By Fr Francis Gonsalves, SJ –
The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Year B – June 6, 2021
Readings: Ex 24:3-8; Heb 9:11-15; Mk 14:12-16, 22-26
“Jesus said, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many’.” (Mk 14:24)
Prologue: Covenant and blood are rich biblical symbols. In the Bible, covenant refers basically to the love relationship between God and God’s people, with God initiating covenants and being the faithful partner while human beings faltered and were unfaithful to God. Blood signifies life and death. Thus, it was an important element in offering sacrifices to God—the spilling of the sacrificial animal’s blood symbolizing the surrender of one’s life to God.
Three Scriptural Signposts:
- The Blood of the Old Covenant: God has been making covenants with humankind since the beginning of time. The Bible speaks of covenants in the Book of Genesis—for example, with Adam and Eve (2:16-17), Noah (9:8-11) and Abraham (12:1-3). The first reading highlights the Exodus covenant, now not made only with individuals or families, but with the whole nation of Israel who become, “a people holy to the Lord your God; it is you the Lord has chosen out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deut 14:2). This is a covenant of unequal partners, and the people are expected to follow God’s Law so as to experience peace and prosperity. God lays down the law in Exodus, chs. 19–20 and Moses becomes the mediator between God and the people. The passage describes the solemn signing of the Mosaic-Exodus covenant with the blood of animals. God gave Moses the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, on top of Mount Sinai while the people waited below. The terms of this covenant were “cut” or inscribed upon stone tablets. Moses became God’s voice, so to say, when he “came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, ‘All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do’.” (v.3). The people accept to be partners of the covenant with their united “yes” to God. Moses then builds an altar, symbolizing God’s presence, and also erects twelve pillars, signifying the twelve tribes of Israel (v.4). Both the parties of the covenant are now symbolically set face-to-face: altar-and-people.
Animals are sacrificed and their blood is collected in basins. Moses sprinkles blood against the altar and over the people, thereby symbolically uniting God and people.
After hearing the demands from the Book of the Covenant, the people again cry out in unison, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” (v.7). Blood symbolizes life (see Lev 17:11,14). The Bible has innumerable accounts of animal sacrifices either to thank God for favours received or to atone for sins committed.
Underlying blood sacrifices is the belief that the death of a victim has a finality about it, which imposes on the offerer and the deity obligations to fulfill the commitments implied in the sacrifice. So, on the positive side, though the animal loses its life, this life is transferred to the people; while, on the negative side, it is also understood that if the conditions of the covenant are not fulfilled, the fate of the animal might befall the people. This is well stated in Moses’ farewell discourse to his people putting “life and good, death and evil” before the nation (Deut 30:15-20).
2. My Blood of the New Covenant: While the making of covenants continues through the time of the prophets, there is always the aspect of God being faithful while the people are shown to be frequently unfaithful, having “transgressed laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant” (Isa 24:5). Time and again, on the one hand, God’s covenant was “broken” (Jer 11:10; Ezek 17:15-19), “abandoned” (Jer 22:9), “transgressed” (Jer 34:18), not remembered (Am 1:9), “corrupted” (Mal 2:8) and profaned (Mal 2:10), and, on the other hand, there is the messianic prophesy that God will make a “new covenant” with God’s people (Jer 31:31-34; Ezek 34:25-32). Jesus ushers in and ratifies this new covenant and takes the place of the sacrificial victim-animal. Today’s gospel passage highlights the last day of Jesus’ life wherein he carefully directs his disciples to arrange for the Passover meal, his Passover. Jesus’ disciples—like all the Jews—were familiar with the origins and meaning of the Passover. But Jesus differs from the usual festive ritual by giving them to drink of his cup, saying, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” (v.24). Like the animal-victim whose blood is sacrificed in the OT, Jesus says, “my blood,” and expands the beneficiaries of his sacrifice from individuals, families and the Israelite nation to “many”, meaning, all. The ‘cup’ is also significant since people usually drank from their own cups. But for Jesus, cup also refers to his impending death as he pleads with his Father: “Abba, Father … Take this cup from me” (Mk 14:36) and, “Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (Jn 18:11). Having accepted the cup of his death, he proffers it to his disciples with the final prediction, “Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” (v.25). Indeed, those ready to accept his challenge and walk his way will be beneficiaries of the blessings, forgiveness and life he brings.
- Comparing Old and New Covenants: Though the imagery of covenant is not so
widespread and prominent in the NT as it is in the OT, yet it appears frequently in the Letter to the Hebrews, where two-thirds of the NT’s uses of the word ‘covenant’ appear. Moreover, in this Letter, there is a stress on the “new” (8:8,13; 9:15; 12:24) and the “better” (7:22; 8:6). The author writes for his people who were converts from Judaism and were either sitting on the fence, so to say, or unsure that what they had embraced—namely, the new Way of Christ—was more effective for their salvation. Hence, the differences between the Old and New are explained quite elaborately. First, the new covenant will be written or cut upon human hearts as the people’s hearts of stone will be replaced by hearts of flesh (Heb 8:10). Secondly, the mediator between God and humankind is no longer some animal, but some body, Jesus. Thirdly, in the new covenant, the victim is the same as the offerer, since Jesus appears before God “with his own blood” (v.12). This reading refers to the ‘Day of Atonement’ festival (Lev 16) when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of animals signifying atonement for the people’s sins. Fourthly, while the people play a passive role in the old covenant, Jesus actively announces the new covenant with a breaking of his body and the shedding of his blood – a “once and for all” holocaust that invites his followers to do likewise. Are we ready to drink Christ’s cup?
Point to Ponder: At every Eucharist, the Corpus Christi called ‘Church’ assembles to be nourished by Christ’s body and blood. Rather than any sprinkling of blood, there is a drinking of blood. Drinking from the same cup, we become ‘blood brothers’ or ‘blood sisters’, so to say.
In ‘Fratelli Tutti’, n.85, Pope Francis writes: “We believe that Christ shed his blood for each of us and that no one is beyond the scope of his universal love. If we go to the ultimate source of that love which is the very life of the triune God, we encounter in the community of the three divine Persons the origin and perfect model of all life in society.” May we be the Corpus Christi in the world, today.
Fr. Francis Gonsalves, SJ is the Executive Secretary, CCBI Comm. of Theology & Doctrine and President, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune and former Principal of Vidyajyoti College, Delhi. He is also the Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine. He has authored many books and articles and is a columnist with The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle national dailies.