How do I counter the argument that Jesus’ flesh and blood in John 6:53 are merely symbolic when John 10:9 “I am the door…” is used as an example of the symbolic. Jesus does not literally have a door knob and hinges on his body, therefore its not to be taken literally. Apply this reasoning to John 6:53 and it *seems *to make sense that Jesus is only speaking figuratively.
I fail to see how the teaching that it becomes His body is opposed to His words, “This is My body.” In St. John VI., 47-67, you will find our Lord very emphatic about it. Like yourself, the Jews said, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”; and Jesus did not begin to mitigate His doctrine and say, Of course, I don’t really intend to do that. What I will give you will be ordinary bread in a kind of little memorial ceremony. You really won’t have to eat my flesh in reality." Listen to what our Lord did say, “Amen, Amen, I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life.” And He goes on to drive home the actual sense of His words. “For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.” You see how He left the Jews no loophole. Nor were they under any misapprehension. They knew what He meant, and He knew that they were thinking exactly what we Catholics hold now. They said, as you say, “This is a hard saying. Who can hear it?” And many of them left Him from that moment. He saw them going, and knew why they were going. But He would not unsay His words in order to keep them. He let them go.
That is not a logical conclusion. In fact, it is a dreadfully shallow fallacy, and quite opposed to our Lord’s clear statements which I have just given you. There is no logical parallel between the words, “This is My body,” and “I am the vine,” or “I am the door.” For the images of the vine and the door can have, of their very nature, a symbolical sense, Christ is like a vine because all the sap of my spiritual life comes from Him. He is like a door, since I go to heaven through Him. But a piece of bread is in no way like His flesh. Of its very nature it cannot symbolize the actual body of Christ. And He excludes that Himself by saying, “The bread that I will give is My flesh for the life of the world, and My flesh is meat indeed.” That is, it is to be actually eaten, not merely commemorated in some symbolical way.
