“God's People United in One Flock”
June 2, 2013
THE CHRISTIAN FEAST OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI
Isaiah 56:1-8/Psalm 133/Ephesians 4:4-16/John 10:9-16
His Eminence
The Most Reverend Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
and
Primate
of the
National Church in the Philippines
and
the Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church
As we enter the Season of Ordinary Time, if we are walking with Christ, the Season is anything but ordinary according to our understanding of the term ordinary. Perhaps, we would call this Season “extraordinary or phenomenal.” If we too often set titles and goals that are not expressing exactly all that we want, sometimes we don’t make the goal. We don’t make that situation real because we have misjudged it and we have even belittled and put it down.
I would challenge us to listen to what God gives to us and what He has provided for us. We too often are consumed by the world that we live in as far as what man has made it to be. We think that is our source and our hope. We fail to see the plan and the provision that God has given to us.
Let me begin by going to history and laying a foundation. I believe God has set the pattern for the Church. If we don’t know the pattern and what God has set, we find ourselves wavering, not giving attention to the things that God has given us.
In the liturgy, we are trained; we are disciplined to be God’s people. Some people are bored with the liturgy. They think that it really doesn’t challenge us and do much for us. But God has set the liturgy to prepare His people to be those who are ruling and reigning. It comes only by lengthy preparation. It doesn’t come instantly, and yet we give up quickly. Sometimes, we don’t even attend Church on Sunday. We don’t realize that break in our training sets us back and we will not find the growth in the provision as quickly as when we have given our all to Him.
Going through the early writings of the Bible, allow us to understand that God has set the course and direction. Genesis shares with us the origin of all things. God wants us to understand nothing exists that did not come from Him – something very powerful, something very necessary for us to comprehend. Nothing comes from any other Source except Him. It was the creation of all things and it was the beginning of the human race.
The first three chapters of Genesis are repeated in similar manner in the last three chapters of Revelation so we get the picture of the beginning and the end. The second book is the book of Exodus which reveals to us the departure –God setting His people apart; separating and establishing His covenant with them, revealing Himself as Yahweh, the “I AM.”
People had been into Egypt and had thought, “This is our source; this will take care of us.” It was meant only to temporarily help them but they let it become permanent. They were depending upon Egypt to supply for them and they became a slave of Egypt. If there is anything that we need to understand today is this portion of Scripture because we have become slaves to the system of the world, and we don’t know it. We are bound; we are imprisoned to it. But God separated His people unto Himself.
The third writing is Leviticus. It was the instructions on how the people were to worship God. He gave them the laws of offering – burnt offerings; grain offerings; peace offerings; sin offerings; guilt offering. He set a course of worship. In the midst of this particular book, Leviticus 17:14 says, “Life of the flesh is in the blood.”
God was helping them to understand something, and He was helping us to understand that life of the flesh is in the blood. This is the reason that the life the blood brings is what makes the atonement. It is life that is in the blood. Israel, even to this day, has reverence for the blood. In the suicide bombings, they block off the areas and they clean up the blood to make certain that it is given the respect that it is supposed to have.
It was shared in this portion how that the blood of bulls, the sheep, the goats, the doves were meant for this sacrifice and these offerings were to be given. This is then teaching them how to worship God. These animals have to be domesticated animals, not to be the wild animals. They were animals that were dependent upon man, and animals that man was dependent upon. There was a reason; there was a purpose. God was setting a course and a direction for us. In Egypt, when the people of Israel were brought out in the exodus, there was lamb, and it was the blood of the lamb placed on the doorpost that saved the children of Israel from the death angel. The blood of the animal; the life saved them from death.
In Numbers, God makes a declaration that He was going to dwell among His people. He instructs them; He sustains them; He guides them. One very powerful statement He makes: He will never leave them. Despite of their disobedience, He will not turn His back on them. He will remain with them.
In the fifth book of the Old Testament, we see a living God, and how that we are to love Him with our whole heart and strength. It was a call to commitment. All of these things were set as a course and a direction.
Many times, we ignore the Old Testament and we don’t pay much attention to it because we think that it is past; it is no longer there. No, this is not true. God set the pattern in the Old Testament, and we, today, are to follow in that which God had set as He has brought us to the different areas. He sets us in a course and a direction of bringing these things into existence for our benefit. The sacrifices were meant to remove the sin; the blood of the animals was brought before the altar, sometimes spread upon the altar for the forgiveness of sin.
John 1:29 tells us that now, something has changed. It now says, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Romans 3:23-24 says, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are justified as a gift of grace through the redemption of Christ.” We see that there is something spoken to us that takes us away from that which was temporary because the blood of animals is not the same as the blood of humanity. There is difference; perhaps, this is why the sacrifices of old were only temporary. They were not permanent; they had to be repeated often.
When we get to “the Lamb of God,” we find that once was enough for all because it was the blood of man that was shared, sacrificed for the sin of mankind. In Matthew, Mark, Luke and evidences in John, at the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost, we call the Last Supper – the time just before Christ death, there was a pattern of remembering what happened when Israel was brought out of Egypt. God gave instructions that it was to be remembered forever. The memory of this was permanent. It was to be repeated so that man would not forget what God was doing. He was separating His people away from the ways of man, the ways of the world. He was becoming their source. They were to recognize who He was and they were to put their trust in Him.
The Feast that was celebrated, the Passover, was a Feast that reminded them that God had separated them from dependence upon the ways of man. He had separated them from slavery and bondage. He was making a declaration, “I will be your God, and you will be My people.”
When they get to the Last Supper, as they are going through the procedure that went through the celebration of the Passover, it wasn’t just a meal. They went through the details of the Passover so that it was not forgotten. It was meant to set a new course and a new direction for man.
As they were seated with Christ at the Last Supper, there are several different accounts of what was taking place. As I went through them, I tried to evaluate them and see what was being said. The one thing that I saw missing in all of them, and I am not saying it was not there: they did not mention the Lamb.
It came to a point in the Feast, when Christ took the bread, and He held it before the disciples, He said something which was monumental. He said something which was earth shattering. It was evaluating a change that was taking place. He said, “This is My body which is given for you.” Some of the older translations say, “Broken for you.”
No longer was the animal to be the one to relieve the sin, to set the course. Christ was now following that which was set in the first five books of the Bible. But no longer was it going to be the animal’s blood which was a temporary forgiveness; now, He says, “This is My body which is given for you.”
Christ was making a declaration, making a prophecy perhaps that in a few hours, He was going to take the sin of all man. Just as the lamb had done in the Old Testament, just as the goat had been the one set out in the wilderness after having the sins of Israel placed on its head, Christ was now going to step in the role. He was going to bring it upon Himself. He had become flesh; He had become like man. A hundred percent man; a hundred percent God. Christ was now taking upon Himself the sins of all men. As the goat was cast out into the wilderness, He was going to be cast out into the unknown which was unknown to man. He was going to take that step on behalf of them so that they would be free.
Christ made a declaration in that Feast. That Passover was never to be the same again. Yes, it was to save the same things that it was said before, but it was God who was delivering man. This was what it was all about. “I am setting you free from the falsehood of trust in man’s ways.” Christ was now offering His body to be the sacrifice.
In Luke 22:20, Christ took a cup and said, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.” It was no longer the blood of the animal. It was not what it should have been. It was a preparation and a journey that man was on; but now, man was brought to a place wherein Christ was giving of Himself to redeem His creation. God was setting man free permanently from the bondage and the slavery. It was going to be done by the entire giving of Christ’s self. He was holding back nothing.
Even today, we have the fullest presence of the kingdom of God revealed by the gift of the entire self. Christ gave His all. He held back nothing. He was shamed. He was falsely accused. He was beaten, mocked. All of those whom He healed, whom He fed, whom He delivered, it seemed like all of them had turned against Him. And yet even in the midst of all of these, He gave His life. He gave His all. He was not forgiven. He was condemned. He was exchanged for a man named Barabbas who had done much wrong.
Now, we see the kingdom of God coming into a reality. Here in the presence of the giving of the Son of God, the shedding of His blood, the giving of His body, there was going to be a new direction. There was going to be a new hope expressed for the sake of mankind. He was going to be the new Man. He gave Himself totally and He continues to do so today.
In Matthew, Christ said, “Take, eat, this is My body.” The necessity of eating. As the lamb of old had to be eaten, so today, it is the same. When Christ fed the five thousand, He had told the disciples to do it and gave them an opportunity to do it. They could not. He fed the people who were hungry. The description of the people is that they had been with Him for a quite a long period of time. There was nothing for them to eat; they were weak; but He fed them.
Scriptures tells us that when Jesus fed them, they were satisfied. When Christ feeds us, we no longer long for other things. We no longer are captivated by other situations or circumstances because we are fulfilled. We are satisfied. Christ satisfied five thousand men and many more than that; but when He finished, there were twelve baskets left over.
Here was an image given to us of that which was to come. How that Christ was going to feed us on His own body. How that He was going to give us the drink of His blood. How that it would satisfy us, but satisfy us and have an abundance remaining!
This was Christ, His provision. 1Corinthians 11 says, “As often as you eat the bread and drink the cup,” you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes. When we partake, we now have a responsibility. It isn’t just, “I am receiving the body and blood of Christ. Hallelujah, I am redeemed and set free!” No; now, “I have the responsibility, having been fed, having been fulfilled, satisfied, I now must live out that gift. I must proclaim the death of Christ. His death set me free. His death took me out of the doldrums of darkness, into the brilliance of His marvellous light.”
God took us away from being nothing to being His people. From just common ordinary to royalty; to holiness; to righteousness. This is His death and this is what we are to proclaim in our lives. It is not with words, but with actions, with responsibilities. “I have been freed! No longer do I have a right to be in slavery to circumstances. I set the circumstances aside. I may use them. I may be involved in them, but they do not control me. I am controlled by the freedom Christ has given to me.”
1Corinthians 10:16 says, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” When we partake, we become a part of what He is, like Him. He shares His life with us. He shares His blood with us, and as we share that which He has given to us, we now become like Him. Scriptures says, “As He is, so are we in this world.”
It is amazing how that our minds have a difficult time accepting this which God has given to us. We accept more readily the advertising, the commercialism of the world that tells us that we are down, we are downtrodden, we are beaten down; the government telling us that we are poor and we cannot do anything for ourselves. We accept that so readily but what God has given to us, through Christ, we have a hard time believing that we share in who He is!
In Genesis 1, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image and likeness.” Chapter 2 says, “He breathed His breath of life into the dust and man became a living soul.” Why do we have a hard time believing that we are to be like Him? Why do we deny what He has done and given to us?
1Corinthians 10:17, “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body.” When we all partake of the one bread, the one body, we become one, in Him. It tells us that we are to share as He has shared. We are to live out our lives as He has lived out His life. In Acts 4:32 says, “The congregation of those who believe were one heart and one soul.” Do we understand this? Do we comprehend this?
When God gave instructions in building of the church, He said for them to prepare a table that was to be carved out of acacia wood. Then it was to be covered, plated with gold. It would indicate that it was a very special table. It wasn’t just a common ordinary wooden table even though at the time the acacia wood was very special. It was covered with gold. It was set in the inner courts of the Tabernacle.
Upon the table, the instructions were given that twelve loaves of bread were to constantly be on that table. The table with the twelve loaves of bread was called the Table of the Presence of the Lord. That bread represented the Lord. If you look in the Bible, in the margins, the word ‘presence’ is interpreted ‘face’. Here is the face of the Lord. No one has seen the face but here, God is revealing Himself to man.
During the three Feasts that the men were responsible to go to Jerusalem, the Table was taken out of the inner court, placed in the outer courts so that everyone could see the presence of God. On this Table, in our Altar, the bread proclaims to us the presence of Christ. He is here with us. It is not normal, ordinary bread, but it becomes the body of Christ. The wine becomes the blood of Christ. He makes Himself a proclamation to us, His presence with us. He is saying as He did to Israel, “I will never leave you; I will never forsake you. I have set you free. I have delivered you. I want you to see My love for you.”
At the time He gave His life, everyone had turned against Him. Even His disciples had run away. They were in hiding. But what about the good that He had done to many of them? How could they forget that He had set them free? How could they forget that He had healed their broken bodies? How could they forget that He had raised them from the dead? That they cried out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” We don’t hear Him uttering a word of defence. He doesn’t attack; He remains silent. He knows His work. He understands what He has to do, and He has held out His hands to many.
We see in the Table the kingdom of God brought into reality. It is here that we see the face of God because He forgives those who are attacking Him. He expresses His love and His commitment to them by going to the cross. It is here that as man does this does he sees the face of God. We see the face of Christ in the world today where that we can reach out even to those who have despised us, those who have harmed and hurt us. We can love. This is what Christ does to us. This is also that which we are responsible for living out.
The song, “How Beautiful” has powerful words. “How beautiful the hands that served the wine and the bread,” - the Last Supper –“and the sons of the earth. How beautiful the feet that walked the long dusty roads and the hill to the Cross. How beautiful the Body of Christ.”
“How beautiful the heart that bled, that took all my sins and bore it instead. How beautiful the tender eyes that chose to forgive and never despise; how beautiful the radiant Bride.” This reflects back to us. “Who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes. How beautiful when humble hearts give the fruit of pure lives so that others may life. How beautiful the feet that bring the sound of good news and the love of the King, how beautiful the hands that serve the wine and the bread, and the sons of earth. As He has laid down His life we offer this sacrifice; that we will live just as He died, willing to pay the price, willing to pay the price.”
The sign of the presence, the Kingdom, the healing, the nourishment, the sacrifice, the abundance – these are what God has intended for us. We come to His Table understanding what He has given for us. No longer the animal, but now, “It is My body. Now, it is My blood.” He is making a statement to us. “I am doing this for you. I am giving this, My life, in behalf of you.” He gives of His total self; do we? Or do we hold back for ourselves? Are we giving respect to what He has done?
Last week, someone approached me and asked me, “Why do we not bow and kneel at the time of the Anamnesis?” I explained, “It is a practical thing because of the monobloc chairs. Some might lean on them and they might move and they might fall.” The conversation went on and I finally said, “I will tell the people if they want to kneel, they may do. If they don’t feel they can, don’t.”
It is time for us to give the reverence and respect to Christ. He has given His all for us. Do we give Him honor? Do we take what He has given and do we live it out? “This is My body, broken for you.” The other part added in 1Corinthians 11, “Do this, in remembrance of Me.” In the gospels, the only time that was repeated was when He held the bread saying, “This is My body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”
The challenge for us is to take what He has done into our lives and proclaim it in the way we live out our lives the respect that we have for each other.
This is the Feast of the Presence of the holy body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is here with us. He does not remain in the Altar. He enters us; He becomes what we are because the old saying we have, “You are what you eat.” We eat the body and the blood of Christ. We become like Him. We then have the responsibility of living it out so that others also will know and have that hope in their lives.
I challenge us. I trust that the history, the first five books of the Bible, challenges us. It sets the liturgy as the way of worship. It is amazing how the Church has gotten away from what God has given to us, but the liturgy is to train us, to prepare us to be the people of God. May we follow Him.
When that bread is raised, when that cup is raised, may there be an awareness of the price that has been paid. May there be that understanding that He has given His all so that we may have the all that He intends us to have.
LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
THE CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES IS ONE OF THE PLACES WHERE A SPECIAL PAPAL INDULT WAS GRANTED TO CELEBRATE THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF OUR BLESSED REDEEMER OF OUR MOST BLESSED LORD ON THE NEAREST SUNDAY
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