For the Life of the World
“…the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
One of the recurring themes of the Bible is that God’s love and salvific will extends to all of humanity. This is a pronounced shift from how the Pharisees, Sadducees, and other Jewish sects had understood the Scriptures of the Old Testament at the time of Jesus. They (like most good Jews) had assumed that God was primarily concerned with Israel, and other nations only secondarily. After all, God had specifically rescued Israel from slavery in Egypt and had continually cared for them by sending them judges, prophets, priests, and kings. God had destroyed those nations that opposed Israel or had mostly ignored them, so why should Israel assume that God cared for the other nations, or indeed cared for the whole world?
It would take about twenty years after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension for Christianity to express in writing why God cared about the salvation of the world. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St. Paul wrote a variety of letters that would explain how the Jews of his time had misunderstood the Scriptures, and how it was God’s plan all along to rescue the whole world from slavery to sin and death. Drawing on the book of Genesis, Paul showed how God’s promise to Abraham (“in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”) was fulfilled through Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of Abraham through descent from him. This same Jesus rescued the world from slavery to death in a similar way to how Moses had rescued Israel from slavery to Egypt (Genesis 22:18, LXX). As the blood of the Passover lamb had saved Israel from death in the Old Testament, Jesus’ blood now saves the world from death, washes believers of their sins, and brings them to new life through Jesus’ glorious resurrection.
It should be no surprise, then, that church fathers would readily pick up on this and incorporate it into the liturgies of the Church. Since the Gospel of John clearly states that Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist are given up “for the life of the world,” the fathers were eager to remind the faithful of this through the services of the Church. For example, in the Liturgy of St. James, the priest thanks God for saving the entire human race through Christ’s blood:
“O God, who through Your great and unspeakable love sent forth Your only-begotten Son into the world, in order that He might turn back the lost sheep, turn not away us sinners, laying hold of You by this dread and bloodless sacrifice; for we trust not in our own righteousness, but in Your good mercy, by which You purchase our race.”
The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom likewise thanks God for having brought all of humanity out of nothingness and into the Kingdom of God:
“You brought us out of nothing into being, and when we had fallen away, You raised us up again. You left nothing undone until you had led us up to heaven and granted us Your Kingdom, which is to come. For all these things, we thank You and Your only-begotten Son and Your Holy Spirit: for all things we know and do not know, for blessings manifest and hidden that have been bestowed on us.”
And perhaps most explicitly, the Liturgy of St. Basil reminds us that we offer up the Eucharist to God for the salvation of the world:
“We pray to You and call upon You, O Holy of Holies, that by the favor of Your goodness, Your Holy Spirit may come upon us and upon the gifts here presented, to bless, sanctify, and make this bread to be the precious Body of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ…And this cup to be the precious Blood of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ…Shed for the life and salvation of the world.”
St. Basil’s Liturgy goes on to pray for “those who are absent with good cause.” This means that even in times when we are not able to be at Liturgy, we know that Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist is being offered up for our salvation and for the life of the world. The fact that we offer up the Eucharist on behalf of everyone (including those not present) is extremely comforting to me. This means that even when I am not able to receive Communion, even when I am not able to attend the Liturgy, I know that I am being saved by the blood of Christ. This is something for us all to rejoice in.
