The Nature of the Eucharist

I am fascinated by the Holy Eucharist. My step-grandfather was a Roman Catholic, and he would take his Southern Pentecostal nephew to church with him. When it was time for the Eucharist he would sneak me a piece of the Body of Christ. There is something about the Mystery of Bread and Wine becoming The Body and Blood of Christ. I was asked by a good Baptist friend how does this happen. I said it happens by the invocation of the Holy Spirit. It is a Mystery! I said. He said that appealing to the Mystery of the Sacrament was dodging the issue of how it happens. He says you actually believe that God works through juice and crackers, and I replied do you actually think that God works through paper, ink, and leather. He told me I had a good point. Why is it that Protestants can believe whole heartedly that the Bible is the God-Breathed Word of God and yet not affirm that the Eucharist by the Holy Spirit and the Words of institution are the Body and Blood of Christ. Yet even Luther would say that the Bread and Wine are the Body and Blood because the Word confirms it. God created the World by the Word and the Spirit, The Spirit who proceeds from the Father hovered over the womb of the Virgin Mary and conceived the begotten Word in the New Creation of redemption. The Spirit breathes on the personalites of men and produce the written Word of God. Yet this Incarnational principle cannot be applied to the Eucharist because that is idolatry….. More in the next Entry