The Eucharist in New Testament Christianity Part IX

 


                                                                 


                                                                     I. Introduction


This is my last post in my series of posts on the Eucharist. In this final post, I will prove through one passage of Scripture why the Eucharist is a real sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood. Oftentimes, most Evangelicals never think of The Book of Revelation having any sort of relationship to the sacrificial Mass, but it actually does as will be seen below. 

In previous posts, I believe that I have already proven the Eucharist to be the Body and Blood of Christ. This post is primarily for those who affirm this, yet deny the Eucharist to be a sacrifice. Martin Luther, for example, came to reject the Mass a sacrifice, though he still believed the Eucharist to be the Body and Blood of Christ. On top of everything else in this series of posts that I have written, I believe that this final post, however, further solidifies Biblical evidence that the Eucharist is indeed the Body and Blood of Christ. 


                                    II. The Sacrifice of the Mass in the Book of Revelation


The Book of Revelation is a beautiful book concerning Christ's final return, God's judgment of the righteous and the wicked, and the resurrection of the dead. Although many Evangelicals get wrapped around debates and discussions over the millennium in Revelation 20, many of them miss the significance of the Lamb's sacrifice in Revelation. 

Interestingly enough, Revelation 5-8 uses much of the same liturgy as that of Malachi 1: 11. The Old Testament prophet foretold a sacrifice that would be known among the nations and spoke of incense in its presence. As demonstrated in previous posts, his prophecy could not have referred to Christ's death on the cross in the gospels. 

Various forms of liturgy take place in the heavenly church during the events of the Book of Revelation. For example, the church uses incense (Revelation 8: 4). We also learn that the saints are wearing crowns on their heads (Revelation 9: 7). Since marriage is a picture of our unity with Christ (Ephesians 5), traditionally, Greek Orthodox Christianscorwn the groom and bride when they wed one another. 

Revelation 5: 1-14 is a picture of the Mass in Heaven. Incense is used before the altar (Revelation 8: 4) and Christ, the sacrificial Lamb, is received by the faithful (v. 6). 

For those who say that Revelation 5: 1-14 is simply about Christ's crucifixion, look again at the passage. Historically, there would have been no harps being played or incense being spread (Revelation 5: 7-9) during Christ's actual crucifixion. Thus, Revelation 5, is primarily about the nature of the Mass itself, of the precious Body and Blood of Christ being received by the faithful. 

When read together, Malachi 1: 11 and Revelation 5-8 prove that the Eucharist is a true and real sacrifice. To deny this, would lead to many theological inconstancies. 

Lutherans generally deny, however, the Mass to be a real sacrifice. For this reason, I align more with older understandings of the Eucharist, such as those proposed by Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, who held the Eucharist as a true and real sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood (which was also the view of many of the church fathers). 

If our pattern of worship is Biblical, then we will follow what is found in Scripture (especially as found in the New Testament) and since the New Testament teaches incense and liturgy before the sacrifice of the Lamb in the Book of Revelation, then we have no reason to believe that high liturgy is either morally or theologically wrong. 

In fact, we would be defying Scripture to say that we no more about true worship than did the New Testament Church. Thus, we should welcome reverent liturgy before the Eucharistic table and honor the sacrifice of our Lord. 

For those who argue that Revelation is only talking about the church in the last days (another topic too big to mention here), even if this were true, those who acknowledge us now being in the last days, should thus 

Furthermore, if we hold that we should avoid the liturgy of the heavenly church in Revelation 5, then by this same reasoning, we should not also not prepare ourselves to be holy and blameless as the bride of Christ is doing in Revelation 19. Such conclusions, though, are anti-Biblical, which is why we should practice everything we see the Bride of Christ do in Revelation. 

And for the record, there are good historical reasons for us to not believe that The Book of Revelation is only about the church of the distant future. Early in the book, the author addressed real churches in Asia Minor, for instance. Thus, we have every reason to follow the pattern of the New Testament 
Church, including that found in the Book of Revelation. 

More central to the thousand-year reign in The Book of Revelation, is the theme of the Lamb's sacrifice (Revelation 5-8). Yet, somehow, many Evangelicals have remained ignorant of how Malachi 1: 11 and Revelation 5-8 teach the Eucharist to be a true sacrifice. 


                                                               III. Conclusion


I now end my series of posts on the Eucharist. I believe that I have proven Biblically, philosophically, and historically, that the Eucharist is the precious Body and Blood of Christ---and not just His real presence with us, but a true and real sacrifice. 

Nevertheless, many church fathers including Paul the Apostle never claimed that wine and bread totally ceased at the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11). Because of this, I align with older understandings of Transubstantiation than were generally known by the theologians at the Council of Trent, for instance. The church fathers, unlike the late medieval theologians, did not believe that Aristotelian Philosophy could explain the mysteries of this great sacrament. 

Is the Eucharist then a mystery? Yes and no. It is a mystery in that we cannot understand why it looks still like wine and bread when Scripture teaches it also to be more. It is not a mystery, however, in that Scripture is very clear that Christ's Body and Blood are received when the faithful partake in the Eucharist, and believers share in a real and true sacrifice (John 6, 1 Corinthians 11, Revelation 15). 

Luther believed that Hebrews 7 teaches that the Eucharist cannot be a true sacrifice as to his, this would imply that Christ's sacrifice was not once for all time. However, in previous posts, I demonstrated that Christ is not sacrificed over and over again in the Eucharist, but that we receive His one sacrifice when we partake in the Eucharist (John 6, 1 Corinthians 11, Revelation`15).

Truth is of more value than pride or ignorance. Everyone who has read these posts is accountable to search the Scriptures for a true understanding of the Eucharist, which I believe that I have provided. 

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