05/01/2014 The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist - History and Evidence. (Part 1)
Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.
https://www.magiscenter.com/the-real-presence-of-jesus-in-the-eucharist-history-and-evidence/ The-Real-Presence-of-Jesus-in-the-Eucharist.pdf
The Eucharistic celebration was one of the most significant actions in Jesus’ ministry and redemptive mission—similar in importance to His incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Gift of the Spirit.
As we shall show, Jesus unequivocally intended that the Eucharistic bread be His real body (given on the Cross at Calvary and in its risen form) and the Eucharistic wine be His real blood (given on Calvary and in its risen form).
He further intended that the grace coming through this gift would bring healing, transformation in His heart, forgiveness of sins, unity with all believers, and ultimately, eternal life in Him.
The reality and effects of His Eucharistic celebration are so important, that the early Church considered it to be its central spiritual activity—real communion with its Savior, Jesus Christ.
We will divide our explanation of this claim into three sections:
Section I. — Jesus’ intention and action at the Last Supper
Section II. — Transubstantiation
Section III. — The Eucharistic Commemoration in the First Century
I.
Jesus’ Intention and Action at the Last Supper
Jesus’ Eucharistic words explain His plan to love the world into redemption. 1
Jeremias attempted a reconstruction of the original tradition of Jesus’ Eucharistic words from the four New Testament traditions:
I Corinthians 11:23-26; Mark 14:22-25; Matthew 26:26-29; and Luke 22:17-20.
Notice that there are two distinct strands of tradition: The Mark-Matthew strand (constructed for liturgical purposes) and the Paul-Luke strand (constructed for a Gentile audience).
Jeremias prefers the Mark-Matthew strand for the rite over the bread (body) and the Paul-Luke strand for the rite of the wine (blood).
Using literary constructions and Semitisms as clues to resolve other differences within each strand, Jeremias concludes that the rite of the Last Supper probably took the following form. 2
Jesus gathered with His disciples before the feast of the Passover and indicated to them that He longed to celebrate this Passover with them, but instead of doing so, fasted while the other disciples celebrated. 3
1. This thesis and the contents of this section are explained in great detail in a comprehensive work by Joachim Jeremias 1966 The Eucharistic Words of Jesus (London: SCM Press). It is also explained in an excellent article by Johannes Betz 1968-70, “Eucharist” in Sacramentum Mundi. Ed. by Karl Rahner, Vol. 2. (London: Burns & Oates). pg. 257ff
2. See Jeremias 1966, Eucharistic Words of Jesus pp 171-173, 208-209, 223-224, and 238-243. See also John P. Meier 1991 A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Vol. 1. (New York: Doubleday). pp 334-337. 3. See Jeremias’ convincing argument in 1966, Eucharistic Words of Jesus pp. 208-09.
Page 1
After drinking one of the four Passover cups while they were eating the Passover meal (or an adapted Passover ritual), Jesus initiated the ritual of the bread, identifying it with His body: “Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take; this is my body.’”
Then, after the completion of the Passover meal, Jesus initiated the ritual of the wine which He identifies with the covenant in His blood.
He took a cup of red wine, gave thanks, and gave it to His disciples, saying, “This cup is the covenant in my blood 4 which is poured out for [the] many.5
5 Sometime either prior to or after this (perhaps both), Jesus gives a command to repeat the ritual: “Do this in remembrance of me.”
When He says, “This is my Body which will be given up for you,” the Greek word used to translate His Hebrew (zeh baśari) or Aramaic (den bisri) was sōma instead of sarx.
Sarx means “flesh” and would certainly refer to Jesus’ corporeal body given on the cross, while sōma is much broader and refers to the whole person (mind, soul, will, as well as corporeal body).
Thus, sōma is much like the word “body” in “everybody” or “somebody” in English.
It might, therefore, be roughly translated as “person” or “self.”
If we substitute the word “self” for “body” in the Eucharistic words, we obtain “This is my whole self given up for you.”
This is remarkably similar to Jesus’ definition of unconditional love in John’s Gospel -- “gift of one’s whole self” (“greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” –
John 15:13).
Thus, in the Eucharist, Jesus is not only giving us His whole self – His whole person – He is also giving us His love, indeed, His unconditional love – that is, a love which cannot be surpassed.
This unconditional love is corroborated by the gift of His blood (which, according to Jewish custom, is separated from the body of the sacrificial offering).
When Jesus offered His blood separately from His body, He showed Himself to be making an intentional self-sacrifice.
Blood (the principle of life for the Israelites) was the vehicle through which atonement occurred in sin or guilt offerings.
Jesus’ reference to His sacrificial blood would almost inevitably be seen as the blood of a sin-offering – with the notable exception that the sin-offering is no longer an animal, but rather, Jesus Himself, “the Beloved One of the Father.”
Jesus humbled Himself (taking the place of an animal – a sacrificial sin-offering) to absolve the sin of the world forever.
4. Though Jesus identifies the red wine with the “covenant in His blood,” it is clear from the red wine, the parallelism with the bread, and the use of “this cup” that Jesus is identifying the red wine with both His blood and the covenant in His blood.
Jeremias’ notes that the color of the wine is significant here: “The tertium comparationis in the case of the bread is the fact that it was broken, and in the case of the wine the red color.
We have already seen...that it was customary to drink red wine at the Passover....
The comparison between red wine and blood was common in the Old Testament.
(Gen. 49.11; Deut. 32.14; Isa. 63.3,6), further Eccl 39.26; 50.15; I Macc. 6.34; Rev. 14.20; Sanh. 70a, etc.” (Jeremias 1966, Eucharistic Words of Jesus pp. 223-24).
5. Mark-Matthew reports “poured out for many” but Luke reports “poured out for you.”
Jeremias holds that “for the many” is the more original on the basis of linguistic grounds, namely, “for the many” is a Semitism while “you” is not.
Jeremias attributes the replacement of “the many” by “you” as having a liturgical purpose where each worshiper feels him or herself to be individually addressed (by “you”), which would not happen with the indefinite “the many” (See Jeremias 1966, Eucharistic Words of Jesus pp. 172).
The Greek “to pollōn” (“the many”) is an unusual expression, and is probably an attempt to translate a common Semitic expression referring to “all.” This is explained below in this section.
Page 2
Jesus goes beyond this by associating Himself with the paschal lamb. He intentionally coordinates His arrival in Jerusalem with the Passover feast so that His sacrifice will be associated with that of the Paschal lamb.
He loved us so much that He desired to become the new Passover sacrifice, replacing an unblemished lamb with His own divine presence.
The blood of the Passover lamb (put on the doorposts of every Israelite household) was the instrument through which the Israelite people were protected from death (the angel of death passing over those houses) which enabled them to move out of slavery into freedom (from Egypt into the Promised Land).
When Jesus took the place of a sacrificial animal, He replaced the worldly freedom offered by the Passover--freedom from slavery in Egypt--with an unconditional and eternal freedom from sin and death.
Thus, He made His self-sacrifice the new vehicle for protection from every form of sin and death for all eternity by outshining sin and darkness with His unconditionally loving eternal light.
There is yet a third dimension of Jesus’ use of blood which He explicitly states as “the Blood of the covenant.”
A covenant was a solemn promise that bound parties to a guaranteed agreement.
When Jesus associates His blood with the covenant, He is guaranteeing the “absolution from sin,” “freedom from slavery and darkness,” and eternal life given through His unconditional love.
By referencing the Blood of the covenant, Jesus makes a solemn and unconditionally guaranteed promise to give us eternal life and love.
If we put our faith in Him, trust in His promise, and try to remain in His teachings, His unconditional love will save us.
(End Part 1)