In his recent reflections on Eucharistic practices, Fr. Matthew S.C. Olver discouraged the use of pottery for Eucharistic vessels. His argument for this was twofold: first, that precious metals more fitly honor the presence of Christ in the sacrament, and second, that pottery is porous. I would like to elaborate on both these points from an Old Testament understanding of the holiness of God in relation to his sanctuary.
The use of pottery for the chalice and paten in the Eucharistic celebration is a relatively new idea. It largely derived from the late 20th-century preoccupation with the pursuit of the historical Jesus and attempts to replicate the Last Supper more accurately in the Eucharist. The effects that this pursuit had on Eucharistic vessels may be seen in the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. At the end of the movie (spoiler alert from 1989), Indiana Jones finds a room containing many chalices, including the Holy Grail, or the cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper.
A Nazi collaborator who was hot on his trail chooses the grandest and most bejeweled of all chalices and drinks from it, saying, “This certainly is the cup of the King of kings.” He promptly and dramatically dies, as it is not the Grail. Jones, on the other hand, being a skilled archaeologist (among other things), chooses the humblest and simplest chalice made of plain pottery as most befitting of a carpenter. It is the Holy Grail and it saves his father’s life.
The assumption that Jesus’ drinking vessel was made of clay rather than metal being historically accurate aside, the historicist pragmatism of transferring this assumption to the celebration of the Eucharist ignores several theological aspects of what is happening at the Eucharist. Rather than the Eucharist simply being a historical reenactment of the Last Supper, it is partaking in the holiness of God’s presence. Understanding this aspect of the Eucharist depends on an Old Testament understanding of the holiness of God and how this holiness should affect our celebration.
The laws of Leviticus are largely concerned with navigating the relationship between Israel and God regarding impurity and holiness. Leviticus contains various regulations for purity and the appropriate cleansing of vessels. For example, Leviticus 6:26 addresses the pots in which the priest’s portion of the sin offering is cooked. Because it is a holy food, it must be cooked and eaten in a holy place. If it is cooked in a metal pot, the pot must be scoured. If it is cooked in an earthen pot, the pot must be broken afterward.
The general rabbinic understanding of the regulations regarding clay vessels is that because clay is porous, it absorbs the holy food; to prevent the common or unclean from inappropriately mixing with the holy, the object must be destroyed. Likewise, pottery absorbs uncleanness. If an unclean creature such as a mouse or a lizard dies in a pot of stew, for example, that pot must be broken because the uncleanness has been absorbed into the pot (Lev. 11:33-34).
These laws show the importance for Israel of setting aside holy vessels for holy items, and the care that must be taken to avoid communicating uncleanness to the holy or mixing the holy with the common. Items that are set apart as holy must only ever be used for holy things. A metal pot must be cleansed of either holy contents or unclean contents to avoid cross-contamination. Earthenware, by its absorbent nature, cannot be cleaned to the degree necessary, so it must be broken.
The vessels that contained the offerings in the Tabernacle and in the Temple were made only of the most precious metals. The closer to the Holy of Holies the implements were, the more precious the metal was. Not only were these things not porous or breakable, but they reflected the worship and the devotion that Israel offered to God. The richness of the vessels was an expression of the precious nature of the Holy One who dwelt among Israel in the sanctuary.
Exodus 25:29-30 describes the vessels to be used in service of the tabernacle: vessels from which to pour the drink offerings and plates upon which the bread of the presence was to be placed before the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. All the implements for service of the Holy of Holies were to be made of pure gold. Likewise, in 1 Kings 7:45-50, all the furnishings and vessels for the temple were made of precious metal: burnished bronze, silver, and gold.
One might argue that the Old Testament Tabernacle regulations do not apply to a church. However, insofar as the laws show concern for holy items set aside for a holy meal for a holy people, we might learn much about what our attitude toward holiness should be. Our vessels contain something far holier than did the vessels of the Tabernacle or Temple. They contained the offerings made to God. Ours contain the gift of God himself to us, the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood. How much more care should we take that our vessels are washed, set apart, and treated with honor to show our devotion to the Holy One who comes among us and gives of his own flesh and blood for our food?
If our vessels represent not an attempt at historicity, but rather an expression of the precious nature of their contents, then, just as Israel’s holy vessels were, they should be unbreakable, easily purified, beautiful, and made of the most precious things we can muster. The Eucharist is our prescribed communal meal with God—the food of the New Covenant paralleled to the sacrificial food of the Old Covenant. We do not simply jettison the idea of holiness simply because God became man. Rather, we have something even more precious: the presence of God among us in real and tangible form.
The applicability of the Old Testament Law has been under perpetual debate since the Church’s inception. However, if we truly believe that Christ is the paschal lamb, a Gospel understanding of Jesus’ work on our behalf may move us to draw on the symbolism of the temple and the vessels used in God’s honor. Anglicans in particular have been doing this since the 17th century.
The vessels we use in the celebration of the Eucharist communicate what we believe. The Eucharist is not simply a historical reenactment of the Last Supper; it is not play-acting. It is the moment when the Church comes into contact with the presence of our holy God and Savior. The vessels we use should reflect the holiness of the God we worship and whose presence we are privileged to take into ourselves. Like the vessels of the temple or tabernacle of the Old Testament that reflected the holy and glorious nature of the God for whose service and worship they were employed, these vessels should reflect the preciousness and the holiness of what they contain.
Thus, it is not a matter of whether the cup is fit for a human king or a human carpenter, but whether a cup even remotely reflects the glory of what is contained therein. Every precious metal or element pales in comparison to the treasure from which we partake every week, but the container can reflect the magnitude of our devotion and worship and gratitude toward the God who deigns to come among us and dwell in us.
The Rev. Hannah Armidon, PhD is a priest in the Diocese of Albany. She lives with her husband, the Rev. Robert E. Armidon, many fruit bushes, and several carnivorous plants.
