Why Transubstantiation is Not Biblical?
***What Does John 6:53 TRULY mean?
Here is John 6:53 from the KJV. “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”
Does John 6:53 teach the Roman Catholic doctrine of Transubstantiation?
The short answer is no!
For you see, when you read the whole chapter, then you can see that John chapter 6 is about having FAITH in the death and resurrection of Jesus in order to be saved.
You cannot have eternal life in you until you are saved.
And you do not take communion until AFTER you are saved.
Therefore, John 6:22-69 has nothing whatsoever to do with eating the bread and drinking the wine at communion.
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John 6:26-69 Is About Believing the Death and Resurrection!
To truly understand the God intended meaning of why the only way to receive eternal life is to eat the flesh of Jesus and drink the blood of Jesus, then you need to know that John 6:22-69 through John 6:59 is a “parable”.
And how do we know it is a parable?
It is because Mark 4:33,34 teaches us that when Jesus taught his doctrine to the multitudes, he spoke to them in parables.
And without speaking in parables, Jesus did not speak to the multitudes.
Mark 4:33,34.
“And with many such parables, he spoke the word unto them, as they were able to hear it.
Mark 4:34. But without a parable, he spoke not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.”
And in John 6:60 through John 6:69, Jesus explains the parable to his disciples, even the disciple who did not truly believe that Jesus was that Prophet like Moses, who was prophesied to come in Deuteronomy 18:15-22.
Let us go ahead and read John 6:60-69 but let me quote them to you a verse or two at a time, so that I can explain what I understand them to mean in the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
John 6:60.
“Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it?”
Here is object lesson number 1, instead of “murmuring” in unbelief, simply take heed to the instructions of Jesus in this passage of Scripture to ask Almighty God the Father or His Son, Jesus, to help you understand what the Scriptures are saying.
Again, it was meant to be a “hard saying” by Almighty God and His Son, Jesus, in order to filter out so to speak, the true believers of Jesus being the Messiah from the followers of Jesus, who were the doubters and skeptics.
Thus, that is one of the reasons for why Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes.
Another reason for God having Jesus speaking in parable was to keep God’s enemy, Satan the Devil, from not stirring up a mob to kill Jesus before the set time, which was ordained by God Himself.
For you see, according to 1 Corinthians 2:8, if Satan would have KNOWN that killing the Son of MAN, Jesus, was God PLAN all along in order to convict Satan and the fallen angels, then he would not have crucified Jesus, who was made to become the Lord of GLORY after the cross and resurrection.
In other words, God kept his ingeniously devised plan of salvation a SECRET from his enemies.
John 6:61. When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Does this offend you?
John 6:62. What and if you shall see the Son of MAN ascend up where he was before?
Notice that I emphasized two phrases, the “Son of man” and “ascend up”.
I did this because Orthodox Christian TRADITION wrongly interprets John 6:62 to mean that Jesus is asking the disciples who were murmuring in unbelief, what if you see God the Son ascend back up into heaven where he was before?
But that is not at all what the context of verse 62 is teaching us.
First of all, this verse says the Son of MAN, and not the Son of God.
And it definitely does not say God the Son, for there are no such verses with the phrase “God the Son” in the entire Bible.
And since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven, according to 1 Corinthians 15:50-58, then it should be clear that the Son of MAN, who is FLESH and blood, was never up in heaven.
Secondly, the Greek word that is “translated” as “ascend up”, can also be translated as, “what and if you see the Son of man, “ARISE up” to where he was before.”
In other words, “what and if you see the Son of man be RESURRECTED from the dead and be quickened or made alive with ETERNAL LIFE?”
John 6:63. It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are life.
John 6:64. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
In other words, there were some Jews who did not believe in the resurrection.
And thus, when Jesus started talking about himself going to give his flesh for the life of the world and then be resurrected from the dead, they left off following Jesus.
Also, most of the Jews, including the 12 Apostles, did not yet understand that it was prophesied for the Messiah to be crucified.
But rather, the Jews, in general, were expecting a warrior King to lead them into battle to overthrow the Roman rule over them.
In other words, that was their belief, their MINDSET, and thus, they could not readily see what Jesus was actually teaching them, until he expounded or explained what he truly meant.
John 6:65. And he said, Therefore, said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
John 6:66. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
How did Jesus know who did not believe and who would betray him?
Was it because Jesus was Almighty God Himself as church TRADITION teaches?
Or was it because God anointed the Son of Man, Jesus, with a portion of His Spirit to empower him, and then God revealed to His Prophet, those who did not truly believe and the one who would betray him?
Well, to me, the Scriptures are blatantly clear that it was the Father dwelling in His human Son, who was showing Jesus what to do and what to say, according to John 5:19, John 14:10, and many other verses of Scripture.
Notice in John 6:63 that Jesus explains the parable of eating his flesh to actually means, the words that he speaks, his teachings.
In other words, Jesus was saying to the Jews, you are to eat the TEACHING of the death and resurrection that I am foretelling you will happen.
We can see an example of this in Revelation 10:9-11, where the Apostle John eats the little book, not a LITERAL book, but rather, he digests the words written in the little, and they taste like honey in his mouth, but they are bitter to his stomach.
Sometimes we use phrases like what I just heard or read turns my stomach.
To say this another way, it sounds good to understand that God will take VENGEANCE upon those who oppress us, but when we actually see or understand that they were DECEIVED by Satan, then we are bitter toward the enemy of God.
And we may regret and think to ourselves, if only we would have done more to help them see the TRUTH to overcome their being deceived, then they might have believed.
So then, to me, Jesus is explaining to his disciples the parable, and he says to them, do not focus all of your attention on eating my LITERAL flesh.
Rather, focus on what I am TEACHING you: the words that I speak, they are Spirit, they are life, the flesh does not benefit anything, it is the WORDS that I am teaching that will give life to you.
Not just physical life, but they are also ETERNAL LIFE to those who believe my words.
Well, you may be saying to yourself, I am believing the words of Jesus, and he said that if I do not eat his flesh then I cannot be saved.
But you are only focused on that one verse.
Listen closely to what the Apostles say after Jesus EXPLAINS this parable to them.
John 6:67. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will you also go away?
John 6:68. Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
John 6:69. And we believe and are sure that you are that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Did you see what Peter says?
He said that Jesus has the words of eternal life.
They TRULY believe that Jesus is that ANOINTED of prophesied in the Scriptures, which Jesus clearly and plainly tells in in Luke 4:16-21, which is at the very beginning of his ministry right after his God ANOINTED him with the Holy Spirit and sent His Son into the world.
And thus, it was the HUMAN Son of God who was sent into the world and not a so-called pre-existing Son who was supposedly sent down from heaven into the world.
That Trinitarian interpretation must be forced into the Scriptures.
So then, with the parable being explained to you that the word “eating” means “BELIEVING” that Jesus is that Christ, the ANOINTED one prophesied in the Scriptures, the Son of the living God, let us read some of the key verses in this parable.
The first clue is the word “THEREFORE” in verse 65.
Whenever you see the words “wherefore” and “therefore”, then look closer to see why they are there “for”.
John 6:43. Jesus, therefore, answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
John 6:44. No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me, draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
The focus should be more on the WARNING to not murmur in unbelief.
For you see, it is impossible to please God without FAITH.
And thus, without faith, the Father cannot draw, drag, or rapture you to Jesus to have the GLORIFIED Son of MAN, raise you from the dead and give you the same glory that his God gave to him, according to John 17:22-26, and John 5:22-30.
The Greek word that is translated as draw carries the more forceful meaning of dragging or snatching someone out of the way of harm.
Such as the rapture of the church, where we will be snatched up to meet Jesus in the air to escape the wrath of Almighty God, which by the way, we will actually assist Jesus in executing the wrath of God on the wicked, according to Psalm 149:4-9.
Are you at least beginning to see that you cannot be SAVED without BELIEVING that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?
The Jews, to whom Jesus is speaking in parables, already believed in God, but they were still skeptical that Jesus is the one prophesied in the Scripture to come and be the Messiah.
So then, as you continue reading the rest of this parable, I implore you to renew your mind to focus on the true God intended meaning of eating the flesh of Jesus, to actually be speaking about the TEACHING of Jesus as how to get SAVED.
And thus, eating the flesh of Jesus is not talking about taking communion as church TRADITION wrongly interprets John 6:53,54.
But if your MINDSET is fixed solely on the Roman Catholic interpretation of this passage of Scripture, then that is the only thing that you will see.
So, renewing your mind means to lay aside any preconceived belief, and simply allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you into all TRUTH.
John 6:47. Verily, verily, (Or TRULY, TRULY) I say unto you, He that BELIEVES in me has everlasting life.
Why did Jesus say truly, truly? Why did Jesus say that those who believe in him shall have eternal life in them?
It is because this parable is about how to get saved, and it is not talking about taking communion.
You have to get saved first before you can take communion, and Jesus is talking to the unsaved Jews about his yet future death and resurrection.
You see, my oldest sister thinks that I am not saved, because I told her that I do not believe the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.
So, in my mind, I see that Catholics sincerely believe that taking communion is what SAVES them, or at least KEEPS them saved, because they believe that they are literally eating the literal flesh of Jesus by the Catholic priest having the power to change the substance of bread and wine without changing the outer appearance and taste of the bread and wine.
But, to me, I find a lot of flaws in this Roman Catholic doctrine.
For example, Jesus also says that his BLOOD is drink indeed.
And thus, Catholics need to do both, eat the flesh and also drink the blood.
However, all of my life as a Roman Catholic up to age 22, I never once drank from the cup of wine.
And that is because, back then, it was only the priest who drank from the cup of wine.
The laity did not drink from the cup of wine, at least back then.
So, if the Roman Catholic doctrine of substantiation is true, that Catholics receive eternal life by taking communion, then all of those Catholic for centuries in the past, who did not drink from the cup of wine, did not receive eternal life.
But I assure you that it is not true, it is a man-made church doctrine that does not agree with the whole word of Almighty God.
My point is that the taking of communion does not SAVE Roman Catholics any more than some Protestant Christians will escape the time of great tribulation in the very near future, just because they wrongly believe in a false so-called pre-tribulation rapture of the church to escape the great tribulation.
It is my heartfelt prayer for my Roman Catholic readers to understand that Jesus never intended his words to mean that he miraculously changed the bread and the wine at the last supper into his literal flesh and blood.
I have a more in-depth study linked at the end on John 6:54 where I focus on all of the verses where Jesus says this is my BODY which was BROKEN for you.
So, please be sure to read that study as well.
John 6:48. I am that bread of life.
John 6:49. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
John 6:50. This is the bread, which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
John 6:51. I am the living bread, which came down from heaven: if any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
First of all, do you really think that Jesus is a LITERAL loaf of bread that came down from heaven?
No! Of course not!
And once you understand that the word bread in the Bible, prophetically means TEACHING, then you can understand that it was the TEACHING that came down from heaven.
Keep in mind that Jesus is God’s Prophet, and according to the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15-22, Almighty God is sending down the living bread that came out of His mouth into the mouth of His Prophet, Jesus.
In other words, in John 6:50, Jesus is saying, the words that I am speaking are the words of the Almighty God that come down from heaven and God has put these words in my mouth for me to speak to you.
And just as the Manna or physical bread to eat, came down from heaven to feed the physical needs of the children of Israel, the prophecy in Isaiah 55:11 says that like rain and snow come down from heaven to feed the plants to bring forth fruit, so shall my word “that comes out of my mouth” go forth and do what I sent it to do.
Let us go ahead and read that verse with its context.
Isaiah 55:6-11.
“Seek you the LORD while He may be found, call you upon him while He is near:
Isaiah 55:7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
Isaiah 55:9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:10. For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and returns not thither, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isaiah 55:11. So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
Just in case you did not know already, Isaiah 55:11 is a prophecy of Jesus.
So, when God sent His HUMAN Son into the world, God was sending His WORDS that He put into the mouth of His Prophet, Jesus, to TEACH to his disciples.
And this is how the Son of God was manifested; he did not literally come down from heaven.
Rather, it was the spoken word of prophecy given to the Angel Gabriel, who brought down the prophecy of God to be spoken to the Virgin Mary.
And when Mary BELIEVED, saying be it done unto me according to your WORDS, then the words of God, which are Spirit, were PERFORMED by the Eternal Spirit to be created in the womb of the Virgin Mary as that Holy THING in her womb to be born as a human child.
This is all prophesied in the Old Testament, according to Jeremiah 31:22, and many other verses of Scripture, such as Isaiah 9:6,7.
Also, according to the prophecy in Psalm 40:7, and the fulfillment in Hebrews 10:7, Jesus came in the VOLUME of the BOOK.
In other words, Jesus is the FULFILLMENT of the Scriptures and not a so-called pre-existing God the Son, the second person of a Godhead Trinity God.
There are no prophecies, no not even one prophecy of Almighty God sending down God the Son from heaven to be incarnated as flesh and yet remain the fully Almighty God having two natures at the same time during the days of his flesh, one Divine, and one human.
But that is for another study which you can read by clicking on the link, Jesus is the FULFILLMENT of the Scriptures!
You may think that I am being deceived by Satan, and that is because Satan has blinded your mind to the GLORY of the Messiah, who is the IMAGE and likeness of God, and not Almighty God Himself, according to 2 Corinthians 4:4.
Remember in John 17:22-26 \ that Jesus said that the SAME GLORY that God GAVE to him, Jesus has promised to give to us who BELIEVE.
So then, seeing that we will be made to be like Jesus at his coming to also be made partakers of the Divine nature of eternal life to be made one with Almighty God even as Jesus is one with God, then we also will become Almighty God Himself, if the man-made doctrine of the Trinity was true.
But it is not true.
Rather, the Bible itself actually teaches us that Jesus was made a Lord, a King, and a Deity, after the cross and resurrection, according to Acts 2:36.
And, according to the prophecy in Revelation 1:5.6 and 6, we who believe will also be made kings and priests at the coming of Jesus to rule and reign with Jesus over the whole earth for 1000 years during the world to come.
And God is doing this in order to judge Satan, the fallen angels, and the wicked of mankind by the MAN, whom He ordained and raised from the dead, according to Acts 17: 22-31.
I know that this is a lot to take in all at once for you, who are Roman Catholic Christians.
So, I implore you not to MURMUR in unbelief to prematurely judge the matter. before you hear the WHOLE matter.
Please heed the warming in Proverbs 18:13, which teaches us that it is folly and shame to Christians who prematurely judge a matter without hearing all there is the hear about that matter.
This is the word of God, and I am just sharing what God has revealed to me.
With that being said, I will end this study by recommending that you read a related study called John 6:54 Does Not Teach Transubstantiation!
Thanks for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
Once Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even atheists understand the REASON that Yahweh CREATED the Son of MAN, Jesus, was to have DOMINION over the work of Yahweh’s hands.
And after you understand that the REASON that Yahweh did that is to STILL His ENEMIES, Satan and the fallen angels.
Then you can understand that God made His human Son to become “a” Lord, “a” King, and “a” God, under and subject to his God and Father in order to JUDGE Satan and the fallen angels.
For a deeper understanding of this WAR that Lucifer and one third of the angels waged against the throne of Almighty God, please read the studies under the subject category called ** Q-0 Why Are We Here? Is God at WAR? **.
More studies are coming in this SHORTER Biblical Unitarian view of who Jesus is according to the WHOLE word of God.
If you have a PARTICULAR verse of Scripture that you would like to know the sound Biblical Unitarian meaning, then please email me at MarkatAMatterOfTruth@Gmail.com and let me know.
For further and more in-depth studies on this subject of Jesus being created to STILL the enemies of Yahweh, please read the studies called D-25. A NEW LOOK at JOHN 1:1, In the BEGINNING!
And also read the study called D-28. The PRE-ADAMIC LUCIFERIAN FLOOD!
At the top of my homepage, there are subjects or categories which contain compiled lists of ** ALL Studies! ** I have written on that particular subject. So, if a link within a study is broken, then click on ** ALL Studies! ** to find the suggested study.
Or you can scroll down to the MORE dropdown menu list to find those studies as well.
Thanks again for reading, and may God bless you richly as you continue to seek the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God.
And to me, the truth concerning who Jesus TRULY is, according to the Bible ITSELF, is the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus.
And again, for ALL of the studies on the Biblical Unitarian view of Jesus, please click on the subject heading ** D-0 The BIBLICAL UNITARIAN VIEW of Jesus! **
And for the SUBJECT on the true foundation of the church, please click on the subject heading ** C-0 The TRUE FOUNDATION of the Church! **
This way you can just send ONE link to those who you want to share the TRUE sound Biblical FOUNDATIONAL teachings of the church that Jesus and his Apostles taught in the first century church.
Your brother in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brother Mark.
My heartfelt prayer is that all Christians RETURN to the TRUE FOUNDATION of the church that is taught by the very Apostles of Jesus in the first century.
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