Coptic Orthodox Answers

In the Father and Son, the Holy Spirit, One God. Amen.

Welcome to Coptic Orthodox Answers. We're studying together the Gospel of John, chapter 6, and we saw how, in the beginning of the chapter, Christ was speaking about the Passover and He was shifting the focus from the Jewish Passover to Himself. And then, the discussion went on and He said that He was the bread that is coming down from heaven, whom the Father sent. So, the manna is also a symbol or a type of Christ. And all of this was because he was preparing the people bit by bit to give them the great announcement that He's about to give in these few verses. And of course, these verses do discuss the Eucharist. So, let us get starting. It says, in verse 47:

'' 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.'' (John 6:47)

And we saw a few times already how the words believe in Me are much more than just a mental activity. For us to believe in Christ, we have to live with Christ and we have to follow all of His commandments, including the partaking of the Eucharist.

So He moves on and He says:

'' 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven [He's pointing to Himself], that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.'' (John 6:48-51)

So obviously, again, the manna was a type of Christ and since the manna was a bread that came down from heaven and for people to remain alive, at least temporarily, they would have to eat it, Christ is saying: I am this bread. I am the fulfilment of this typology. I came down from heaven. I was incarnate, and now this flesh, this body that I have, you have to eat it. And this is given for the life of the world.

So, this flesh is given for the life of the world, because His flesh will be crucified for us, right? And through this crucifixion, that flesh we also eat it, as we shall see in this video. Also, this idea of having a body being crucified and having that flesh being eaten is found in the typology of the Passover in the Old Testament. So, let us read a few verses together in Exodus 12 talking about the Passover. It says:

'' 7 And they shall take some of the blood...'' (Exodus 12:7)

So, this is the blood of the 1-year-old lamb, which is without blemish, which is a type of Christ. And they killed that lamb, right?, which is symbol for the cross.

'' 7 ...and put it [so, they take that blood and put it] on the two doorposts [on the left, on the right] and on the lintel of the house(s)...'' (Exodus 12:7)

Here representing, again, the cross. And through that blood, the angel of death would not go inside the house, although through putting that blood on the doorposts and the lintel, there's an avoidance of death, right?, which happens through the cross. So, again:

'' 7 ...put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it [then you have to eat it]. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night...'' (Exodus 12:7-8)

'' 11 And thus you shall eat it with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.'' (Exodus 12:11)

And again, that's why St. John, in his Gospel, begins that chapter 6, if you will (obviously there's no chapters at his time when he's writing), but he begins this entire conversation discussing the Passover itself, because it is the other type of Christ, representing His cross and the Eucharist together.

Thus far, Christ told the Jews that He will give them His flesh to eat. Obviously, upon hearing this, the Jews were very perplexed and therefore, in verse 52, it says:

'' 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ''How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?'' (John 6:52)

And truly, it's something beyond understanding and they couldn't get it. So, in response, Christ repeats over and over again the reality of the Eucharist. He says:

'' 53 Then Jesus said to them, ''Most assuredly, I say to you [meaning something very important's about to be said], unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day [Verse 54 just repeats what He said in verse 53, right?, but just in different words.]. 55 For My flesh is food indeed [in case you think that I'm speaking in a symbolic fashion, no; My flesh is food indeed], and My blood is drink indeed.

56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him [and we'll get to that later]. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.'' 59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.'' (John 6:53-59)

There is something very important we have to understand before continuing. There's a major difference in terms of salvation between the apostolic churches, so the Orthodox and Catholic churches, and our friends from the Protestant churches. In the Orthodox or the apostolic understanding, there's two facets to salvation. One facet has to do with Christ dying for us on the cross. But the second facet that is only available or only included in the apostolic traditions is that we need to be recreated for us to be saved.

So, St. Athanasius, in the 4 th century, he equated, in the book On the Incarnation, I think was paragraph 4, he says that salvation equals recreation. So, what sin does is that sin affects the image of Christ inside of me. It corrupts it. And since it corrupts it, I disconnect from God and therefore, there is death inside. And the only antidote to that death is eating life. So, when I eat the flesh of Christ, I eat the source of life. And that's why He said, in the verse, that he who feeds on Me abides in Me and I in him. So, I in Him, so, meaning Christ abides in me when I eat that flesh and drink that blood, because the only antidote to that corruption, that death inside of me, is life itself who is Christ, because Christ is the source of life.

So, in our understanding, we ought to be recreated and that's why we pray a lot, because we love God and we want to become saints. It's not because we're afraid of not making it to heaven. That's not the idea. It's not because we are saved through works. It's not the idea. Any works that we do are inside of faith. We are saved by grace. It's a gift from God. But because we want to be recreated, we want to enjoy heaven on earth, we partake of the Eucharist. And that's why Christ says: If you do not eat My body or drink My blood, you have no life in you. You cannot live this heavenly life without eating the Eucharist. So, this is huge! And we have to understand this.

That is why, in verse 57, He says: As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. Meaning, within the Trinity, the Father is the source. So, within the Trinity, the Father is the source. But between us humans and the Trinity, the entire Trinity is the source of life for us. So, Christ is saying, and again, He's speaking also from His human perspective, He's saying: Since I am in the Father and the Father is the source, I also have become the source of life in humanity's perspective.

So he who feeds on Me will live because of Me, because I am the source of life, therefore, you'll be able to live as well, because that antidote for death is Myself. It is My flesh. But please, don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying, here, who's going to heaven and who's not;

none of this stuff. I'm just simply explaining the Orthodox theology that has been there since the 1 st century.

There's a nice story that is given by Bishop Raphael in the Coptic Orthodox Church, as an example to this entire idea or the need of the Eucharist. So, he says: You have a father... obviously, this is a fictional story... You have a father that comes in and has a flask of poison in his hand and he tells his son: Don't drink from this; this is poison. And he puts it on top of the fridge. The father leaves. Now, the son thought that the father lied to him and since he was thirsty and this looked like punch juice, so, he grabbed it and drank the poison. Now, the son is on the floor. His stomach is hurting, because he's poisoned.

The father comes and the son says: I'm sorry. That's fine, but the fact that the son says I'm sorry or the fact that the sons... the son offers repentance in that case, will that heal him? Will that give him life once again? No, there's death inside of him. So, he has to take an antidote instead, that he may be alive once more, that he may be healed, that the image of the Son of God might be restored in him and he can reconnect with the triune God. And this is what the Eucharist does.

Unfortunately sometimes, people just want to avoid the obvious for some reason, so, they refer to John 10 when Christ was speaking and that He was saying that He was the door. And they usually respond and say: Well, it's obvious that Christ is not really, literally a door. It's symbolic. And therefore, in John 6, it's also symbolic. But the reality's that in John 6, He says: My flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. But in John 10, in verse 6, it says:

'' 6 Jesus used this illustration,... (John 10:6)

So yes, in John 10, it is an illustration. He's not a real door. But that does not mean that in John 6 it's also an illustration. That's not what the Gospel says at all. In fact, from the 1 st

century, the Church has been saying that this Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ. Here, we have a quote from St. Ignatius. St. Ignatius died about 106 A.D., 108 A.D. He was the disciple of St. Peter, St. Peter, one of the twelve apostles, right? He says the following:

''But look at those men who have those perverted notions about the grace of Jesus Christ which has come down to us, and see how contrary to the mind of God they are....They even abstain from the Eucharist and the public prayer [which is the liturgy], because they will not admit that the Eucharist is the self-same body of our Savior Jesus Christ, which [flesh] suffered for our sins, and which the Father in His goodness raised up again.'' (St. Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle to the Smyrnaeans 6.2, 7.1)

Also St. Justin Martyr, who lived in the first half of the 2 nd century, says:

''And this food is called among us Eucaristia [or the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins [meaning baptism], and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined [or instructed]. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word [the liturgy], and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.'' (St. Justin Martyr, Apology 1, 62)

Of course, I can go on and on with Church Father quotes about the Eucharist, but that's not the point, really. But I wanna mention just one important point. This is not cannibalism, obviously, right? So, when we believe in this Eucharist, when we... what we eat is bread, but mystically, mysteriously, sacramentally, the body of Christ is there and we truly eat it, but not in a cannibalistic fashion, not at all. And the same thing with the wine: when we drink the wine, we drink wine. However, truly, mystically, sacramentally, the blood of Christ is inside the wine.

So lately, the words do this in remembrance of me have been associated with the understanding that this is a symbol. But if you actually look at the words, it says do this in remembrance of me; it does not say it's a symbol. In other words, it says: to remember Me, do this. So, this word remember in Greek is αναμνήσεις (anamnísis) and the meaning of it is relive this moment with Me or you will remember Me by reliving this moment. But this is not a symbol; it's a reality.

So, every liturgy, we say these words and we fulfill God's commandment to remember Him by reliving that act or that Last Supper. And every liturgy, we have Christ Himself in the priest, offering Himself in the bread. So, 2000 years ago, in the Last Supper, Christ was incarnate in the flesh and He gave that bread and He said this is my body. So, His body was there physically, and also, it was there physically in the bread.

That happens every liturgy. The priest... the sacrament of the priesthood is the presence of Christ. He is there inside the priest. And Christ Himself is the one that offers Himself in that bread. And this is a bloodless sacrifice; it's a mystery. So, this is not about crucifying Christ again; of course not, we never do that!. That's not the case at all. The cross happened once and for all. But it's a reliving of that Last Supper and therefore, we are fulfilling Christ's commandment when He said: Do this in remembrance of me. It is not symbolic; it's a reality.

Going back to John 6:

'' 60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ''This is a hard saying; who can understand it?''

61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, ''Does this offend you? [Of course, He knew that this would offend them, yet He still said it.] 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?'' '' (John 6:60-62)

In the beginning of this conversation or midway in the conversation, He was saying that He came down from heaven and they couldn't swallow that either, right? This is what started the conversation. So, now He's saying: What about if you see Me ascending into heaven? Will you believe then?

'' 63 ''It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.'' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, ''Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.'' '' (John 6:63-65)

And we explained what this verse mean in the last video, because it's similar to verse 44. So, if you want to understand the meaning, please go and check the video that was done last week.

Verse 66:

'' 66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, ''Do you also want to go away?'' '' (John 6:66-67)

Notice how the all-loving, compassionate Son of God let people or let disciples leave Him. And He even turned around to the twelve and He told them: Do you also want to go away?, demonstrating the importance of the Eucharist, that He will not back down on this teaching, although He knows that it offends some.

'' 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, ''Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'' 70 Jesus answered them, ''Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?'' 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.'' (John 6:68-71)

When it comes to Judas Iscariot, many people are often upset, because Judas perished, and at the same time, Christ is the one that chose him. Obviously, we should be upset that Judas perished, but blaming God, let's say, because He's the one that chose him, it's not something

we ought to do. It is not God's fault. Judas is the one that chose to betray Christ. Often, people think that Judas was predestined, in the sense where he had no choice, that he had to betray Christ. No, not really. Judas had the choice.

However, God, in His foreknowledge, because he knew that this would happen, He used it. But could God use a different means to attain or to complete the salvific work? Yes! But since he foreknew, then He let it happen. But again, every person is responsible for his own actions. Every person is responsible for his or her decisions, for his or her salvation. St. John Chrysostom says:

''For God does not want to make men good by compulsion and force, neither is His election and choice compulsory on those who are called, but persuasive [We ought to be persuaded to follow Christ]. And that you may learn that the calling compels not, consider how many of these who have been called have come to perdition, so that it is clear that it lies in our own will also to be saved, or to perish.'' (St. John Chrysostom)

Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith. And glory be to God forever and ever. Amen.

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Remember: Know your faith, live your faith, and teach your faith.