What are the Biblical arguments against Transubstantiation?

Question

Catholics believe that the bread and wine in the communion change into the body and blood (and divinity) of the Lord Jesus Christ. They taught that the bread and wine are no longer bread and wine despite of the fact that it appears bread and wine. Rather, both are now 100% body and blood (and the divinity) of Jesus Christ himself. This change is specifically defined by Catholicism as a change of substance ( i.e. "Transubstantiation").

So, what are the Biblical arguments against Transubstantiation?

Answer 1

So, what are the Biblical arguments against Transubstantiation?

Matthew 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

There are two possibilities

1. Jesus changed the bread and wine actually into his own flesh and blood.
2. Jesus was using metaphor to describe his death as the means of life for us.

The second possibility gains strength as Jesus used his flesh as a metaphor for life giving sustenance previously.

John 6:33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

That Jesus was not talking about physical eating was further strengthened by his contrast with the bread Moses provided.

That this illustration was not easily understood is seen by the reaction of Peter;

John 6:67-68 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Earlier Jesus emphasized the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood;

John 6:53-54 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. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Here it would seem to bolster the argument for a literal eating and drinking of the body of Christ. However, the statement that if they did not eat and drink they would have “no life” in them shows a different kind of life than what most understood, eternal life.

John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

The literal view loses some support as Jesus emphasizes that it is the spirit that gives life.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The best support for the metaphor view comes from the practice of communion in Corinth.

1 Corinthians 11:21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

Apparently some were getting drunk at communion which would indicate it was not physical blood.

1 Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

However the best evidence would not be Biblical but forensic. If a sample of blood and wine were examined after transubstantiation, it could easily be proven to be real flesh and blood or not.

Answer 2

The apostle John recorded the first miracle of Jesus Christ which is changing the substance of something into another (e.g. water becoming wine).

When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.

John 2:9 (ESV)

This is transubstantiation in the literal sense of the word. A change of substance includes a change of form.

Catholicism teaches that faith alone should be exercised in accepting the transubstantiation of the communion bread and wine. But this is utterly misleading. The reason is that in Catholicism the bread and wine that underwent transubstantiation is now , beyond any shadow of doubt, really, truly and 100% Jesus Christ himself only in the appearances of bread and wine.So, when someone sees the bread, he could say that He is Jesus Christ but looks like a bread. What we are saying here is that there is no faith at all (biblically speaking).

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

The Synoptics had the record of the Last Supper. The Gospel of John had no record of it.

22 And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” 23 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. 24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Mark 14:22-25 (ESV)

Catholic faith states that what Christ meant was equivalence.

"This bread" is equivalent to "my body."

"This cup" is " equivalent to "my blood."

If Jesus was explaining that the bread is his body itself (in the form of bread),then, the apostle Paul would not call the bread " the bread" if it were no longer a bread after the blessing (cf: 1 Corinthians 10:26; 11:26).This highly implies that transubstantiation of the bread did not occur at the Last Supper.

Scrutiny of the words of Jesus shows that Jesus' words were contrary to Catholic interpretation. The reason why is that Catholic faith teaches that the bread is not Jesus' body unless it changed into his substance (i.e. Transubstantiation).

• Bible

"This [bread] is my body." (No Sense of Any Change of Substance)

• Catholic

"This [bread] becomes my body." (Change of Substance)

After telling His disciples that the cup was his blood...Jesus did still refer to it as "the fruit of the vine" (not "my blood") which highly implies that no change of substance has occurred.The wine was still wine.

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:35 (ESV)

John 6 portrays two ways of consuming Jesus - figuratively and literally, trusting and believing as well as cannibalism. Therefore, we are of the need to address the texts as hermeneutically sound as possible.

Premise 1: Christ wants people to eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life (John 6:54)

Premise 2: Christ said that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink (John 6:55)

Premise 3: Christ said that coming to him results into hunger-free state and believing in Him results into a thirst-free state (John 6:35).

Premise 4: Christ wants people to believe in Him to have eternal life ( John 6:35,36,40,47,64)

Premise 5: The disbelief of the many disciples made them go away but the apostles believe in Jesus (John 6:64,66,69).

• Conclusion 1:

  P1 and P2 are coherent. Both show that Christ wants people to comsume him in a cannibalistic way. Hence, the disgust of the Jews and of his many disciples.

• Conclusion 2:

  P3 shows that P1 and P2 are not meant to be understood as a literal consumption. It shows that consumption of Jesus is the same as coming to Jesus.The cannibalistic language was used to portray his real incarnation (John 6:38).

• Conclusion 3:

  P4 and P5 strongly supports conclusion 2. Those who left Jesus did not want to believe in Him due but those who stayed, as the scripture says, believed in him ( did not literally eat him!).The reason the apostles alone came to Jesus by faith is that the Father has drawn them to Him (John 6:44).

16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?

1 Corinthians 10:16 (ESV)

Paul explicitly identified the communion bread as "the bread we break." It is surely a blessed bread but a bread nonetheless.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took 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.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:23-28 (ESV)

Paul explicitly identified the communion bread as "bread" in the context of what the Synoptic gospels had. It bolsters the evidence that Transubstantiation of the bread and the wine did not happen at the Last Supper.

Conclusion

We have cogently proven from the Holy Scriptures that "Transubstantiation" teaching is more likely to be unbiblical. The following were the summary of the Biblical arguments that has been exegetically put forth:

• The New Testament consistently shows us that the communion bread and wine do not undergo change of substance. Rather, both were still what they were (i.e. bread in substance and wine in substance).

• The Bread of Life discourse in John 6 does talk about Cannibalism but neither Transubstantiation nor the Eucharist meal was mentioned . The words of Jesus Christ himself about the cannibalistic consumption of his flesh is not left without clarification whether to take it literally or figuratively.In the immediate context, Jesus Christ himself spoke of the consumption of Him as equivalent to coming to Him and believing in Him (John 6:35).

• There is not one Bible verse that speaks of 'transubstantiation' of the communion bread and wine. However, a change of substance was indeed recorded (water becomes wine) in John 2:9.If there were really a change of substance in the Eucharist meal, then,it must have been recorded in the Bible. The absence of explicit and implicit scripture revealed transubstantiation as a theory without biblical substance.

Answer 3

Matthew 24:23-24 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.

To me...this shows that when the Catholics say that the bread and wine that they bought has become Christ...and we are to treat it as such...we are not to believe it. Nowhere does the bible teach that communion is the soul and divinity of Christ.

Consider this...Jesus is walking along 2000 years ago and he happened to cut himself on a thorn...leaving a piece of his flesh and blood behind. Should we treat that flesh and blood as if Christ were there before us...and fall before it in worship? No...of course not. And why not? Because Christ is the person...not what is left behind on that thorn. We should direct all praise and love and honor towards Him...not towards what other's say is Christ. Communion included.

Jesus would not tell us to not believe others when they tell you...here is the Christ...if He was going to dwell body and soul in the bread and wine the Catholics use.

Answer 4

Six points which are usually not mentioned in this discussion:

1) The most obvious evidence that Jesus was speaking figuratively about the bread being his flesh, and the wine being the blood of His new covenant, is that while he was holding the bread and the cup, His body -- His flesh and blood -- were physically and literally present in the room, and not as bread and wine.

2) As the ritual of communion is central to the practice of worship, as Catholics and Anglicans maintain, it's odd that communion was not mentioned at all in the gospel of John. Jesus's upper room discourse is, for the most part, in John's gospel, but not the institution of communion. It's odd that such a vital teaching on the worship and practice of the Christian church should be omitted.

3) But while Jesus's institution of a community tradition is not recorded in John, the rest of His upper room discourse is (and while John's gospel doesn't include the communion comments, these comments are surely included in his teaching on the bread and wine from the other gospel accounts), but Jesus declares in John 16:25 that much of his remarks during dinner about his death were figures of speech: "I have said these things to you in figures of speech." Among these things would have been the presentation of the bread and wine as his body and his blood, respectively. In John 16:29, the disciples recognize and concur that much of Jesus's remarks in the upper room were figurative: "His disciples said, 'Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech!" Point: His use of figures of speech would have included His comments about the bread and wine.

4) In viewing communion or Eucharist as the receiving the actual presence of Christ's body and blood, making it the center of the worship service, when it appears clearly that it should be viewed figuratively, is the Catholic/Anglican view of Eucharist missing a key point about the real importance of communion, when they few figurative language as an actual reality behind the tradition? What was Jesus conveying in referring to the bread and wine as his body and blood, in a figurative way? Most of the church may for over 1900 years have missed the true significance of the communion meal by insisting that it is the literal ingesting of Christ's body and blood.

5) Finally, we know that many persons and events of the Old Testament were given as "types" or as foreshadows of the true substance of Messiah, when he came. It may be arguable that Jesus's reference to the bread at the last supper as His body, and as the cup of wine as the blood of His new covenant, were the very last "type" or foreshadow of Messiah's future work -- in this case, future reality being just a few hours away. Until Christ's death, the Old Testament, with its rituals, rules, and Temple worship were still in force. Jesus's words about the breaking of the bread and the cup of wine as His blood fit with other Old Testament era foreshadowings of the work of Christ. A foreshadowing, and not the thing itself....with the substance being Christ Himself.

6) The teaching and practice that Jesus's presence is upon and through the bread and wine at community conveys error, in that each believer who comes to the table to partake in bread and wine already have the presence of Christ in them by virtue of the Holy Spirit, and because of that constant presence in the believer, the believer carries with him or her all the grace Christ wishes to bestow upon believers. Insisting that Christ's presence is upon the bread and wine and can be received by the believe through eating the bread and drinking the wine, is a distortion of the teaching of the true indwelling of the Holy Spirit of Christ in every believer, everyone who walks in faith in Christ's redemptive and sanctifying work on the believer's behalf.

Answer 5

In addition to what has been said above concerning metaphorical language, transubstantiation is incorrect biblically simply because it is unnecessary.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says at Sect. 1367:

The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner."

However, biblically speaking, this is unnecessary, nor does it make sense:

12 But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:12-14)

The sacrifice of Christ cannot be repeated, whether blood or unbloody. The sacrifice of the Cross, the Scripture says here, was one sacrifice made for sins forever. It does not need to be repeated. Nor do mere men have the power to present Christ to the Father, allegedly in the same way He presented Himself.

Answer 6

From my view, the simplest and most succinct biblical arguments against the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation are John 6:48

I am the bread of life. [RSV]

and John 6:51a

I am the living bread come down from heaven; [RSV]

Now, since the doctrine of transubstantiation specifically provides that after the consecration, the substance of Jesus has replaced the substance of bread, this means that there is no bread after the consecration, despite the fact that it looks like bread, tastes like bread, and reacts like bread in all ways; what there is, is Jesus. But, if Jesus is the living bread come down from heaven, as he himself proclaims, where Jesus is, bread is; and if there is no bread after the consecration, then Jesus can't be there, either: "No bread, no Jesus".

On the other hand, the doctrine of the Real Presence as taught by Anglicans and Lutherans provides that at the consecration, the Jesus' body and blood of are found in and with the bread and wine, fulfilling both Jesus proclamation, "This is my body", and the proclamation quoted above, "I am the true bread."

Answer 7

1. According to holy text in The Lord's Supper we do not see any indicating to any miracle, so we can not say that a miracle was happened depending on guessing, to say This is my body, maybe can be understood symbolical way like I'm the door, way, You are a salt, This is Lamb of God, Did the Holy Spirit forget to tell us that there is a miracle?! like Cana Wedding when Jesus converted the water to wine.
2. Jesus after he said This is my blood, he called this cup Fruit of the Vine, How Jesus called the cup Fruit of the Vine if he had converted it to his Blood?!!.
3. The new believers from Jewish origins in the First Century will think that it's a Symbolic ideas because this is their thought, because they have the bread and 4 cups in their Jewish Passover, Did any controversy happen between Jews and Christians on this point, no one of disciples writes in letters for Transubstantiation Theology, but we find Paul alone said about the Lord's Supper that we eat the bread and drink the cup, not the body and blood, and if Jesus converted the bread to his body before he broke I ment when he blessed so why the disciples called it breaking bread not breaking body?!.
4. Luke said This Cup is for the new Covenant, but depending on Hebrew 9: 15 the text teached that Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant and death to redeem the First Covenant, so the new covenant was happened when Jesus dead on the Cross which means logically that the cup just a symbol.
5. To understand John 6 look about John 6: 35 and John 6: 63, the first verse is teaching that eating and drinking from Jesus the bread (his body as he told us) by coming and believing, the second verse Jesus ment Spirit concept which is life not the body meaning.
6. There is no changes on the taste, color, smell happens, like Cana wedding.
7. Catholic and Orthodox they have been Sacrificing Jesus by eating the body and drinking the blood of him every week and they believe that it's a real sacrifice, but the Scripture told us that Jesus slaughtered himself a real Sacrifice for all one time and forever.
8. If the Lord's Supper is a real Sacrifice does that mean that Jesus Slaughtered himslef twice times in a few hours the first in the Lord's Supper and the other on the Cross, and if the Lord's Supper is a real Sacrifice what is the benifit of the Cross dying, thats mean Jesus redeemed us in the Lord's Supper.

Answer 8

You need go no further than our Lord's words in John Chapter 6 to understand why transubstantiation is an impossibility. Some of the answers provided have already mentioned John 6, but no one yet has quoted the most important verses in the chapter—at least those verses touching on the subject at hand.

Before considering the meaning of those verses, however, I feel compelled to touch on one thing which previous answerers have not mentioned; namely,

In Roman Catholicism, church tradition trumps the Scriptures.

To most Roman Catholics, any argument about the subject of transubstantiation which relies on the Scriptures alone for its proof is bound to fail. Moreover, and stated more baldly, any argument about any Christian doctrine or concept which relies on the Scriptures, only, for its legitimacy is bound to fail and to be unconvincing to Roman Catholics. Furthermore, the same can be said about any and all doctrines about which Catholics and Protestants have argued for centuries.

In other words, arguments about transubstantiation (or any other doctrine over which Protestants disagree with Catholics) are moot. For this reason, the two “sides” in this issue are better off looking for common ground in their respective faiths than in trying to win a given argument. Enough said.

Now to the words in John 6 spoken by our common Lord and Savior:

”Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves” (v.53 NASB).

Further down the chapter we read the following:

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

Safe to say, many Protestants fail to grasp the significance of Jesus' own interpretation of his “difficult statement” regarding the life-giving power of his flesh and blood. In essence, what Jesus is saying in his interpretation of his own words spoken in verse 53 is this (and I am paraphrasing very liberally here!):

You blockheads! I am not talking literally about my body and blood. No. I'm talking spiritually about the life-giving power of my life and my words. If you truly believed in me you would realize this and not take offense at my hyperbole. Don't you see I am using hyperbole as a winnowing rhetorical device to separate the true believers from the unbelieving sycophants and hangers on?

Perhaps the most powerful “argument” a Protestant can have when debating a Catholic about transubstantiation is the following:

Jesus himself did not believe in transubstantiation, so why should we as his followers believe any differently? Are our Lord's teachings—rightly understood—*less important than any church's teaching?

In my opinion as a Protestant, the above reasoning is unassailable.

Having said that, however, and by way of conclusion, when Catholics and Protestants debate one another, perhaps there is nothing more important than preserving “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3 NASB). Finding common ground is perhaps more important than attacking the foundational presuppositions of each other's traditions and teachings.

Perhaps agreeing to disagree agreeably is more important than debating a non-debatable doctrine.

Selah.

Answer 9

In a closer logical analysis of Transubstantiation, we find the first and fundamental notion to be that of conversion, which may be defined as "the transition of one thing into another in some aspect of being". ... This much as regards the general notion of conversion. Transubstantiation, however, is not a conversion simply so called, but a substantial conversion (conversio substantialis), inasmuch as one thing is substantially or essentially converted into another. NewAdvent

In the OP, Transubstantian is the substantial conversion of wine into Blood and bread into Body.

What does scripture say?

Wine

In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council instructs us to abstain from blood. Therefore, the wine remains wine, it is not converted into blood. They would not teach otherwise, unless they were hypocrites. And Peter was not a hypocrite.

But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. Acts 15:20

That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. Acts 15:25

Furthermore, Christ calls the wine "fruit of the vine". This is after He initially said "this is My Blood".

For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Mt 26:28-29

Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Mark 14:29

Lastly, Christ did not pour the wine onto the ground, rather His Blood was shed in His Passion.

Bread

Metaphors have meaning.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

This is to what Jesus referred.

19 But I as an innocent lamb led to the slaughter, knew not: against me they devised an evil device, saying, Come and let us put wood into his bread, and let us utterly destroy him from off the land of the living, and let his name not be remembered any more. Jer 11:17 Septuagint

Put the cross, the wood, into His bread, His body.

Paul continues to explain what is meant.

For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 1 Cor 10:17

One bread, one body of Christ. We eat the bread (not the Body of Christ per se).

Conclusion

Those are some of the arguments against Transubstantiation.

Answer 10

Background
The statements for and against this idea are found in the words spoken by Jesus:

John 6 (ESV)

⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Here it seems Jesus is stating the bread of life which is to be eaten in His flesh.

Those who heard this asked the obvious question:

John 6:52

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Anyone who is a believer knows the answer to this question.

1 Corinthians 11 (NKJV)

²³ For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; ²⁴ and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” ²⁵ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

At the Last Supper Jesus gave the "words of institution." The bread He gave was His body and the cup contained His blood. As Maker of all things and as the one with authority over all things, He had the authority and the ability to change bread into His body and wine into His blood.

Eat My Flesh - Feeds on My Flesh
Jesus responded to the question How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

John 6 (ESV)

⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

John's Gospel omits the the bread and blood event during the Last Supper. In doing so, the Gospel allows what Jesus said before the Last Supper to stand as both the necessity for observing Communion and its meaning.

In response to question of eating His flesh, Jesus does not answer directly instead He "ups the ante." Not only is His flesh to be eaten, one is to drink His blood. This would easily be misunderstood as contrary to the Law which prohibits eating of blood (cf. Leviticus 7:26-27, 17:10-14, 19:26). "Misunderstood" since in the literal sense Jesus said to drink His blood, not to eat it.

With respect to the actual words Jesus used, there are two significant aspects to His answer.

1. The tense of the verbs eat and drink in 6:53 are aorist active subjunctive. The tense of the verbs eat and drink changes in verse 6:54 to present participle active. Therefore, the passage speaks of completed acts (6:53) followed by continuous acts (6:54-58). In terms of the life of the believer the completed eating and drinking (past) are followed by a repeated eating and drinking (present). The continuing practice of eating and drinking is required by what Jesus said in 6:54-58 (not 6:53 which describes the one-time becoming a Christian).
2. The verb of one-time eating in verse 6:53 is ἐσθίω. ¹ The verb of continually eating in 6:54-58 changes to τρώγω.

The "eating" Jesus said which applies to what believers are required to do continuously in the present is different from what is done in the past.

C.K. Barrett gives this explanation for the verb τρώγω:

τρώγείν is used from the time of Homer for the eating of animals, especially herbivorous animals. from the time of Herodotus it is used of the eating of men; but with sense of eating with pleasure, or audibly is not supported by L.S. s.v. ²

Barrett overlooks the significance of the change with respect to what Jesus says about Himself: I am the Good Shepherd. The believer is to eat continuously as herbivorous animals. They are His sheep. The change in tense and verb foreshadow Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Those who eat, ἐσθίω, once are to to eat, τρώγω, continuously like sheep.

Conclusion
In the Bread of Life Discourse Jesus states those who believe are to eat flesh and drink His blood. At the same time, He makes a clear distinction between a one-time eating as a completed act in the past and a continuous eating in the present.

Believers are to eat like sheep eat and sheep do not eat meat. With respect to drinking the blood, John's account of the crucifixion provides an answer:

John 19:

³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. ³⁵ He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.

The once for all sacrifice emptied the blood of Christ. His resurrected body does not contain that which He shed for all sins.

---

1. Some manuscripts have φάγω which does not affect understanding what follows.
2. C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St John, S.P.C.K., 1962, p. 247

Answer 11

Jesus taught that it is not what enters a man that defiles him; but what comes out of him - his words and deeds. Likewise, Paul teaches that the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking.

Matthew 15:11 It is not what enters the mouth that defiles the person, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles the person.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

It would be very strange for Christ and the early church to emphasize these things if they thought that it was through food and drink that they were actually able to come closer to God - even take the divine into their own bodies through it.

Answer 12

In addition to the other great posts here, here are a few more biblical arguments to be made:

If Jesus had commanded his disciples to drink his blood, he would have been telling them to break God’s law against consuming blood. (Genesis 9:4; Acts 15:28, 29) Yet this could not be, for Jesus would never instruct others to violate God’s law regarding the sacredness of blood.​—John 8:​28, 29.

If the apostles had been literally drinking Jesus’ blood [at the last supper], he would not have said that his blood “is to be poured out,” indicating that his sacrifice was yet to occur.​—Matthew 26:28.

Jesus’ sacrifice took place “once for all time.” (Hebrews 9:​25, 26) However, if the bread and wine were changed into his flesh and blood during the Lord’s Evening Meal, then those partaking would be repeating that sacrifice.

Jesus said: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me,” not “in sacrifice of me.”​—1 Corinthians 11:24.

Emblems, not literally flesh and blood

Jesus as the head of the Church, convinced the elders and apostles in Jerusalem through the holy spirit to decree that Christians should "abstain from blood" (Acts 15:28,29). Transubstantiation (even though called "unbloody") goes contrary to this holy decree!

Transubstantiation also seems to be opposed to one of the most basic teachings of the Bible, the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as noted at Matthew 20:28 and 1 Timothy 2:5,6. As the apostle Paul shows at Hebrews 9:22, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Transubstantiation involves an admittedly “unbloody sacrifice” and therefore cannot wipe out sins as claimed.

Then too, Paul, at Hebrews ch. 9 and 10, repeatedly insists that Jesus Christ died only once, that only one sacrifice is needed.

Hebrews 10:10 (NIV) says:

...we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

It is therefore a denying of Paul’s words to hold that other sacrifices are needed, and it is not biblical to hold that imperfect men can create the divine Christ afresh daily and sacrifice him.

Paul distinctly shows that just as the high priest in Israel entered into the holy of holies with the blood of sacrificed animals to make atonement, so Jesus Christ entered heaven itself with the value or merit of his sacrifice to make atonement for his followers.

No human priest could enter heaven to appear on behalf of others to obtain forgiveness for them, since “flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:50 (DRBC).

And if Jesus, by saying, ‘this is my body, my blood,’ miraculously changed the bread and wine into his very flesh and blood, performing the most noteworthy miracle of his ministry, surely this would not only have been explicitly stated but made paramount throughout the Christian Greek Scriptures.

But transubstantiation is not even mentioned, let alone discussed, because it is not a fact but only fiction. It is not taught in the Bible.

The belief in transubstantiation fosters idolatry in that both priests and people adore the “host” as the body of Christ upon the priests’ saying, “Hoc est autem corpus meum,” and then ringing a bell.

Acts 17:29 (NIV) says:

We should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.

In holding that only an ordained priest can perform the sacrifice of the mass and pronounce the words of consecration the people are made wholly dependent upon their priests for forgiveness of sins.

The bible shows though that forgiveness is triggered by the sinners repentance, not by a ritual. Acts 3:19 (NIV) says:

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out

The Greek word μετανοέω (metanoeó), “to repent,” literally means “to change one’s mind,” signifying a change in thinking, attitude, or purpose. In this context, repentance involved a person’s wanting to repair or restore his relationship with God. A sinner who genuinely repents deeply regrets his wrong course and is determined not to repeat his sin. There is no unbiblical Transubstantiation ritual required.