Eucharist - Earliest Testimonies.        Today we want to look at some of the earliest testimonies given outside of the New Testament about the Eucharist received in Holy Communion.       St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, knew the Apostles John and Peter personally and wrote about AD 107, speaking of those holding “heterodox opinions” about Jesus: “They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in His goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes” ( Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2–7:1). The gift of God in Holy Eucharist is the risen flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.       St. Justin Martyr wrote about 151 AD: “For not as common bread and common drink do we receive [the Eucharist]; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, havin...

Eucharist -- Is It Cannibalism? Part 5.       Jesus 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.” ( John 6:53-54 ) Jesus further asserts that this new manna He will give is “real food” and “real drink” ( 6:55 , per the Greek). The emphasis of the wording is on the realism: real food, real eating. Not mere spiritual participation.       The reality is even more apparent when we observe that the Greek word for usual “eating” used in verse 53 is replaced in verse 54  with the graphic word for chewing, gnawing, or consuming. Jesus uses this same graphic word when He says, “He who chews My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him” ( 6:56 ). Now in John 15 Jesus speaks of Himself being “the vine” and a disciple being a “branch” which can only bear “fruit” if...

  Eucharist -- Is It Cannibalism? Part 4.       Four weeks ago we set out to address the concern of some people that receiving the Eucharist in Holy Communion at Mass is cannibalism, the eating of mortal human flesh. We asked: How did Jesus answer this question when people raised it in the Bible? We first looked at Jesus’ own context of His words to understand what He is saying, and today we will directly examine how Jesus answered the direct question from the people.       It is when Jesus says “The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh” ( Jn 6:51 ) that give the people difficulty. They say, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ( Jn 6:52 ). Is “this man” talking about cannibalism?       How does Jesus answer? “No, you misunderstand Me; I am only speaking symbolically!” “It’s only an analogy.” “Your fathers ate Manna; well, we are going to share bread together as well, just like the P...

Eucharist -- Is It Cannibalism? Part 3.       Last week we examined in detail John 6:27 about food “which endures to eternal life,” which the “Son of Man” shall give because He has the Father’s “seal” (or “stamp”), being God the Son.       Now before we get to certain people’s cannibalism accusation ( Jn 6:52 ), Jesus has more to say about the nature of this food. In 6:33 , He calls it the “bread of God ... which comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world.” In 6:35 , He says, “I AM the bread of life” such that any who comes to Him will never hunger or thirst (another image of eternity). In 6:48 , He says, “I AM the bread of life,” and in 6:51 , “I AM the living bread which came down from Heaven.” So Jesus is identifying Himself, and His “I AM” (the name of God) with the food people should strive for.       Jesus speaks of this food as the “bread of life” specifically because the people asked Jesus for a sign, and...

  Eucharist - Is It Cannibalism? Part 2.       Last week we began a look at how, in the Gospel of John, chapter 6, some people objected to Jesus’ teaching of giving His Body and Blood by exclaiming, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ( Jn 6:52 ). The cannibalism accusation.       Yet we also noted that they clearly understood that Jesus was speaking of something real and tangible, not merely symbolic nor purely spiritual.       Today we want to examine further the three points Jesus makes in John 6:27 .       First, Jesus is not talking about “food which perishes” – the organic physical stuff of this mortal life. As to the cannibalism claim, that pertains to the physical human body of this present mortal life. But Jesus says He’s not talking about “food” that “perishes.” That’s not it at all.       In fact, Jesus says that one should strive for the “food whic...