I mean no offense to our friends from other traditions, but I'd remind them that this is an RM subforum. You're welcome to offer fellowship and encouragement posts. You can even ask us questions, but we'd rather not have to spend all our time debating issues with other traditions that we're basically settled on. That's one of the reasons we've got these congregational subfroums. Please be considerate of that. At any rate I'll address these last few posts for AJ's benefit.
So, out of curiosity, what did Jesus mean long before that gathering in the upper room, in John 6, when He said that he who does not eat my flesh and drink my blood does not have eternal life? Leaving aside exegetical differences in interpretation over what precisely Jesus meant about the nature of the bread and wine, why do you think Jesus would put it so explicitly, offend scores of people, lose disciples over it, and not clarify His words subsequently (as was His typical custom when explaining a parable)?
This is a wonderful example of reading a belief into a passage. It should be apparent to everyone that Jesus spoke in parables and frequently used symbolism to communicate. This passage immediately follows the feeding of the 5000. The discussion starts thus:
Joh 6:26,27 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him the Father, even God, has sealed.
He further explains "This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent."
I would hope it obvious that Jesus' message was for those who were there right then as well as to us today. If Jesus were about to start a dialogue about communion, it would mean nothing to those there at the time. Rather, this was something they could already be doing: believing in Jesus.
He then goes on to explore the symbolism further, by comparing Himself to manna. It was sent by God and came from heaven to feed people. Likewise, Jesus was sent by God from heaven to offer life to people.
Joh 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall not hunger, and he that believes on me shall never thirst.
This one one of several analogies that Jesus makes about himself. He's also a door, living water, a light etc... The theme He explores this time is "the bread of life" as a comparison to manna. He also explains it from the begininng. It's by coming to Christ that we don't hunger and by believing in Him that we don't thirst. It's as this point that the objections actually begin, even before there's any mention of eating flesh.
Joh 6:42 And they said "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I am come down out of heaven?"
Their real objection is to the strength of His claims about who He is. He's saying He was sent by God and came from Heaven and that's what's started to get some offside. Mind you, the claims just get bigger and bigger from herein. He goes on to say that the prophets spoke of Him, that men are supposed to come to Him, that eternal life is through Him, that he has seen the Father etc...
If they had issues about His statement that He came from heaven, they were only going to be amplified significantly now. Of course some found it a hard message. Some even found it so hard that they couldn't even get beyond the metaphor to the truth of His words :
Joh 6:52 The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
I often hear Catholics or Orthodox make the argument that even though the message was driving people away, Jesus didn't explain it. That's simply not true. In John 6:61, He acknowledged the issue:
Joh 6:61 But Jesus knowing in himself that his disciples murmured at this, said to them "Does this cause you to stumble?"
and in John 6:63 He addessed it:
Joh 6:63 "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life."
So you see, He comes right out and tells them. He's not talking about physical matters, but spiritual ones. He's not asking them to physically eat His physical flesh. He's asking them to spiritually consume Him as He explained at the beginning by coming to Him and believing in Him.
Now maybe some of those who left still couldn't get beyond the metaphorical, but those who stayed understood:
Joh 6:67,68 Jesus said therefore unto the twelve "Would you also go away?" Simon Peter answered him "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Notice that. he didn't say he was staying to feast on Christ's flesh, but to feast on His words.
There's a similar illustration here:
Joh 4:13,14 Jesus answered and said to her "Every one that drinks of this water shall thirst again: but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life."
Recognise the similarity in the argument? It's basically the same. People who ate manna still got hungry again and still died. People who eat Jesus' flesh won't get hungry again and won't die. People who drink from the well will still get thirsty again and will still die. People who drink Jesus' water won't get thirsty again and won't die. You can guarantee that this would be included amongst the "real presence" proof texts IF He'd said He was wine instead of water... BUT He didn't and this illustration is recognised for what it is, while the other parallel teaching, which says the same thing is made to be more than it is.
God would never have commanded His people to drink blood under the Law. Here comes Jesus Who changes all that. You guys are still living under the Law!
It's got nothing to do with us living under the law. It's about recognising that they were under the law at that time. Jesus never broke the law. One aspect of the law was that they weren't to cause each other to stumble. It's something He even taught Himself.
Mat 5:19 "Whoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
Jesus made a lot of "heretical" statements - things very much anathema to the Jews. Like pointing to Himself, who had taken human flesh, and calling Himself "I AM".
Yep, there's lots of areas where it could be said that Jesus was breaking the law IF He wasn't really the Christ, but He was and is. If someone said they were God and they weren't then clearly it would be blasphemous, but if God says He's God then clearly it's not. The fact that others thought He was breaking the law is NOT testament to the fact that he was, it's testament to the fact that they didn't believe Him. I can't find a single example in scripture where Jesus actually broke the law but I can find places where he was accused of it. In every instance it comes back to 1 of 2 things. They didn't recognise the truth of His words OR they were trying to apply a law that wasn't scriptural. This matter stands alone as a stark contradiction. If Jesus was actually asking them to physically drink physical blood, it alone would be the single instance of Jesus actually breaking the law.
As to the Jerusalem council in Acts 15, which continued to forbid the drinking of blood, it is clear that the Eucharist was the one exception.
And yet it's not clear at all from scripture. They never included that clause in their deliberation.