ble that the laws of the first centuries could be
enforced at present? It is evident that it would be impossible and
impracticable. In the same manner, after the lapse of a few centuries, the
requirements of the present time will not be the same as those of the
future, and certainly there will be change and alteration. In Europe the
laws are unceasingly altered and modified; in bygone years, how many laws
existed in the organizations and systems of Europe, which are now
abrogated! These changes and alterations are due to the variation and
mutation of thought, conditions and customs. If it were not so, the
prosperity of the world of humanity would be wrecked.

For example, there is in the Pentateuch a law that if anyone break the
Sabbath, he shall be put to death. Moreover, there are ten sentences of
death in the Pentateuch. Would it be possible to keep these laws in our
time? It is clear that it would be absolutely impossible. Consequently,
there are changes and modifications in the laws, and these are a
sufficient proof of the supreme wisdom of God.

This subject needs deep thought. Then the cause of these changes will be
evident and apparent.

Blessed are those who reflect!

21: THE SYMBOLISM OF THE BREAD AND THE WINE

Question.--The Christ said: "I am the living bread which came down from
heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die."(86) What is the meaning
of this utterance?

Answer.--This bread signifies the heavenly food and divine perfections. So,
"If any man eateth of this bread" means if any man acquires heavenly
bounty, receives the divine light, or partakes of Christ's perfections, he
thereby gains everlasting life. The blood also signifies the spirit of
life and the divine perfections, the lordly splendor and eternal bounty.
For all the members of the body gain vital substance from the circulation
of the blood.

In the Gospel of St. John, chapter 6, verse 26, it is written: "Ye seek
Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves,
and were filled."

It is evident that the bread of which the disciples ate and were filled
was the heavenly bounty; for in verse 33 of the same chapter it is said:
"For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life
unto the world." It is clear that the body of Christ did not descend from
heaven, but it came from the womb of Mary; and that which descended from
the heaven of God was the spirit of Christ. As the Jew