scripture which points to scourging, crowning of thorns, carrying the cross and falling, being crusixified that his blood was not his real flesh and blood, and it was only symbolic bleeding as he meant in the last supper. or is there another symbolic representation of his body and blood in scripture that I as a catholic am unaware of? If it was only symbolic, there must be scripture to back it up.
2007-10-01 13:54:05 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
what is the scripture that states Jesus meant it to be symbolic, and if it is, why did he speak so literally time and time again?
2007-10-01 14:00:32 · update #1
Matt. 26:26-28; Mark. 14:22,24; Luke 22;19-20; 1 Cor. 11:24-25 - Jesus says, this IS my body and blood. Jesus does not say, this is a symbol of my body and blood.
Matt. 26:26; Mark. 14:22; Luke 22:19-20 - the Greek phrase is "Touto estin to soma mou." This phraseology means "this is actually" or "this is really" my body and blood.
1 Cor. 11:24 - the same translation is used by Paul - "touto mou estin to soma." The statement is "this is really" my body and blood. Nowhere in Scripture does God ever declare something without making it so.
Matt. 26:26; Mark. 14:22; Luke 22:19 - to deny the 2,000 year-old Catholic understanding of the Eucharist, Protestants must argue that Jesus was really saying "this represents (not is) my body and blood." However, Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, had over 30 words for "represent," but Jesus did not use any of them. He used the Aramaic word for "estin" which means "is."
Matt. 26:28; Mark. 14:24; Luke 22:20 - Jesus' use of "poured out" in reference to His blood also emphasizes the reality of its presence.
Exodus 24:8 - Jesus emphasizes the reality of His actual blood being present by using Moses' statement "blood of the covenant."
1 Cor. 10:16 - Paul asks the question, "the cup of blessing and the bread of which we partake, is it not an actual participation in Christ's body and blood?" Is Paul really asking because He, the divinely inspired writer, does not understand? No, of course not. Paul's questions are obviously rhetorical. This IS the actual body and blood. Further, the Greek word "koinonia" describes an actual, not symbolic participation in the body and blood.
1 Cor. 10:18 - in this verse, Paul is saying we are what we eat. We are not partners with a symbol. We are partners of the one actual body.
1 Cor. 11:23 - Paul does not explain what he has actually received directly from Christ, except in the case when he teaches about the Eucharist. Here, Paul emphasizes the importance of the Eucharist by telling us he received directly from Jesus instructions on the Eucharist which is the source and summit of the Christian faith.
1 Cor. 11:27-29 - in these verses, Paul says that eating or drinking in an unworthy manner is the equivalent of profaning (literally, murdering) the body and blood of the Lord. If this is just a symbol, we cannot be guilty of actually profaning (murdering) it. We cannot murder a symbol. Either Paul, the divinely inspired apostle of God, is imposing an unjust penalty, or the Eucharist is the actual body and blood of Christ.
1 Cor. 11:30 - this verse alludes to the consequences of receiving the Eucharist unworthily. Receiving the actual body and blood of Jesus in mortal sin results in actual physical consequences to our bodies.
1 Cor. 11:27-30 - thus, if we partake of the Eucharist unworthily, we are guilty of literally murdering the body of Christ, and risking physical consequences to our bodies. This is overwhelming evidence for the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. These are unjust penalties if the Eucharist is just a symbol.
Acts 2:42 - from the Church's inception, apostolic tradition included celebrating the Eucharist (the "breaking of the bread") to fulfill Jesus' command "do this in remembrance of me."
Acts 20:28 - Paul charges the Church elders to "feed" the Church of the Lord, that is, with the flesh and blood of Christ.
Matt. 6:11; Luke 11:3 - in the Our Father, we ask God to give us this day our daily bread, that is the bread of life, Jesus Christ.
Matt. 12:39 – Jesus says no “sign” will be given except the “sign of the prophet Jonah.” While Protestants focus only on the “sign” of the Eucharist, this verse demonstrates that a sign can be followed by the reality (here, Jesus’ resurrection, which is intimately connected to the Eucharist).
Matt. 19:6 - Jesus says a husband and wife become one flesh which is consummated in the life giving union of the marital act. This union of marital love which reflects Christ's union with the Church is physical, not just spiritual. Thus, when Paul says we are a part of Christ's body (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:23,30-31; Col. 1:18,24), he means that our union with Christ is physical, not just spiritual. But our union with Christ can only be physical if He is actually giving us something physical, that is Himself, which is His body and blood to consume (otherwise it is a mere spiritual union).
Luke 14:15 - blessed is he who eats this bread in the kingdom of God, on earth and in heaven.
Luke 22:19, 1 Cor. 11:24-25 - Jesus commands the apostles to "do this," that is, offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, in remembrance of Him.
Luke 24:26-35 - in the Emmaus road story, Jesus gives a homily on the Scriptures and then follows it with the celebration of the Eucharist. This is the Holy Mass, and the Church has followed this order of the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist for 2,000 years.
Luke 24:30-31,35 - Jesus is known only in the breaking of bread. Luke is emphasizing that we only receive the fullness of Jesus by celebrating the Eucharistic feast of His body and blood, which is only offered in its fullness by the Catholic Church.
John 1:14 - literally, this verse teaches that the Word was made flesh and "pitched His tabernacle" among us. The Eucharist, which is the Incarnate Word of God under the appearance of bread, is stored in the tabernacles of Catholic churches around the world.
John 21:15,17 - Jesus charges Peter to "feed" His sheep, that is, with the Word of God through preaching and the Eucharist.
Acts 9:4-5; 22:8; 26:14-15 – Jesus asks Saul, “Why are you persecuting me?” when Saul was persecuting the Church. Jesus and the Church are one body (Bridegroom and Bride), and we are one with Jesus through His flesh and blood (the Eucharist).
1 Cor. 12:13 - we "drink" of one Spirit in the Eucharist by consuming the blood of Christ eternally offered to the Father.
Heb. 10:25,29 - these verses allude to the reality that failing to meet together to celebrate the Eucharist is mortal sin. It is profaning the body and blood of the Lord.
Heb. 12:22-23 - the Eucharistic liturgy brings about full union with angels in festal gathering, the just spirits, and God Himself, which takes place in the assembly or "ecclesia" (the Church).
Heb. 12:24 - we couldn't come to Jesus' sprinkled blood if it were no longer offered by Jesus to the Father and made present for us.
2 Pet. 1:4 - we partake of His divine nature, most notably through the Eucharist - a sacred family bond where we become one.
Rev. 2:7; 22:14 - we are invited to eat of the tree of life, which is the resurrected flesh of Jesus which, before, hung on the tree.
2007-10-01 13:58:15 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Hebrews 7:27 says
Unlike the other High Priests, He (Jesus) has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, then for those of the people, this He did ONCE and FOR ALL when He offered Himself.
This means there are no more sacrifices being accepted anymore! He did the very last and eternal sacrifice and He is now sitting at the right Hand of God. He is not coming back physically until He steps foot on the Mount. He is not entering into a little wafer to be eaten over and over again. He finalized the true sacrifice. He can not enter into anything made with human hands ayway. He will never be sacrificed again literally. He only wanted us to comemorate and gather together to remember what He did for us once and for all on the cross by breaking bread and remembering that He allowed His body to be broken for us and also with His blood. By saying "This is my blood" does not make it literally His blood. If it did then everyone would be breaking God's laws and drinking blood which God commanded us not to do. He can not go back on His word. The point is, there are some things that started off as symbolic of what Christ was going to do for us and then He literally did it for us. There are so many forshadowings in the bible. But His death and reserrection can not be repeated ever. The Catholic church is lieing to everyone! Read the Word for your self. Don't take the Catholic churche's word. They are deceiving you and everyone else.
The only thing we can ingest that is of Christ is the Word of God. Jesus is the Word. And the Word is the meat for christians to grow on. Obviously those who beleive the nonsense of the Catholic church are not eating the spiritual food, Word of God, they are eating something else.
2007-10-01 16:15:30 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The Eucharist has offended men from the very beginning of His teaching when Jesus taught at Capernaum that His gift to humanity could only be discerned through the spirit rather than the carnal senses. It was said at that time that it was hard teaching, so hard, in fact, that for the first and only time some of His disciples left Him never to follow again. Those who left were the proto-Protestants as they lacked the spiritual discernment and the will and trust in Jesus to believe His plain words.
(Joh 6:66 DRB) (6:67) After this, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
In His teaching, twelve times He said that He was the bread from heaven. Four times He instructed that they would have to eat His flesh and drink His blood as an extended promise of what would come at the Last Supper. There was never a more explicit teaching of our Savior than this teaching yet some do not believe and will call themselves Christian.
The Eucharist as the Scriptures teach make the past present where we as the Church are present at the once for all sacrifice of our Lord. Christ is present in that the elements are fully Christ in a present reality offered to believers as a present gift shared by the whole Church Militant, Suffering and Triumphant.
The Eucharist is the greatest of all the Sacraments as “the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the sacraments tend”. In the Eucharist the body and blood including the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the whole Christ, is truly, really and substantially contained in the fullest sense.
In Christ
Fr. Joseph
2007-10-01 14:10:36 · answer #3 · answered by cristoiglesia 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The crucifixtion was not symbolic, but the last supper was (otherwise there would be no more Jesus left, would there? We would have eaten and drank him all up. I doubt god is that gross.).
"A wicked generation seeketh after a sign, but none shall be given"
Shouldn't there also be scripture to back up that it is NOT symbolic? Shouldn't it specifically state that the bread and wine are 'transubstantiated' into real flesh and blood? If this is true, where is the scripture to back it up? And if god is spirit, then there is no flesh and blood, right?
If you take the bible at face value, then you will have a very difficult time when you read the book of revelations (i think everyone agrees there is symbolism, even though it is not explicitly stated. I doubt the virgin mary was standing on the moon).
2007-10-01 14:02:22 · answer #4 · answered by James Bond 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
When instituting this meal, Jesus did not perform a miracle, changing the emblems into his literal flesh and blood. Eating human flesh and drinking blood would be cannibalism, a violation of God’s law. (Genesis 9:3, 4; Leviticus 17:10) Jesus still had his entire fleshly body and all his blood. His body was offered as a perfect sacrifice, and his blood was poured out the next afternoon of the same Jewish day, Nisan 14. Therefore, the Memorial bread and wine are emblematic in nature, representing Christ’s flesh and blood.
2007-10-01 13:57:16 · answer #5 · answered by LineDancer 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
When Jesus said that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, many of his followers walked away because they took His words literally and found the idea disagreeable. If Jesus was speaking symbolically, then he wouldn't have let those people walk away because of a misunderstanding. The Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is a hard teaching, as He said. Lots of people find it hard today.
2007-10-01 16:09:18 · answer #6 · answered by Andrei Bolkonsky 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I can see why they say that though because their communion is only symbolic. They think that ours is too but they do not realize that our priesthood has the ordination to consecrate the Host like it is supposed to be to bring about the transubstantiation---the real presence of Jesus---this is the root of all their problems---without the real Jesus ---they have no devotion to Mary and the Saints----they are not part of the Real body of Christ so they try to bring us down to their level.
2007-10-01 14:28:24 · answer #7 · answered by Midge 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
they have not ceased to be of use! it somewhat is the place you forget approximately many of the prophecies approximately Jesus. Jesus hasn't fulfilled each and all of the prophecies of the Messiah yet. he's coming back a 2d time to reign on earth. His human physique is unquestionably nevertheless of use.
2016-10-10 03:28:37 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By symbolic, we mean that Jesus wasn't really instructing his disciples to literally consume him. The communion is symbolic in that sense.
2007-10-01 13:56:49 · answer #9 · answered by The Apple Chick 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Our Lord said, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you... For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink endeed." John 6:53.
This is true of our physical nature. Never one, believer or unbeliever, eats his daily food (provided of course the meal is of that which the Lord Himself gives us to eat) but he is nourished by the "flesh and blood of Christ." How? It is His life that we receive in the sunshine, in the pure, sweet air and in the food which builds up our bodies and sustains our strength. (live food) It is by His life that we exist, hour by hour, moment by moment.
Except as perverted by sin, all His gifts tend to life, to health and joy.
Thus, the light shining from the Communion service in the upper room makes sacred the provisions for our daily life. The family board becomes as the table of the Lord, and every meal a sacrament!
The Lord Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and said, "This is My body." This occured when they were eating. The bread was the ordinary unleavened bread that they had on the table, and such it was after Jesus had given thanks; then He took the cup, and said, "This is My blood." It was ordinary grape juice that they had on the table, and such it was after Jesus had given thanks.
The catholic priest has not the power to change the bread into the body of Christ; for the Scripture tells us that it is that already. "This is My body." There is no magic whatsoever about the matter. To be sure, the partaking of the body and the blood of Christ in the Lord's supper is absolutely independent of any action of any priest or minister.
The words of Jesus are absolute and unequivocal and admit of no private interpretation. Jesus stated a simple fact. Never one, believer or unbeliever, eats his daily food but he is nourished and strengthened by His life! Thus He said, "Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you."
What happens if we stop eating and drinking?
The knowledge of this truth sanctifies and glorifies eating and drinking. He who lives in constant recognition of it, eats and drinks to the glory of God. He eats and drinks by faith. The man that does not day by day recognize the body of Christ in His gifts, eats and drinks like the beasts that perish.
"Man who is in honor and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish." Psalm 49:20.
2007-10-01 14:20:03 · answer #10 · answered by sky 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋