As portrayed in John 6, Yeshua (Jesus) very directly talks of the requirement to "eat his flesh" and "drink his blood". I find it highly unlikely that Yeshua, the Torah observant Messiah, would EVER make such a FLAGRANT anti-torah statement and feel this alleged account found in John may be an example of one of numerous scribal corruptions of New Testament Scripture. Such an idea would have been a horrifyingly repulsive abomination to any righteous Jew (or Israelite) seeking to obey the Eternal Father. The failure of Traditional Christians to recognize the EXTREME violation of Torah that is shown in these alleged words of Yeshua is clear evidence of their terrible lack of understanding of the most basic aspects of YHWH's eternal teachings. The prohibition against drinking or eating blood (much more so bloody, human flesh/cannibalism) is even found in the New Testament. The Jerusalem council in Acts 15 names this as a foundational principle ALL must follow. The Bible - both the Tanakh and the New Testament - concur on the deep sin involved in the partaking of blood. This principle was first given as one of the Noachide Commandments immediately following the great flood. The Noachide Commandments are:
- The prohibition against idolatry
- The prohibition against blasphemy
- The prohibition against bloodshed
- The prohibition against incest and adultery (adultery generally includes all forms of sexual immorality)
- The prohibition against robbery
- The injunction to establish courts of law
- The prohibition against eating flesh cut from a living animal and BLOOD
Of course the more extensive Torah given later at Mt. Sinai expounded greatly upon these basic Noachide commandments ALL mankind has ALWAYS been obligated to follow. If Yeshua had truly made such a grotesque statement as portrayed in John ALL Israelites and anyone else that has even the slightest understanding of Torah would have reasonably rejected him. Despite what many preachers seem to imply, MANY Jews accepted Yeshua. Until the occurrence between Cornelius and Peter ALL believers were Jews. I see no possible way the Messiah, who lived an absolutely sinless, Torah observant life, would have ever let such abominable words escape his lips even if his intent was spiritual. At the very least he would have not communicated it as is so crudely recorded in John 6. In fact, the Torah condemns any teaching that is against Torah; therefore, IF Yeshua had truly said these words he would no longer be sinless because he would have transgressed Torah by promoting anti-torah teachings!
Again, Traditional Christians are betrayed by their ignorance by not seeing the problem. Elsewhere, in the other Gospels the implication is clear that the bread and wine, which Yeshua says to partake of in remembrance of him, is a fulfillment of (REPRESENTS) the Passover lamb's body and blood - thus equating Messiah's death with the Passover protection offered through the lamb's blood which was placed upon the entrance (doorposts and lintel) of the Jew's (Israelite's) homes in Exodus and the lamb's flesh which was eaten Passover night, as the angel of Death struck down all the firstborn of Egypt (Exodus 12). In my opinion (though there is legitimate debate about exact times - 14th or 15th of the month of Nissan), Yeshua FULFILLED the "rehearsal" of the Passover, which YHWH instituted as one aspect of the "tutor to lead us to Messiah," (Galatians 3:24). The sacrifice of the Lamb and the covering (protection) of the lamb's blood were the "rehearsal" of Messiah's death and the protection that is offered through Yeshua Messiah - our Passover. Oh, by the way, even though Gal. 3:25 says we are no longer under a tutor, we still are expected to practice what we learned from the teacher (tutor). When one finishes school, it is not expected that he should discard everything he has learned. Most Christians oddly miss this common sense understanding of the "tutor" of Torah as they apply (as is often the case) theological meanings, which would be otherwise ridiculous in the real world, to New Testament passages.
1 Corinthians 5:7
7 Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
The New American Standard Bible, (La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation) 1977. Note: I chose the NASB because the use of "is sacrificed" in the KJV instead of "has been sacrificed" in the NASB is wrong. The term "is" implies Messiah is constantly being sacrificed and implicitly supports the evil belief of transubstantiation, which is discussed below. This is one of many cases where the KJV can be proven wrong, particularly in its mistranslation of verb tenses.
Actually, the common Traditional Christian understanding of the "Lord's supper" is completely wrong! In the church I was raised it is INCORRECTLY done every week. The CORRECT "partaking" is done on Passover where WE ALL should be celebrating the Passover "in remembrance" of Yeshua! The "Lord's supper" practice, which is nothing like the true Passover meal, is just one more example of how Christianity intentionally divorced itself from the unambiguous Hebraic meaning shown through the last "supper" Messiah had with his disciples. Though I am now convinced the "last supper" was not a Passover Seder, I nonetheless am equally convinced Yeshua was referring to the Seder when he explained his representation of the bread and wine as flesh and blood. Proof is yet again supplied of Christianity's fanatical anti-Semitic, anti-Hebraic, and anti-Biblical practices. If properly and Biblically done the "Lord's supper" (Seder) would be partaken of once a year as the Passover is celebrated. This issue (as well as MANY others) is so clear, it shocks me to find so many Christians ignorant of it, but so was I for 20+ years until I decided to lay aside ALL bias and let YHWH teach me truth through His Holy Word instead of biased and often ignorant preachers. I assure you, I was VERY zealous for what I now know was error, but once I made the decision to remove the bias-barrier to truth from my mind, YHWH POURED His Holy teachings into me! YHWH promises the same to all that sincerely seek Him with an OPEN mind, a SINCERE heart, and a DESIRE to know Truth - characteristics that are sadly lacking in most Traditional Christians.
The eating or drinking of human flesh and blood (cannibalism of the Catholic Eucharist) is one of the most despicable abominations in all of Scripture! However, in John's alleged Gospel the abominable pagan dogma of "transubstantiation" (wine LITERALLY becomes Yeshua's blood and the bread LITERALLY becomes Yeshua's flesh) that the Harlot of Revelation 17 (the Catholic Church) practices is directly interjected into the Gospel. It is my opinion the Harlot, herself, added these vile words to the writing through her loyal "scribes". There are actually sickening, demonic Catholic sites I have seen that exalt and describe alleged instances of transubstantiation during mass and you can find many sources of information by simply doing a search on the term. I do not doubt transubstantiation may actually sometimes occur since the dragon (Satan) that gives power to the Beast probably has the power to do such dark, wicked wonders. Of course THE primary "scriptural support" for this particular lie of the Beastly Harlot comes right out of the Gospel of John.
A SIDE NOTE: Could it be that the Catholic Church's "Stigmata" is also a result of this Beastly power? Some 300 cases of stagmatization have been attested, nearly all of them being women. Stigmata, in Christianity, are marks on a person's body resembling the wounds suffered by "Jesus Christ" in the crucifixion and inflicted presumably by a supernatural agency (Satan). Observations of stigmata have included not only wounds of the hands and feet and of the side, such as those received in the crucifixion, but also those impressed by the crown of thorns and by the scourging. In some cases, the stigmata has been only subjectively felt and could not be seen by others. The first and most remarkable example of stigmata is that of St. Francis of Assisi. Many other cases have been recorded, notably those of the German nun Anna Katharina Emmerick and of Louise Lateau, of Bois d'Haine, Belgium. The latter was subjected to a thorough medical examination by the Belgian Academy of Medicine, which could not explain the phenomenon scientifically. There are MANY dark teachings, practices, and accounts regarding the great Harlot (the Roman Catholic Church). Search the web and you will find ample evidence proving why I feel, without doubt, the Catholic Church IS the Beast! Frankly, one of the most definite proofs of the power of the Beast and the truth of Scriptural prophecies in Daniel, Revelation, and elsewhere, is the fact that so many (approximately 1 BILLION) are blindly under the dragon empowered Beast's mysterious power. Of course, that's ONLY in the Catholic Church. Hundreds of millions of others are under the power of the Beast through the Harlot's daughters (Rev. 17:5 - all her denominational offspring).
Valiant attempts are made by others that try to say the verses in John 6, used to support transubstantiation, do not actually mean what they say; however, the verses are very clear and are NOT presented in the same context as in the other Gospels, which clearly imply a non-literal meaning and which only comes up during the Passover Seder. Perhaps these sincere defenders of truth would do well to question the validity of these verses in the Gospel of John. They have apparently forgotten or refuse to admit that it was the very same Roman Catholic Church, as a Roman adolescent of the first 4 centuries, which actually canonized John's Gospel. Additionally, proof is available of thousands of differences - many of which appear to be intentional changes - in the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament books all the way up to the 16th century. John's Gospel would have been particularly enticing to dishonest scribes and theologians. I suggest Dr. Erhman's book, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture, if you wish more detailed information.
It is a constant source of amazement to me to find so few Traditional Christians that understand FROM WHOM we got our New Testament and how "scholars" intentionally hide the personal biases and beliefs of its canonizers. The Catholic Church is, indeed, glorified by many of her more vehement opponents who use the very "Bible" she established and worship on the day she instituted - SUNday - in honor of the Sun god(s) whom most of her early "converts" worshipped. That's a whole series of articles in itself, and you can easily find all the proof you need to prove the pagan origins of the "Mother church" from whom all her Protestant offspring (the daughters of the Harlot in Revelation) were birthed. I do not doubt the New Testament is overwhelmingly authentic and I revere it as a source of invaluable teaching and doctrine; however, only a naive person would think that a "Testament" put together from manuscripts which differ in many thousands of places by men with intense bias (all of which were anti-Judaic) is the "perfect and infallible" Word of God. The evidence of scribal corruption is undeniable. I'm sorry if that comment angers you, but facts are facts. This is the reason I ALWAYS verify (as did the Bereans in Acts 17) EVERYTHING in the New (second) Testament against what is written in the Tanakh (First or Older Testament), which was Yeshua's Bible, Paul's Bible, Peter's Bible, John's Bible, Luke's Bible - in short the Bible of ALL authors of the New Testament. Refer to a separate article for my opinion of what Christians should truly consider Holy Scripture.
The "blood of the covenant" Yeshua refers to during the last meals of Matthew, Mark and Luke is a fulfillment - again as a tutor to lead us to Messiah - of the "blood of the covenant" Moses sprinkled upon the children of Israel in Exodus 24:8. Of course the children of Israel did NOT DRINK this blood. It should also be noted this covenant made between YHWH and his children required the keeping of the Torah and records them in Exodus 24:3 literally promising to do so - "the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do." The Covenant (YHWH's binding vow of marriage) WE are under holds the same requirement.
If you actually read Jeremiah 31:31-33 instead of letting someone else tell you what it says, you will see in verse 33 that NO new Torah was prophesied! The SAME Torah recorded in the Tanakh is supposed to be written on the hearts of TRUE followers of Yeshua today! The COVENANT was new, but the TORAH remains in force. There were some changes to Torah teachings but no abolishment. The sacrifices remain, but now the means of sacrifice by which we receive our reconciliation - or justification is through Yeshua the Messiah. The priesthood remains, but now the "High Priest of our confession" (Hebrews 3:1) is Yeshua. The book of Hebrews focuses largely on this single issue of the priesthood. Perhaps the ONLY real change is the inclusion of the nations (gentiles) in the eternal promises of YHWH. Little else changed. Christians need to realize CHANGE or REDEFINITION is NOT the same thing as ABOLISHMENT. The need to show love for YHWH by obeying his teachings ("Torah" is Hebrew for teachings or instructions) has NEVER changed and will NEVER change. As Traditional Christians selectively decide what lessons from the "tutor" to throw out, they obviously do not discard the atoning blood of Messiah (Christ our Passover), or many other teachings they prefer (as prophesied in 2 Tim. 4:3,4) to keep. Unfortunately, most Christians exhibit a "picking and choosing" mentality with regard to which Scriptural instructions they choose to obey. This almost universal tendency within Christianity of "following after their own hearts" instead of YHWH's declared teachings is a deadly plague within Christianity.