Don’t see John 6 as referring to Eucharist

[kainosktisis]

Actually they did take Him at His word because some of they said:

60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you?

Disciples left Him over this teaching.

They wouldn’t accept His teaching. He plainly told them the following:

32Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 3

41At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

47Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

He identifies Himself as the Living Bread - He tells us plainly that His flesh is real food as is His blood is real drink, & that unless we eat His flesh & drink His blood, we have no life in us.

At the institution of the Holy Eucharist, He said in Matthew 26 :

26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the b covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

He does not say that these are symbols of His flesh & blood. Also of note, here we see the institution of the New Covenant, & covenants Scripturally are sealed in blood - in this case, Jesus as the Lamb of God, sealed the New Covenant in His own Precious Blood.

 

[Cathoholic]

From our local men’s Bible study . . . .

There IS a Hebrew BIBLICAL Metaphor for “Eating flesh.”

The REAL Hebrew metaphor for “Eating flesh” IS in Scripture, and it means “Hate, despise, assail, reject.” It wouldn’t make sense for Jesus to be using the term “eat my flesh” in terms of Hebrew metaphor because the Biblical Hebrew metaphor for “eating flesh” means “ hate ,” “ despise .”

Knowing this, the metaphorical meaning of “eating flesh” as it applies to Jesus in John 6 would be nonsense given the context of Jesus’ words here.

Let’s review the metaphorical usage of “eating flesh” in Sacred Scripture:

King David, in Psalm 27 is lamenting about how his enemies want to do him in.

He is lamenting because his enemies want to “ eat up my flesh .”

King David uses this phrase in its real Hebrew metaphorical sense here.

Let’s look:

The King James version, also a Protestant Bible, states the literal translation clearly.

PSALM 27:2 (KJV) 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh , they stumbled and fell.

And although the RSV Protestant translation doesn’t literally translate “ to eat up my flesh ”, to their credit, they DO put the literal translation in the footnote.

PSALM 27:2 (RSV) 2 When evildoers assail me uttering slanders against me* , (*footnote: Heb. to eat up my flesh ) my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall.

There are other examples of the Hebrew term “eating flesh” used in a metaphorical sense in Scripture.

They are ALL of the same negative quality!

Other metaphorical examples of “ eating flesh ” include . . . .

. . . . Micah 3:3, Ecclesiastes 4:5, Zechariah 11:9, Isaiah 9:18‑20, Isaiah 49:26, 2nd Samuel 23:15‑17, and even in the New Testament; Revelation 17:6 and 17:16.

Remember, the Hebrew metaphorical use of “eat my flesh” is to “hate me and revile me, utter slanders against me, or to treat me as an adversary or enemy.”

.

Hope this helps 1Lord1Faith.

God bless.

Cathoholic

 

[Francis]

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c1a3.htm

IN BRIEF

1406 Jesus said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; . . . he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and . . . abides in me, and I in him” ( Jn 6:51, 54, 56).

1407 The Eucharist is the heart and the summit of the Church’s life, for in it Christ associates his Church and all her members with his sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving offered once for all on the cross to his Father; by this sacrifice he pours out the graces of salvation on his Body which is the Church.

1408 The Eucharistic celebration always includes: the proclamation of the Word of God; thanksgiving to God the Father for all his benefits, above all the gift of his Son; the consecration of bread and wine; and participation in the liturgical banquet by receiving the Lord’s body and blood. These elements constitute one single act of worship.

1409 The Eucharist is the memorial of Christ’s Passover, that is, of the work of salvation accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, a work made present by the liturgical action.

1410 It is Christ himself, the eternal high priest of the New Covenant who, acting through the ministry of the priests, offers the Eucharistic sacrifice. And it is the same Christ, really present under the species of bread and wine, who is the offering of the Eucharistic sacrifice.

1411 Only validly ordained priests can preside at the Eucharist and consecrate the bread and the wine so that they become the Body and Blood of the Lord.

1412 The essential signs of the Eucharistic sacrament are wheat bread and grape wine, on which the blessing of the Holy Spirit is invoked and the priest pronounces the words of consecration spoken by Jesus during the Last Supper: “This is my body which will be given up for you. . . . This is the cup of my blood. . . .”

1413 By the consecration the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ is brought about. Under the consecrated species of bread and wine Christ himself, living and glorious, is present in a true, real, and substantial manner: his Body and his Blood, with his soul and his divinity (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1640; 1651).

1414 As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.

1415 Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament of penance.

1416 Communion with the Body and Blood of Christ increases the communicant’s union with the Lord, forgives his venial sins, and preserves him from grave sins. Since receiving this sacrament strengthens the bonds of charity between the communicant and Christ, it also reinforces the unity of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ.

 

[Francis]

1417 The Church warmly recommends that the faithful receive Holy Communion when they participate in the celebration of the Eucharist; she obliges them to do so at least once a year.

1418 Because Christ himself is present in the sacrament of the altar, he is to be honored with the worship of adoration. “To visit the Blessed Sacrament is . . . a proof of gratitude, an expression of love, and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord” (Paul VI, MF 66).

1419 Having passed from this world to the Father, Christ gives us in the Eucharist the pledge of glory with him. Participation in the Holy Sacrifice identifies us with his Heart, sustains our strength along the pilgrimage of this life, makes us long for eternal life, and unites us even now to the Church in heaven, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and all the saints.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

PSALM 27:2 (RSV) 2 When evildoers assail me uttering slanders against me * , (*footnote: Heb. to eat up my flesh ) my adversaries and foes, they shall stumble and fall.

that’s interesting. Some translations of Jn 6:61 have Jesus asking his apostles -“Doth this cause you to stumble?”.

 

[GospelOfMatthew]

The Gospel of John doesn’t have a specific ‘Last Supper’ scene as opposed to the other synoptic Gospels. But rather, John provides plenty of theology and christology into what the Eucharist really is. Really you have to read the accounts of each Gospel on the Eucharist combined in order to more properly (to the human limit) understand what the Eucharist means.

I think the Gospel of Luke does a good depiction of the Last Supper but each Gospel must be read together to understand it. Looking at one verse in John standalone really isn’t appropriate or efficient. It must be read in the lense of the other Gospel accounts, not standalone.