RicOlie_2 said:
his statement that “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life within you”Dumb question from a non-christian: I realize that most Christians do not literally eat his flesh and blood (as I do not believe Jesus was trying to condone cannibalism, especially not of himself), and that really it refers to a sacred wine and I think bread (If I recall, though I might not have the specifics right.) However, why were those two food items chosen? Is there a Bible passage where he explains them to be allegories for his flesh and blood? If not, why those items (Though I maybe get the wine, as it might also be an extension of the whole, “turning water into wine,” thing.)
It’s a great question actually, and it has to do mainly with Jewish traditions. For one, “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving” and there is a connection with thanksgiving offerings (Todah) of the Old Testament, which consisted of bread, wine, and I believe meat. There is also the connection with the Passover (which is when the gospels record Jesus’ celebrated the first Eucharist/last supper), where unleavened bread, wine, and roast lamb were eaten. The question of course arises, why didn’t he use lamb instead of bread? I can’t give a definitive answer there, but I can give some hypotheses (see also this article and its comment section): unlike lamb, wine and bread do not exist in nature and are produced by humans using products of nature, perhaps symbolizing a cooperation between God and man; the Eucharist replaced “bloody” sacrifices (the Eucharist is a sacrifice that re-presents (makes present again) Jesus’ crucifixion, which was the ultimate “bloody” sacrifice), and thus meat wouldn’t be suitable because it would require the shedding of blood; and bread is more universal than meat, and especially compared to lamb. Jesus also speaks of himself as the “bread of life” come down from heaven in his discourse of John 6. There, he connects this notion with the Eucharist: “whoever does not eat [the Greek word used is a more graphic word for eating, like gnawing or chewing[ my flesh and drink my blood has no life within him.”