The Body and Blood of Christ
We are all aware of the significance of tables and meals in our lives. We all have our own memories of sharing table with people. We remember celebration and laughter at tables, love given and love received. Some of those memories of table fellowship may be sad. We might remember table experiences when we were more aware of the person who was absent than of those who were present.
The gospels suggest that Jesus shared many tables with his disciples. When sharing table with his disciples, Jesus also shared with them God’s vision for our lives. At table, the disciples were taking in something of Jesus’ mind, heart and spirit. It is often the way that we share quite deeply when we are sharing table with those who are close to us. Of all the meals, Jesus shared with his disciples, the one that stayed in their memory was the last meal they ate together, the last supper. Today’s second reading from the first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians is the earliest account we possess of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples, written only about twenty five years after the event itself. This last meal Jesus shared with his disciples stood out in their memory because of what Jesus said and did. At the last supper, Jesus did more than share God’s vision for our lives with the disciples; he shared himself with them. He took the bread and the wine, two of the staple ingredients of every Jewish meal, and he blessed the bread, broke it, give it to his disciples saying ‘This is my body’. Hethen blessed the cup of wine, and gave it to his disciples saying, ‘This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is to be poured out for many’. Body and blood signified the whole person. Jesus was giving his whole self as food and drink to his disciples, and through them, to all of humanity. The gift of himself that he made at that last supper looked ahead to the gift of himself that he would make to all humanity on the cross the next day.
It was because of what Jesus said and did at the last supper that we are here in this church today. Jesus intended his last supper to be a beginning rather than an end. That is why he went on to say to his disciples, ‘Do this in memory of me’. The last supper wasto be the first Eucharist. Ever since that night, in response to that command of Jesus, the church has continued to gather to do and to say what he did and said at that last supper, taking bread and wine, blessing both, breaking the bread and giving the bread and wine for disciples to eat and drink. In this way, Jesus continues to give himself to us as food and drink. His self-giving love that he expressed fully on the cross is present to us at every Eucharist. That is why Saint Paul says in today’s second reading, ‘every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death’. At every Eucharist we proclaim the Lord’s greater love that his death expresses, and in proclaiming his love, it becomes present to us again. Jesus gave his love freely to his disciples at the last supper, knowing that they were about to desert him and that Peter was about to deny him. The risen Lord gives his love to us freely at every Eucharist, knowing our weaknesses. Each time that we gather to celebrate the Eucharist, we are being reminded that the Lord’s love does not have to be earned. It only has to be received. In receiving the Eucharist, we are receiving the Lord’s love into our lives. Each time we receive the body of Christ, we can repeat for ourselves what Saint Paul wrote to the Galatians, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’.