Εν αρχή ην ο λόγος. In the beginning was the Word, as John wrote. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. When God speaks, His words carry the greatest cosmic significance. Therefore in the Scriptures, when God Himself commands us with His Word, it is of the greatest importance, and must be given our closest attention. This is the source of the Sacraments of the Christian church, those necessary acts that are commanded directly by our Lord. Easily the most mysterious of these sacraments, and thus the most debated, is the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, the Eucharist, etc.
The debate is centered on exactly what takes place up at the Communion rail. Is it merely a symbolic act, or is it something deeper? The answer comes to us from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as the letters of Paul. These are the well known Words of Institution, the words Christ said to His disciples at the Last Supper (Mt 26: 26-28; Mk 14: 22-24; Lk 22: 19-20; 1 Cor 11: 23-26). The crucial point here is the verb used in all four instances. “This is my body,” declares our Lord. “This is my blood.” In every single account of the Last Supper, the authors employ the Greek verb εστίν, which always has the force of a predicate; of the substantive verb “to be.”
This verb has never meant ‘to symbolize’ or ‘to represent.’ Though in classical Greek literature, it can often mean “to be present,” and is typically used to equate the subject with the object. This raises some intriguing theological issues. Christ appears to be saying that His body and blood are literally present in the bread and wine. In the Formula of Concord, Martin Luther declares that to doubt this Real Presence is to doubt Christ Himself, as well as the Gospels.
Without the Word, these elements would be naught but earthly wine and bread. It is the Word and God’s command, instituted by Christ Himself on the night He was betrayed, that make them so much more. The bread and wine are set within the Word and are bound to it, which like baptism is what makes it sacramental. It is the Word that creates what some have come to call Sacramental Union. The body and blood of Christ are literally present in the consecrated bread and wine.
This differs from the theory of Consubstantiation in that the notion of Sacramental Union does not subscribe to any three dimensional or circumscribed presence of the body and blood; an idea that was lifted from Aristotelian physics. The bond here is much more mysterious, and consequently lies well beyond human understanding. The same can be said of transubstantiation. The body and blood are literally there, but not in any way our human intellect can detect. When human reason fails us, which it inevitably must when approaching the Divine, we must cling to our faith in God’s love and undeserved grace.
In addition to the verb “to be,” each account of the Last Supper contains Christ’s magnificent promise that his body and blood are given and shed “for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” This firmly establishes our celebration of the Last Supper as a means of grace; a mystic commemoration of our Lord’s ultimate sacrifice for us. Each time I kneel at that rail and accept those elements, my sins are forgiven. The King of Glory stoops to me to provide life and strength for my spirit. Thanks be to God, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
-Steve McGladdery
You’ve explained this so clearly, so concisely. Bravo.