Life After Death_ A History of the Afterlife in Western Religion - Alan Segal [268]
The Eucharistie Words of Jesus
THE EUCHARIST words of Jesus in the Gospels are emblematic of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. In the Gospel of Mark, the Lord’s Supper is described in the following manner:
And as they were eating, he took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (Mark 14:22-25)
This was a ritual in which the community, as well as the original disciples, could participate. The two other Synoptic Gospels hardly change the words of this passage. Matthew adds “When I drink it new with you in the kingdom of God” emphasizing the future liturgical role of the believer in the “Lord’s Supper” (Matt 26:29). Luke adds a prophecy of the betrayal of Jesus (Luke 22:21-22). It stands to reason that if the church is going to become the body of Christ, then the primary ritual of that church’s identity is going to have to display the literalness of the resurrection of the body. And it does, certainly here in the Gospels. Not only are the words constitutive of the community of those who believe in Christ, the bread and wine become the flesh and blood of Christ. The Gospel of John, often thought of as the most spiritual Gospel, is actually even more graphically literal in its depiction of the bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:53-54).
The eucharistic words of Jesus are rather close in every version. But there are some interesting additions to the Pauline version (1 Cor 11:23-32). In the first place, Paul sets the words at the Last Supper, which sides with the Synoptic Gospels as over against John. Paul’s version used the modifier “which is for you” right after the “This is my body.” This statement modifies the literal implication of the Gospels and emphasizes that the actions are set in a liturgy, an imaginative act of reenactment leaving open that the statement is itself a spiritual object of remembrance rather than a literal, physical action.
Paul also said that the ritual is to be enacted “in remembrance of me.” Paul found remembrance (anamnesis) to be the basis of his spiritual life in Christ. But remembrance is something that takes place in the mind as part of a liturgical event. It is not the event alone which makes the ritual effective, because Paul described ways in which the liturgical moment could be violated by improper behavior. He said that one must “examine oneself” and “discern the body” in the ritual, meaning that the perception of the reality of the body of Christ is partly the responsibility of the participant. This process is one of intention and correct spiritual orientation. Luke also used the term anamnesis (Luke 22:19) to describe these events and perhaps he wished to bridge any gap between the other Gospel writers and Paul; he certainly shows this motivation in Acts. But Paul was far more acutely aware of the role of the participant using anamnesis and religious imagination in making the rite effective than are any of the Gospels.
To be sure, Paul and the Gospels present us with two different inscriptions of the same event. Persons holding these conflicting interpretataions of the event could have worshiped together. Both are constitutive for the Christian community, hence the body of Christ which is His church. But their understanding of resurrection, the body of Christ, and the