[JOYnet] The Scriptural Basis of the Eucharist
The Scriptural Basis of the Eucharist The Catholic Church traces the origins of the Eucharist to the very actions and words of Jesus Christ Himself as recorded in the three synoptic Gospels, the gospel of Saint John and as described by Saint Paul in the New Testament. The use of bread and wine as an offering begins under the Old Covenant as described in the Book of Genesis: And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18 * As they began their exodus from Egypt, the Jews ate unleavened bread (Exodus 12:15), made necessary because of their haste to flee, and they continue to this day to honor this occasion with unleavened bread when they celebrate Passover; the last cup of blessing at the end of the Passover meal was a cup of wine used to celebrate the fact that God had blessed His chosen people and would bless them again someday in Jerusalem. They ate manna - bread sent from Heaven - as they wandered the desert in search of the Promised Land, finally settling there as God had promised them. After they lost their land because of their continued failure to keep the Commandments of God, they were sent prophets who predicted that a Messiah would be sent by God, a saviour who would bring them back to their original place of honor before God. He arrived about 2,000 years ago. Jesus' life began in Beth-Lechem...the House of Bread (Matthew 2:1). His first public miracle was at a wedding party in Cana (John 2:2-5), where He turned water into wine in response to a request by His mother. With the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (Matthew 14:14-20), as Jesus blessed the loaves of bread and distributed them, He prefigured the superabundance of the unique bread that was to be His Eucharist. After teaching and healing the sick and working other wonders in the hills of the Galilee, Jesus had developed a wide following with many disciples. It was at the synagogue of Capernaum, at the time of the feast of Passover, that Jesus began to unfold the nature of His Eucharist to those who were following Him: * Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on Him has God the Father set His seal. John 6:27 When His followers asked about the nature of this eternal food, Jesus replied: *** I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35 ** When they heard this remark, some of His followers began to murmur among themselves since they knew He was just a carpenter, the son of Joseph. How could this man be the bread of life? Yet Jesus persisted as He explained Himself to them: ** I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. John 6:51 This comment brought outright consternation to a number of those who had followed Him. He was actually telling them that they had to eat His flesh, an unthinkable act. If His words were confusing or misleading them in any way, then He would have corrected their misunderstanding...but He didn't. Instead, He emphasized yet again His meaning when He said: ** 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. John 6:53-56 * Many of those who heard Jesus say this couldn't accept it despite the fact that He explained and further clarified His statements three times in attempting to address their lack of understanding and their unwillingness to accept His words. He tried again a fourth time to help them comprehend what He was saying: * 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 ** After saying this, many of those who had been following Him chose to stay away. He tried four times to teach them and in the end only a few accepted His teachings. Why didn't they comprehend Jesus, as many still don't comprehend Him after 2,000 years? Probably because they didn't understand that Jesus was the completion of the Passover begun in Egypt over a thousand years earlier. He was
[JOYnet] The Scriptural Basis of the Eucharist
The Scriptural Basis of the Eucharist The Catholic Church traces the origins of the Eucharist to the very actions and words of Jesus Christ Himself as recorded in the three synoptic Gospels, the gospel of Saint John and as described by Saint Paul in the New Testament. The use of bread and wine as an offering begins under the Old Covenant as described in the Book of Genesis: And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. Genesis 14:18 * As they began their exodus from Egypt, the Jews ate unleavened bread (Exodus 12:15), made necessary because of their haste to flee, and they continue to this day to honor this occasion with unleavened bread when they celebrate Passover; the last cup of blessing at the end of the Passover meal was a cup of wine used to celebrate the fact that God had blessed His chosen people and would bless them again someday in Jerusalem. They ate manna - bread sent from Heaven - as they wandered the desert in search of the Promised Land, finally settling there as God had promised them. After they lost their land because of their continued failure to keep the Commandments of God, they were sent prophets who predicted that a Messiah would be sent by God, a saviour who would bring them back to their original place of honor before God. He arrived about 2,000 years ago. Jesus' life began in Beth-Lechem...the House of Bread (Matthew 2:1). His first public miracle was at a wedding party in Cana (John 2:2-5), where He turned water into wine in response to a request by His mother. With the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (Matthew 14:14-20), as Jesus blessed the loaves of bread and distributed them, He prefigured the superabundance of the unique bread that was to be His Eucharist. After teaching and healing the sick and working other wonders in the hills of the Galilee, Jesus had developed a wide following with many disciples. It was at the synagogue of Capernaum, at the time of the feast of Passover, that Jesus began to unfold the nature of His Eucharist to those who were following Him: * Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on Him has God the Father set His seal. John 6:27 When His followers asked about the nature of this eternal food, Jesus replied: *** I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35 ** When they heard this remark, some of His followers began to murmur among themselves since they knew He was just a carpenter, the son of Joseph. How could this man be the bread of life? Yet Jesus persisted as He explained Himself to them: ** I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. John 6:51 This comment brought outright consternation to a number of those who had followed Him. He was actually telling them that they had to eat His flesh, an unthinkable act. If His words were confusing or misleading them in any way, then He would have corrected their misunderstanding...but He didn't. Instead, He emphasized yet again His meaning when He said: ** 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. John 6:53-56 * Many of those who heard Jesus say this couldn't accept it despite the fact that He explained and further clarified His statements three times in attempting to address their lack of understanding and their unwillingness to accept His words. He tried again a fourth time to help them comprehend what He was saying: * 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 ** After saying this, many of those who had been following Him chose to stay away. He tried four times to teach them and in the end only a few accepted His teachings. Why didn't they comprehend Jesus, as many still don't comprehend Him after 2,000 years? Probably because they didn't understand that Jesus was the completion of the Passover begun in Egypt over a thousand years earlier. He was
