Are bread and wine transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus?
In addition to teaching that the sacrifice of Christ continues today, the Catholic Catechism teaches that bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus:
“In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist ‘the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained’ ” (para. 1374; italics in original).
“It is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament” (para. 1375).
“...‘by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation’ ” (para. 1376).
The Catholic belief that the bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus through a process called transubstantiation is based on the following Bible verses referenced by the above quotations:
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take and eat; this is my body’ ” (Matthew 26:26).
“While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body’ ” (Mark 14:22).
“Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me’ ” (Luke 22:19).
“...and after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me’ ” (1 Corinthians 11:24).
From just these verses it may be possible to believe Jesus meant that the bread and wine really became His body and blood. But let us take a look at these verses again, this time in context, and include the verses that follow immediately after them:
Matthew 26
• “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, ‘Take and eat; this is my body’ ” (Matthew 26:26).
• “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father’ ” (Matthew 26:27–29).
Mark 14
• “While they were eating, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, and said, ‘Take it; this is my body’ ” (Mark 14:22).
• “Then he took a cup, gave thanks, gave it to them, and they all drank from it. He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many. Amen, I say to you, I shall not drink again the fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God’ ” (Mark 14:23–25).
Luke 22
• “Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body which will be given for you; do this in memory of me’ ” (Luke 22:19.
• “And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you’ ” (Luke 22:20).
1 Corinthians 11
• “And after he had given thanks, broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me’ ” (1 Corinthians 11:24).
• “In the same way also 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. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup’ ” (1 Corinthians 11:25–28).
Notice in the first two passages that after Jesus is supposed to have changed the wine into blood, He referred to it as “the fruit of the vine.” If it were in fact changed into His blood, why would He refer to it as “the fruit of the vine”? I am in no way saying that Jesus couldn’t have done it if He had wanted to. I’m just saying that He didn’t and that the Bible does not support the teaching that He did.
Notice in the last two passages that Jesus referred to the cup as the covenant “in” His blood—not “of ” His blood. Again, He was not saying that the wine had become His blood.
Finally, notice in the last passage from the Bible that after Jesus was supposed to have changed the bread into His body, it is still called “bread.”
Let’s read 1 Corinthians 11:26–28 one more time:
“For as often as you eat this bread [not the body of Jesus] and drink this cup [not the blood of Jesus], you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread [not the body of Jesus] or drinks the cup [not the blood of Jesus] of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord. A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread [not body of Jesus] and drink the cup [not blood of Jesus]” (1 Corinthians 11:26–28).
When we read the entire passages, we see in a new light the actual meaning of Jesus’ words and the Bible’s teaching. When we read in their entirety the verses quoted by the Catholic Catechism to support the belief that the bread and wine are transformed into the actual body and blood of Jesus, it becomes clear that Jesus never claimed, and that the apostles did not teach, that this transformation ever occurred. The Bible calls the bread “bread,” and the wine, “the fruit of the vine.” The bread, or Eucharist, is clearly not transformed into the actual body of Christ, and it has absolutely no power to forgive sins. Yet the Catholic Church continues to offer the sacrifice of the Eucharist for the forgiveness of sins, claiming it is the actual body and blood of Jesus.
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