The Greek words used in St. Luke 22 for “This is my body” are Touto estin
to soma mou. The verb estin means “is.” Depending on context, it can mean
either
“is really” or “is figuratively.” The usual meaning is the former;
Protestants, of course, insist on the latter meaning. However, to accept only
a figurative meaning for estin would entail a rejection of the universal
understanding held since Apostolic times and contradict directly the tenor
of St. John chapter 6, where Christ first promises the Eucharist:
“...the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews
then disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh
to eat? So Jesus said to them, 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...for my flesh
is true food and my blood is true drink ... When many of his disciples heard
it, they said, This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” (vv. 51-60).
In the above passage the Greek word used for flesh is sarx, which only
means physical flesh, while the Greek word for ‘eat’ literally means ‘to
gnaw.’
Another argument revolves around the claim that in Christ’s language,
Aramaic, there was no separate word for ‘represents,’ and hence Christ
only used ‘is’ because He was inhibited by a limited vocabulary. This
argument, now outdated, was disposed of over a century ago by Cardinal
Wiseman who showed that Aramaic possesses nearly forty different words
for ‘represents.’ Therefore, there was no need for Christ to use “is” if He
intended only to speak figuratively.
Protestant rejection of the Mass as a sacrifice is based on various verses in
Hebrews, chapters 7, 9 and 10:
“He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for
his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when
he offered up himself” (7:27).
“He entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats
and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (9:12).
“And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service,
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