Jesus knew people like you would misunderstand what He was saying, and so He immediately clarified, to ensure that people wouldn’t believe they’d literally be eating his skin and blood.
In John 6, He says, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” Whoa! What can that mean?
Just a couple of verses later, in the very same chapter, He clarifies for those who think He’s speaking of literal skin and blood:
“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.”
Jesus is clearly speaking of Spiritual relationship, not of literally consuming flesh. That “flesh,” after all, “is no help at all.”
Yes, in a metaphorical sense, we partake in Jesus. We clothe ourselves in Him. He abides within us. We taste Him, and see that He is good. But we don’t munch on his skin; chewing skin “is no help at all.” It is the Spirit who gives life.
funny, the author of John taught St Ignatius. Ignatius wrote in the early second century on his way to being martyred in Rome, that the Eucharist is the flesh of Jesus.
the Universal Church has believed and taught this for 2,000 years, having received the doctrine from the Apostles.
excuse me if i put more weight on someone who personally learned the Faith from John, as opposed to someone who believes no one understood Jesus until the 16th century.
remember it’s not me saying “This is My Body”, those words were spoken by Jesus.