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Jesus never expects us to drink his blood, he offers the symbols of bread and wine to be eaten as a representation of our identification with his sacrifice. It represents death passing over us in the same way that the Passover lamb, whose blood was applied to the doorposts, caused God to pass by Israel. They were set at liberty from Egypt, and everyone was healed of all infirmities, enabling them to be called out of Egypt, being baptized in the Red Sea.

Jesus was bruised, but only while he was being offered up as the sacrifice. In the same way the offerings of Israel were to be perfect but were killed in their offering. God proved the sinlessness of Christ and his atonement for sin by raising him from the dead.

100 posted on 02/28/2004 9:29:38 AM PST by man of Yosemite ("When a man decides to do something everyday, that's about when he stops doing it.")

Two major churches -- Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic -- hold that the Eucharistic bread and wine are physically (not just symbolically) the flesh and blood of Jesus. The Orthodox Church offers communion with both; the Catholics offer only bread.

Some Protestant churches consider the bread and wine symbolic of Jesus' blood and flesh. Nonetheless, Jesus made it clear that even symbolic sin is sin.(Matthew 5:28)