Originally Posted by ralphy View Post
I don’t believe that is was Jesus’s body and blood , for He had not yet shed His blood. If it was His body and blood, what part of the body was it and where did the blood come from. It was a symbol of what was to come and a memorial, “do this in memory of Me”. Ralph
Perhaps I am missing something; where in the N.T. does Jesus say:
Matthew 26:26-28
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is a symbol of my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Mark 14:22-24
And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is a symbol of my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
Luke 22:19-20
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is a symbol of my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
1 Corinthians 11:24-25
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is a symbol of my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1 Corinthians 11:26-30
For as often as ye eat this symbol of bread, and drink this symbol of a cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this symbol of bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that symbol of bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh that symbol unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the symbol of the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
How does one eat and drink bread and wine unworthily if it is just a symbol? The only way to do this, if you believe the bread and wine are mere symbols is to eat the bread and wine while denying the cross of Christ, since the bread and wine supposedly point to the cross only, which of course no Christian does! Why were many weak and sickly…why did some people actually die for eating the bread unworthily?
We all understand the meaning of: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of …as symbolic language, or the meaning of Jesus being the Rock and the light of the world, as symbolic language; it makes perfect sense! Where is the symbolism in: unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood…How are we to understand the bread as a symbol of Christ, as we do with the “door” being a symbol of Christ?
The Eucharist is truly a sacrifice…
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As the following passages show, Christians have an altar, from which they eat. (but not the Jewish priests, who eat from their own altar) If Christians eat from their altar, it means there is a sacrifice offered there for them to eat. It is not a symbolic sacrifice, since they physically eat it. So the Eucharist is bread and wine that becomes the Body and Blood of Christ, in order that Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary (His Body and Blood) may be offered up to God, and eaten by Christians, as per Malachi 3; give it a read:
Hebrews 13:10
We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
1 Corinthians 10:16-18
I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.
Continued…