Those are the laws Jesus was born under and required to follow as a Jew. That was a law set down by God Himself and not part of the "add ons" by the Pharisees which are what they claimed Christ violated.
>>Jesus contradicted Old Testament laws on several occasions,<<
Not even one that was set down by God.
>>by not requiring the apostles to follow strict handwashing laws<<
Those which had been added by the Pharisees.
>>So by OT law, Jesus WAS a sinner.<<
No, He was not. The Pharisees had corrupted God's laws and it was those corruptions He was accused of breaking.
>>Because He really did say what he said and contradicted the OT.<<
But not what you think He said.
>>Why would He only want those to stay with Him who knew immediately that He was being figurative and not correct those who were upset because they mistakenly took Him literally?<<
He told us why in that same Chapter. Only those who the Father had given Him. "All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." He also said "“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,". Those who didn't stay had not been called by the Father.
>>Did He drive them away on purpose?<<
He surely knew they were not going to stay. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
>>Surely He knew that the concept of eating flesh and drinking blood was controversial.<<
He also knew that they knew the scriptures and that when Ezekiel and Jeremiah were told to "eat the scroll" it meant to internalize the word of God not eat the literal physical scroll.
>> and there is again no clear explanation in scripture to tell us which one is the absolute truth<<
There most certainly is. He said His words were "spirit" not literal. He also said the "flesh profits nothing". Twice He said His words were "spirit" rather than literal.
>>Not ‘a lamb’ but ‘The Lamb’ of God, the perfect sacrifice.<<
Surely you don't believe He was a literal physical sheep. Surely you don't expect a literal physical river of water to flow from you belly. Do you ever get hungry or thirsty? He also said those who "eat his flesh" will never get hungryu or thirsty and even said they would never die. Catholics still die every day.
You haven’t answered my question about who gets to determine when Jesus is speaking figuratively and when He is speaking literally. Why should I trust your interpretation more than I trust mine?
There are some examples when it is clear, and there are some where it is not. ‘My words are spirit’ being one example. Are his words literally spirit? If so, are they always spirit, or are they just spirit in this particular instance? Is ‘spirit’ a synonym for ‘figurative?’ What about when He doesn’t say ‘My words are spirit’? Do we have to take what He says at that time literally?
Love, O2
I’m getting tired of the TAGLINE TAGLINE TAGLINE...lets get ‘er done!