“Let us submit to God in all things and not contradict Him, even if what He says seems contrary to our reason and intellect; rather let His words prevail over our reason and intellect. Let us act in this way with regard to the (eucharistic) mysteries, looking not only at what falls under our senses but holding on to His words. For His word cannot lead us astray. . . When the word says, `This is My Body', be convinced of it and believe it, and look at it with the eyes of the mind. . . How many now say, `I wish I could see His shape, His appearance, His garments, His sandals.' Only look! You see Him! You touch Him! You eat Him!” (John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, 82, 4, 370 A.D.)
To deny EITHER the presence of real physical bread and wine at any stage during the eucharistic act (as does the Roman doctrine of "transubstantiation," contradictory to 1 Corinthians 11:28-29;180 notice that Paul says, “...so let him eat of the bread;” the element of bread remains bread, even after it is blessed and while being eaten), OR the real presence of the true body and blood of Christ (as the reformed teaching does, against Matthew 26:26-27;181 John 6:53;182 and 1 Corinthians 10:16183), is to deny the clear teaching of Scripture. It is not our position to reason the how of it all, only our duty to believe that it is.
In offering the physical elements to His disciples the Lord employed "locitio exhibitiva" (a linguistic function which is common to every language of man), when He names that which is not seen, while giving that which is seen: Jesus said, "This is My body" when He offered His disciples the bread, and "This is My blood" when He offered the wine. To use a modern day illustration, your grocer might say, "Here are your spices," when he literally hands you the packages that contain them.
It is in the aforementioned sense that when
offering the bread of the Eucharist, the body of Christ is
indeed presented, and when offering the wine, the blood
of Christ is indeed presented. This relationship, between
the earthly and heavenly, is further expressed in 1
Corinthians 10:16-17184 by the Greek word "koinōnia."
Koinōnia is translated: communion, fellowship, concord,
intercourse, agreement, and joint
participation. Koinōnia declares that the bread has a
communion, fellowship, concord, intercourse, agreement,
and joint participation with the body of Christ; as does
the wine with the blood of Christ. It is impossible to
define the mode, or manner, of communion that the
earthly has with the heavenly elements. We can, however,
assert that in a manner incomprehensible to us, the body
and blood of the Lord ARE in a sacramental union with
the physical eucharistic elements—the bread and wine;
much as heat is in iron, or the divine nature is in the
human being. We may call this union
consubstantiation.185
Lastly, the concept of consubstantiation is appropriate for the Eucharist, which makes Jesus present to us in a physical way. I say this because the Eucharist becomes a powerful teacher of the incarnation.186 In the incarnation, the Heavenly person of the Father was manifested in His earthly Son, Jesus. In the eucharistic
elements, the now heavenly person of Christ, is manifested in the earthly elements of bread and wine.187
Lastly, the concept of consubstantiation is appropriate for the Eucharist, which makes Jesus present to us in a physical way. I say this because the Eucharist becomes a powerful teacher of the incarnation.186 In the incarnation, the Heavenly person of the Father was manifested in His earthly Son, Jesus. In the eucharistic
elements, the now heavenly person of Christ, is manifested in the earthly elements of bread and wine.187
180 1 Cor 11:28-29 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an
unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the
Lord’s body.
181 Mt 26:26-28 “Take, eat; this is My body....”27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks,... saying,... . 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant,
182 Jn 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
183 1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
184 1 Cor 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
185 Concubstantiation: the actual substantial presence and combination of the body and blood of Christ with the eucharistical bread and wine.
186 Incarnation: that God was in-fleshed as Jesus Christ. In the Incarnation, as traditionally defined, the divine nature was united but not mixed with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus Christ, who was both "truly God and truly man".
187 This doctrine of Consubstantiation holds the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist without admitting Transubstantiation. According to it, the substance of Christ's Body exists together with the substance of bread, and in like manner the substance of His Blood together with the substance of wine. Hence the word Consubstantiation. Just as God the Father took to Himself a human body without in any way destroying its substance, so does He in the Blessed Sacrament assume the nature of bread. Christ is in the Eucharist through His human body substantially united with the substances of bread and wine, and thus is really present as God, made bread: Deus panis factus. As, in consequence of the Incarnation, the properties of the Divine Word can be ascribed to the man Christ, and the properties of the man Christ can be predicated of the Word (communicatio idiomatum), in the very same way, in consequence of the impanation — a word coined in imitation of incarnation — an interchange of predicates takes place between the Son of God and the substance of bread, though only through the mediation of the body of Christ. The doctrine of impanation agrees with the doctrine of consubstantiation, as it was taught by Luther, in these two essential points: it denies on the one hand the Transubstantiation of bread and
wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, and on the other professes
nevertheless the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Luther
asserted that the Body of Christ penetrated the unchanged substance of
the bread but denied a hypostatic union. Orthodox Lutheranism
expressed this sacramental union between the Body of Christ and the
substance of bread in the well-known formula: The Body of Christ is "in,
with and under the bread" — in, cum et sub pane; really present, though
only at the moment of its reception by the faithful — in usu, non extra
usum.
Apostolically Speaking
☩ David Ignatius
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181 Mt 26:26-28 “Take, eat; this is My body....”27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks,... saying,... . 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant,
182 Jn 6:53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
183 1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
184 1 Cor 10:16-17 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.
185 Concubstantiation: the actual substantial presence and combination of the body and blood of Christ with the eucharistical bread and wine.
186 Incarnation: that God was in-fleshed as Jesus Christ. In the Incarnation, as traditionally defined, the divine nature was united but not mixed with human nature in one divine Person, Jesus Christ, who was both "truly God and truly man".
187 This doctrine of Consubstantiation holds the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist without admitting Transubstantiation. According to it, the substance of Christ's Body exists together with the substance of bread, and in like manner the substance of His Blood together with the substance of wine. Hence the word Consubstantiation. Just as God the Father took to Himself a human body without in any way destroying its substance, so does He in the Blessed Sacrament assume the nature of bread. Christ is in the Eucharist through His human body substantially united with the substances of bread and wine, and thus is really present as God, made bread: Deus panis factus. As, in consequence of the Incarnation, the properties of the Divine Word can be ascribed to the man Christ, and the properties of the man Christ can be predicated of the Word (communicatio idiomatum), in the very same way, in consequence of the impanation — a word coined in imitation of incarnation — an interchange of predicates takes place between the Son of God and the substance of bread, though only through the mediation of the body of Christ. The doctrine of impanation agrees with the doctrine of consubstantiation, as it was taught by Luther, in these two essential points: it denies on the one hand the Transubstantiation of bread and
Apostolically Speaking
☩ David Ignatius
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