Abstract:
The overall purpose of this article is to provide biblical evidence for the church’s effectiveness in
legitimating and maintaining a Christian identity, a matter which has recently been silenced by
African government efforts on lockdown measures on the church during the emergence of
Coronavirus in Africa. The objective of this study is to use social sciences alongside literary
criticism to analyse Matthew 26:26-28 to explain the importance of the Eucharist and by large of
the church in legitimating and maintaining a Christian identity as a response to narratives that
seem to subordinate the basis for Christian identity. Critical analysis of the Roman banquet and
Jewish Passover as reflected in Petronius’ Satyricon and Mishnah’ Pesachim 10, respectively,
collectively present the social setting in the Roman Empire as the backdrop that prompted
Matthew to employ the Eucharist (Lord’s Supper) to legitimate and maintain a Christian identity
for his community. This study attempts to answer this question; why did some Christians contest
the recent government lockdown measures on the church during the advent of Coronavirus in
Africa? Consequently, we argue that when circumstance arise that tend to subordinate the basis
of Christian identity to some authority, the disadvantaged Christians will normally appeal to
Christian belief systems that encompass traditions, norms and values not only to contest that
authority but also to legitimate and maintain a Christian identity.
