A Practical Gospel
Our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven without leaving any written gospel for His Church. All she had at that time was:
- 1. The "Holy Spirit" whom her Lord sent upon His disciples on Pentecost.
- 2- The "Liturgy" instituted by our Lord Himself.
- 3- The "Tradition" received from the Apostles.
- 4- The "Old Testament" which is full of prophecies and symbols concerning the Messiah and His redeeming work.
From the first century, the Church lived in the gospel and by it: for she found it recorded in the liturgy of Eucharist, not by letters and words but in the actual act of bestowing upon us the sacrificial Body and Blood of Christ as a revelation of salvation. Through The Eucharist we receive the remission of sins and enter the eternal kingdom of joy.
The Church lived about twenty years after the ascension of her Lord until the first document of the New Testament was written. The Eucharist was the practical and simple way through which the Church learned and practiced the gospel. It still is today.
Therefore we must know the relationship between the Eucharist and the Bible, and the Prophecies mentioned about it in the Old Testament, and how the old tradition bore witness to it.
One Word of God
If we examine the whole history of our salvation, we shall find that the reading of the Holy Scripture or a part of it was carried along with the offering. They were so closely connected with each other that they formed one single mode of worship. Moses.
1- In the Book of Exodus, before the blood-sacrifice was given
Bouyer: The Liturgy Revived.
as the seal of the covenant, the word of God was given to In it God reveals Himself, His will, His plans, and intentions towards us.
- 2- Every time the people returned to their God, they had to begin their repentance with a public reading of the word of God, then they offered sacrifices and celebrated the Paschal Meal.
- 3- On celebrating the annual Pascha, the father of the family related the Exodus story (the word of God) and recited the covenant which God had established with their fathers; all this before eating the lamb, i.e. the Pascha.
- 4- Our Lord before "Breaking Bread," interpreted to His disciples the sacred Scriptures, starting from Moses and the Prophets and revealing things concerning Himself.
- 5- St. Luke described the Church in the apostolic age. He clarified how the people and the apostles "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine... and in the breaking of bread."
In the second century, St. Justin described the Sunday Liturgy saying that it consisted of readings from the prophets, the apostles and Christ, a homily followed by the Eucharist.
We conclude that there is no separation between the table of the word of God and that of the Eucharist (the sacrifice). For the Eucharist is the sacramental Body of the Word of God, and the Holy Bible is a call for us to be united with the "Word" and participate with Him in His death, resurrection and glory. For there is only one Word of God, one Messiah, and one single act of salvation...
The Relation Between the Eucharist and the Bible
First: The Holy Bible is the voice of the Word of God, declaring God's love to man throughout all ages. The Eucharist is the Body of the Word of God, which realizes this divine voice. Hence the Eucharist integrates our entire understanding of the Holy Bible. Although the Holy Bible, i.e. "Old Testament" is divided into the books of Law, the historical books, the books of wisdom, and the
prophetical books; the mystery of the Eucharist explains the oneness of all these books, declaring that the mystical deed of God for man is a single saving act, continuing throughout all ages. When the revelation of this Sacrament is given to us, we discover that the Scripture or all the sacred history in its entirety is one complete wonderful act.
Through the Eucharist we understand the books of law. We look at them not as records of laws and commandments, but as a way of life, a faithful practice in order to be holy according to God.
Through it too, the historical books are completed. We look at them not merely as historical events, but also as an act of faith, a single story of our salvation, that God has planned from eternity, so that we enter eternal life, above the history and laws of "time."
Through it too, the books of hymns and wisdom are realized, for by the mystery of the Cross we conquer and triumph over sin, our life becomes joyful, and our darkness and earthly life is transferred to a joyful and heavenly one.
As for the books of the prophecies, they have been fulfilled by the act of salvation offered upon the Cross, which we experience in the holy Liturgy.
Thus, the celebration of the Eucharist and communion bring us into the depth of the Holy Bible, so that we enter into the Spirit of inspiration and Truth hidden in the Law, the history, the hymns and the prophecies.
Thus, we understand the Word of God as the actual presence of the Living God in all His power, acting, creating, giving-life, judging, condemning and saving...
Through the Eucharist, the believers can understand the Holy Bible and acknowledge the word of God and be acquainted with Him adequately. He knows it as:
(a) The creative power, for it is said, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth... For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood forth." Through the Eucharist we understand that by the divine word the
heavens were made within us; and we became a temple for the Lord, and we become one with God who dwells in heaven.
- (b) His own salvation as the psalmist says, "He delivered them from their distress, he sent forth his word, and healed them." We know this in the sacrifice of the Cross, which is behind every divine act in the history of our salvation. It is the aim of every rite in our worship.
- (c) What psalm 118 (119) mentions concerning the word of God; it declares that the Word of God is life, light, wisdom, food, hope, comfort, security and happiness to those who live by it.
Finally we may say that, through this mystery we come to know the word of God and experience it as the presence of God, acting in our lives, for our salvation and progress. It is not separate from God Himself.
Second: The Eucharist leads us to the Holy Bible and aims at our becoming biblical people. In it God continues speaking to His people and Christ is still proclaiming His Gospel:
From the first century many chapters were read, not as a preparation of the liturgy, but as a part of the sacrament, Through the Liturgy, God offers us the Bread of Life, not only that of the table of the Body of the Messiah, but also that of the word of God. "The Fathers spoke freely of the two-fold eating of the word, under the species of the gospel and under the species of the Eucharistic Bread."
Now we are said to drink the blood of Christ not only during the sacramental rite, but also when we receive His words where life is, as He Himself says, "The words that I speak are spirit and life."
Third: The Holy Scripture occupies the foremost place in the celebration of the Eucharist. For it is from the scripture that lessons (Pauline epistles, Catholic epistles, Acts and the Gospels) are read, and from which psalms are sung.
All the liturgical prayers and songs are scriptural in their inspiration. So they are implications of the rites and signs of the liturgy drawn from the Bible.
Fourth: The Bible quotes some sentences from the liturgical prayers. As an example St. Paul wrote, "But as it is written, what no eye has seen, not the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him." This sentence is not mentioned in any book of the Bible, but perhaps it is quoted from the liturgy, which was used in those days.
Fifth: The Bible aims at our becoming Eucharistic people, becoming God's own priestly people, to assemble in our heavenly Father's House and eat from the redeeming banquet.
It calls us to receive the mystery of the crucified and risen Christ, i.e. to be united with Christ, our Liturgy. We are in need of whole Scripture in order to discover, under the inner illumination of the Spirit, what the Eucharist means for us and for the entire world.
Sixth: Without the Bible we cannot understand the mystery of the Eucharist, and the sacraments will be as if they were superstitions. The Church guards us against that constantly. She never breaks the bread of the Eucharist with us without first "breaking the bread of the Word" in the epistles, gospels and sermon.
In other words, she shares with us the light of understanding which shines out of the Bible, dispelling all darkness due to our inability to understand,
We cannot receive the Messianic Meal unless we have heard what it means, and as we receive the grace of the banquet we also need to hear the word of God.
In the first centuries the catechumens enjoyed the Liturgy of the word as a preparation for accepting the Christian faith and enjoying the sacraments of the Church, after their acceptance of baptism, Chrism and Communion they were still in need to hear the Bible.