Eucharistic Theology in Early Martyrdoms
The Eucharist and the Early Church
In the previous two articles I examined the theme of the Banquet in Scripture, and its implications for our understanding of the Eucharist. I want to continue this theme by looking at two prominent martyrdom accounts and the ways in which they may similarly further our eucharistic perspective.
Before diving into the martyrdoms themselves, however, I want to outline the stark meaning of St. John’s account of Christ’s teaching on the bread of life following the miraculous feeding of the multitude [Jn 6:25-71].
The Bread from Heaven
Scholars and exegetes have long recognised this chapter as holding the definitive Johannine teaching on the sacrament, and this is for good reason. John uses deliberate ‘Eucharistic words’ such as δίδωμι ‘I give’, ἄρτος ‘bread’, αἷμα ‘blood’1 but more so than this, John specifically has Christ himself draw the connection between the ‘bread from heaven’ and ‘my body’ - an obvious Eucharistic connection:
“Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world… I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
[Jn 6:32-33, 35]
“…whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh… Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
[Jn 6:47-51, 53-58]
Christ begins using words with the root ἐσθίω [esthio] ‘to eat’ - usually used to translate the Hebrew אכל [akhal]– a general word for ‘eat’. But as he deepens his teaching, as the Jews seek to clarify his meaning, John changes his language to the more drastic τρώγων [trogon] ‘to gnaw or munch’ [Jn 6:54], which “indicates the physical crunching of the teeth….” and “accentuates that Jesus refers to a real experience of eating”. 2 Such graphic wording betrays an early attestation to what is now called a ‘real presence’ view of the Eucharist. That is to say - Jesus is not speaking metaphorically here. In fact, his intensification of language would seem to suggest the opposite. As St John Chrysostom puts it:
“he means to assure them that what he had said was no mere enigma or parable, but that you must really eat the body of Christ.”
[St John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of John 47.1]3
Jesus uses this visceral language to convey the very real and literal partaking of his flesh as the bread of heaven [Jn 6:53-57]. When the disciples push back on this, Christ simply states, “does this offend you?” [Jn 6:61].
We must admit then that the bread and the wine are not just ‘symbols’ here, but that Christ really means what he says - they are the body and blood of Christ, who is the bread, the manna, our nourishment, that has come down from heaven. by extension, something happens in the Eucharist. As St Paul’s word’s indicate, believers κοινωνία [partake] of the body and blood of Christ in the cup and bread, a spiritual fellowship, with the crucified Lord [1 Cor 10:16], just as Christ himself promised, “those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. ” [Jn 6:56] Or as St Cyril writes,
“whoever eats the holy flesh of Christ has eternal life because his flesh has the Word, which by nature is life…the person who receives the flesh of our Saviour Christ and drinks his precious blood…shall be one with him…”
[St Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, 4.2]
Now that we have outlined the basics of St John’s eucharistic theology, we may turn to the two martyrdoms - those of St Ignatius of Antioch, and St Polycarp of Smyrna:
St Ignatius of Antioch
The words of St Ignatius describing his longing for martyrdom are striking, and easily offensive, or perhaps ludicrous, to modern readers. Pondering his death, the saint writes:
“because of their mistreatments I am becoming more of a disciple…Fire and cross and battles with beasts, mutilation, mangling, wrenching of bones, the hacking of limbs, the crushing of the whole body, cruel tortures of the devil; let these come upon me, only let me reach Jesus Christ!”
“Allow me to be an imitator of the suffering of my God…”
[Ignatius to the Romans 5:1,3; 6:3]4
The assurance with which the saint considers his earthly death mirrors the words of St Paul, who proclaimed in a similar way:
“…if, in fact, we suffer with him, so then, we will also be glorified with him.”
[Rom 8:17]
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
[Phil 3:10–11]
Moving from the theological conviction of martyrdom to the its sacramental meaning we find a remarkably eucharistic understanding present in St Ignatius’ view of his death.
I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may prove to pure bread [of Christ]. ”
[Ignatius to the Romans 4:1]
Though the wording is different, (St Ignatius uses the word ἀλήθομαι [alaythomai]), the imagery of ‘gnawing’ and ‘munching’ nevertheless calls to mind the equally graphic use of τρώγων by St John. It is also worth noting that this word, along with the later word ἀλεσμός [alesmos] ‘crushing’ in 5:3 recall the actions required in the making of wine and of bread5, perhaps another eucharistic hint? Similarly, the use of ἄρτος ‘bread’ and ‘food’ mirror Christ’s words in Jn 6:53-55. This mirroring of St John’s language, and the similarity St Ignatius draws between his own body and death, and that of the ‘pure bread of Christ’ would seem to indicate without a doubt that the saint views the bread of the Eucharist as the body of Christ, a eucharistic reality in which he too will partake in the fullness of his martyrdom.
As we saw in his statement regarding his resolve, for Ignatius, his death and mutilation is the means of his participation in Christ’s suffering and death in the same way that Paul would speak of the eucharistic banquet as a ‘participation’ in the reality of Christ’ sacrifice [1 Cor 10:16; cf 10:21].
“Let me be food for the wild beasts, through whom I may reach God… Better yet, coax the wild beasts, so that they may become my tomb… Then I will truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world will no longer see my body…”
[St Ignatius, To the Romans 4:1-2]
I have often wondered whether St Ignatius words here, “the world will no longer see my body’ have behind them the notion of the resurrection. Indeed, the language recalls that of Paul in 1 Cor 15:35-49. This understanding of the resurrection hope contained within suffering and martyrdom is also to be found in St Augustine’s reflection on the Eucharist, which aligns well with St Ignatius’ language:
“Let Christ be eaten; when eaten he lives, because when slain he rose again…”
[St Augustine, Sermon 132A.1]
We also find here the portrayal of a cultic setting for this eucharistic sacrifice:
“Grant me nothing more than to be poured out as an offering to God, while an altar is still ready, that becoming a chorus in love, you may sing to the Father in Christ Jesus”
[St Ignatius, To the Romans 2:2]
The setting of the altar and his encouragement of the church in Rome ‘to become as a chorus’ in praising the Lord, remind the reader of the altar/table of the Lord, the centre of the Christian liturgy, and of the chorus of the Sanctus sung during the Eucharistic liturgy itself.
Finally, St Ignatius concludes his letter regarding his coming martyrdom with nothing less than a reflection on the Eucharist itself. His language is very clear and should leave us with little doubt as to his understanding of Christ’s words:
“I take no pleasure incorruptible food or the pleasures of this life. I want the bread of God, which is the flesh of Christ, who is of the seed of David; and for drink I want his blood, which is incorruptible love.”
[St Ignatius, To the Romans 7:3]
It seems clear then that St Ignatius holds a deeply sacramental view of the eucharist, one that is informed by the words of Christ in Jn 6:31-56 and undergirded by the liturgy and worship of the Church and her celebration of the sacred meal of the Eucharist. Just as Christ’s sacrifice is made present and participated in through the consecration of the bread and wine, so too does St Ignatius liken his martyrdom to a eucharistic sacrifice, and to the ‘true bread of Christ’. Just as Christ’s death serves as the sacrifice through which eternal life is granted to humanity, a reality which is participated in through the Eucharist, in his death, St Ignatius experiences the fullness of the eternal life that is promised by the Lord, and lays down his life as a Eucharistic offering to God.
St Polycarp of Smyrna
Such a depiction is made only clearer in the account of the martyrdom of St Polycarp. Like St Ignatius, Polycarp’s martyrdom is understood within the framework of a sacrifice:
“…having placed his hands behind himself and having been bound, like a splendid ram chosen from a great flock for a sacrifice, a burnt offering prepared and acceptable to God…”
[Martyrdom of Polycarp 14:1]
Likewise, just as we saw in the words of St Ignatius, we encounter, again, the description of the body of the martyr being likened to the Eucharistic bread:
“And when he had offered up the “Amen” and finished his prayer, the men in charge of the fire lite it. And as a mighty flame blazed up, we saw a miracle (we, that is, to whom it was given to see), and we have been preserved in order that we may tell the rest what happened. For the fire, taking the shape of an arch, like the sail of a ship filled by the wind, completely surrounded the body of the martyr; and it was there in the middle, not like flesh burning but like bread baking or like gold and silver being refined in a furnace…”
[Martyrdom of Polycarp 15:1-2]
What’s more, the saint’s flesh exudes a fragrance like the incense offered at the altar during the Eucharistic rite.
…we perceived also a very fragrant aroma as if it were the scent of incense or some other precious spice.”
[Martyrdom of Polycarp 15:2]
St Polycarp’s prayer is also strikingly Eucharistic:
“O Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, the God of angels and powers and all of creation, and the whole race of the righteous, who live in your presence. I bless you because you have considered me worthy of this day and hour, that I might receive a share among the number of the martyrs in the cup of your Christ, to the resurrection of life eternal, both soul and body, in the immortality of the Holy Spirit, May I be received among them before you today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, as you have prepared and revealed beforehand, and have now accomplished, you who are the undeceiving and true God. For this reason, indeed for all things, I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal and heavenly high priest, your beloved son Jesus Christ, through whom be glory, with him and the Holy Spirit, both now and for the ages to come. Amen.”
[Martyrdom of Polycarp 14:1-3]
The wording is very similar to the Eucharistic Thanksgivings which have been preserved in many of the Church’s Eucharistic rites. Phrases such as “God of all angels and powers”, and “I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you”, for example, recall the “therefore with angels and archangels and all the host of heaven” and “we praise thee, we bless thee, we glorify thee” of the Te Deum read before the words of institution. Likewise, the imagery here of “the cup of Christ” [cf. Matt 20:22; 26:39; Lk 22:42] is unmistakably Eucharistic.
Polycarp was himself a bishop, and would have presided over the Eucharistic gathering many times throughout his life. It should not be surprising then, that he would have memorised the prayers of the rite and implemented them in this way. The way in which the aged Bishop uses these prayers as final thanksgiving before his one death, which he views as a “sacrifice”, a “pleasing offering” before the Lord, shows clearly that he connects it with the eucharistic sacrifice of Christ. And that, just as St Ignatius, Polycarp holds to a high sacramental view of the Eucharist
Implications for the Eucharist
What does this mean for us today, in our own celebration of the Eucharist? Well, for starters, I would suggest that such a strong conviction as the ones presented in these two accounts show the depth of the sacramental implications for the eucharist in the early church. The early understanding of martyrdom as a participation of the Lord’s own death, and sacrifice, is in these accounts, intrinsically connected to the early understanding of the Eucharist, and its constitution as the sacrifice of the Lord and the life of God offered to, and participated in, by the Church.
What is more, these two accounts contain within them the theology of two early bishops, one in his own words [the writing of St Ignatius] and the other clearly written by his disciples [St Polycarp], and therefore, we could suggest, representing his own teachings on the eucharist. Perhaps the most important thing to note, however, is the traditional attestation the both St Ignatius and St Polycarp were themselves disciples of St John.6 This must have implications for our reading of their eucharistic theology - for they present to us a direct apostolic connection in their understanding of the significance of Christ’s words in Jn 6, and their application for the Eucharist.
For me personally, all of this leaves me with little doubt that the Eucharist was held in high regard in the early church. Indeed, the fact that its participatory nature in the death and resurrection of Christ is connected to early understandings of the martyrdom’s of two of the Churches earliest and prominent bishops shows just how deep these views went and how central they were.
I would therefore humbly suggest we keep this in mind, in our own reception and practicing of, the Holy Eucharist
Oscar Cullman, Early Christian Worship SBT (London: SCM, 1973), 93.
Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John, Sacra Pagina (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1998), 221.
All quotations from other Patristic sources from; Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament IVa: John 1-10, ed. Joel C. Elowsky, (Grand Rapids: IVP, 2007), 240-242.
Quotations of St Ignatius Letter to the Romans, and Martyrdom of Polycarp from: Michael W. Holmes, The Apostolic Fathers, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007), 226-235, 307-333
Note the similarity with the word ἄλευρον ‘wheat or flour’: BDAG, ἀλεσμός, 35.
Eusibius, Ecclesiastical History, 2.22; 3.36; 4.12,14.