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10
CHAPTER TEN
SACRAMENT OF INITIATION
THE
HOLY COMMUNION
THE
HOLY COMMUNION
Baptism,
Confirmation
and
Holy Communion,
together constitute
the "sacraments of Christian initiation,"
"Recall then that you
have received the spiritual seal, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of right judgement and courage, the spirit
of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in God's presence.
Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with his
sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the
Spirit, in your hearts."
(St. Ambrose)
It all started with the
Last Supper which actually began with the washing of the feet of the
disciples by the master himself. He told how he was going to be
crucified for the redemption and why they should all follow the suite,
thereby serving one another. Jesus institued this at the time of his
death and resurrection through which the body of Christ was
rejuvenated. The basis of this body was death and resurrection and
oneness. The lost oneness of the cosmos is being reinstated through
the body that is being remade. The Church acts as the starting point
for this total redemption of the cosmos – as a body which dies and
give new life to the lost world.
One New Man
You are a full fledged
member of the Church of Christ. As a symbol of the membership of the
body of Christ, Communion is a Community Supper essentially. This
oneness and emphaziz on brotherhood is seen through out the ritual.
"For just as the body
is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though
many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were
all baptized into one body-Jews or Greeks, slaves or free-and all were
made to drink of one Spirit" (First Corinthians 12.12, 13).
Eph. 2:15-19 by
abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.
His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus
making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God
through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came
and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who
were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one
Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but
fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household,
THE BREAD AND THE WINE: THEIR MEANING
THE BREAD
A symbol mostly gets
its meaning and significance out of association. These associations
are physical, mental, psychological, spiritual, social or cultural.
What are some of the
associations with Bread?
OLD TESTAMENT
IMPLICATIONS
To understand what
Jesus meant by the ìBread of lifeî we need to look into the Old
Testament concept of bread. The symbolic representation of bread in
the Old Testament arises in the context of the Shew bread, or the
bread of Presence. This is referred in summary in Heb.9.2 and in
detail in Lev.24.5-9 and Ex.25.30. In the holies, or in the court of
the Assembly where the Israel gathered together for worship on the
right hand side was a golden table on which were placed twelve bread
pieces. Golden table represents the heavenly abodes where the
unleavened bread is placed. Unleavened bread represents the sinless
body. Thus Jesus presents himself as the Bread that came down from
heaven. He is saying that He is God incarnate and sinless. There were
twelve bread one for each tribe and were kept in two rows representing
the Jews and the Gentiles, the whole mankind. Jesus came down for the
whole mankind and for every tribe in the believers congregation. The
priests were to eat it every week in a holy place and the bread were
to be renewed.
Jesus
is called the Word of
God or the Living Word of God. The Scripture is the Written
Word of God. Both are alike. Both are bread - food and drink for the
body and spirit. The emphasis here is that for healthy living one
should be continuously feeding on the Word of God in the light of the
Holy Spirit to be ìcreated in Christ Jesus for good works. (Eph.2.10),
by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord
and of one mind (Phill.2. 2) as Jesus. Then we will be like Jesus.
The bread on the shew
table was to be covered and interspersed with incense and necessarily
eaten on the Sabbath day by the Levites and renewed every week. The
clear indication is that the feeding on the Word must be accompanied
by praise and worship and prayer (incense) and a congregational
feeding of word must take place every week. The study of the Word of
God must be new every week. This is the basis of Sunday services in
the present day situation.
The next important
symbolism of bread comes on the day of Pentecost. The details of the
Pentecost is given in Ex. 34:21-22 ;Lev. 23.16-17. Pentecost took
place on the 50th day after the waving of the first sheave of harvest
(which represents the resurrection of Jesus). On that day two bread
were placed on the table, one representing the Jews and the other
representing the gentiles both to be made with leaven (representing
the sinful man)
* Pentecost
- That day leavened
bread is placed on the shew bread tableinstead of the usual unleavened
bread, and that only two of them. It symbolises mankind as a whole
- both the Jews and the gentiles who are sinful - the leaven
symbolizing sin. Thus bread in general symbolises life. Pentecost is
the celebration of the law giving at mount Sinai. Moses brought down
the tablets of law on that day. On that day 300 apostate Israelites
who worshipped the golden calf died. The Sinaitic covenant was the new
beginning for the world, when people all over the world were to live
by the law and take the consequence of the sin that was committed.
However it was a law based on mercy. In the presence of the holiness
of God all sin brings death. But in the Sinaitic covenant, not all law
breaking is punishable by death, because of the presence of the
Priestly intercession and the sacrificial atonement built in the law.
In this sense the the leavened bread symbolised the new redeemed life
of mankind.
* In the land of Canaan
the third day after the Pass over,
the first day of the week , was the celebration of the harvest, when
the first fruits of the harvests are brought to the
temple as a wave
offering. The first sheaves of the wheat were waved in front of the
holy of holies. It represents new life and the promise of a full
harvest in due course. The presentation of the two leavened loaves
therefore symbolised manís hope and promise of redemption through
Jesus. On that day Jesus roses again as a first fruit from the
dead, and presented before God, as wave offering with the hope and
promise of resurrection from the dead for all believers. This is the
new beginning of the New creation man.
This is exactly what is
promised in Jesus. After the 50th day of resurrection, on the day of
Pentecost Holy Spirit came upon both the Jews and gentiles and the
church, the beginning of the New Community of Man was born.
* Manna as bread
Jn. 6.48-5
1John 6:48-58 I am the
bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they
died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man
may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Then the Jews
began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life
in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and
my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I
live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live
because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your
forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will
live forever."
1 Cor. 10:4 refers to
manna as supernatural food
NEW TESTAMENT
IMPLICATIONS
Wheat Represents man:
Man was created out of
the dust and so is wheat formed out of the dust. Though they are
formed out of the dust there is a lot of difference between the dust,
the soil and the minerals and the organic molecules that form the
wheat substance and man. Both have life in them. That is why wheat is
a food for man. The wheat body is transformed into the human body
organism by assimilation. In the same way the Jesus, the word of God
becomes life to the believer when assimilated and formed part of his
daily living. The process of conversion of wheat into body follows the
following process.
wheat - ingestion-digestion-assimilation-body.
It is the same with the
believer. Believer ingests the word of God and accepts Jesus Christ as
personal Saviour. This transforms him totally and Jesus becomes part
of his life. The more he ingests, more like Jesus he becomes. Each
believer then becomes the wheat which produces the body of Christ
within the church.A grain of wheat remains as it is if left alone. But
if it falls down and dies it will yield much fruit. Other grains are
formed, thus increasing the body . Herein lies the message of Cross
and resurrection of Christ. There is no resurrection for the fallen
man unless he dies and resurrected in newness of life. It regenerates
itself Jn. 12.24
Bread represents Jesus
and a Christian
As the wheat is ground
to flour, Jesus suffered to give his life to many. So also every
Christian life is expected to show this love which is self giving. It
involves suffering. Flour is mixed with oil before it is baked. Oil in
the Bible represents Holy Spirit and the oil of gladness. This is what
makes selfish individuals to become a coherent body of Christ
rejoicing together. Unleavened bread especially represents the lives
lived without sin. This is the life of Jesus. It is then kneaded and
flattened and scored producing perforations in the Hebrew traditional
bread. Thus the bread that Jesus took in his hands very well
represented his suffering.
Isa. 53:5 But he was
pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we
are healed.
The dough is to be
kneaded and made into loaves, cakes and wafers and then baked in the
oven, hearth or coals. Through the common suffering and experience,
the individual believer becomes part of the Church the body of Christ.
This bread is now ready for distribution . It is edible only when it
is baked into a bread. Then it has to be broken to redistribute to
individuals around to build other people. If it is eaten and digested
it will give strength and vigor. So is Jesus. So is the Church. So the
whole figure of bread is a beautiful symbol of Jesus and then also of
believer and the Church. In receiving Jesus, believer becomes part of
Jesus as a cell in the body of Christ. The church now takes the role
of Jesus to bring life to the society where we live in.
 
John 6:48-58 I am the
bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they
died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man
may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats
of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I
will give for the life of the world." Then the Jews began to argue
sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever
eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise
him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real
drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I
in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the
Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is
the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and
died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
Jesus as the Word
John Chapter 6 is a
discourse on the picture of Jesus as the bread. This is a very
exhaustive treatment on the symbolism where he draws definite the
meaning of the symbolism to its ultimate limits.
JOHN 6: 27-59
Jesus starts his
discourse in the context of the feeding of the five thousand. He then
proceeds to point out that even though the bread he provided was a
physical bread, people ought to be looking towards him for the real
food. The
real food is that sustains life - the food that endures to eternal
life. The bread is called the staff of life or the food that sustains
life and help it grow. (Ezekiel 4:16; 5:16; 14:13) Even though Jesus
refers to bread the symbolism is for both food and drink. I am the
bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who
believes in me shall never thirst.(Jn.6.35)
Here Jesus is
presenting himself as the sustainer of life and not as the
giver of life. In the Bible the life giver is the Spirit of God. So in
defining himself as the bread, he implies his function in the Trinity.
Food doesnít give life to the body, it only maintains it to be a
healthy body so that it may function perfectly. The body - and I refer
to the physical body - cannot function normally unless a man has Jesus
within him. Without Jesus, the body decays and death will come. This
is simply because without the power of the risen Jesus it is
impossible to live a righteous life here and now. Our ability to live
a normal healthy life is dependent on Jesus in our life. As James
points out, ìThen desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and
sin when it is fully grown brings death.î (Ja. 1.15) Jesus is now
talking about death. It is commonly told that death is to be
understood as spiritual death or separation from God. Such an
understanding has come from the western interpretation. But in the
Semitic and Asiatic thought this distinction does not arise. Life is
both spiritual and material and death is same in both cases. In both
cases it is a splitting or destruction of man. Death is the result of
sin. It is not antecedent to sin, but consequence of sin. So if death
is to be conquered, sin must be defeated. Sin can be defeated only
through Jesus. The ultimate salvation of mankind lies in Jesus, the
bread of life.
Just as Jesus is
represented as bread, since Jesus is the Word of God, the Word of God
is also represented as bread. Just as we have to eat every day to get
the strength and health for the day, we need to eat and drink from the
word of God.
2.24 Bread is not life
until ingested, digested and infused
All these implications
are beautifully encapsulated in the liturgy of our church.
Liturgical declaration:
- wheat brought
together from various places
- all those who labored
in it, produced, worked kneaded, baked
We are part of everyone
who ever lived and died from the beginning of creation. Every breath
contains one molecule of air that was breathed by Adam and More of
Jesus. They are changing us. We are changing the world. We are part of
every creation, and every element of universe. We therefore have the
vital role of rejuvenating the decaying me, my family, my community,
my nation, my earth, my universe. The communion is a reminder of this
tremendous responsibility of every Christian. This oneness of
humanity, oneness of universe is regained in Resurrected Jesus
WINE
Fruit of the land
However wine is
considered part of every sacrifice in the levitical ordinance. It is
the fruit of the vine and signifies the earth and all its provisions,
It is considered a sacrifice without the meat and always appended with
the other offerings.
Lev. 23:13 together
with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed
with oil --an offering made to the LORD by fire, a pleasing aroma
--and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine.
Num. 15:5 With each
lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a
hin of wine as a drink offering.
Num. 15:7 and a third
of a hin of wine as a drink offering. Offer it as an aroma pleasing to
the LORD.
Num. 15:10 Also bring
half a hin of wine as a drink offering. It will be an offering made by
fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD.
Num. 28:14 With each
bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the
ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is
the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the
year.
Even the tithe may be
used to buy wine or other fermented drinks to rejoice before the Lord.
Deut. 14:26 Use the
silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other
fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household
shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice.
Joy, praise and
laughter
Wine in general
symbolised a joyful heart, praise and joy and laughter. Eccl. 9:7 Go,
eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart,
for it is now that God favors what you do.
Eccl. 10:19 A feast is
made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer
for everything.
2Sam. 16:2 The king
asked Ziba, "Why have you brought these?" Ziba answered, "The donkeys
are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for
the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted
in the desert."
Ps. 104:15 wine that
gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that
sustains his heart.
It represents a life
filled with the Holy Spirit. There is a lot of similarity between the
actions of the Holy Spirit and the actions of the wine. Both are
intoxicating. In moderation wine still retains the ability to think as
in the mind controlled by the Holy Spirit.
Eph. 5:18 Do not get
drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the
Spirit.
Jesus' use of the wine
and his symbolization of wine is based on this. So right from the
beginning of his ministry, he emphasizes this fact. His offer is a
fulness of life- not a regulated, sad, sorrowful regimen; but a free,
joyful , exuberant life, which called abundant life. When Jesus speaks
of sonship he emphasizes this freedom which is the key note of Paul's
theology. Thus wine in the hands of Jesus symbolised new abundant life
of freedom and joy. He started his public ministry by changing water
into wine.
John 4:46 Once more he
visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.
So Jesus' announcement
in the feast of weeks was taken from Isaiah.
Isa. 55:1 "Come, all
you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without
cost.
Finally his valedictory
teaching was based on the theme of vine.
John 15:1 "I am the
true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
John 15:4 Remain in me,
and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must
remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in
me.
John 15:5 "I am the
vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he
will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
++++++++++
I have mentioned
earlier the danger of using symbols that are material which can become
an actual visible idol. – confusion of symbol with reality. One
example of this can be found in the Catholic doctrine of
tansubstantiation of bread and wine in the communion.
The Catholic Church
teaches that once a Catholic priest has consecrated the bread and wine
during communion, [or “Eucharist” as it is called by Catholics] it
turns into real body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ. It
is no longer a piece of bread and cup of wine but the flesh and blood
Jesus in reality.. It is Jesus Christ and is therefore worthy of
worship and adoration.
Catholic Catechism
states as follows:
Paragraph 1374, page
383
“In the most blessed
sacrament of the Eucharist the body and blood, together with the soul
and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole
Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained.”
Paragraph 1418, pages
395
“Because Christ himself
is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the
worship of adoration.”
The transubstantiation
doctrine of the Catholic Church was not taught or practiced until the
middle ages, long after the emergence of Roman Catholicism in the 6th
Century A.D.
Once the idol has been
set up, regular idol worship follows:
The Catholic
Encyclopedia provides information on how the monstrance
Adoration is an
ancient tradition of the Church. As Catholics we believe that at the
consecration during the Mass, the bread and wine cease to exist and in
their place are the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. This
is the Eucharist. The Eucharist isn't simply a symbol or a sign of
Jesus - Jesus is really present under the appearance of bread and
wine. At Mass we can make a communion with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Outside of Mass, we can visit Jesus (who is present in the Eucharist).
When we pray to Jesus who is before us as the Eucharist, we are
adoring him. This is what adoration is.
Adoration is both
personal and communal. There are times when we pray together and when
we pray by ourselves. We sing, we hear a lesson from a speaker, and we
are blessed with the Eucharist (this is called Benediction).
As Catholics, we
believe that Christ's body & blood, his soul and divinity are
really present in the Holy Echarist.
“When we adore the
Eucharist, we are adoring CHRIST - not the monstrance. We only worship
God, so it would be sinful to adore the monstrance.” Notice that this
is the same argument every Hindu presents when worshipping an idol in
the temple.
 
Here is the stand of
the Hindu:
“Do Hindus Worship Idols?
The answer to this
question is most certainly yes! Hindus do worship idols, but so do
Christians, Jews and even Muslims. In fact, it is impossible to
conceive of God without some form of idol, for idol worship is the way
of religion. ….. Another Sanskrit word that describes the nature of
God and which comes into play in regard to idols is
sarva-gata, which means
literally "gone everywhere." In other words,
sarva-gata refers to the
all pervading nature of God. God is in all things and in all places.”
A Hindu
Primer :Shukavak
N. Dasa
  
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