Jesus' Bread and Wine

Jesus' Bread and Wine

Does the Bible say the bread and wine turn into Jesus' flesh & blood when blessed?

Jesus Bread And WineThe bread and wine symbolize Jesus' body broken and Jesus' blood shed on the cross but remain bread and wine physically. Jesus made this clear during the Last Supper:

"When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me."
(Luke 22:14-19).

Notice that Jesus clearly identified the content in the cup as "fruit of the vine" - wine - and said we were to take it and the bread "in remembrance" of Him. Per Jesus' own words then, the bread and wine remain exactly that: bread and wine.

Claiming to turn bread and wine into the human flesh and blood of Jesus, and then inviting people to eat the bread to be saved in effect tries to repeat Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The notion of eating human flesh is not only repugnant but also demeans Jesus' sacrifice and makes Jesus a liar for declaring, "It is finished!" (John 19:30) on the cross (see Lord, Liar or Lunatic?). The Bible also clearly says that Jesus died "once":

"... knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all ..." (Romans 6:9-10)

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18)

"Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption... not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another - He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many... By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 9:12, 25-28 & 10:10)