Reader discusses communion

To the editor:

Recently in The Times I read of an activity taking place in which during communion the wine and the wafer would be turned into the actual, literal blood and body of Jesus Christ. Being this was announced as a Christian service I must point out the error in this teaching using the gold standard of the Christian faith, the word of God.

Nowhere in the Holy Bible does it say that any wine or wafer will be turned into the actual literal blood and body of Jesus Christ. If this actually happened it would put one in violation of Leviticus 3:17 "It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings, that you shall eat neither fat nor blood." When Jesus said in John 6:54 -- "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I I will raise him up at the last day,' he was not referring to ever eating his flesh and drinking his blood but in identifying and embracing that his body would be broken, his blood would be shed, he would die, be buried, and three days later rise from the dead. If we were to drink his blood and eat his body he will still have to be on the cross, and we would all be men in trouble, for we would die in our sins and go to hell. Jesus is no longer on the cross, whether on statue, necklace, or picture. If he was, our sins would still be in his body on the tree. But he died, and was buried "who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification." Romans 4:25.

"For in that he died, he died unto sin once: But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God." Romans 6:10 "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin until salvation." Hebrews 9:28.

May we as Christians partaking of communion remember the simple exhortation of the apostle Paul in I Corinthians 11:23-32.

He took the words that Jesus spoke in regards to his body and blood and that Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me." Remembrance is from the Greek word anamimnesko which means "to remind, to recollect." After quoting Jesus, the apostle Paul would add his own inspiration from God when he said, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come."

Not only do we show that Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead but also that he is coming again. He is alive, never again to shed his blood and break his body nor to allow mortal man to turn wine and wafer into it.

Tom Roeschlein - Brazil