protestants...please respond to this quote?

Question

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53)

my point is...you all seem to deny it is the actual body. how else do you interpret this then???? symbolic...where does it say that???

Answer 1

Jesus emphatically and repeatedly taught the Real Presence of Him in the Eucharist, yet they still walked away. It's in John 6:66. Hmm...where have I seen those numbers before?

Answer 2

This passage is clearly symbolic. Jesus was long dead by the time John penned these words, therefore, he means for the Christians to whom he is writing to eat the eucharist meal where Christ's presence (John thought) was felt. I am not a literalist. However, if someone takes the Bible to be the literal word of God, then I assume they would also have to take this verse literally. Of course, the literalist will say this is symbolic, but then couldn't we also say the same thing about the creation account in Genesis, couldn't we say then that the miracles of Jesus are mythic with theological overtones, etc., their bias betrays them in this respect.

Certainly, the text does not say that it is meant to be understood in symbolic terms. No writer in their right mind would pause during their narrative to say, "Ok, this next bit is symbolic" or "metaphor," or "satirical humor." As far as I can remember off the top of my head, the only places in the Bible that specifies explicitly the genre of literature being used are the times that a particular gospel writer says that Jesus told a parable. I suppose one other would be the beginning of Revelation in which the reader is informed that the following words are an apocalypse of John. At any rate, I hope that helped a bit.

Answer 3

I'm a Christian. I do not protest anyone who believes in what Jesus did for us on the cross. I believe I know the point you are trying to make, but I will answer the question the way it is written.

We are predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus. We have the Holy Spirit in us. We are becoming what we were before the garden. We are the Bride of Christ. One Flesh with GOD. Our Lord is speaking of our relationship with him. He wants us to be that close to him. We remember this when we take communion.

(Now a wild guess) If you want bread to actually become the flesh of Jesus and the Wine the blood then by all means knock yourself out. God is able to do that so who am I to debate the issue?

Jesus is my Lord. Nothing else... Just Jesus,

GOD bless you.

Answer 4

What did He say right after that?He said " The words I speak are spiritual the FLESH profits NOTHING"
At the Last Supper,He said as He broke the bread(not a round "Host" like the round cakes the pagans baked for the Queen of heaven) and said "Do this in REMEMBERANCE of me",while His flesh was on His body and His blood course thru His veins.
It's to remember his body broken on the cross(not His bones though) and the wine,the blood shed for remittance of sins.The priests of Baal used to eat the flesh and drink the blood to try to get that persons power(it's where we get the word canni-baal from)Jesus being a Jew would NEVER authorize the drinking of blood (Lev.17:11)

Answer 5

The disciples who first heard Jesus say this about eating His flesh and drinking His Blood, were stumped, too (v. 60 "This is an hard saying, who can hear it?") because they were taking it too too much in the physical sense.

Jesus answer to them was "v63--It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Some Protestants reduce the spirituality of the Communion meal to "mere symbolic act" and some Catholics reduce the spirituality of the Communion meal by excluding members of the family of Christ who want to share it with them. The Body of Christ is broken all over again when this happens.

When two or three are gathered in his name, whether at Holy Communion or at other times of prayer, Christ truly is there in their midst, spiritually. And all Christians know, when Jesus is there spiritually, He is REALLY, truly there.

Answer 6

I can think of many reasons why it would be symbolic. For one the disciples, if taken literally, would have to eat Jesus. But alas, they did not, He died and rose again, with nary a bite mark.

Also at the Last Supper he was pouring wine and breaking bread, not twisting his arm to squeeze his blood into the cup or chopping his fingers off and passing them around.

So you tell me?

Answer 7

This occured at the last supper with the apostles. Jesus took the bread, broke it and said 'eat this is my body' Then he poured wine in a vessel and said 'drink, this is my blood'. We still practice it in church today. If you have any thing against any one or anything, you should not take communion. If you have something against someone, go and make peace with him, bring it to the altar and you may celebrate the communion.
.

Answer 8

1 Corinthians 11


23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

Answer 9

Its a sign that there is no spiritual life in us, if we don't desire Christ, if we don't delight ourselves in him. If our spirit does not hunger or thirst for Him, then surely it is dead.

Cuz when we feed ourselves of Jesus, we r bounded to Him, says John 6:56. "whoever eats my flesh n drinks my blood remains in me, n I in him."

U can find this interpretations in books like "commentary of the bible of Matthew Henry" n many others.

Answer 10

I'm Lutheran (WELS). We use unleavened bread (tastes like styrofoam!) and wine, and we believe Christ is in and of it after it's consecrated. It's more than symbolic, but not to the point of it actually transforming into flesh and blood.