Orthodox Beliefs and Their Biblical Foundations

Orthodox Church view of the Sacraments, specifically Holy Communion

Some teach that Communion or The Lord’s Supper (Which Orthodox call “the Holy Eucharist”) is only a sign or symbol. Most of Christendom, however, believes it is far more. The Orthodox Church has always believed that we, in a mystery, receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. What do the Holy Scriptures teach concerning Holy Communion?

1. Jesus said at the Last Supper: “This is My body which is given for you; do this remembrance of Me,’ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (St Luke 22: 19, 20).The Lord states clearly that His gifts to us are more than just a sign or a mere memorial, and all of ancient Christianity took Him at His word.
The skeptic might say, “But Jesus also said, ‘I am the door’. Certainly He did not mean He was a seven foot wood plank.” No, and Christians have never interpreted His statement that way, But the Church does teach that He is our entrance in to the Kingdom of God and the bread and wine become, in mystery, His Body and Blood.

2. In 1 Corinthians 11:29, 30, we read of people who became sick and even died through receiving Communion hypocritically. People are not affected in that manner by something that is merely “symbolic”. In this sacrament we commune with God Himself.

3. In 1 Corinthians 10, St Paul is comparing the manna and water in the wilderness with the true bread and drink of the New Covenant. In 1 Corinthians 10:4 , Paul writes, “ And all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” The question is, was the Rock Christ? Under laboratory observation, the rock would still most likely be granite. But the Word of God says, ‘The Rock was Christ’. We do not subject the gifts to chemical analysis, but to the Word of God. It is mystery, but never magic. Christ was present in the Rock; He is present in the Holy Gifts.

4. In St John 6:53 we read, “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you”. The Church receives this passage at face value-nothing added, nothing taken away. In Communion we became partakers of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Just as the new birth (St John 3) gives as life through water and the Holy Spirit, so the Body and Blood of Christ sustain His life in us.

5. There is also the fact (Hebrew 9: 11, 12) that Christ our High Priest enters the heavenly Sanctuary with His own Blood, and that it is this heavenly Sanctuary that we worship (Hebrew 10: 19-25).There is only one Eucharist, the one in heaven, and we join that one feast.

We must neither add to nor subtract from the Word of God. Therefore we confess with Holy Scripture that the consecrated bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Christ. It is a mystery: we do not pretend to know how or why. As always, we come to Christ in childlike faith, receive His gifts, and offer Him praise that He has called us to heavenly banquet.

Source: Orthodox Study Bible.