Consuming Christ

Here is my homily from the lunchtime Eucharist at which I presided today at St Lawrence Jewry (John 6. 52 - 59):

“We hear that you are all cannibals.” That statement comes from a document written in the late 2nd century A.D. called The Octavius of Minicius Felix which describes a debate between a Christian and a pagan at the Roman port of Ostia. The Early Church was fairly consistently accused of cannibalism. While this wasn’t an unusual accusation made against groups that were in some sense alien in the society of the time and therefore perceived as being a threat, we can also see how the celebration of the Eucharist - a meal in which Christians consume the body and blood of Christ – may have contributed to this accusation.

The idea that, through bread and wine, we consume the body and blood of Christ is, of course, central to the Eucharist and our faith. Much of that centrality derives from the association of this act with the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ: “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11. 23 – 26)

However, we can also think of the significance of the Eucharist in terms of the benefits to our bodies of eating and drinking. When we consume food and drink it is broken down into simple molecules and carried around our bodies in order to provide the energy we need for life. In a similar way, Jesus is the food and drink – the bread of life and water of life – which gives us the energy we need to live the Christian life. Just as our bodies need a regular supply of food and drink, so we need to regularly consume Jesus - taking him into our lives through the Eucharist, bible study, prayer and social action – in order that we are fed by him and have all we need to live out the Christian life. May we feed fully on him today. Amen.

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Adrian Snell - The Last Supper.