The Eucharist - Encounter with the Real Presence of Jesus

When we affirm the ‘real presence’ of Jesus in the bread and wine, what do we mean by ‘presence’ and ‘real’?

In the accounts we have in the Bible relating to the Last Supper, Jesus says these words, “This is my body…this is my blood”. John in his account does not describe the Last Supper, but in John 6:48-58, Jesus describing Himself as the living bread, says that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, for my flesh is true food and my blood true drink” So what does this mean for us? As seen in earlier studies, the Eucharist as a sacrament involves an ‘outward, visible sign’ that becomes a door or window to an ‘inward and spiritual grace’. But in the Eucharist, we are declaring that Jesus is not simply the presence of the inward spiritual grace, but is ‘really present’

The idea of Jesus being ‘really present’ in the bread and wine was widespread in the early church. Cyril of Jerusalem writing in 350AD, remarks that “Jesus, by His own will once changed water into wine at Cana…so why should we not believe that He can change wine into blood?” Augustine in 272AD wrote, “That which you see is bread and the cup, which…your eyes declare to you; but as to that in which your faith demands instruction, the bread is the body of Christ, the cup is the blood of Christ…these things are called sacraments for this reason, that in them one thing is seen, another is understood.

There are different ways a person or object can be have a presence for us. A local presence where someone or something is present in a particular place, a temporal presence where the object or person is present at a particular moment or time, and a personal presence in which a communication takes place between two people. It does not necessarily need a meeting in time and space. Another person can be present for us through reading a letter from them, or having a telephone or internet conversation with them even though they may be thousands of miles away.

In the Eucharist, there are several ways that Jesus is present for us:-
He is present in the reading of the gospel-The Word.
In the worship- Isaiah 57:15 “ For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite”.
In the human minister who stands in for Christ.
In the community because the Eucharistic community is made one body with Christ (Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread. Holy Communion order one, common worship, services for the Church of England)
After the words of institution, Christ is present in the bread and wine.

When we look how ‘real’ something is, most people would limit it to a ‘physical reality’; an object is what it is because of its molecular structure. From this point of view, Jesus is not ‘really present’ in the sense of being ‘physically really present’. However, we don’t normally limit reality to just ‘physical reality’. Without being consciously aware of it, we accept several kinds of ‘non-physical’ reality-Metaphysical Reality. These would include-‘Love’, ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’, ‘Meaning’, ‘Purpose’. Theologies that attempt to explain the ‘Real Presence’ use these ‘non physical’ ideas to aid them.

Theologies of the Real Presence include: Transubstantiation, Consubstantiation, Transignification and Transfinalization. We shall look at each one in turn.

Transubstantiation is a theology developed by Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), which is based on the view of Aristotle that all matter has two qualities: Accidents-its outward appearance, shape, colour, and Substance- its essential nature. During the Eucharist according to this theory, the substance (essential nature) of the bread is changed into the substance (essential nature) of the body of Christ at the moment of consecration, although the accidents (outward appearance) of the bread remain the same. Likewise with the wine-the essential nature of the wine is changed into the essential nature of the blood of Christ while the outward appearance remains the same.

Consubstantiation is the name given to Luther’s view. He agrees with Aristotle, in that all matter has two qualities-accidents and substance, but according to his theory the essential nature of both bread and the body of Christ are present simultaneously in the bread, but the outward appearance remains the same. We cannot understand how this can happen but Luther uses an image borrowed from Origen, an early Christian scholar, to illustrate his point:-if a piece of iron is placed in a fire and heated, it glows-and in the glowing piece of iron both the iron and heat are present.

Transignification and Transfinalization are theologies developed by the Roman Catholic theologian Edward Schillebeeckx in the 1960’s. They are both based on the view that the identity of an object is based on-
Its molecular and atomic structure.
Its meaning or significance in the context it is used.
Its purpose or end goal (finality) within the context of its use.
In other words, at the moment of consecration when we are celebrating Eucharist, the meaning or significance of the bread and the wine changes. They no longer mean or signify food, but they mean or signify Christ. The end goal or purpose (finality) of the bread and wine also changes. The end goal (finality) of physical nourishment is replaced by the end goal (finality) of spiritual nourishment.

All these theologies of the real presence try to help us understand what happens during the Eucharist, but there is still an element of mystery because there are some things we cannot explain. John of Damascus (665-749AD) probably summed up this mystery best when he said:-
And now you ask how the bread becomes the body of Christ, and the wine and the water become the blood of Christ. I shall tell you. The Holy Spirit comes upon them, and achieves things which surpass every word and thought…let it be enough for you to understand that this takes place by the Holy Spirit.

by Rev. Esther Squire (CEEC)

The Eucharist as a meal - its origins and meanings.

The beginnings of what we now know as Eucharist has its roots in the ancient world. What started as a simple blessing at the beginning or end of a Jewish meal, through the ages has become one of the most important sacraments of the Church today. Although the way it is carried out may have changed, the meaning behind the celebration of Eucharist remains the same as it did when Jesus shared the meal with his disciples prior to His death.

For Jews living in ancient times meals were more than just a social occasion. They were important times for offering thanks to God. A Jewish meal began when the father or other community leader took bread, broke it and blessed it with these words, “Blessed be you, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth”, after which the bread was distributed to those present. On holy days a blessing was said at the end of the meal, which involved lighting a lamp and washing of hands. The leader would then recite several blessings thanking God for His provision, grace and mercy.

Jesus, during His earthly ministry enjoyed sharing meals with His disciples and other followers, and there are several accounts in the Gospels of Jesus providing food for those who followed Him, one such example being in Matthew’s Gospel c14:15-21, where we see Jesus multiplying a small amount of food to feed a large crowd of people. And it was during a meal to celebrate the Passover that Jesus gave new meaning to the covenant meal. We have four accounts of the words that Jesus used: - Paul, writing to the Church in Corinth (1 Corinthians 11: 23-25), Mark (writing 20 years after Paul) Mark 14: 22-25, Matthew (20 years after Mark) Matthew 26:26-29, and Luke (20years after Matthew) Luke 22: 14-20. All of these accounts agree that Jesus said “This is my body” but only Matthew adds the command to eat. In the accounts of Mark and Matthew, Jesus says of the wine, “this is the blood of the covenant”, but Paul and Luke have Jesus saying “This cup is the new covenant in my blood”, which according to John Macquarrie is more likely to be the original language. It is worth noting that both Paul and Luke record Jesus saying, “Do this in remembrance of me”. Neither Mark nor Matthew mention this but record Jesus saying He will not drink wine again until He drinks it at the heavenly banquet which is to come. In John’s gospel there is no description of the Last Supper. There is however a passage in John 6: 48-58, where Jesus describes Himself as the living bread, and His blood as true drink. He then goes on to talk about abiding in Him.

In the early days of the Church, Eucharist, which comes from the Greek word eucharista and means thanksgiving, seems to have been called the ‘breaking of the bread’. Initially wine was only used on festival days, as most people were quite poor. It was at this time part of the community meal and followed the pattern of most Jewish meals and as Jesus had instigated at the Last Supper- the breaking of the bread was done before the meal and the blessing over the wine afterwards, but the breaking of bread was soon moved to the end of the meal. The custom of the community meals was to eat in small groups, round separate tables with a common dish and a common cup for each table. This caused problems, as some people missed out, while others, the well-off, ate at home and then drank too much when meeting together. Because of this the Eucharist soon became separated from the community meal. The Roman Governor Pliny the Younger, writing to the Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the second century, described Christians gathering before dawn for worship, and then meeting later in the day for a meal. The separation or these two meals had important consequences.

The time of Eucharist was moved to the morning.The different tables became one table (The altar). A ‘service of the word’ was added based on the liturgy of the synagogue service.
The early Christian Eucharistic liturgy is very similar to that used today. Justin Martyr writing in about 150AD gives us a picture. He describes a gathering including readings, sermon, prayers, and sharing of the Eucharist. Hippolytus, writing in his book Apostolic Traditions in 225 AD records a Eucharistic prayer that contains many of the Christian beliefs later used in forming the creeds.

Although the Eucharist meal may have changed over the years, one aspect remains the same. Sharing this meal together brings a sense of oneness, with Jesus, with each other and with the wider Church. We are all individuals, but we are also one Church, and we can say in the words of the liturgy, “ …Gather into one all who share this one bread and one cup, so that we, in the company of all the saints, may praise and glorify you for ever…”

By Rev. Esther Squire (CEEC)