Christ in the Eucharist: Biblical truth.
The first reading: John 6
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and he who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
41 The Jews then murmured at him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except Him who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”
The Take-Aways
Jesus begins this block of scripture by stating,
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and he who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up at the last day.
In this text, Jesus clearly states that the purpose of His coming was to do the Father’s will and that is to bring more people to Him and to lose none of those who are His. This is an easy thing for most Christians to understand and accept, yet in the next part of the passage, Jesus proceeds to make claims that cause many of His followers, therefore, God the Father’s followers to leave Him and Jesus does nothing to try and make them stay.
43 Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves.
In the first half of this scripture passage, Jesus states He has come to do the Father’s will, then seemingly does the opposite by evoking outrage among the crowd. Jesus continues to go deeper causing more outrage as He describes that the Scripture foretold His coming and that He is the Bread that came down from Heaven.
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
This is too much for many of Jesus’ followers and they begin to turn away from Him, and this is where many Christians dispute and disagree. Jesus does nothing to try to make the people stay. He does not explain the “metaphor”, instead, He again does the opposite, and rather than deescalating the situation, He hits harder with the fact that those who believe in Him must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Drinking of blood is against Jewish Kosher Laws and Cannibalism was and is immoral. These alone without the claim of coming from heaven would have sent the Jewish people away, and when this was stated was ultimately when they started leaving.
60 Many of His disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that His disciples murmured at it, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of man ascending where He was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you that do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who those were that did not believe, and who it was that should betray Him. 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66 After this many of His disciples drew back and no longer went about with Him. 67 Jesus said to the twelve, “Will you also go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
In the end, Jesus was left with His twelve apostles. None of the others believed as the apostles did and the scripture states that they had to be granted the faith from the father. Therefore, the truth is that Jesus is the bread from heaven and His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink. Jesus was not being metaphorical and meant what He said.
Denominations that do not believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist state that Jesus uses other metaphors in scripture such as “I am the Vine,” in John 15,
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. he who abides in me, and I in him, he is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
This is a metaphor because Jesus is explaining the relationship between His disciples and Himself, that if they abide in Jesus’ love they will prove themselves as His disciples. There is an explanation and a clear meaning behind the metaphor explained by Jesus Himself. There is not an explanation in the passage from John 6, because it’s not a metaphor. Jesus meant what He said. Jesus is the Bread and during communion, the bread takes on the substance of Jesus Christ Himself.
So Was Jesus Serious or Being Metaphorical?
Jesus means it when He says His flesh and blood are true food and drink. To prove this I will reference a part of scripture we are all familiar with. The Lord’s Prayer, in Matthew 6 and Luke 11.
Matthew 6
9 Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
Luke 11
“Father, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread; 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.”
In both of these verses, the word daily in Greek is only found in three ancient transcripts. These two Bible verses and in a first or second-century Christian source the Didache. The Greek word epiousios (επιούσιος) is translated as daily in these passages but has a second more accurate translation. An early Bible translator St Jerome translated the word as both “daily” and “supersubstantial” deriving the meaning from the root words epi (above or super) and ousia (essence or substance).
The word epiousios would be a present tense anticipative word pertaining to obtaining the Bread of Christ. This I daresay, this word being spoken by Jesus with the implication of a supersubstantial bread is a clear indicator that this part of the prayer is not supplicative for mere earthly needs but for the literal flesh of Christ in the Eucharist, our number one spiritual need.