Crazy Man. Crazy Talk.

The ‘Real Presence of Christ’ is a Christian theological phrase used to communicate the doctrine that Jesus is “really and literally” present in the bread and wine of Holy Communion. His presence is not merely symbolic or figurative. You will find the basis for the doctrine in the literal interpretation of John 6:47-69.

I’m copying the text from the New American Standard Bible (a so-called 'Protestant' Bible). Every other translation of the Bible says the same thing. I know the quote is kind of long, but it’s necessary for context.
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(Verses 47ff) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

“Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “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 yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

“These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.”

“As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.”
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Verse 66(above) tells us, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.” And why was that? They thought Jesus was a crazy man, talking crazy talk.

But was He crazy, and was it crazy talk?

The 12 disciples didn’t think so. They took Jesus literally. And so did many of the early Church Fathers – all of whom are all well-respected among Protestant, Orthodox, and Roman Catholic theologians today. For the sake of space and time, I quote only two:

St. Ignatius of Antioch (c. 110 A.D.) “I desire the Bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David; and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible.”

St. Justin the Martyr (c. 100 - 165 A.D.) “For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so too, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by Him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nourished, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus.”

An easy internet search will pull up many other Church Fathers who believed in the “Real and Literal Presence” of Jesus in the bread and wine, such as:

Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 140 - 202 A.D.)
Tertullian (c. 155 - 250 A.D.)
Origen (c. 185 - 254 A.D.)
Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 - 216 A.D.)
Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200 - 258 A.D.)
Athanasius (c. 295 - 373 A.D.)
Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 350 A.D.)
Basil the Great (c. 330 - 379 A.D.)
Gregory of Nazianzus (c. 330 - 389 A.D.)
John Chrysostom (c. 344 - 407 A.D.)
Ambrose of Milan (c. 333 - 397 A.D.)
Jerome (c. 347 - 420 A.D.)
Augustine (c. 354 - 430 A.D.)

And, finally (if there could be a final comment about the Eucharist and the Real Presence), Martin Luther also believed in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharistic Celebration -- that Jesus was physically -- not symbolically -- present in the bread and wine.

So what is my point? Simply this: Jesus was not a crazy man talking crazy stuff. He was speaking words of serious truth and supernatural reality.

And neither are we today crazy who take Jesus’ words literally. We believe nothing more than what apostles and the great theologians of the early Church believed: When they receive Holy Communion, they are really and literally receiving the very Body and Blood of the Savior.

And I thank God for His indescribable gift.