ACC ~ Matthew 26 v26 - 27

HIS BODY AND BLOOD

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: After Judas the betrayer had gone out, the Savior revealed the saving mystery to the Eleven. Now Christ was about to be raised within a short time in order to come and appear before the Father with his own body. So that we could have his body present, he has given us his own body and blood that it might ruin the power of decay. For without the presence of Christ, salvation from death is not possible and humanity is unable to be freed from sin which dwells along with us in this life. He dwells with us in our souls through the Holy Spirit, and we become sharers in holiness, heavenly people and spiritual name bearers. FRAGMENT 290. [1]

[1] MKGK 256.

JESUS TOOK BREAD

ORIGEN: The bread which God the Word revealed to be his own body is the Word of the sustainer of souls. What was set upon the table was the Word proceeding from God the Word, bread from heavenly bread, as it is written: “You have prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” [1] And the wine which God the Word revealed to be his blood is the Word filling and wondrously inebriating the hearts of all who drink it. It is the Word contained in that chalice about which it is written: “My cup overflows.” [2] This wine is the fruit of the true vine who said, “I am the true vine.” [3] It is blood of grapes processed in the winepress of his Passion. Likewise the bread is the Word of Christ ground from that grain of wheat which “falls into the earth” and “bears much fruit.” [4] It was not the visible bread that he held in his hands which God the Word called his body, but it was the Word in whose sacrament the bread was to be broken. Nor was it the visible drink that he identified as his blood, but it was the Word in whose sacrament the libation was to be poured out. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 85. [5]

[1] Ps 23:5 (22:5 LXX).

[2] Ps 23:5 (22:5 LXX).

[3] Jn 15:1.

[4] Jn 12:24.

[5] GCS 38.2:196.

BREAD AND WINE

JEROME: After the typical Passover meal was over and he had eaten the flesh of the lamb with his apostles, he took the bread that strengthens human hearts [1] and moved on to the true sacrament of the Passover. Thus even as Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God, had prefigured Christ by offering bread and wine, [2] so Jesus would exemplify this with his real body and blood. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.26.27. [3]

[1] Ps 104:15 (103:15 LXX).

[2] Gen 14:18.

[3] CCL 77:251.

HE TOOK BREAD

CHRYSOSTOM: But the evening is a sure sign of the fullness of times and that the things were now come to the very end. He took bread and gave thanks to teach us how we ought to celebrate this sacrament and to show that he does not unwillingly come to the Passion. He is teaching us so that whatever we may suffer, we may bear it thankfully. So it is a sign of good hope. If the [Mosaic] type pointed to deliverance from bondage, how much more will the truth he embodies set free the whole world. He is being delivered up for the benefit of our whole human race. This is why he did not ordain the sacrament before this time. But from then on, when the rites of the law were no longer in effect, Jesus ordained it. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 82.1. [1]

[1] PG 58:738; NPNF 1 10:491.

HE TOOK THE CUP

ORIGEN: If therefore we wish to receive the bread of blessing from Jesus, who is eager to give it, we should enter the city and go into the house, prepared beforehand, where Jesus kept the Passover with his disciples. We ascend to the “large, furnished upper room” [1] where he “took the cup” from the Father and, “when he had given thanks, he gave it to them” who had gone up there with him and said, “Drink this, for this is my blood of the new covenant.” The cup was both consumed and poured out. It was consumed by the disciples. It was “poured out for the remission of sins” committed by those who drink it. If you want to know in what sense it was poured out, compare this saying with what was written [by Paul]: “God’s love has been poured into our hearts.” [2] If the blood of the covenant was poured into our hearts for the remission of our sins, then by the pouring of that potable blood into our hearts all the sins we have committed in the past will be remitted and wiped clean. He who took the cup and said “drink this all of you” will not depart from us who drink it but will drink it with us (since he himself is in each of us), for we are unable alone or without him either to eat of the bread or to drink of the fruit of the true vine. You should not marvel that he who is himself the bread also eats the bread with us or that he who is himself the cup of the fruit of the vine also drinks it with us. This is possible because the Word of God is omnipotent and is at once the bearer of many different names, for the multitude of his virtues are innumerable, since he is himself every virtue. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 86. [3]

[1] Lk 22:12.

[2] Rom 5:5.

[3] GCS 38.2:199-200.

Mt