According to the New Testament, at The Last Supper, Jesus Christ transformed bread and wine into His body and blood and commanded His disciples to “do this in memory of me”. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglo-Catholic churches teach that, when they use Jesus’ words, the bread and wine used in their services become the actual body and blood of Jesus. How can any of us determine if these teachings are true and why is it so crucial that we do so?
Let’s address the second question first. If these teachings are true, then God Incarnate is continually inviting us to accept the intimate physical relationship of taking Him into our bodies. He is leaving it up to us whether to accept His invitation and participate. Can it be in your best interest to reject God Incarnate's invitation to physical intimacy with Him?
Concerning the first question, why is it so difficult to accept these teachings? Firstly, we know of no process where a physical substance is changed into another. Secondly, science has never been able to detect any change. Thirdly, it’s hard not to assume that these teachings are meant to draw people to church services. On the other hand, can the fact that we know of no process establish that there isn’t one? Secondly, is science not dependent on observation? How could science succeed in observation when it doesn’t know the composition of Christ’s resurrected body and blood? How can it observe what it can’t recognize? Thirdly, can our suspicion of church leaders’ motives establish that there’s nothing more to their teachings?
Let’s examine why the teachings are very likely correct. If God Incarnate wanted the bread and wine to become His body and blood, could anything prevent Him from making it happen? Why would He want to? Reasoning establishes that God wants us to love Him as He loves us. You can assess that reasoning which you'll find in the Meaning of Life Video Series. As all lovers do, would God not want that love to be an intimate physical relationship? Because the resurrected God Incarnate can no longer be physically with us, must He not make Himself physically available to us in a new form that we can physically see, touch and taste? Because the greatest intimacy we can physically experience occurs when we are inside each other (which we are, as much as we can be, when we make love), must He not come inside us in a form we can ingest and digest? Would He not want our experience of Him to encompass every cell of our bodies? To achieve this, does it not make sense that He would enter our digestive system, to be processed by it and then conveyed by our circulatory system to every cell of our bodies?
So where does all this leave us? Is it not clear that all the things that make it difficult for us to accept that the Eucharist could be real in no way establish that it is not real? As well is it not equally clear that, because God wants us to experience the Eucharist and is able to make it happen, He must be making it happen? Does it not seem that the reasons for discounting the Eucharist are far outweighed by the reasons for accepting it?
Who cares if the Eucharist is real? Must not anyone who values an intimate physical relationship with God care? Must not you care?
Del H. Smith conducts research into life’s meaning and is the award-winning author of the AMAZON Best Seller, Discovering Life’s Purpose.