Holy Communion
The Old Testament prophecies that gentiles will offer a pure (perfect, with no defects) sacrifice in Malachi 1:11...
For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
...the Hebrew word for pure is tahowr and means ceremonially clean (which the Jews could offer), physically and morally clean (which the Jews could not offer). Only Christ is the pure sacrifice [1 Peter 1:19].
The Gospel of John Chapter 6 is an extended discussion of Christ as the bread of life that will be literally eaten in [John 6:55-56]....
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
...the verbal reaction of the Jews, the departure of many disciples, and the less than enthusiastic attitude of those that remained clearly reveals that no one understood 'bread' to mean 'teaching' but rather actual flesh.
Christ reveals His body and blood in the form of bread and wine as the perfect, prophesied sacrifice for the sins of the world as recorded in Matthew 26:26-28...
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
...and since He was alive physically at the time, it shows the single event to follow was not limited by time and space. Christ transformed the bread and wine before His Crucifixion just as priests today
transform the bread and wine after
His Crucifixion.
The New Testament clearly shows that the early Christians regarded communion as the literal body and blood of Christ (not a sentimental replica) as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29....Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
...as did those who followed the Apostlic era....
They [gnostic heretics] 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 the Father, in his goodness, raised up again.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, AD 110.
For we do not take these things as ordinary bread or ordinary drink. Just as our Savior Jesus Christ was made flesh by the word of God and took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so also were we taught that the food, for which thanksgiving has been made through the word of prayer instituted by him, and from which our blood and flesh are nourished after the change, is the flesh of that Jesus who was made flesh. Indeed, the Apostles, in the records left by them which are called gospels, handed on that it was commanded to them...
Justin Martyr, First Apology, AD 155.
Christ states in John 6:53 Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. I want this spiritual life in me and receive it in the
Orthodox Church. Does the place where you worship God give you this
necessary bread of life?
Additional Reference
The Old Testament prophecies that gentiles will offer a pure (perfect, with no defects) sacrifice in Malachi 1:11...
The Gospel of John Chapter 6 is an extended discussion of Christ as the bread of life that will be literally eaten in [John 6:55-56]....
Christ reveals His body and blood in the form of bread and wine as the perfect, prophesied sacrifice for the sins of the world as recorded in Matthew 26:26-28...
The New Testament clearly shows that the early Christians regarded communion as the literal body and blood of Christ (not a sentimental replica) as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29....
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, AD 110.
For we do not take these things as ordinary bread or ordinary drink. Just as our Savior Jesus Christ was made flesh by the word of God and took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so also were we taught that the food, for which thanksgiving has been made through the word of prayer instituted by him, and from which our blood and flesh are nourished after the change, is the flesh of that Jesus who was made flesh. Indeed, the Apostles, in the records left by them which are called gospels, handed on that it was commanded to them...
Justin Martyr, First Apology, AD 155.
Additional Reference
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Holy Comminion |
