Many non Catholic Christians do not believe that the Communion elements, and in actuality many Catholics don’t either, are the Body and Blood of Christ in truth, but are just a symbol. Let’s start talking about that.
First, in Genesis 14:18 we have the bread and wine offered by the priest-King Melchizedek which prefigures the bread and wined offered by the eternal priest-King Jesus at the Last Supper.
The same victim that was offered up to save the lives of the first-born of Israel was also the victim consumed as food for bodily nourishment as the Israelites began their journey to the promised land (Exodus 12:1-20), and this prefigures the Eucharist in the same victim, the Paschal Lamb, Jesus, who was offered up for our sins to save us from the spiritual death in which He consumed in the Eucharist to provide spiritual nourishment for the journey to our promised land of heaven.
John 6 is the strongest indication FROM GOD, that the Eucharist is the living flesh of Christ Jesus:
In John 6:32-51 Jesus EXPRESSLY applies Himself to the Old Testament manna. The manna from heaven sustained the Israelites throughout their pilgrimage in the desert, but ceased to fall when they entered the Promised Land (Exodus 16:35). Similarly, the Eucharist nourishes us spiritually in this life of pilgrimage, but ceases (as do all other sacraments) when we enter the promised land of heaven.
John 6:51 – I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.
John 6:53 – Truly, Truly, I say to you, unless you eat (the Greek word used in all variations found is masticate, or chew/grind with teeth vs. “eat”) the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
John 6:55 – For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
In reading John 6, one has to agree that Jesus was speaking literally and not figuratively. His followers had been following him at this time, living, eating, and walking with Jesus, for nearly two years. They spoke the same language and dialect as Jesus. Day in and day out, they heard Him use different figures of speech. They heard Him speak symbolically, using parables, allegories, and analogies (such as calling Herod a fox). They also heard Him speak literally, meaning exactly what He said. Many of His disciples heard Him there, “live”, and quit following Jesus Christ – never even asking Jesus to explain Himself. They understood perfectly that Jesus meant precisely what He said. In fact, instead of explain that His listeners were misunderstanding what He said, that He was only speaking figuratively, He, in very strong language, emphatically REPEATS the literalness of this teaching, six times in six verses (53-58). Verse 55 saying “For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed”, this is NOT the language of symbolism!
Related Posts
- 35In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for Worship (or to bow down) was hishtakhavah. In each occasion of the use of this word (Gen 22:5 is the first use) worship consisted of a sacrifice (or in some rarer cases bowing down). In the New Testament Greek was used, but…
- 31Two Sundays ago my Parish had our Confirmation Mass, where young adults came before the Church and announced their desire to take the final step, of three, of becoming a Catholic by choice instead of by their parent's decision. They came before the Church and accepted Jesus as their Savior…
- 23Over the last few years I have heard complaints of people calling Catholic Ministers Priest and Father. To be honest, before I came to understand the reasoning for calling a Catholic Minister Father, I had a problem with that title myself. After extensive research into this, I am more than…
- 21Since 1506 or there abouts the Catholic Church has been given a bad rap by many people. Since the founding of the United States, the Catholic Church in the United States has gotten an even worse rap. We are constantly told that we are not Christian. I beg to differ. …
- 20During my RCIA studies, I was also involved in a Catholic Scripture Studies program at St. Elizabeth's that was very enlightening and educative on one Book in the Bible at a time. This program, we did the Book of Matthew, was outstanding and helped me to better study the Bible.…