Could the bread represent Jesus, but not actually be him?

[nando_campana]

Jesus described Himself as bread, branch, bridegroom, star, stone, sheppard, door, lamb, light, rock, vine and many in many other ways

Could He have been speaking in the same way when He was talking about the Bread we take at Communion. That the bread represents Him but is not actually Him?

Many thanks for your time in answering this question.

Nando

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

To pull words in Scripture from their context and then draw conclusions regarding them leads no where. Some Christians do this a lot. Each of those words were used in a context and must be understood in that context.

In John 6 when Jesus spoke of giving us His flesh to eat, many disciples left Him. They would not have left Him if He had been speaking only figuratively. When they left, He didn’t call after them to explain that He didn’t really mean that He would actually become our food.

The Apostles didn’t understand Him any more than those who had left did, but they trusted Him because they Loved Him–and so do we.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.