God Squad: Differing views on the Eucharist

Dear Rabbi Gellman: It seems when you answer a question regarding Christianity, you usually offer a “Catholic” response. I feel that at times, such as when you gave the advice, “Christianity immortalized Jesus’ sacrifice in the Eucharist, which allowed all believers to participate in this event,” is quite off base. The Eucharist is not a biblical display of Holy Communion in remembrance of Jesus (Luke 22:20, 21, NASB), but a Catholic ritual found nowhere in the Bible.

Additionally, any believer not professed as a Catholic is forbidden to receive Holy Communion in a Catholic church.

Thank you, Rabbi, for helping all the people who seek your advice and opinions. God bless you, and keep writing! — From M

MG: In this holy Christian season of Lent leading up to Easter, I thought it wise to remind us all that not all Christians are the same. My case in point today is the Eucharist, a central Christian ritual and for some a sacrament of the faith.

The origin, according to Luke 22, of the Eucharist is a Jewish ritual — the Passover meal. Foundational Christian ritual was the Last Supper, as you point out, dear M, in your kind and thoughtful note. As recorded in the Book of Luke, the Last Supper was remembered as a Passover seder meal where unleavened bread (matzo) and wine are consumed in memory of the Exodus from Egypt.

This was the moment when Christianity declared its theological independence from Judaism, forever. You see, in Judaism, there are no real symbols. The matzo, the unleavened bread, eaten in the Passover meal is just bread. The Passover wine is also just wine. What Jesus did at the Last Supper was a dramatic break from Jewish anti-symbolism. For Christians, the bread would be considered the body of Christ and the wine his blood. In Judaism, the Passover meal is eaten for God. In the Eucharist feast, the meal is eaten of God.

The transformation of the bread and wine into body and blood happens by transubstantiation. This is the point of disagreement between Protestant Christians and Catholic Christians.

For Catholics, the substances of the bread and wine are actually transformed into the body and blood of Christ, even though their appearances do not change. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches agree with Catholics that an objective change occurs in the bread and wine. For Lutherans, the body and blood of Christ are present “in, with, and under” the forms of the bread and wine. Reformed Christians take another step away from transubstantiation but believe in a real spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

These subtle but very different beliefs about the Eucharist have made it impossible for certain Protestant Christians whose church is not in communion with Rome to receive the Eucharist in a Catholic service.

Something as simple as bread and wine is not at all simple in the history of the West.