Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Is Jesus in the Eucharist?

What a phenomenal thing for Jesus to say to us Protestants! " Take, eat, this is My Body", during the Lord's supper; and, " Drink of it , all of you, for this is the Blood of My Covenant," This is found in the book of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
Here they were, dining together, the 12 disciples and Jesus. it was the Passover, and they were keeping the feast in obedience to the Law of Moses.
The Passover meal of lamb, etc, was eaten at twilight, and so, here was this group, eating, while reclining at the table in the evening.
The lamb part is important because Jesus is the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.
Jesus took bread (unleavened, because yeast is a symbol of sin), blessed it, and broke it. Then, the cup of wine. He said that it was His Blood poured out for the forgiveness of sin.
He kept the Law and then He fulfilled the Law of Passover in Himself. If you, in Moses day, had not put the blood of the lamb on your doorpost and lintel, then your firstborn son would die. Jesus is the unleavened Bread since He has no sin, and He also called Himself the Bread that comes down from Heaven. He is the firstborn son of Mary, and also the only begotten of the Father, and yet He chose to die for all those who do not have the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, or their hearts, so that we can have His Blood applied. The sinless died for the sinners.
The bread and the wine that they had that Passover evening, was to be done in remembrance of Jesus. The Body of Jesus would soon be given for us, on the Cross. The Blood of Jesus, would soon be poured out for us. 1 Corinthians says, "As often as you eat this Bread and drink this Cup, you proclaim the Lord's death, until He comes".
So, what about those today, who say that when we have the Lord's Supper or Communion, the bread becomes His Body and the wine becomes His Blood?
First of all, when our Lord was breaking the bread and passing out the wine, there He was, in person, with His Body passing out the food, and with His Blood inside Himself!
After His resurrection, (Luke 24) He was walking on the road to Emmaus, with 2 disciples. After He broke the bread, when they were eating, the 2 disciples suddenly recognized Him. Yet, His body was in complete form, before them, and what was not spilled at the Cross, of His Blood, and during the beatings, was flowing through His Body.
They who believe the bread changes into His Body, and the wine changes into His Blood ( the word is transubstantiation), believe it in actuality. It actually changes after it has been blessed. All over the world, at the Mass, everyday, there is the Body and Blood of Jesus being eaten by all those celebrating the Eucharist .Now, we must be careful, because Christ died Once and for All. Let's go then to Hebrews.
Many lambs and goats died in the Old Testament sacrifices, to atone for the people's sin. So, here comes Jesus and He is called " The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" Hebrews 9 says that Christ entered the Holy Place, Once and for All, by means of His own Blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Approxiametly 2000 yrs ago, Christ died, only Once, shed His Blood at that time only, for us, so that we , who lived at any time through history, could receive forgiveness of our sin. The shedding of His Blood brought forgiveness of sin.
Look at verse 25. "Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly..verse 26.. for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly, since the foundation of the world. But, as it is, He has appeared Once for All, at the end of the ages, to put away sin, by the sacrifice of Himself. And just as it is appointed for man once to die, and after that comes the Judgement, so Christ, having been offered Once, to bear the sins of many, will appear the second time.
Eat My Body! Drink My Blood! It means something! Jesus didn't use meaningless words just to hold a conversation. Jesus came for a purpose. He had His whole Self fixed on that purpose.
So, how do we partake of Jesus? How do we take on Christ? How do we become members of Christ? He ascended to Heaven so how can we eat of Him now?
Down to the very basics...first you must believe. John 6:34 says , " There are some of you who do not believe." Believe on what? "The words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and life." So, believe what Jesus is saying...and that is, not only the words in red, but the whole Bible.
Concerning blood, let's look back into Exodus, where all the children of Israel, were to apply the blood of the lamb to their doorposts and lintels, so their firstborn would not die, when the angel passed over. Therefore the name Passover. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission, or washing away , of sin. Christ's Blood must be applied to our lives, or else we will die for our own sin, and not have eternal Life. "The Blood of Jesus His son, cleanses us from all sin." " In Him we have Redemption, through His Blood. the forgiveness of sins, according to the richness of His Grace" Ephesians 1 ."Ransomed ...through the Blood of Christ " 1 Peter 1 .
Back to believe. If the Israelites hadn't believed that they were to apply the blood to their doorposts, of course they would not have done so. First, you must believe. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved." You go no where unless you believe in something or Someone. But, that is not applying the Blood. You cannot apply Christ's Blood yourself, because His Body and Blood are in Heaven, and He is coming Bodily, later, for the second time. His physical Blood is not on earth, and is not being kept in any vial in Europe, and since He is the High Priest, there is no priest on earth who has the power to change bread and wine into His Body and Blood. That's magic. God is not into magic. There is also no "miracle" involved at the Mass, since the bread and wine stay bread and wine.
So, the next step is to apply the Blood.." Drink My Blood"! ! Cor 6:11...but you were washed....in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." Hebrews 10:11.." Our bodies washed with pure water." The Corinthians and the Hebrews had already been washed. Washed? Took a bath? Look at Acts 2:38. "Be Baptized, everyone of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission (washing away ) of your sins."
We all believe, if we say we are Christians, that Jesus name is above All names. We believe that Jesus died and rose again. So, in Baptism, Jesus name is applied to our lives. Jesus name (when we are Baptized by immersion, under water, like as He went down into death and rose again) applied to you, is when our High Priest applies His Blood to you. The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. There's the washing. But, it's not magic either!. The water you get Baptized in, is WATER, before , after and during. the change that happens...the Big Miracle that happens, is a spiritual one, and happens inside of you.
Where is your spirit? It's inside of you. Where does your sin dwell? Inside you. Outwardly, we do junk that started inside of us. This inside, needs to be made new.
Acts 4:12 "No other Name by which you must be saved." But, the Name must be applied, and that is done only through being Baptized in Jesus Name.
So very much of scripture, is taken away when you believe and practice, the catholic Eucharist.
Peter preached the first sermon! We hold up Peter so much! Then, why don't we obey what he taught under God's anointing? In Acts 10:48, Peter commanded them " to be Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ". Commanded! people say that, that was THEN and this is NOW, so it's not for today. Well, then forgiveness, grace, mercy, Joy etc are not for today either. If it's all for THEN, why do we read the Bible? Why do we preach it? All the different groups, like the Ephesians, the Galatians, the Corinthians, had all been Baptized in water, in Jesus Name, after repenting of their sin. To all these groups, and the rest, like the Philippians, Paul, Silas and others had gone and had preached and had started churches. The salvation message is in Acts. It started there, for ALL of them, and so it must start there for us!
Eat His Body .Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness , for they shall be filled. ( Matthew5:6). "Come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me and eat what is good and delight yourself in rich food...Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near." Isaiah 55:1-6
"Whoever feeds on this Bread, will live forever" John 6:58 Then He says that the Spirit gives Life and that the flesh is of "no avail". Jesus is not talking about eating His physical Body. He is talking spiritually.
So much of what we are in the kingdom, is done through our spirit connecting with His Spirit. First...salvation is a gift and happens in your spirit. Second...the fruit of the Spirit is exactly that - in your spirit from His Spirit. Third...His Mercy, Grace, Forgiveness, etc, all are free from Him and happen in your spirit. All, from First to Third are gifts. None can be earned through penance, saying the rosary, lighting candles, praying for the dead, praying to Mary or any saint (Mary and the saints do not answer prayers, since it is only the Son who intercedes for us to the Father...only He can stand in the gap for us between Satan and the Father), nor doing Good deeds and giving alms. We CANNOT earn our salvation. Our righteousness is as filthy rags.
You want to be "full" of Christ? Be filled with the Spirit...like they did in the book of Acts...in Acts chapter 2...the evidence being speaking to God in "tongues", another language that God gives you to use in prayer, so you can commune in your spirit with His Spirit and have Him inside of you giving you power to live the Christian life. This is also something we cannot earn, but when we are Baptized in His name, He promises to give us His Spirit.
Then, eat of the Word...the written Word...which is Christ...daily! Then walk as a Follower of Christ, learning from Him and learning from others whose aim is also, to be a disciple and a Follower of Jesus.