Roman Catholic worship centers in the sacrifice of the mass. This is ever to be remembered in dealing with defenders of Rome. To meet their argument successfully we should be familiar with the basis of their contentions, in contrast to the unassailable facts of Scripture. On one occasion, while studying the sixth chapter of John in the original with a Catholic priest, when we came to the 63d verse, I asked, "What will you do with that?" The Scripture says, "The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." The priest was silent for a moment. Then he said, "I must teach what the church has defined for me as doctrine;" and his answer expressed the judgment and confession of the entire priesthood of the Church of Rome.
The great essential in that church is uniformity in all its undertakings. Individual conviction is subjugated by the voice of the church as a whole. And because the center of their worship is at the sacrificial altar of the mass, we appeal in these articles to the Greek text of the New Testament as the standard of authority and the supreme court of appeal, and to the Latin text used by Roman Catholics, since they will not accept the Protestant translations. In this way we meet them on their own ground.
The Catholic writer in The Messenger of the Sacred Heart says that at the last supper, after Jesus had said, "Take, eat; this is My body;" and, "Drink ye all of it; for this is My blood," He did not change the opinion of the disciples, but expected them to accept His words as literal hr meaning; and that the bread was--His real "body" and the wine His real "blood." It is true that, at that time, He made no explanation as to His meaning. His explanation had been made before, and it is to that exposition that we now call attention.
Definition of "Body" and "Blood"
In John 6:48-69 we have the Saviour's exposition of what He meant by the statement in verses 53-58, which is summarized in these words: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." "For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh -My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him." Verses 53, 55, 56. Those who did this would be raised up at the last day. Verse 54. The promise of the resurrection was therefore involved in partaking of the flesh and blood of Christ.
The Jews strove among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" Even many of the disciples said, "This is a hard saying; who can hear it?" It is evident from these remarks that both the Jews and the disciples understood the words of Jesus to mean that they must literally eat His flesh and drink His blood. When Jesus saw that His words had caused confusion among His disciples, He came to their rescue by explaining what He actually meant. He said, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." Verse 63. Such is the translation from the Greek Textus Receptus. The Greek, ta remota a egO lard human, is rendered, "The words that I speak unto you," The verb laid is in the singular, present indicative, and is of course correctly translated, "I speak."
This verse is of great importance, because it is the true explanation of what Christ meant by His "body" and "blood." Let us analyze the text as it reads in another Greek Textus Receptus, that of the Catholic Church: "To pneuma estin to zoopoioun he sari ouk Ophelei ouden ta hremata ha ego lelaleka humin, pneuma estin kai z estin." Literal translation: "It is the Spirit that gives (is giving) life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I have spoken to you spirit are, and life are." The Greek verb lelaleka is in the perfect tense, active voice, and is translated, "have spoken." Air the --ancient MSS. (Uncials), except the Alexandrian, which does not contain the sixth chapter of John, have lelaleka. This reading has been adopted by the Catholic Church as the standard Greek rendering. The English and American Protestant revisers adopted it. The Swedish revisers accepted it. And Lachman, Tischendorf, Tregellis, Wescott, Hort, and Sholz all adopt this reading as the most authentic and emphatic for this statement of Christ.
The perfect tense in the Greek denotes an action in time past, complete in itself, but carrying the effect up to the present. To illustrate: When Jesus died on the cross, He cried out, "Tetelestai." This verb is in the perfect, indicative, passive. We translate it, "It is finished." The Vulgate reads, "Consummatum cst" ("It is consummated"). All the words of life that had been spoken by Jesus were then finished, and He sealed with His own blood all He had said. There can be no modification or revision of His theological code, or teaching, after His death. No record has been left indicating that in His forty days of sojourning among the disciples after His resurrection He in the least manner changed His gospel which He had sealed with His own blood on the cross.
His Words, Not Literal Body
The Latin Vulgate translates John 6:63 thus: "Spiritus est qui vivificat: taro non prodest quidquam. Verba, quae ego locutus sum vobis, Spiritus et vita suet." Translation: "It is the Spirit that quickens: the flesh is profitless. Words, that I have spoken unto you, spirit and life are." The Catholic Douay Version translates it: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life." Thus the Catholic Greek and Latin texts, with their translations into English, bear witness to the fact that the Saviour indeed corrected the opinion of the disciples. Hence the contention by the Catholic writer that Jesus did not attempt to change their opinion, is not true.
The question then-irises, Did this explanation have any effect on the disciples? The context answers the question. When some of the disciples had heard His saying, they left Him and walked no more with Him. On seeing this, the Saviour asked the twelve, "Will ye also go away?" Then Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:67, 68. The Catholic Greek text reads, "Kurie, pros tina apeleusometha; rem,ata rods aioniou exeis," which the Latin Vulgate renders, "Domine, ad quern, ibimusf verba vitae aeternae habes." Literally rendered, it is, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Words of eternal life Thou hast."
Here is conclusive proof that the explanation that Christ had given them—that it was His words that give life, and not His literal body—were well understood by Peter, for he did not say, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the flesh and blood of eternal life. Nothing could be clearer and more emphatic than this testimony of Peter when he said, "Thou hast the words of eternal life;" and he added, "And we believe and are sure that Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." Verse 69. Peter was the spokesman for the twelve when he gave in clear language the confession here quoted, for he said, "To whom shall we go?" and, "We believe." The Revised says, "We have believed." This is confirmatory evidence that the belief of the twelve, as a body, was expressed in the testimony of Peter.
(To be continued)