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Exegesis: Difference between revisions
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While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body" [Matthew 26:26]. | While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body" [Matthew 26:26]. | ||
Here, when Christ takes the piece of bread and offers it to his disciples, many readers would argue we could not read his words literally. (Christ is not saying, "I am literally a piece of bread" or "My body is made up of bread," or even "Engage in cannibalism by eating my body while I hand you this piece of bread.") The statement is not meant to be understood that way, according to certain theologians and exegetes, but rather it is symbolic in meaning. The passage symbolically indicates events yet to come, a prefiguration of both (1) Christ's crucifixion, in which his body would be broken and torn upon the cross, and (2) the coming ritual of Eucharist, in which the disciples will eat communion bread in commemoration of that sacrifice. Dr. Wheeler’s Website Article. | Here, when Christ takes the piece of bread and offers it to his disciples, many readers would argue we could not read his words literally. (Christ is not saying, "I am literally a piece of bread" or "My body is made up of bread," or even "Engage in cannibalism by eating my body while I hand you this piece of bread.") The statement is not meant to be understood that way, according to certain theologians and exegetes, but rather it is symbolic in meaning. The passage symbolically indicates events yet to come, a prefiguration of both (1) Christ's crucifixion, in which his body would be broken and torn upon the cross, and (2) the coming ritual of Eucharist, in which the disciples will eat communion bread in commemoration of that sacrifice. Dr. Wheeler’s Website Article. | ||
Works Cited: | Works Cited: | ||