... I read that, for Jews of this time, drinking any blood would have been offensive and drinking the blood of a person would have been unthinkable. The Romans accussed the early christians of being cannibals :-). All of this relates to the eucharist and the idea of the real presence of the risen christ in the host and wine ... stuff I don't completely understand as I slept through much of my RCIA classes. There's a poem attributed to Queen Elizabeth I about this idea and communion ...
'Twas God the Word that spake it,
He took the bread and brake it;
And what the Word did make it;
That I believe and take it.
2 comments:
Re Elizabeth's poem: that's great, Crystal. I mean to put that in my commentary.
Crystal,
This part, "Then many of his disciples who were listening said, "This saying is hard; who can accept it?" resonates with us, too, Yes?
Even in the eucharist formation of the "real presence of the risen Christ in the host and wine" is difficult to comprehend.
FOr me, to understand this I must make a paradigm shift to see this in a new way. Where is the "real presence?"
For John, it would seem that Jesus is the incarnation not only of the WOrd of God, but also the wisdom of God. To take Jesus in is to literally take God in. And when we take God in, we might realize that this presence is already in us, we just hadn't recognized it.
Post a Comment