Today we celebrate Corpus
Christi, or the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is an occasion to
celebrate and meditate upon the miracle of Jesus’ real presence in the
Eucharist. As Episcopalians—and especially as Episcopalians in the catholic or
high church tradition—the Holy Eucharist is absolutely central to our identity
and our life together.
So what exactly is the
Eucharist and why is it so important? It would be impossible to say everything
that needs to be said about this holy feast in one homily, but I want to offer
a three point definition of the Eucharist as a sacrifice, a sacrament, and a
covenant.
First, why do we call the
Eucharist a sacrifice? The entire context for Jesus’ last supper with his
disciples in which he instituted the Eucharist is the Passover in which lambs
were offered for the salvation of the people. The sacrificial lamb was consumed
in the ceremony of the Passover meal celebrated in the homes of devout Jews.
But Jesus was not merely
celebrating an ordinary Passover. He was proclaiming a new Passover sacrifice.
There were similarities to the Passover meal, but there were also differences.
For instance there is no reference to a lamb in the gospel descriptions of
their meal. There may have been one present, but the emphasis is shifted away
from it. Instead when Jesus explains the meaning of the unleavened bread, as it
was the hosts’ duty to do, he took it and said, “This is my body.” When he took
the cup of wine he told them, “This is my blood.” In doing so, he was
proclaiming himself to be the Passover lamb, the sacrifice that would deliver
them from sin and lead them out of bondage.
Is the Holy Eucharist then
the new Passover in which Jesus Christ is sacrificed for our sins? Not exactly.
Jesus offered that once and for all perfect sacrifice upon the cross. We are
not re-sacrificing Christ again and again. That would imply that Jesus’ death
was not enough to save us. Everything necessary for our forgiveness and
reconciliation with God has already been accomplished. This should fill our
heats with peace and gratitude.
The Eucharist is a
sacrifice but it is not a bloody sacrifice. The scriptures speak of a number of
different kinds of sacrifices, not all of them blood sacrifice. There are grain
offerings, drink offerings, and also what is called a “wave offering.” A gift would be symbolically presented to God
as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. This is how we speak of the gifts of
bread and wine in the Eucharist. They are presented to God as an act of
thanksgiving for Jesus’ once and for all sacrifice upon the cross.
More than a simple
offering of thanksgiving, however, the Eucharist is also a sacrament. A
sacrament is an outward and visible sign of a heavenly, spiritual, reality
given as a sure and certain means through which we receive the grace of that
heavenly, spiritual, reality.
The heavenly, spiritual,
reality presented in the Holy Eucharist is described in our Epistle reading
from Hebrews. What the author is saying
is that Jesus is our eternal priest interceding for us in heaven.
In the old testament
times the high priest would enter the tabernacle in a cloud of incense to
present God with an animal sacrifice, but Jesus Christ passed through
the clouds of Heaven, entered the true heavenly sanctuary and there, as our
high priest, presented his body and blood before the Father as the one,
perfect, all sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.
Our offering of the bread
and wine in the Eucharist is meant to be an outward and visible representation
of that heavenly reality. Under the species of bread and wine we present Jesus’
body and blood before God.
It isn’t that God needs to be reminded of our salvation in Christ, but we do. We need to be reminded again and again that we have been redeemed by the cross and reconciled to God.
It isn’t that God needs to be reminded of our salvation in Christ, but we do. We need to be reminded again and again that we have been redeemed by the cross and reconciled to God.
The Holy Eucharist is an
assurance of God’s love and the peace we have with him. The once and for all
sacrifice of Christ is represented in the Eucharist, but more than that, we
also receive the benefit of that sacrifice. A sacrament is an outward
and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, but we must remember that it
is also a sure and certain means by which we receive that grace.
In the Eucharist we
receive the true body and blood of Christ. He gives himself to us there as
surely as he gave himself to us on cavalry. Jesus is present in heaven for our
sake as our eternal priest and he is present in the Eucharist for our sake as
the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation.
Finally the Eucharist is
a covenant. A covenant is a solemn binding promise made between individuals or
peoples. For instance, Marriage is a covenant. Two people stand up before God
and their community and make a solemn commitment to love and care for one
another.
In ancient times
covenants were made with a sacrifice. God made a covenant with
us through Jesus Christ, and Christ sealed that covenant with his sacrifice.
Christ promised to bring us into God’s kingdom and give us eternal life. We are
called to respond to that promise in faith and to keep his commandments.
When Jesus gave us the
Eucharist, he also gave us a commandment. He told us to love one another as he
loved us.
Whenever we celebrate the
Eucharist, we renew that covenant with God. We reaffirm our faith in him and we
ask his assistance in helping us to keep his commandments.
The Holy Eucharist
cements our fellowship. It brings us closer to God, but it also brings us
closer to one another. Because there is
one bread and one cup, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the
one bread and one cup.
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