
And this food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, “This do in remembrance of Me, (Luke 22:19) this is My body;” and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, “This is My blood;” and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.
Takeaways:
It’s hard to add a takeaway here. Could it be any more clear that the early church saw the Eucharist as Christ’s precious body and blood?
Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise on The Lord’s Prayer, Chapter 18
18. As the prayer goes forward, we ask and say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And this may be understood both spiritually and literally, because either way of understanding it is rich in divine usefulness to our salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; and this bread does not belong to all men, but it is ours. And according as we say, “Our Father,” because He is the Father of those who understand and believe; so also we call it “our bread,” because Christ is the bread of those who are in union with His body. And we ask that this bread should be given to us daily, that we who are in Christ, and daily receive the Eucharist for the food of salvation, may not, by the interposition of some heinous sin, by being prevented, as withheld and not communicating, from partaking of the heavenly bread, be separated from Christ’s body, as He Himself predicts, and warns, “I am the bread of life which came down from heaven. If any man eat of my bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.” (John 6:58) When, therefore, He says, that whoever shall eat of His bread shall live for ever; as it is manifest that those who partake of His body and receive the Eucharist by the right of communion are living, so, on the other hand, we must fear and pray lest any one who, being withheld from communion, is separate from Christ’s body should remain at a distance from salvation; as He Himself threatens, and says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall have no life in you.” (John 6:53) And therefore we ask that our bread — that is, Christ — may be given to us daily, that we who abide and live in Christ may not depart from His sanctification and body.
Takeaways:
This is one of my all-time favorite quotes on the Eucharist. The Early Christians valued the Lord’s Supper so greatly that they desired to receive it daily.
Gospel of Luke 24:28-35
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to be going further, but they constrained him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven gathered together and those who were with them, who said, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on the Liturgical Seasons, Sermon 235.2-3
Ah yes, brothers and sisters, but where did the Lord wish to be recognized? In the breaking of bread.