He commands us to eat His Body and Blood. His words are unmistakeable.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
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.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Christ literally gives Himself to us as real food and real drink. There's nothing to misinterpret here. There's no room for manoeuvre.
Moreover: when we consider the language used in the Gospel of John, the literal interpretation becomes undeniable.
In John 6:50-53 Christ's words are translated using various forms of the Greek verb phago, 'eating.' As in 'Sarcophagus'.
However after the Jews begin to express incredulity at the idea of eating Christ’s flesh, His language intensified.
In verse 54, John begins to use trogo instead of phago. Trogo is a decidedly more graphic term, meaning 'to chew on' or to 'gnaw on'—as when an animal is ripping apart its prey. The text is closer to:
Whoever gnaws on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
If anything more needed to be said: St Paul is also abundantly clear
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.
All this: not to mention Christ's institution of what we now call the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
From Luke:
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."
If any corroborating evidence were needed, St Paul speaks about the Eucharist in Corinthians.
And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
I quote these to show that Christ's Body and Blood were eaten and drunk in the very early Church.
Do not separate yourself from the Body and Blood of Christ! He commands you to eat of Him, or 'you will not have life within you'.
John 4:14
...but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
In all three scenes recorded in the Gospel of Matthew the Gospel of Mark (probably the dictated Gospel of Peter) and the Gospel of Luke. Jesus calls the contents of the cup Wine, never His blood but wine. He stated clearly that the wine in the cup was to be drunk in remembrance of the blood of the new covenant to be shed for them the next day on the cross, and the fourth cup was poured out. Jesus Himself when Instituting the REMEMBRANCE used the WINE as the symbol of His blood shed for them and for us. At the actual instituting of the REMEMBRANCE the Lord Himself called the contents of the cup wine.
It would not be out of line to say that Jesus, knowing what trouble the disciples and which they held as questions from the months walking with Him, would clarify something as significant as John 6. For His friends, His closest followers who were, as best they could, 'down for the struggle'. He used the PAssove meal to institute the new covenant He was going to seal with His blood the next day, and He made clear the Truth of the bread and wine discourse from John 6 by passing among them pieces of bread He instructed to be eaten as a remembrance of His body about to be offered up BY HIM on the Cross for them. And he passed the cups of wine among them instructing all of them to drink from them because that wine in those cups, those Passover remembrance cups of wine, THAT wine was the symbol of His blood about to be shed for them.
Sitting at Passover table with His Disciples Jesus OUR HIGH PRIEST would not have violated the Levitical laws the night before His sealing the new covenant with His own Perfect and Righteous, full of His Life blood.
Folks can make alkl the fables up they want to, but the scene in John 6, as dartuser has stated so concisely, was not the establishment of the REMEMBRANCE COMMUNION! It may be what catholics point to as the establishment of catholic Eucharist, but that connects their ritual immediately tot eh curse upon any who drink blood, as clearly and unequivocally commanded BY GOD in Leviticus 3 and 17. The wine was made the symbol of His blood shed for us and He even said He would not drink WINE again until He drank it with them again in His Father's Kingdom. Read the Gospel passages for yourself. What is given in John 6 is not the establishment of THE REMEBRANCE. Jesus occasionally used sarcasm to address hardened hearts. He used that same technique with the hard hearts and those who He knew would not be all in for the mission.
BUT THE LORD did clarify in the John 6 scene, for those who remained, those who declared they were sticking with Him because He had the WORDS of eternal life. To them He clarified:
John 6:61And Jesus having known in himself that his disciples are murmuring about this, said to them, ‘Doth this stumble you? 62if then ye may behold the Son of Man going up where he was before? 63the spirit it is that is giving life; the flesh doth not profit anything; the sayings that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life; 64but there are certain of you who do not believe;’ for Jesus had known from the beginning who they are who are not believing, and who is he who will deliver him up, 65and he said, ‘Because of this I have said to you — No one is able to come unto me, if it may not have been given him from my Father.’66 From this [time] many of his disciples went away backward, and were no more walking with him, 67 Jesus, therefore, said to the twelve, ‘Do ye also wish to go away?’ 68 Simon Peter, therefore, answered him, ‘Sir, unto whom shall we go? thou hast sayings of life age-during; 69 and we have believed, and we have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ [Young's Literal Translation]
Don't eat the blood, the life is in the blood
Genesis 9:4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life , that is, its blood.
Leviticus 3:17 It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither fat nor blood.”
Leviticus 7:26-27 Moreover, you shall eat no blood whatever, whether of fowl or of animal, in any of your dwelling places. Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.”
Leviticus 17:10-14 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.
“Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.
Leviticus 19:26 “You shall not eat any flesh with the blood in it. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes.
Deuteronomy 12:16 Only you shall not eat the blood ; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.
Deuteronomy 12:23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life , and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.
Deuteronomy 15:23 Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.
Acts 15:12-29 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
“‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers, with the following letter:
“The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
Matthew 26:29 I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Mark 14:25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 22:18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P41.HTM
1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner."188
Deuteronomy 12:16 Only you shall not eat the blood ; you shall pour it out on the earth like water.
When Christ died, His blood was poured out as was required by the law.
Hebrews 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Since without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins, a bloodless sacrifice is a useless one. It cannot atone for sin.
Jesus commanded His disciples to drink the cup. Catholics claim that doing so is partaking of the literal body and blood of Himself. However, if the mass is an unbloody sacrifice, where does the blood for the cup come from?
Which body of Christ is the priest sacrificing in the mass? The old one that walked this earth?
Or the new resurrected and glorified one? The Bible is very clear that without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin. (Hebrews 9:22)
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)
Despite the clear teaching of Scripture, Rome has an “unbloody sacrifice.” They say it’s a propitiatory sacrifice, but the Bible says without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. So not only is it unnecessary to sacrifice Christ again and again, but an unbloody sacrifice is worthless to make atonement for sin. An unbloody sacrifice is no sacrifice at all! (By .45 Long Colt)