ncgolf:
One of the ways is the all the other disciples “went away”. Christ was only left with the original disciples. The gospel describes the people’s response to Jesus’s statements with statements like “these sayings are hard” and “who can listen to them”. They would not have reacted that way if he was speaking symbolically. I take these statements that the people there with Jesus knew he was talking about flesh. Only the original ones stayed and he asked them why do you stay. They may not have fully understood but they knew enough to stick around so they may come to understand fully.
The first Biblical evidence of Protestants.
I’ve seen arguments against it, but they’ve all been so slippery and/or so flimsy as to evade discussion. Those arguments truly evaporate when you realize that Christ said it three times that he was the Bread of Life, two of those times saying that his flesh must be eaten, literally, and then followed it up twice more to indicate that he was serious about what he said.
- “I am the living bread”
Murmuring… you’re kidding, right? No, Jesus was not kidding. So he repeats it:
- “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.”
More murmuring… you’ve *got * to be kidding. (“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”)
- Jesus: No, really, (“except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.”)
More murmuring.
- Jesus: “Doth this scandalize you?”
Yep. They walk away.
- “Then Jesus said to the twelve: Will you also go away?”
Look at the opportunity he had to "correct’ any misunderstanding! After they questioned him after his first utterance he could have said “Well, yes, I’m the
living bread, but I’m talking about my
message, my
words. You’re not supposed to literally eat* me*, you silly geese.” Even after that they continued to question him as to whether he was speaking literally or metaphorically, and he continued to repeat the same message.
Sorry, but this is one of those sections in the Bible that’s really incapable of further interpretation.