I Asked This Earlier...

[ThomasPeter]

i am very stumped on this and really need some help. if anyone can sheed some light on it, that woudl be great. this is a "cut and past" of the origional question titled "The Body of Christ in the Eucharist". the question is as follows:

ok, in my apologetics class one of the arguments for the truth of the eucharist was based on the fact that Jesus said "this is my Body/Blood which will be given up for you/ sheed etc...." meaning that any one saying that the eucharist is symbolic of Christ's body/blood must (by logic) believe taht his sacrifice on the cross was symbolic (i bet you know this line of arugument, but i will continue). this being because he said "this is my body which will be given up" not "this symbolizes my body which will be given up for you." so this is my question... we teach taht the eucharist is the risen flesh of the Lord... how then coudl it be the flesh "given up for you [us]). if Christ said that it is his body that WILL (future tense) be given up, how come we say it is his flesh that WAS given up and is now glorified. in other words, why do we say it is Christs flesh as it is after the resurection, when he said it is his flesh as it was before he even died? i hope this question is understandable... its been a long day heh. thanks a lot
tom

[Carson Weber]

Hi Tom,

Christ's body wasn't simply given up in the past. It's still being given up. This is the theme of Hebrews: Christ's sacrifice continues well into his glorified state, as our High Priest still has something to offer in the heavenly sanctuary, else he wouldn't be High Priest anymore; his High Priesthood would then simply be a thing of the past.

In Heaven, Christ continually and perpetually offers his body before the Father as he makes intercession for us. This is why he is presented as a Lamb standing as if slain in the Book of Revelation.

And so Christ's words make sense, "This is my body, which will be given up for you." In the Eucharist, we participate in the glorified Christ just as the apostles received a foretaste of Christ's glory by participating in Christ's glorified body before Christ's body was sacrificed. Just as they "saw" a foretaste of Christ's glory at the Transfiguration.

God bless you,

Carson Weber