Hey Brakelite,
I will stop you right there ;)....The theory that "Scripture itself is it's own authority" makes no sense. It takes man, guided by the Holy Spirit, to properly interpret Scripture. Scripture teaches that there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit! Not all have the gift of interpretation (1 Corinthians 12). So your theory, of which you use Scripture to validate, is debunked by Scripture.
Do you believe that YOU speak according to His word?
In regard to your "signature below" concerning "bread" here is evidence from Scripture of how you have been taught wrong:
Jereimiah said that HE ate the words that were given to him by God. That means he cheerfully received them, treasured them, digested them in his mind and retained them. To conflate what Jerimiah did into us reading the words of Jesus is a bizarre twisting of Scripture. Your twisting of Jerimiah at least accounts for 'eating His words'! It doesn't account for 'drinking His words'. Sooooo how do you 'drink His words' Brakelite?
In 33AD Jesus TOLD YOU must eat his body and drink his blood.
At the Last Supper he SHOWED YOU how to eat/drink his body/blood and he said to do it in remembrance of him.
God bless...Mary
Well let us clear up the myth of transubstantiation!
At the Last Supper which was a typical Passover Seder, there was a trifold napkin containing 3 pieces of matzah or unleavened bread.
Teh participants also drank four cups of wine at differing times during the meal, each cup had a different meaning!
first the bread. the particular matzah Jesus took was the middle pita in the second fold of the tri fold napkin. (Representing Himself as the second person of the triune God). this one was different than the other two. Like the others it had to be unleavened (representing purity), but it also had to be striped and pierced (his whipping and crucifixion). He took that matzah, split it in half, tucked half back in the napkin (HIs burial) and shared the other half with the guests. Later the other half was removed to be consumed (His resurrection) All Jesus did was explain the meaning of a particular part of the Seder! all parts of the Seder has symbolic meanings and now these parts in there symbols were defined. Jesus said when you eat the bread and drink the cup , we are to do it as a memorial (that is what the word remembrance means in the original) so it is a memorial to His Body which was killed.
Now for the cup.
The four cups of wine, known in Hebrew as arba kosot, are drunk by each participant at the Passover
seder service.
This ceremony is prescribed by the Mishnah as a duty to be observed by even the poorest man (Pes. 10: 1). The four cups are drunk in the following order: (1) the
Kiddush at the start of the
seder; (2) at the conclusion of the main part of the
Haggadah which ends with the
Ge'ullah ("Redemption") benediction; (3) at the end of the Grace after Meals; and (4) at the conclusion of the
Nishmat hymn ("
Birkat ha-Shir"). Only the second and fourth cups were added for the
seder meal since the drinking of the two other cups forms part of every meal on Sabbaths and holidays. The reason for four cups is based by the rabbis upon the midrashic interpretation of Exodus 6:6–7, where four different terms of deliverance are employed: "I will bring you out … deliver you … redeem you … and will take you to Me for a people," etc. (Ex. R. 6:4). Other symbolic explanations for the four cups are that they correspond to the four cups of Pharaoh mentioned in Genesis, ch. 40, or to the four ancient kingdoms which oppressed Israel and for which God requites Israel with four cups of consolation (TJ, Pes. 10:1, 37b–c).
Other examples of the special symbolic significance of the number four in the
Haggadah are the Four Questions ("
Mah Nishtannah"). Four Sons, and the four types of food at the
seder meal: unleavened bread (
matzah), lamb, bitter herbs, and
ḥaroset. Some rabbis in the Talmud required a fifth cup of wine for the fifth expression of redemption "I shall bring you" (Pes. 118a, according to the text found in R. Hananel and Alfasi); this became symbolized in the cup of Elijah on the
seder table. The four cups of wine should be drunk in a reclined position, as in Roman times reclining was a sign of freedom. Each cup has to contain at least a ¼ log (0.137 liter; Sh. Ar, OḤ 472:9). Red wine is to be preferred but because of the blood accusations in Europe, white wine was often used (see Blood Libel ).
1. “Kos Rishon” – The First Cup
The first cup of wine accompanies Kiddush. The function of Kiddush is to give expression to the Sanctification of Time (not the magazine); that is, the ability of Time to be invested with holiness.
This sanctification manifests itself in relation to Shabbat and the Holidays. The Shabbat was sanctified by G-d, in order for us to remember both the creation and the Exodus. We were commanded to sanctify the Festivals by means of establishing the Rosh Chodesh, the beginnings of the various months, in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish equivalent of Congress and the Supreme Court.
Each of the Festivals has a distinctive nature and, for the Jew, the question “Mah Yom MiYomayim?” “Why or How is this day different in its nature from other days?” always has a unique answer, as we shall see in connection with the first of the Four Questions.
In Kiddush, we thank G-d for being the “Mekadesh Yisrael V’HaZmanim,” the One Who made Israel holy, and thereby gave Israel the mastery over time to be able to confer holiness upon the Festivals.
2. “Kos Sheni” – The Second Cup
This cup is drunk after the fulfillment of the Mitzvah of “Sipur Yetziat Mitzrayim,” “Telling the Story of the Exodus of the Jewish People from Egypt.”
The first part of Hallel has been recited, in which G-d is praised for being our constant source of salvation in every generation of the Jewish Past. When reciting that Section, we were raised to an emotional climax when we recited the blessing in which we became the first recipients of G-d’ s Salvation, even before our ancestors, “Who redeemed us and our fathers;” “us” before our “fathers.”
We request that G-d bring the Final Redemption and that once again, we will have the opportunity to celebrate future Passover’s and the other Festivals in Jerusalem and at the Temple.
“Blessed are You, O L-rd, Who has Redeemed Israel.”
This is followed immediately by the blessing over the wine and our drinking of it. This is the cup where the obligation to lean on one’s left side as an expression of freedom, while drinking, is strongest.
3. “Kos Sh’lishi” – The Third Cup
The third cup is drunk at the conclusion of the “Bircat HaMazon,” the Blessing which we recite at the end of a full meal. It represents our gratitude to Hashem for being the “Zan et HaKol,” the One Who sustains all of Creation, Who showers blessings upon the Land of Israel, during Festivals the One Who defined the unique holiness of each, and the One Who is rebuilding and will continue to rebuild Jerusalem.
4. “Kos Revii” – The Fourth Cup
This cup is drunk after the concluding portion of Hallel is recited. According to Jewish Tradition, this portion is focused on the future, and asks G-d to redeem Israel and humanity-at-large, and usher in the period spoken of by the Prophets, in which “Nishmat kol chai tevarech et shimecha, Hashem” “The soul of every living thing will bless Your Name, O G-d.”
At that time, all of humanity will come to the realization that “lecha tov l’hodot, u’leshimecha naeh lezamer,” “to you it is good to give thanks, and to Your Name it is fitting to sing,” because truly, Hashem is the “Melech Kel, Chai HaOlamim,” “Almighty King, Life of the Universe.”
Jesus took the fourth cup, the cup or redemption! After that they sang the Hallel and left for the Seder was over. So it is not transubstantiation, but a defining parts of teh Seder and what they meant!