The. xxi. chapyter
BUt now for as mych as […] parte of these folkes diffydence and distrust, rose of that that the respecte of the lothsomnes made thē the lesse wyllynge to byleue, in that they thought that he ment to geue them his flesshe to eate in gobbettes cutte out dede wythout lyfe or spyryte: our sauyour answered them to that poynt. And though he wold not at that tyme tell them the maner how he wolde geue it them to eate: yet he tolde them that he wolde not geue it them so. And therfore he sayd vnto them. The spirit is it that quycketh or geueth lyfe / the flesshe auayleth nothyng. The wordes which I haue spoken to you be spyrit and lyfe.
As though he wold say vnto thē. I tolde you before that who so wold eate my fleshe sholde haue euerlastyng lyfe. And therfore why be you so madde as to wene that I mene my fleshe cut out in gobbettes dede wythout lyfe or spyryt? it is the spirit that geueth lyfe. And therfore without the spirit the fleshe shold auayle you nought. But beyng knytte with the spirite of my godhed, whyche is the substaunce and very foūtayne of lyfe / so it shal (to them that worthyly eate it) geue euerlastynge lyfe. And therfore the wordes that I speke be not onely fleshe / for yt wyll no more geue lyfe alone, thā wyll fayth alone geue life that is dede without ye wyll of good wurkes. But my wordes therfore that I haue spoken to you of my fleshe to be eaten, be not fleshe alone, but spyryte also and lyfe.
Therfore you muste vnderstande them not so fleshely as you do, that I wolde geue you my fleshe in gobbettes dede / but you must vnderstād them spyrytually, that you shall eate it in an other maner animated wyth my soule, and ioyned with the spyrite of my godhed, by whych my flessh is it self made not onely lyuely but also geuynge lyfe.
Thus ment our lord in those wor des. Wherin leste mayster masker myght make men wene that I runne all at ryotte vppon myne own […], holy saynte Austayne sheweth that in these wordes, The spyryt it is1 yt quyckeneth, the fleshe auayleth no thyng. Our sauyour meneth that his flesh dede & without ye spirit auayleth nothyng / as cūnyng nothyng auayleth without cherite, without whiche as sait Paule saith it doth but puffe vp a mā in pride. But on ye totherlide2 lyke as cūnyng mych edifyeth & profiteth ioyned with cheryte: so ye flesh of our sauiour mych auayleth ioyned wyth hys holy spyryte.
Saynt Cyrill also vppon ye same wordes declarynge them by a longe processe to the purpose that I haue shewed you, saith among many other thynges in thys maner, as it were in the person of Cryst spekyng to those Iewes, & to those dyscyples of hys, that sayde his wordes were so hard that no man could abide to here hym / which they sayd as sayth saynt Chrisostom for theyr own excuse, bycause3 them self were about to walke theyr way. To them therfore sayth our sa uyour thus in saynt Cyrilles exposi cyon. wene you whā I sayd that who so eate my flesh shal haue euerlasting lyfe, that I ment therin, that this erthely body of myne doth gyue lyfe of his own proper nature? Nay veryly. But I dyd speke to you of the spyryt and of eternall lyfe. But it is not the nature of the flesshe that maketh the spyryt geue lyfe / but the power of the spyryte maketh the fleshe geue lyfe. The wordes therfore yt I haue spoken to you be spirit & lyfe / that is to wytte they be spyrituall & spoken of the spirit and lyfe / that is to wytte of ye spirit yt is the natural life, ye geueth lyfe. But yet the thyng yt we haue all redy said, it shal do no harme though we repete it agayn. The thing that I haue sayd is this. The nature of the flesh can not of it self geue lyfe. For what had thā the nature of ye gddhed more? But thā on ye tother syde, there is not ī Crist onely flesh / but he hath ye sone of god ioyned with it which is ye squale substaūs of life with his fader And therfore whan Cryst calleth hys fleshe a geuer of lyfe / that power of geuynge lyfe he doth not attrybute vnto his fleshe and vnto hys holy spi rite bothe of one fashyon. For the spiryte geueth lyfe by it selfe and of hys owne nature. But the fleshe ascēdeth vnto that power of geuynge lyfe, by reason of the coniunccyon and vnyte that it hath wyth that holy spyryte. How be it how and by what meane that thynge is done, we neyther are able with tōge to tell, nor with mynd to imagyne / but wyth sylence & ferme fayth we receyue it.
Thus haue you herde good readers that the thynge that I saye, do not onely I say, but saynt Austayne also and saynt Cyrill both. Whych is inough to you to perceyue that I dyuyse not myne exposyciō all of myne owne hed / and may be inough to any good chrysten man also, to perceyue clerefy that our sauyour in these wor des dyd speke, not onely of a spyrytuall eatynge of his fleshe by bylyes and remembraunce of hys deth and passyon, as mayster Masker & fryth and these fond felowes styffely bert vs in hande, but spake also and ment it of the remembrynge of hys deth & passyon, by the very eatynge of hys very blessed body as it is eaten in the blessed sacrament.
Footnotes
Chapter 23 of 70