The pre - Pauline ChurchWhat sort of information did Paul gather about Jesus Christ during the three years that succeeded the Damascus encounter? In the First Letter to the Corinthians, we may note two passages that Paul learned in Jerusalem and that were already formulated as central elements of the Christian tradition, a constitutive tradition. Paul passed them on verbally, as he had received them, with a very solemn formula: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received”. He insists, therefore, on the fidelity to what he himself has received and faithfully transmits to new Christians. These are constitutive elements and concern the Eucharist and the Resurrection; they are passages that were already formulated in the 30s. Thus we come to Jesus’ death, his burial in the heart of the earth and his Resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15: 3-4). Let us take both passages: for Paul, Jesus’ words at the Last Supper (cf. 1 Cor 11: 23-25) are truly the centre of the Church’s life: the Church is built on this centre, thus becoming herself. In addition to this Eucharistic centre, in which the Church is constantly reborn – also in all of St Paul’s theology, in all of his thought – these words have a considerable impact on Paul’s personal relationship with Jesus. On the one hand they testify that the Eucharist illumines the curse of the Cross, making it a blessing (Gal 3: 13-14), and on the other, they explain the importance of Jesus’ death and Resurrection. In St Paul’s Letters, the “for you” of the Institution of the Eucharist is personalized, becoming “for me” (Gal 2: 20) – since Paul realized that in that “you” he himself was known and loved by Jesus – as well as being “for all” (2 Cor 5: 14). This “for you” becomes “for me” and “for her [the Church]” (Eph 5: 25), that is, “for all”, in the expiatory sacrifice of the Cross (cf. Rm 3: 25). The Church is built from and in the Eucharist and recognizes that she is the “Body of Christ” (1 Cor 12: 27), nourished every day by the power of the Spirit of the Risen One
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