The Eucharist Part III

The Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ

Last time in Part II we began to look at what Jesus did and taught in the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6. We start Part III just past the half point of this chapter – which is all about the Eucharist – the Bread of Life. The people were murmuring about their unbelief in Jesus, thinking He was just a regular man and not God.

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. -John 6:43-45

When Jesus refers to Isaiah 54:13, “All your sons shall be taught by the LORD” He is referring to His own divinity – as He is at that moment teaching them! Jesus also tells them the Father must draw them. As mentioned in Part II, grace from God the Father must penetrate their hearts – must “draw” them. We need God to give us the grace to believe in Jesus. However, not all accept the grace. Holding on to our sinful lives blocks this grace. If you are seeking God who is Truth, Beauty and Goodness, then you will be “drawn” by Him. If God the Father, in His Truth, Beauty and Goodness, is attractive to you – draws you – then you will be drawn to Jesus because He is God’s Son – He is God. Therefore, Jesus can say, “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. -John 6:46-50

Jesus is the only way to God the Father. He “has seen the Father” which is a way of saying He knows the Father perfectly and is the only one who can reveal Him. Jesus also says once again that faith in Him is crucial, for anyone “who believes has eternal life.” And spiritual life – eternal life – is what Jesus has been stressing. Their “fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died”, but “the bread which comes down from heaven… (which is Jesus) a man may eat of it and not die.” When Jesus talks about not dying, He is talking about spiritual life – eternal life in heaven.

Now, Jesus is about to begin a seven-fold declaration exclaiming exactly what He means about Him being the bread from Heaven. He will now establish that, as He is God, He can and will give us His flesh and blood to eat and drink.

1. “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?”
2. “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.”
3. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
4. “For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”
5. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”
6. “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.”
7. “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.” -John 6:51-58

Jesus is clear. We are to eat His flesh and drink His blood. The Bread of Life, which would become known as Holy Communion and the Eucharist, is really His body and blood. After Jesus first declares that He is giving us His flesh as bread, the Jews said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They knew Jesus was speaking literally, but they did not believe He was God, so they did not believe He could do it.

Jesus declares above that eternal life and the resurrection at the end of the world are intrinsically linked to the Eucharist. He says His flesh and blood are real food and real drink – “food indeed” and “drink indeed”.

Next time we’ll look at what some of the earliest saints had to say about the Eucharist.

Until then, pray in adoration chapel and ask Jesus to renew and strengthen your belief in the Eucharist as really the Body and Blood of Jesus.