2004 Fall.Vol25.#3.pdf - Coptic Church Review

THE REAL PRESENCE OF THE LORD 77
death and resurrection. Since the divinity of Christ never parted
from his humanity, one has to believe his words about the
bread He gives; it is not material bread anymore, but “the
bread of life” (Jn 6:57, 58).
It is necessary to state that the Eucharistic body of Christ is not his dead body
on the Cross, although the Eucharist is an anamnesis of his death. It is his resurrected
and glorified body in heaven: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken
to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mk
16:19). For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him (Rom 6:9).
The Teaching of the Early Church about the Real Presence
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (Jn 6:52). This was the first
question that confronted the Church about the Eucharist. It was first directed to
Christ by the Jews who murmured against him in his first discourse about the
Eucharist in the synagogue at Kafr-Nahum. The objection did not come only from
the Jewish leaders; “many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, ‘This is a hard
saying; who can listen to it?’ . . . After this many of his disciples drew back and no
longer went about with him” (Jn 6:60, 66). The response of the Lord to the Jews
and to those many “disciples” was clear and decisive. He did not withdraw a single
iota from what He had said: “Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go
away?’” (Jn 6:66-68).
Some Christians dismiss all of John 6 as being completely unrelated to the
Eucharist, saying that Christ was speaking allegorically about his teaching or about
faith in him. This can be true in the first part of the chapter when He spoke about
eating the manna and faith in him (the Greek NT uses the verb phago). When He
spoke of the Eucharist in verses 54, 56, 57, 58, in all four verses He shifted to
anther verb, trogo (meaning “chew” or “swallow”). In the whole New Testament
this verb is used only one other time, at the Last Supper (Jn 13:18). In the English
versions we have only one word, “eat,” in all verses. It is evident from the whole
discourse that our Lord, when challenged, did not try to withdraw any part of his
statement but rather affirmed it since it is related to the Economy of Salvation for
which He came. He could even risk the loss of the twelve if they stood in his way
of accomplishing the work that the Father had given him to do (Jn 17:4).
The disciples had no way to go except to believe in the
words of the Lord. This is the way of every true disciple in all
ages. St. James of Serugh (6 th century) says: “Our Lord has
broken his Body by his hand upon the table.Who can dare now
to say that it is not his Body? He said, ‘This is my Body.’
Whoever does not believe is not a disciple. The Apostles
believed him, and as He was with them, they ate him.”