The Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, or Communion all refer to the same thing: something that Jesus instituted at the Last Supper just prior to his crucifixion 2,000 years ago (see Matthew 26:26-30; Mark 14:22-26; Luke 22:14-20). Is that something—the Eucharist—really Jesus, or is it just a symbol?
For some Protestants, this is an important question, but for many other Protestants it really doesn’t matter what Christians believe about the Eucharist. Whether Christians believe Jesus is physically present in the Eucharist, spiritually present, or the Eucharist is merely a symbol, many Protestants think this is simply a matter of one’s own interpretation of the Bible and that it is therefore a “non-essential” disagreement. This is ridiculous. No matter what a Protestant personally believes, indifference to divergent views of the Eucharist is an indifference to heresy, to true worship, to the salvation of fellow Christians, and ultimately reveals an indifference to Jesus himself.
What I hope to explain is 1) why a correct understanding of the Eucharist is essential to Christianity and authentic worship, 2) what Catholics mean by Jesus being truly present in the Eucharist, and 3) why the Eucharist really is Jesus based on the Biblical testimony, especially Jesus’s own words, and the unwavering belief of the earliest Christians.
Does it really matter what Christians believe about the Eucharist? Here I simply intend to show why the Eucharist cannot in any way be considered an insignificant matter, where Christians can casually agree to disagree.
First, Jesus says it matters. When instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper, Jesus says to the apostles, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you” (Luke 22:15). Is it reasonable to think Jesus, being God incarnate, “earnestly desired” to do anything of trivial importance? Certainly not. Additionally, the fact that he immediately commands the apostles to “do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19) is striking. Since the Passover was a Jewish celebration instituted by God during the Exodus centuries before, and Jesus is now telling his apostles to continue this meal for all future generations of Christians, it shows that God had been planning this special meal from the very beginning and he intends for it to continue until the end of the age. Clearly, something is special about this meal. But even if we may have trouble understanding the significance of this meal, the fact that it was important to Jesus means that indifference to divergent views on the Eucharist is not an option. How could completely missing the point of this meal not matter when Jesus eagerly desired to celebrate this meal before the creation of the universe and intended all Christians to partake of this meal into perpetuity? Getting the Eucharist wrong matters to Jesus.
Let’s consider this from both sides. If the Eucharist is only a symbol, then those who believe the Eucharist is really Jesus and worship Jesus in the Eucharist are committing idolatry. Idolatry is false worship and cuts one off from relationship with God. If the Eucharist is only a symbol, a correct understanding of the Eucharist matters, for rejecting this view can result in idolatry and loss of one's salvation. On the other hand, if the Eucharist really is Jesus, and those who receive the Eucharist really receive the God of the universe into their bodies, then those who don’t have the Eucharist and don’t believe they are receiving Jesus fail to be united to God in the most profound way possible on earth. If the Eucharist really is Jesus, a correct understanding of the Eucharist matters, for rejecting this view rejects union with Christ, the very point of Christianity. Either way, it is clear that the Eucharist matters. Jesus said it matters, and the opposing views have radical consequences that reach to the heart of Christianity: from idolatry to true worship and union with Christ.
The point of Christianity is the Eucharist. If this sounds like an exaggeration then you likely don't understand what it means that the Eucharist is really Jesus. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says the Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life” because “in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch” (CCC 1324). If the point of Christianity is to be united with Christ, and the Eucharist unites us with Christ himself in the most complete way possible here on earth, then you could say the whole point of Christianity is summed up in the Eucharist. Man and God become one. This is what we were made for. This is the reality that begins here on earth, especially through the Eucharist, and which will reach its fulfillment in heaven. The Mass, where the Eucharist comes about, really is heaven on earth.
The Church uses the term “transubstantiation” to describe the change of the elements of bread and wine at Mass into the body and blood of Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit and by Christ speaking through the priest, during Mass the bread and wine change from something to Someone. Through the Eucharistic prayer, there is no longer bread and wine but Jesus’s very own body and blood. Catholics throughout the world who receive the Eucharist receive not just a part of Jesus, for Jesus cannot be divided. Someone doesn’t nibble on his toe while someone else nibbles on his finger. The Eucharist becomes truly Jesus and contains his body, blood, soul, and divinity, and this is true for every morsel of the Eucharistic bread and every drop of the Precious Blood. Catholics consume their Lord thus becoming united with God himself.
While the words of consecration cause the substance to change to Jesus’s body and blood, the accidents, or attributes associated with bread and wine, remain. This means the Eucharist still looks and tastes like bread and wine but it is no longer bread and wine. If this seems impossible to believe, consider the Incarnation. The infinitely powerful Creator of the universe chose to take on human nature and come into the womb of a 13-year old Jewish girl, gestate for 9 months, and be born into poverty in a stable? If God can become man, he can certainly change bread and wine into his body and blood. Yes, it takes faith, just like the Incarnation, but there are good reasons to believe transubstantiation truly takes place at every Mass, just like there are good reasons to believe in the Incarnation.
A point to emphasize is that Jesus unites himself in a special way to the Church he established through the liturgy. By establishing the Catholic Church and instituting the Eucharist (the Last Supper was the first Mass), he established the way Christians are to worship God. We do not get to choose how to worship God; God reveals to us how he deserves to be worshiped. So through the Mass—and only through the Mass—does the Eucharist truly become Jesus. For those Protestants that believe in some form of real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, such as Lutherans and some Anglicans, the sad reality is they do not truly receive Jesus sacramentally at their communion service. Jesus established the priesthood to perpetuate his very life in us, and it is by the priest’s unique involvement in the Mass that Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist. So the Eucharist is bound up with the Mass and we worship God by participating in and receiving the Eucharistic sacrifice, Jesus himself. Jesus died once for all for our sins and this one sacrifice is made present to us at every Mass.
In the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and by blood is true drink” (John 6:53-55). This is intense! Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in you and you won’t attain eternal life? What!? He can’t be serious.
If this is your reaction, you are not alone. Jesus’s own disciples who were there and heard him say these words were floored: “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” (John 6:60). Yeah, no kidding! Thankfully, Jesus clears up the misunderstanding. He says he was only speaking symbolically and all his disciples are relieved and continue to follow him. Wait a second, what does Scripture say? Rather than backing down, Jesus doubles down. He says, “Do you take offense at this?” (John 6:61) then goes on to affirm that the words he spoke are “spirit and life” (John 6:63). Now the disciples knew for certain Jesus was not speaking symbolically. They had no doubt that Jesus was speaking literally and they responded in disbelief. “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66). But wait, surely there was still just a misunderstanding and Jesus will clarify to win back his disciples? Instead, Jesus turns to the twelve disciples and says, “Do you want to go away as well?” Wow. He really means it. He is letting many disciples walk away because they could not believe they were really to eat his flesh and drink his blood. These disciples knew Jesus was speaking literally, they rejected his teaching and walked away, and Jesus let them go.
Peter, undoubtedly very perplexed, nonetheless responds with faith. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Peter’s faith-filled response was not based on understanding but on trusting Jesus and his words. Jesus doesn’t ask us to fully understand everything he says, but he asks us to fully trust him. He said, with no uncertain words, that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. Who are we to question this? Remember, those who rejected Jesus’s words “turned back and no longer walked with him.” To reject the Eucharist is to reject Jesus.
Christians have always believed that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. Here is a small sample of the early Christians' unwavering belief in the Real Presence.
Justin Martyr, all the way back in the mid-second century, speaks to the Eucharistic prayer of the Mass that brings about the real presence of Jesus . Theodore of Mopsuestia, based on Jesus’s own words, rejects a merely symbolic understanding of the Eucharist a whole millennia before the Protestant Reformation. Finally, Augustine, beloved by Catholics and Protestants alike, explains that it is by faith we accept what our eyes fail to perceive, that the bread and wine or no longer bread and wine but are truly the body and blood of Christ.
I don’t believe in the Eucharist because I fully understand it. I believe in the Eucharist because I trust Jesus at his word. Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. Like it or not, understand it or not, this is what Christians have always believed. So too, I hope, all Christians will once again come to believe in the Real Presence. Above all, by coming to believe this truth revealed by Jesus, I hope all Christians will come eagerly to the Passover feast to receive our Lord, the Paschal Lamb, who so eagerly sought to give himself to us in the Eucharist. Through the Mass, where true Christian worship occurs, heaven comes down and we receive Jesus’s body, blood, soul, and divinity, are nourished in body and soul, and are given hope to be raised up on the last day (John 6:54).
