"This is My Body"

“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’”[1]

The Body of Christ,” mumbles the priest as he places a wafer on the tongue of each worshipper. Those participating in that ritual are told that they are eating Christ’s body as they chew the host. After all, did not the Master say to His disciples when He instituted the Meal, “Take, eat, this is My body?” Such a thought is repugnant to individuals who have not had their thinking distorted through early and repeated twisting of the words of the Master. It points up a gulf in the approach to the Lord’s Table that exists in Christendom.

Catholics hold to a doctrine known as transubstantiation. According to Catholic doctrine, the bread becomes the body of Christ as the priest pronounces the Words, “This is My body,” and the wine becomes His blood as the priest pronounces, “This is My blood.” Therefore, according to Catholic doctrine, communicants actually dine on the body of Christ. In fairness, this is not teaching some form of ecclesiastical cannibalism, but it does argue that in participating, worshippers actually receive Christ in totality through eating the bread.

Officially, the Council of Trent declared, “Because Christ our Redeemer declared that what He offered under the species of bread was truly His Body, it has always been the faith of the Church of God (and this holy Synod now states it again) that by the consecration of the bread and wine a change takes place in which the entire substance of the bread is changed into the substance of the Body of Christ our Lord, and the entire substance of the wine into the substance of His Blood. This change the Holy Catholic Church fittingly and properly calls ‘transubstantiation.’”[2]

However, medieval theologians within the Catholic realm were not united in accepting transubstantiation; a surprising number advocated the doctrine of consubstantiation. Consubstantiation presents the view that the substance of the bread and wine are not actually changed, but that the body and blood of Christ co-exists with the bread and the wine. Today, some theologians within the Anglican communion, among Eastern Orthodox churches and within the Lutheran churches, hold to the doctrine of consubstantiation.

Most contemporary evangelical Christians see the statement of the Saviour as symbolic. It is doubtful that any evangelical theologians believe that Christ is physically received through participating in the Communion Meal; they are virtually unanimous in seeing the statement as symbolic. Thus, the bread symbolises the broken body of the Saviour; and the wine symbolises His blood that was shed because of our sin.

Tragically, it sometimes seems that the Communion Meal has become just another ritual without great meaning in the estimate of participants. Observance of the rite is rushed because worshippers feel pressed to get through it in order to get on with their lives, or because they don’t wish to give thought to the observance. This should never be allowed to happen.

I would not ever want to see the Meal degenerate into a mere ritual. I would not ever want to see us rush through the observance simply because we had an arbitrary schedule we felt compelled to keep. It would be far better for us to cease observing the Communion Supper than to permit it to become a mere formality tacked on at the conclusion of a service. In that case, we will have become the centre of what we call worship rather than focusing on Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. The Master invited His disciples with the words that are so familiar: “Take, eat; this is my body.” Join me in thinking about the Master’s invitation to worship.

The Setting for the Meal — What was happening when Jesus instituted this tradition for His disciples? If we understand the circumstances that surrounded the event, we will have greater understanding of what He meant when He spoke the words that are the focus of our study this day. Turn your mind back to events that began a day before the Last Supper.

Jesus was leading His disciples toward Jerusalem. He had repeatedly endeavoured to prepare them for what was coming. Approaching Jerusalem on that final journey, Mark tells us that Jesus “began to teach [the disciples] that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed” [Mark 8:31]. It is fascinating that Mark, writing as Peter amanuensis, adds, “And He said this plainly” [Mark 8:32].

Six days later, Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John, an event recorded in several of the Gospel accounts. Coming down from the mountain, He healed a demonised boy and rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith. Passing on through Galilee and toward Capernaum, we read that “He was teaching His disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him” [Mark 9:31]. Such pointed teaching was hard for the disciples to take. Matthew appends the observation that the disciples “were greatly distressed” [Matthew 17:23].

Once again, Jesus attempted to inform the twelve about what was going to happen. Doctor Luke’s account records the words of the Master. “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise” [Luke 18:31-33]. Then, Luke adds, “But they understood none of these things” [Luke 18:34].

In fact, the response of James and John was a request that they be appointed to first and second place in the Kingdom of God [Mark 10:35 ff.]. It is not at all clear that they acted on their own initiative, instead being prompted by their mother. Matthew records the incident as follows. “The mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to Him with her sons, and kneeling before Him she asked Him for something. And He said to her, ‘What do you want?’ She said to Him, ‘Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your kingdom.’ Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?’ They said to Him, ‘We are able.’ He said to them, ‘You will drink My cup, but to sit at My right hand and at My left is not Mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.’ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers” [Matthew 20:20-24].

Again, the Master spoke of the agony of what He was about to experience, and the two men were incapable of recognising what He was talking about. They were so focused on advancing their own interests that they failed to see His greater mission of presenting His life as a sacrifice because of the sin of the world. Again and again the Master had spoken of His pending agony, the things He would shortly suffer, and the disciples did not understand.

Jesus performed yet another miracle as he was leaving Jericho, still moving toward Jerusalem. He restored sight to two blind men [Matthew 20:29-34], one of whom is identified as Bartimaeus [Mark 10:46-52]. I assume that since we are told specifically that Bartimaeus followed the Master [see Mark 10:52 and Luke 18:43] and nothing further is said of the second man who received his sight, that the Evangelists mean for us to understand that one man received a miracle and followed Jesus who showed him compassion, whilst the other man, though also having received a miracle, did not believe. Simply witnessing the mercy and the power of God does not make one a Christian. Believing in Him who possesses power to give life, the One who gave His life and conquered death, gives eternal life and transforms a person.

Nearing Jerusalem, Jesus sent two disciples into the city to fetch a colt on which He would ride into the city. The purpose of this was not to relieve Him in His weariness, but to signify to the populace that this was the Messiah, God’s anointed one. Matthew brings out the significance of this fulfillment of prophecy when he adds the explanatory note, “This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

‘Say to the daughter of Zion,

“Behold, your king is coming to you,

humble, and mounted on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”’”

[Matthew 21:4, 5]

Crowds followed Him from Jericho, but with the arrival of the colt, the crowd began to swell; people were excited at the opportunity to witness this historic event. They became so excited that some in the crowd spread their cloaks on the road as a sign of homage to this promised Messiah. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowd, now surrounding Him and moving into the city with Him began to shout, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is the coming Kingdom of our father David! Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest” [Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-38]!

The noise of the crowd grew in intensity, finally becoming so great that some of the Pharisees took umbrage, less at the enthusiasm than at the mere fact that people were anticipating the coming of God’s Kingdom. “Teacher,” they shouted when they were at last close enough to be heard, “rebuke your disciples.” However, the Master answered them, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” [Luke 19:39, 40].

The crowds followed Jesus to the Temple, where He witnessed the self-serving concessions—moneychangers and pigeon sellers, together with other religious entrepreneurs. You will undoubtedly recall the stern words that Matthew recorded, “My House shall be called a House of Prayer, but you make it a den of robbers” [Matthew 21:13], after which He drove them out of the Temple. Then, His immediate work completed, He looked around, and because it was late, He turned and left the city to overnight in Bethany with the twelve [Mark 11:11].

The next day was exhausting as the chief priests and the elders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees tested Him, much as a Passover lamb would be tested to discover whether there was some flaw which would disqualify the sacrificial animal. Moses had written that the lamb chosen for sacrifice must “be without blemish.” It was to be set aside and examined carefully to ensure that there was no blemish. Only when it was certain that the lamb was perfect would it suffice for sacrifice [Exodus 12:5, 6]. So the Master was scrutinised, and He passed the tests.

The chief priests and elders blustered, demanding that Jesus tell them what authority He claimed for cleansing the Temple. He turned the tables on them, placing them on the horns of a dilemma; He asked them to declare openly whether John’s baptism had the approval of heaven or whether that baptism was merely an act that he had made up. They discussed the matter and wisely concluded that they dared not give an answer. If they said John had acted with heavenly authority, then Jesus would wonder why they had not believed him. If they said that he acted on mere human authority, the crowd, which had been delighted with John’s ministry, would attack them. Therefore, they hedged, claiming they were unable to answer. Using their own answer, Jesus refused to identify the source of His authority [see Matthew 21:23-27].

The Pharisees were next in line to test the Lamb of God. They carefully plotted, seeking to entangle Him in His own words; they intended to hoist Him with his own petard. They would either expose Him as a seditionist, letting the Romans deal with Him, or they would discredit Him in the eyes of those who followed Him. They were certain that there was no escape from the ingenious trap they were about to spring. They asked whether Caesar had a legitimate right to levy taxes. Jesus knew their intention, so He addressed them as the hypocrites they were. He responded, “Show Me a coin for the tax.” Funnily enough, they just happened to have a denarius—a Roman coin used to pay the tax. When they showed Him the coin, He asked, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They had no choice but to acknowledge that Caesar had authorised the issue of the coin. Therefore, the Master instructed them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” [see Matthew 22:15-22].

The Sadducees were in line to test Him next. They had a delightful old story that had tripped up the Pharisees for centuries. Listen to the story. “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. So too the second and the third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her” [Matthew 22:23-28].

Undoubtedly, they were snickering at their ingenuity; after all, the Pharisees had been unable to find an answer, and now they had tripped up this religious huckster. However, they were soon astonished when the Master instructed them in the Word of God. “You are wrong,” Jesus said, “because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living” [Matthew 22:29-32].

Having denied the accuracy and the authority of the Word, Sadducees thought of women as chattel, a thing to be possessed by whoever had intercourse with her. They disdained what was taught in the Word of God, and thus they disdained those who are made in God’s image. However, the Master corrected their thinking in front of all who were present that day.

One last test faced Him. In Matthew 22:34-36, we read the account of a lawyer, an expert in the law, who asked Him “Which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus did not hesitate to point Him to the answer and also provide a correlating law that would demonstrate the application of the first. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” [Matthew 22:37-40].

Now, Jesus had a question for the Pharisees. Citing the 110th Psalm, Jesus noted that David calls the Messiah his Lord. He had already elicited from the Pharisees that the Messiah would be the son of David. Therefore, the question He posed was how can the son be the Master? Not only were they unable to provide an answer, but they were fearful of attempting to answer because any answer they gave would expose their hypocrisy [Matthew 27:41-46].

Turning to the crowd that seemed ever present, the Master excoriated the religious leaders of the people, pointing out the hypocrisy of their lives [Matthew 23:1-36]. Those who have never faced powerful people, exposing their hypocrisy, cannot appreciate how exhausting such activity can be. Jesus was indeed the Son of God; but we often forget that He was also the Son of Man. He shared the same temptations that we face, without sin. He knew fatigue and exhaustion, just as we know such conditions as part of our humanity. Perhaps you recall the response Jesus gave to a man who volunteered to follow Him. “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” [Luke 9:58]. The Master confronted the man’s cavalier attitude. In effect, He was saying, “Do you really wish to follow Me? Count the costs! To this point you have known a measure of certainty in your life, but if you will indeed walk with Me, you will no longer enjoy certainty.”

Jesus then gave the twelve an in-depth lesson in eschatology. He told them of the Father’s plan for the ages, focusing in particular on His return in triumphant glory to reign over the earth [Matthew 24:1-25:46]. They were quiet as they absorbed His words. They could not comprehend all that He said at that moment, but later they would put everything together.

The Master concluded the day with dinner in the home of Simon the Leper where He was anointed for His burial by a woman. This incident may have been the tipping point that convinced Judas to betray Him. Judas was the treasurer, and committing suicide it was evident that he had made a practise of helping himself to what moneys were available [see John 12:1-7].

Shortly after this, Jesus dispatched some of the disciples into the city. They were told that they would observe a strange thing—a man carrying a jar of water. Carrying water was a woman’s work—men did not carry water. However, this man would enter into a house, and it was that house that was set apart for the Master and His disciples to observe the Passover. A large room was reserved for Jesus and the twelve, and there He observed for one last time the timeless Passover that spoke of God’s deliverance [see Mark 14:12-21].

Entering the room, Jesus did a strange thing. He laid aside His outer garments, poured water into a basin, wrapped a towel around Himself and knelt down to wash the disciple’s dusty feet [John 13:1-11]. Jockeying for position, none of them had considered assuming the position of a servant, and therefore no one showed the courtesy that would otherwise have been displayed to guests. Jesus, however, demonstrated the attitude of a servant and washed their feet. Afterwards, they ate the Passover Meal. The familiar passages from the Word were recited. The familiar foods were consumed and the disciples reflected on God’s deliverance.

The Meal was concluded; Jesus said that one of the disciples was about to betray Him. The disciples were alarmed, and each in turn began to ask whether they were capable of such a monstrous act. Peter was particularly distressed, and so he asked the disciple who was reclining closest to Jesus to ask the Master who would betray Him. John leaned back and asked, “Master, who is it?” Jesus responded by saying that the one to whom he handed a morsel of bread was the betrayer, and then He dipped the bread in the bitter herb and handed it to Judas Iscariot and told him, “What you are going to do, do quickly” [John 13:21-30]. No one at the table understood what the Master was saying, each imagining that Judas was either being sent to perform some act of benevolence or that he was sent to secure some other foodstuff.

Judas hurried out, and when he had left, Jesus again did a strange thing. Jesus again reached out and took pita. He blessed it, broke it and distributed it to the disciples. When He passed the broken bread to them, He said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

Commemorating the Master’s Sacrifice — It is appropriate that I should say a few words about the bread. The bread that Jesus picked up from the table that evening was ordinary bread. Other than the fact that it was unleavened, it was not special in any way. It was not some special wafer, stamped with an insignia and consecrated by a special prayer. It was the bread that they had eaten a short time before as part of the Pascal Meal. Jesus would have undoubtedly given thanks before that bread was distributed at the beginning of the Passover Meal, but because He was initiating something new, it was appropriate that He again pronounce a blessing of the Lord God who had provided this bread as well.

Reclining at the table with Him, His disciples understood the language Jesus used. They had just heard Him recite the ancient Passover liturgy that includes the statement, “This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors ate when they came from the land of Egypt.” They knew that what He held as He recited those ancient words was not literal bread that had been in the larders of the people of Israel whom Moses led out of Egypt over 1300 years before that night. Even had some of that bread remained uneaten, it would have been somewhat stale by that time! No, Jesus was literally present before them, and they understood that the bread represented His body, and that He was referring to the sacrifice He was about to make. That is how we should understand what was said that evening.

At one point in the ancient Passover liturgy the following statement is recited, “This the Almighty did for me when He brought me out of Egypt.” Of course, those reciting that statement during Passover observances in this day, to say nothing of those reciting the words in Jesus’ day, were not present when God led His people out of Egypt. However, whenever those words are recited, the celebrants are identifying with the people whom God delivered and they are testifying that they believe in His power and in His mercies. Likewise, when Jesus spoke of the bread as His body, He was inviting those who would participate to identify in His death.

The Aramaic language is not highly inflected as is the Greek tongue, or even as is true of English. A statement does not require a linking verb, and so were we to hear His words spoken and translate them literally, we would hear something like, “This… My body; this… My blood.” It would be obvious as we listened that we were receiving a vivid object lesson that pointed us to the sacrifice the Master would soon provide.

You will recall that Jesus used symbolic language on other occasions. He spoke of Himself as the door: “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” [John 10:9]. No one who heard Him speak of Himself as the door thought that he had a latch and that he swung on hinges. To believe such a thing, they would have been unhinged. Jesus also said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser” [John 15:1]. Those who heard Him speak on that occasion understood that He was instructing them concerning the necessity of a living relationship with Him in order to accomplish any great thing.

The Master’s statement affords opportunity to point to a vital, though neglected doctrine. Our Lord was fully God, it is true. However, we must never forget that He was also fully man. Jesus is the unique God-Man. The author of the letter to Hebrew Christians says of the Master, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” [Hebrews 4:15]. Jesus hungered, He thirsted, He was weary, He had desires and needs—yet He did not sin.

The Apostle urges Christians to emulate the Master. In urging this imitation upon us, he speaks of Jesus as the One “Who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” [Philippians 2:6-8].

What is important in the context of the message is that because Jesus became fully man, He had the limitations of space/time that accompany a physical body. If the Master could have reclined at the table while at the same time have been eaten by His disciples, His body could not have been physical. In that case, He could not have been human; and if He were not human as we are, He could not have made atonement for us, because it would have been impossible for Him to have provided a sacrifice in our place. However, the Word of God is quite clear on this point. Paul writes, “For our sake [God] made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him [Christ Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God” [2 Corinthians 5:21]. Jesus was fully human and He did take our sin upon Himself. He presented Himself as a sacrifice because of our sin. At the Table, He invited His disciples to remember His death, the sacrifice that He would shortly make because of our sin.

What should be certain is that Jesus was not saying that the bread He held in His hand and which He broke had somehow been transformed into human flesh. The disciples could see His body before them, and they undoubtedly understood that He was making reference to His pending death. In any case, the thought of actually eating human flesh and drinking human blood would have been repugnant to observant Jews, just as it is a horrifying thought to every right-thinking individual among us today; cannibalism is repulsive and disgusting.

He had spoken repeatedly and more insistently of His death as He neared Jerusalem, and now He made yet another reference to His death that was but hours away. Moreover, Luke adds the qualifying phrase, “which is given for you,” indicating that Jesus was referring to His death [Luke 22:19]. The Apostle Paul seems to understand that this was Jesus’ meaning when he says, “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” [1 Corinthians 11:26].

As we approach the Table, what is it that we should remember about the Saviour? Christmas has just passed, and throughout the world, Christians, to say nothing of the majority of non-Christians, remembered the birth of Jesus the Saviour. However, nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to remember the birth of the Lord Christ. Neither do we find a command anywhere in Scripture that we are to remember the life of the Master. He lives; and the life we live should reflect His presence with us. Nevertheless, we are not called to commemorate His life. What should be certain from the account before us is that Jesus was not calling His disciples to commemorate either His birth or His life, but His death. Jesus taught us to recall His death. We are to remember His sacrifice.

Throughout Christendom, people assemble to worship, and as part of their worship, they eat bread and drink juice. For many, dare I say for most, the act has become a ritual—an act that requires little thought and which is barely tolerated as necessary so they can get to real worship. What would the Master say about our acts of remembrance? Some would say that through a physical act they are made spiritual beings. The contention is anything but reasonable. Others would say that there is an indefinable spiritual aspect of the act that cannot be explained. Many of those individuals would speak of how they feel when they share in the rite. However, it is doubtful that any of us are able to accurately quantitate our feelings or speak with certainty of how the spiritual is generated through a physical act.

On the whole, it seems to me that we are best served by looking to the disciples, as we have done in this message. They obviously understood that Jesus was pointing forward to His death. Had they questions before, His words spoken to them when He led them out to the Mount of Olives clarified His reference. “You will all fall away because of Me this night,” Jesus said. “For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee” [Matthew 25:31, 32].

We eat bread, and it can be simply a formality, a ceremony in which we each participate. However, if we will truly worship, we will recall, as the disciples would later recall, that Jesus gave His life because of our sin. There is no sin that is somehow excluded from the provision of Jesus’ sacrifice. Though He was perfect man, and thus able to sympathise with us, He was also fully God, and therefore the sacrifice that He offered was infinite. There is no sin that for which atonement has not been provided.

If I partake of the Meal, and I have no faith in this Living Saviour, what have I done? What was the purpose of eating the bread and drinking the wine, if I do not know the Saviour? What was the purpose of participating in the ordinance if I have not received His sacrifice in my place? In that case I have acted foolishly, challenging the Master to examine me. If I have thoughtlessly rushed through the rite, have I not placed myself in the position of being judged by Him, just as was true of the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote [1 Corinthians 11:27-32]? Do we actually think we are stronger than the Lord?

The call of the Master is for all who are His people to worship, identifying with Him in His death. For any who are outside the grace of God, His call is for each one to come to life as they believe Him, receiving Him as Master of life. With that reception of Him, each one receives the forgiveness of sin and adoption into the Family of God.

Throughout Scripture are calls to those who will believe to receive the life that is offered in Christ Jesus the Lord. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life” [John 5:24].

Peter and John testified before the Jewish Council, “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” [Acts 4:11, 12].

Paul and Silas confessed, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” [Acts 16:31]. I can make no clearer statement than that which Paul penned in the letter to Roman Christians. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” That passage concludes by citing the Prophet Joel, who said, “Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].

The invitation of the Word to you is to believe this message of life in the Beloved Son of God. In your heart, call on Him, receiving the life that He now offers to you. Believe that He died because of your sin, and believe that He rose from the dead to declare you right before the Father. Accept that His sacrifice was sufficient for your sin—all your sin. Live free and rejoice in the grace of God. Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Cited by Father Paul A. Duffner, O.P., “Theology for the Laity,” http://www.rosary-center.org/ll49n3.htm, accessed 31 December, 2008; additional information from Joseph Pohle, “The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist” (art.), in The Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol. 5 (Robert Appleton Co., New York 1909) http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05573a.htm, accessed 31 December, 2008