How do we gain access to God?
From time
immemorial, humankind has longed for a relationship with God. In the Book of Genesis, the priest-king
Melchizedek brings out bread and wine
and blesses both Abram and God for their intervention in a local battle. As priest-king, Melchizedek connects the
people to God: he is their access to God
and God’s access to them, the source of their union, of their relationship – an
essential link between the divine and humankind. King David will follow in this lineage, as
Psalm 110, a psalm of David, reminds us:
You are a priest forever, in the
line of Melchizedek. As in the case
of Abram, it is God who works through David:
The scepter of your power the Lord
will stretch forth from Zion. As
priest-king, David helps his people to find union with the Lord.
When Jesus feeds the
multitudes in Luke’s Gospel, he does so in ritualistic fashion, like
Melchizedek before him: looking up to heaven, he said the blessing
over [the loaves and fish], broke
them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. However, in so doing, Jesus is not simply
acting as go-between or link between God and humankind: Jesus is himself divine, he is God, and so his
sharing in this case is self-sharing.
Having fed the crowds spiritually – by preaching and healing – Jesus also
feeds them physically; they for their part are content simply to be present, to
be gathered, to receive what he is giving them, for he feeds not only their bellies
but their hearts. Clearly, the story of
the loaves and fishes has overtones of Eucharist, Jesus’ ultimate gift to
his disciples.
We are meant to
repeat the Last Supper at every Eucharistic celebration. Jesus’ last meal with the disciples, described
by Paul to the Corinthians, is itself a revelation of his death to come: This is my body that is for you… This cup is
the new covenant in my blood. Jesus’
death and resurrection offer his followers the consummate access to God: we are one in him who is one in the Father;
we share the union of Christ with God in Eucharist. It is his body and blood in Eucharist that feed
us, nourish us; they are his gift, his presence with us to this day, the
fullest access to God the Father Jesus could possibly share with us. We are to celebrate this gift of body and
blood, knowing that only they satisfy; only
they can ensure the relationship with the Lord for which we all long.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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