The Medicine of Immortality

Note: originally published in Tidings, the newsletter of Immanuel

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Frequently heard in churches that faithfully observe the Lord's Supper is reference to that Sacrament as "the medicine of immortality." These words are a quotation from a letter written by St. Ignatius (30-107 AD), a disciple of St. John the evangelist. Because he is in the generation of pastors immediately after the Apostles, writings such as those of Ignatius provide a detailed look at the life and practice of the earliest Christians. The following is Chapter 20 in "The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians." Note the Trinitarian language (God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Comforter), the emphasis on unity in the congregation under the bishop, and the benefit of the breaking of bread (i.e., holy communion) - the antidote against death!

Stand fast, brethren, in the faith of Jesus Christ, and in His love, in His passion, and in His resurrection. Do ye all come together in common, and individually, through grace, in one faith of God the Father, and of Jesus Christ His only-begotten Son, and "the first-born of every creature," but of the seed of David according to the flesh, being under the guidance of the Comforter, in obedience to the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote which prevents us from dying, but a cleansing remedy driving away evil, that we should live in God through Jesus Christ.