If John 6 is speaking of the eucharist, how can non Catholics be saved?

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Pretty good response thank you. I would agree that John 6 can and does refer to future “communion”, as also to Calvary and the Ascension. I would add that primarily that John 6, in literary interpretation, is about figurative "eating "His words, that is believing, as in, faith comes by hearing and that by the drawing/revelation of/from the Father. The apostles had the latter, the departing did not. The goats were separated form the sheep.

Blessings
You really believe that people left Jesus (the only time that happens in the Gospels) over a figurative “eating” of His words? Jesus had a LOT of hard sayings for the people, and they never left Him any other time.

Why was this time different?
 
In John 6, Jesus says:

“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father has sent me and I live because of the Father, so also whoever eats me, the same shall live because of me. This is the bread that descends from heaven. It is not like the manna that your fathers ate, for they died. Whoever eats this bread shall live forever.”

Communion is a participation ordinance identifying followers of Jesus.
When Jesus says you will have no LIFE within you if you don’t eat His Flesh, it’s a bit more serious than an ordinance to identify followers.
We may interpret the above passage differently but we participate in the ordinance perhaps without complete understanding.
St. Paul certainly didn’t agree with this. In fact he flatly stated you could damn yourself to hell for it.
Jesus uses metaphor a great deal in his ministry. He calls himself :“the water of life”, “Meat”, " the Morning Star", “the Rock”, “lamb of God”.
He never once calls another object HIM. Except for the Eucharist. He never once points to a door and says “that door is Me”. He never once points to a vine and says “that vine is Me”.
Perhaps the statement above is metaphor or perhaps it is literal.
Seems a REALLY important point that we should know one way or the other. Why would God leave us as orphans to wonder about such a question? Who did Jesus and the Apostles tell us to turn to when such questions arise?
Either way, we are not canables
.

Of course not. Cannibalism is the eating of bloody, natural, dead human flesh. The Eucharist is the glorified, supernatural, living Flesh of God under the appearance of bread and wine in an unbloody manner.
We are Christians and Jesus is our Resurrected Lord and Savior.
Amen. And we learn about Him from His Church, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.
 
Pretty good response thank you. I would agree that John 6 can and does refer to future “communion”, as also to Calvary and the Ascension.
👍👍👍 :extrahappy:
I would add that primarily that John 6, in literary interpretation, is about figurative "eating "His words, that is believing, as in, faith comes by hearing and that by the drawing/revelation of/from the Father.
I dont think this is such a departure from the Catholic faith. Maybe the distinction of the slight difference would be that we say “participating” or “receiving” Him AFTER His death/resurrection must be done through His Eucharist devotion. In other words, those who DO believe in Him, NOW… must stay with Him in His Eucharist environment and reception. At the celebration of our Lord, we HEAR the Word and we Hear the Words of our Lord when He said, “This is my Body which will be given up for you, take and eat.”
The apostles had the latter, the departing did not. The goats were separated form the sheep.
But my “Judas” point earlier is lost on you if you don’t take into consideration that He was a goat who did stay, and receive, and participate, and receive the word, and finally His Eucharist. And he is not the only one! They’re all over the Church, and eating His Eucharist!

And they, like Judas, do believe!!! But not unto a state of grace, or “being clean” or “worthy”. Because belief is not enough, but true assent of faith unto conversion.

And oh how difficult this walk can be my brother! I get temptations and slide into waves and the sea at times. Pray for me, that I receive with a clean heart! I should do the same for you.
 
When Jesus says you will have no LIFE within you if you don’t eat His Flesh, it’s a bit more serious than an ordinance to identify followers.

St. Paul certainly didn’t agree with this. In fact he flatly stated you could damn yourself to hell for it.

He never once calls another object HIM. Except for the Eucharist. He never once points to a door and says “that door is Me”. He never once points to a vine and says “that vine is Me”.

Seems a REALLY important point that we should know one way or the other. Why would God leave us as orphans to wonder about such a question? Who did Jesus and the Apostles tell us to turn to when such questions arise?

.

Of course not. Cannibalism is the eating of bloody, natural, dead human flesh. The Eucharist is the glorified, supernatural, living Flesh of God under the appearance of bread and wine in an unbloody manner.

Amen. And we learn about Him from His Church, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.
ZZ, I you are only focused on one tree in the forest. There is more to it than v.54. Again, please look back to v.40. Please see that it also has the exact same promise,namely “eternal life” and resurrection. Tell me if this is not so. What does it mean to you? Are we dealing wth two different promises? One for Catholics and one for Protestants? Rather i think that the answer is the same as for all other parables. One is figurative and the other is literal. In all other parables of Jesus, the physical illustrates the spiritual. Is there a reason why this one is different?

2nd observation. Jesus says in Lk22:19 This is My body which is given for you. The body that was" Given" was the one nailed to the cross. In v. 20 Jesus does not say the wine is his blood, but rather" This cup is the new covenant"

If i believe that v. 40 is literal, then everything works out. If not then I must reinterpret the rest
of scripture to harmonize with the other way.
 
Not sure what you mean . Judas did not believe from the beginning, at least not properly , and it ain’t like horseshoes, where close gets you points.
Define “properly” here. 😉

I’d say, as I did in my last post, that he did not remain in a state of grace. He ate, not necessarily while not believing, but not allowing the Word to convert his heart CONTINUALLY. He took the “hard saying” and decided to put his spin on things. He stayed because he thought there would be advantage in this world for him.

Was Judas ever in a state of grace? Only God knows. But at His calling, he was justified (this is a state of grace. An initial justification. An acceptance to the life of Christ). He was given the ministry of the Lord.

Woe to us if we turn from it for the pleasures of this world. Let us pray for His strength.

Remember what the Holy Spirit said about Mary?

Luke 2:19

But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luke 2:51

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart

And Jesus confirmed this:

Luke 11:28

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Those who keep His Word remain in Him and His Eucharistic body.
 
Define “properly” here. 😉

I’d say, as I did in my last post, that he did not remain in a state of grace. He ate, not necessarily while not believing, but not allowing the Word to convert his heart CONTINUALLY. He took the “hard saying” and decided to put his spin on things. He stayed because he thought there would be advantage in this world for him.

Was Judas ever in a state of grace? Only God knows. But at His calling, he was justified (this is a state of grace. An initial justification. An acceptance to the life of Christ). He was given the ministry of the Lord.

Woe to us if we turn from it for the pleasures of this world. Let us pray for His strength.

Remember what the Holy Spirit said about Mary?

Luke 2:19

But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luke 2:51

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart

And Jesus confirmed this:

Luke 11:28

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Those who keep His Word remain in Him and His Eucharistic body.
Judas was always a son of the devil. If he had been saved and then lost, the falt would be charged to Jesus. Jesus "called"Judas but he was not chosen.

You have ignored the context of Lk11:28. It is a reply to someone who praised Mary in v.27.
 
Judas was always a son of the devil. If he had been saved and then lost, the falt would be charged to Jesus. Jesus “callef” Judas but he was not chosen.
What? What does it mean to be called but not chosen?
 
Jesus "called"Judas but he was not chosen.
Incidentally, the above comment directly CONTRADICTS Scripture.

See John 6: 70-71.

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?”

He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve

And, I would add, that it was here in the Bread of Life discourse that Judas is mentioned as an unbeliever.

He heard the “hard saying” of Jesus and left him at that time.

“I can’t and won’t accept that Jesus wants me to eat his flesh and drink his blood.”
 

Judas was always a son of the devil. If he had been saved and then lost, the falt would be charged to Jesus. Jesus "called"Judas but he was not chosen.
70*Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”71He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was to betray him.

A large point of this discourse is that Once Saved is useless without staying with Him

James 2

18*But some one will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, anzd I by my works will show you my faith.19You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.20Do you want to be shown, you foolish fellow, that faith apart from works is barren?

Salvation can be lost. We can believe and be Baptized and fall away from that grace. It’s receiving God’s free gift but not cooperating with Him.
You have ignored the context of Lk11:28. It is a reply to someone who praised Mary in v.27.
And the reply is not a slight to Mary, but a compliment to her true blessedness which Luke already recorded from the Holy Spirit through Elizabeth. And He also implies that all who do as Mary are blessed like her. This is her motherhood to all Christians
 
And, I would add, that it was here in the Bread of Life discourse that Judas is mentioned as an unbeliever.

He heard the “hard saying” of Jesus and left him at that time.

“I can’t and won’t accept that Jesus wants me to eat his flesh and drink his blood.”
I don’t see it exactly like this.

Judas was not like the rest who did not believe. He had belief, but not unto conversion and Charity in Christ. He had his own heart directing his belief.

Judas did not leave Jesus. But He did not convert himself to Jesus either. This is the essence of his betrayal.

And it is believed by the ECF’S that Judas did receive Eucharist.
 
You really believe that people left Jesus (the only time that happens in the Gospels) over a figurative “eating” of His words? Jesus had a LOT of hard sayings for the people, and they never left Him any other time.

Why was this time different?
Well the rich man certainly encountered a hard saying and left.

No I am saying is that those who stayed had the figurative eating .Those that left had a more literal understanding.

Blessings
 
St. Paul certainly didn’t agree with this. In fact he flatly stated you could damn yourself to hell for it.
Actually the warning can be applied to the several varied views of “communion”. That is, all could be participated in “unworthily”.

Also not sure hell was warned about, but maybe sickness,death.
 
No I am saying is that those who stayed had the figurative eating .Those that left had a more literal understanding.
And which ones ate His Eucharist?

We aren’t told how the Disciples who stayed understood the saying. Only that they stayed because, as Peter declared, “… you have the words of eternal life.”

I, in light of the rest of the Gospel, understand it as Jesus demanding a trust in His Word to give them life. And His Word gave them life in His death/resurrection and Sacramental encounter.

To stay with Jesus now, is to be in Communion with His Eucharist. But to receive without His conversion is to be a son of the devil.
 
Amen. And we learn about Him from His Church, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth.
Yes, we can. Any church that puts forth the good news, the Word of God, puts the listener in a position to not only learn about Him , but actually meet Him.

Blessings
 
Yes, and how did they eat ?
With their mouth at the last supper, and in a state of grace because they converted their hearts by the Spirit. Yet Judas was not in His grace. So he ate condemnation on himself.
 
Yes, and how did they eat ?
But please don’t think that we separate the two meanings. We recognize them as combined at His Word at the Last Supper.

They “ate” the Word by belief through hearing (though He still needed to die for their “unbelief” or their human doubt), then they ate the Word made sacrament by staying with Him continually.

Then they were “kept” in Him through their devotion to His Eucharist celebration. Otherwise, they would have no part in Him.
 
Incidentally, the above comment directly CONTRADICTS Scripture.

See John 6: 70-71.

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?”

He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve

And, I would add, that it was here in the Bread of Life discourse that Judas is mentioned as an unbeliever.

He heard the “hard saying” of Jesus and left him at that time.

“I can’t and won’t accept that Jesus wants me to eat his flesh and drink his blood.”
When I read John 6:64, I see the possibility that Jesus is separating the two, “Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him.” I also don’t see where Judas was one of the disciples who left, as it says Jesus addressed the Twelve and asked " do you also want to leave?", this is after the unbelievers already had left.
 
With their mouth at the last supper, and in a state of grace because they converted their hearts by the Spirit. Yet Judas was not in His grace. So he ate condemnation on himself.
of course with their mouth ,yet I heard an augustine quote that is hard to forget,“leave your teeth and bellies behind”, as if stressing the “unbloodiness” of it, even figurativism,and that we eat the elements in faith, the Word(s) in faith.Judas was condemned already, for his betrayal already in motion.
 
When I read John 6:64, I see the possibility that Jesus is separating the two, “Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him.” I also don’t see where Judas was one of the disciples who left, as it says Jesus addressed the Twelve and asked " do you also want to leave?", this is after the unbelievers already had left.
There have been many commentaries regarding this being the “point of no return” for Judas. He simply could not accept Jesus’ command to eat his flesh.

books.google.com/books?id=RqQMdLEZvREC&pg=PT138&lpg=PT138&d#v=onepage&q&f=false

It was the shock that probably shattered Judas’ faith, the other eleven saving themselves only by a blind leap of trust to the Master’s feet . . . Here is the steepest, highest pinnacle of our faith (or the narrowest, most precipitous pass through which that faith must labor) . . . faith’s supreme test . . .
socrates58.blogspot.com/2011/02/john-6-and-lack-of-faith-in-physical.html

did not deny Judas Communion even though he apparently did not have faith that it was Christ’s body and blood (Jn 6:66-71).
catholic.com/quickquestions/since-judass-betrayal-of-jesus-likely-was-a-grave-sin-why-did-jesus-give-him-communio

First the Jews walked away, shaking their heads in disbelief. Then even some of Jesus’ disciples left him, unable to accept the doctrine of the Real Presence. One particular person fell away here: Judas (see verse 64). It was here, in his disbelief in the Real Presence, that Judas first betrayed Christ. Yes, later he would be a thief and a traitor, but this is where his tragedy began.
(It is here, in the rejection of the Eucharist, that Judas fell away;
catholic.com/tracts/christ-in-the-eucharist
 
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