What does the Bible say about Mass?
September 19, 1995, witnessed one of the most amazing gatherings in Uhuru Park, Nairobi. It is reported that about one million people gathered together! Why? The Pope of the Roman Catholic Church was celebrating an open-air “mass”. Church leaders came from all over Kenya and even other parts of Africa. Even Protestant Church leaders were there. People came for all sorts of reasons, from the active participant to the merely curious. Judging by the media coverage, it was an event that no one ought to have missed. And if we say that we had no desire to be there, someone will respond that a million people cannot be wrong; so many holy and respected leaders cannot possibly be wrong. But that argument will not stand when we consider Christ’s coming to Jerusalem, where it was the crowd that shouted, “Crucify Him!”, and where it was the religious and political leaders who joined together to put him to death.
The way to evaluate this amazing gathering is not by considering numbers or personalities, but by considering the “mass” in which they came to participate. The mass is the Catholic version of the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. In the Bible the Lord’s Supper is a simple remembrance of Christ’s death, the physical elements being a reminder of Christ in whom we are to put our trust. To this the Catholics add at least two things that are vital to their celebration of the “mass”.
1) Catholics teach that the physical elements are changed into the real body and blood of Christ (this is called ‘transubstantiation’) by the power of God through the officiating priest. By eating the physical elements it is claimed that divine life is received.
2) As a result, the mass is called a sacrifice, the very same sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The only two differences are that in the mass Christ uses the hands, lips and hearts of men, and He offers himself without bloodshed, under the appearances of bread and wine.
We must earnestly ask the question, “Is this what the Bible teaches?” It is not enough that very many people believe it; or that many devout men teach it; or even that it has been believed for a long time. Nowhere in the Bible is the Lord’s Supper called a sacrifice. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is clearly referred to as being “once for all” (Heb.7:27, 9:12,28, 10:10). This is because there is nothing lacking in His sacrifice. It fully, finally, once for all time accomplishes the forgiveness of sins according to God’s purpose. It is on this basis that the writer concludes, there is no longer any offering for sin” (Heb. 10:18). To add any other sacrifice for sin, even if it is claimed that it is the same as the sacrifice of the cross, is to despise Christ’s one, perfect sacrifice. Is this important? Yes, a thousand times Yes! Countless thousands have been martyred because of this. The Bible clearly presents our salvation as totally dependent upon Christ’s bloody sacrifice (Heb.9:11–14, 10:19, 13:20). If there is something more, then the Bible is false. Worse still, if you do not put all your trust in Christ and His one sacrifice, you cannot be saved!
Article edited and re-shared from Grace & Truth magazine, issue №74 (1995), K. Underhill
