† Metropolitan Klemes of Larissa and Platamon
Our Lord Jesus Christ
exhorted the Jews who approached Him in the hope that He would provide them
with material food by multiplying the bread not to devote all their concern to
perishable food, but rather to spiritual food, which is bestowed by God upon
those who seek it (cf. John 6:27).
Certainly, by this exhortation He
did not hinder work—quite the contrary—but rejected exclusive concern
for acquiring and securing material food alone. For such food perishes, serving
the needs of this present biological life, and cannot nourish the spirit. Yet
there is a food “which endures” “unto everlasting life,” which the Lord
provides, He who has been confirmed and demonstrated to be the Son of God the
Father. What is this food? The mystical Partaking, that is, Holy Communion
in His Flesh! (cf. St Theophylact, Commentary on the Four Gospels,
1865 ed., p. 336).
In order for a person to be
deemed worthy of this divine Mystery, he must have as his foundation the
unwavering faith that the Lord Jesus Christ is the true Son of God Who became
Man, the true God-Man, in order to make human beings sons of God by grace. And
this faith, which transcends reason, must not be merely theoretical, but put
into practice, adorned with good works—evangelical and divine.
Our Lord reminds the Jews, and
all of us, that just as the ancient Israelites miraculously received manna from
heaven in the wilderness in order to be sustained in natural life, so also the
Lord Jesus Christ, the true Manna, the true Bread of Life, gives spiritual
life by nourishing the human soul through the Energy of the Holy Spirit.
And in this way He grants even to the human body life and incorruption! For He
is the true Bread, “which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the
world” (John 6:33).
The Jews, being carnally minded,
supposed that the Lord was promising them a continual supply of material food,
and for this reason they eagerly asked Him not to deprive them of this gift (v.
34).
The Lord, however, affirms that
He Himself IS the Bread of Life! (v. 35). He is the pre-eternal God Himself,
Who came into our deadened nature and our corruptible life in order to quicken
it with the Fire of His Divinity! He grants regeneration and renewal
through holy Baptism, abundantly bestows nourishment through His life-giving
word upon those, of course, who have a “right heart” (St Theophylact, p.
337), and finally grants resurrection and eternal life to those who are
nourished by Holy Communion.
Since He is the Bread of Life,
whoever partakes of Him will live forever: “and the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (v. 51).
The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
and was crucified voluntarily and of His own free will, in order to give His
Flesh—hypostatically united with the Divinity—for the life of the world. Thus
our salvation was accomplished through the destruction of death and the
Resurrection, which thereafter was imparted to the whole human race. And no one
can receive the gifts of the divine Incarnation unless, in the Divine Liturgy,
he partakes of the life-giving Flesh of the Lord Who suffered and rose again. The
bread and wine offered, through the mystical divine blessing of the celebrant
and the descent of the Holy Spirit, are changed in an ineffable and
incomprehensible manner into the Flesh and Blood of the Lord! (St
Theophylact, p. 339).
And just as, when the Lord lived
upon the earth and was nourished with material bread, that bread was changed
into His Flesh and became assimilated to it within Him, so now also the bread
of the offering is truly and actually changed into the Flesh of the Lord.
And this takes place
supernaturally and spiritually, yet with absolute reality, so that we may speak
of sacramental and liturgical realism, even though we continue to see
and taste Bread and Wine in the consecrated Gifts. For now we walk by faith,
and it is faith that assures us of realities that are not perceptible to the
senses. Nor, indeed, would we be able to endure seeing and tasting with our
senses true Flesh and Blood, permeated by the Fire of the Divinity! This
surpasses us, and for this reason the Lord has providentially arranged that
what we know should take place in this manner.
But when the Jews heard these
astonishing and fearsome words, they showed unbelief and began to wonder
intensely what these unheard-of and unprecedented things were that He was
telling them! Who does this man think He is? And how is it possible for us to
eat His flesh in order to have eternal life? (v. 52).
Whoever remains on the natural
level, whoever is not given life by unwavering faith in the divine words of
Christ the Saviour, is indeed unable to accept His teaching, which transcends
reason, concerning the dread Mystery of the Divine Eucharist. For this reason,
we too must have pure and unshakable faith in Holy Communion and not seek
rational proofs as to how it is accomplished (St Theophylact, p. 340).
The Flesh of which we partake
is not the flesh of a mere man, but of God Who became Man, and therefore, as
deified Flesh, it is able to deify those who partake of it. It is not
symbolic, transient, corruptible, and temporary food, but a means of
attaining eternal life. And the Blood of Holy Communion imparts the Holy
Spirit and quenches man’s spiritual thirst.
For this reason, our Lord is
unequivocal: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood,
hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is
meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (vv. 53–55).
And He continues decisively and
emphatically, leaving no room for doubt that His words are to be understood in
the fullest and most literal sense: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and
I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is
that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and
are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever” (vv. 56–58).
Whoever receives Holy Communion,
says the unerring mouth of our Lord, abides in the Lord, and the Lord abides in
him. There takes place a supernatural intermingling, a wondrous union and
commingling, so that God is within us and we are within God! Through the
life-giving, deified Flesh of the Lord we participate in the divine Life, and
the divine Life flows into us! And henceforth we live for God and for Him
alone! What a dread Mystery this is! How the things of Christ become ours and
are manifested within us! His holiness and perfection, His purity and
chastity, His love for mankind and forgiveness, His humility and meekness, His
love and self-sacrifice, His poverty and selflessness!… All these, of course,
according to the measure of our capacity; yet we must resemble Him in these
things, and all of them, to a lesser or greater degree, should characterize us,
if in reality we are sacramentally and liturgically partakers of His divine
Life!…
For this reason, we cannot avoid
the deep self-examination that must govern us. Those who truly partake
of the life-giving Body and Blood of the Lord our God and Saviour must remain
in continual effort, watchfulness, and an unceasing struggle of preparation,
so that they may partake worthily of the divine Gifts and divine graces. Their
whole life must be Christ-life, a life filled with repentance,
attentiveness, prayer, self-restraint, purity, and inner and outward order, so
that they may not only partake of the divine Mysteries, but may also truly
preserve within themselves the divine gifts mentioned above. Then, what room or
place can there be for sin, for serious falls and tragic spiritual defeats, for
impermissible concessions and grievous relapses?
And especially if we fulfill the
ideal of frequent Eucharistic participation, as should be the case with true
Christians, then this demanding and continual effort will constitute a
God-pleasing way of life, a foretaste of Paradise, a journeying together and
union with Christ the Saviour. What could be higher or more blessed than
this?
May it be so, that we may be
deemed worthy of true communion in the Kingdom of incorruption of our Triune
God, in eternal union with Him in the light, together also with our like-minded
fellow-strugglers and brethren. Amen!
Larissa, September 2026
Greek
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