The Symbolism of Bread and Wine

[Twilight Hue]

Bread had become a commoners food by that time. In Pompeii they found a preserved bread that survived for almost 2000 years containing:

• 400g biga acida (sourdough)
• 12g yeast
• 18g gluten
• 24g salt
• 532g water
• 405g spelt flour
• 405g wholemeal flour

So as we can see a bread isn't somethng that is just any food, but a product of cultivating land effectively and requires a bit more knowledge to bake than more traditional foods. So bread is not a natural food, but one result of time and hard work, putting in the effort. Is it coming from "heavenly effort" for free (perhaps like to slaves of Romans as "payment", something many would understand at the time) or does one need ones own efforts to cultivate the soil, and so on before one finds God or experiences "eternity"? The answer becomes different from different perspectives.

No yeast?

 

[sealchan]

It is quite obvious to me that "bread" is here being used as a reference to money. The reason it is obvious to me is because I am an American -- and thus everything is ultimately a reference to money for me. Here, Christ speaks of bread in a way that seems to identify it with salvation. I would say that means he is talking about buying a penthouse apartment or a yacht -- both of which are about as close to spiritual salvation as an American can get.

Then the wine makes reference to how, as Americans, we like to complain (like so many of our British ancestors?!). Never having enough stuff because of the lack of bread, we drink in order to satisfy our whining.

Note: I'm a whiny, bread-grubbing American with British ancestry...

 

[Woberts]

Bread and salt is better.

 

[InvestigateTruth]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

I always taught the answer is so obvious and easy, and everyone would almost reply the same. Looking at replies, i realize this is not the case.
But obviously the teachings of Christ are like food for the Spirit. Just as the body needs material food, the Spirit needs spiritual food. Christ's teachings are spiritual food, which had come from heaven, thus He likened His teachings, and guidance, which was a new way of life to bread and wine from heaven.
For Christians usually the teachings of Christ are not what matters the most, but believing He is son of God, who was crucified for their sins, and then resurrected, is, what takes them to heaven.

 

[pearl]

If he read the Old Testament then he would know from Jacob (ca 2000 BC)
that the nation of Israel would end with his coming, and the Gentiles would
be the ones who trusted him.
He would know from Daniel that the temple would last only till his coming.
He would know from David that his hands and feet would be pierced and
they would offer him gall to drink. And he would know from Isaiah that
he would be rejected and despised by his own people.

Is this not all a 'Christian' interpretation after the fact?

 

[Jumi]

No yeast?

There was 12 grams of yeast in the recipe.

The bread was marked property of a slave of some Roman citizen and is now sitting in some museum.

 

[Fool]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

melchizedek taught abraham charity. he met him with bread and wine, a love feast.


Matt 6:9-Matt 6:13 NIV “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’


Ps 23:5-Ps 23:6 KJV Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

 

[InChrist]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

I believe the significance of the bread and wine is that these physical elements represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world. In the same passage Jesus states that He is the bread of life, referring to eternal life...I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. (John 6:47-48 )

I see the bread and wine are reminders of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life found through Jesus Christ...

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.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.(Luke 22:19-20)

 

[12jtartar]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

adrian009,
When Jesus said what he said in John 6:50 about bing bread from heaven, was telling about what was going to happen to him,
He was going to be killed by the Jewish religious leaders, and be resurrected, then 50 days later he would send down from heaven the Holy Spirit that he promised, which would strengthen the disciples and help them to understand all the things he had said to them, Acts 1:7,8, John 14:26.
Remember, on the night before Jesus was killed, he had The Lords Evening Meal, or Lords Supper, where he had his Apostles, after the meal, eat pies fo bread and drink wine, which he said was representing his body and blood, Like 22:14-20. Jesus death was the beginning of The New Covenant, which would Superceded The Mosaic Law Covenant, Luke 22:20, Matthew 26:26-29, 1Corinthians 11:23-26, where here Jesus told his Apostles that his cp of wine was The New Covenant, and that they should keep celebrating the The Lords Supper Every year until he comes back, Verse 26.
More aboutThe New Covenant taking the place of the Old Mosaic Law Covenant is recorded at Hebrews 8:5-13.
The date of The Last Supper was Nisan 14, of the Jewish calender, and is a different day every year, somewhere between the last few days of March, and the first few days of April. The actual date is, the first full Moon, after the Spring Equinox.
After the death of Jesus, no one, not even the Jews were underThe Mosaic Law, and no Gentile was ever under the Mosaic Law, except for Proselytes, who were Gentiles who lived under the same laws as the Jews.
This New Covenant was much better than the Old Law, because it was based on the blood of Jesus, not on animal blood, which could not make anyone perfect, while Jesus’ blood could, Hebrews 9:11-15, 10:1-18. Meditate on these Scriptures, because understanding these things can mean everlasting life to all who believe in and follow Jesus Christ, 1Peter 2:21.
Agape!!!

 

[2ndpillar]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

The bread is the "bread of life" which is the "Word of God" (Revelation 9:13), and must be eaten without the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. The wine simply stands for blood, where you find life, the breath of God, such as the Spirit of God.

 

[Faithofchristian]

Bread being the symbolism of the body of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:26---"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"

Wine being the symbolism of the blood of Christ Jesus.
Matthew 26:28---"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins"

Where as in the Old testament the blood of lambs and goats were needed to seal the old testament.
Where as the blood of Christ Jesus sealed the New testament.

 

[robocop (actually)]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

The idea is: Before baptism and the sacrament comes repentance. Repentance is a wonderful plan. Jesus gives us His blessings but only if we repent. However we are all capable of repenting. It helps us the most and it helps Him the most. Repentance is probably one of the best things to talk about. Commandments include being industrious and all the basic principles to have a prosperous society.

Baptism is a symbolic step that you are willing to follow Jesus... for a person who is well enough initiated it may be very important to show this so that He can trust them as well, enabling Him to work harder with them to help them. Christ was baptized because He was the life making Him a model and sacrament renews baptism.

 

[PruePhillip]

Is this not all a 'Christian' interpretation after the fact?

No, maybe it's atheist interpretation after the fact.

The Old Testament gave us two important things -
one was the male lamb, without blemish, who was
taken into the household for three days and bonded.
Then it was slain, its blood daubed on the lintel and
then eaten whole. This sin offering was to save the
Jews from the angel of death. Eaten whole meant
that the people were not to just the choice cuts.

The second thing was that the Messiah himself
would be that lamb - who would offer himself once
and for all so there would be no more animal
sacrifice.

And without daubing of the blood, and without being
prepared for ALL of what the Messiah brought, there
can be no redemption.

 

[PruePhillip]

I think it is important to realize that the gospels were unlikely to be eyewitness accounts on the part of the authors. They are simultaneously too similar (with literary reconfigurations) or too conflicting to be seen as simple misremembering of a shared experience.

That, at least, is what I think.

Certainly the expectation of the coming of a Messiah was important to many and so the desire to frame new spiritual perspectives based on a man's real or augmented or invented life were understandably likely to be a part of their "mission statement". Matthew, as I understand, was especially concerned to make this connection with direct literary references to scripture.

This is a fashionable way of "thinking." And not fashions of thought are right.
In fact these thoughts smack of "explaining away"
There is no reason why Matthew, Mark and John were not eye-witness
accounts. I suspect John wrote down events more or less as they happened.
Think John used a form of Aramaic short hand.
Luke wrote down his Gospel after interviewing people and reading others notes.
The history of the early church was more or less eye-witness. He stopped
writing suddenly in AD 64, perhaps having been killed as Paul and Peter were.

Whatever these men saw, they were willing to give up everything, including
their own lives.

If you read Josephus, he too had lots of anomalies and apparent errors.
If all four Gospels were perfectly aligned you would have reason to suspect
there was some editorial hand - but they are there, contradictions and all.
That's why you read "The Gospel according to Matthew."

 

[Dawnofhope]

Thank you all for your wonderful insights and contributions to this thread. As we consider the manifold meanings and connections within scripture there is always more to learn. Its is like a well that never runs dry. Its particularly exciting to appreciate the importance within Christ's Teachings as a whole, the associations with the Hebrew Bible, and history itself.

 

[PruePhillip]

These were ancient symbols for life itself used in the Mediterranean region. It also had and has an intrinsic value through the Hellenized concept of "essence".

They could have been. But this had nothing to do with the
reasons why Christians partook of the bread and wine.
We are told why - Jesus said these symbols are to be
reminders of himself. Not symbols of life to these people
but symbols of Jesus.

 

[metis]

They could have been. But this had nothing to do with the
reasons why Christians partook of the bread and wine.
We are told why - Jesus said these symbols are to be
reminders of himself. Not symbols of life to these people
but symbols of Jesus.

It's actually both because of Jesus' mentioning "eternal life".

The symbolism of bread & wine within Judaism predates Jesus and is symbolic of life itself. At the end of a synagogue service, both are prayed over and offered just prior to the oneg (communal luncheon). In the NT, what Jesus did at the Last Supper was to extend this symbolism to include his body & blood given to all who may believe in him, thus granting eternal life.

 

[PruePhillip]

It's actually both because of Jesus' mentioning "eternal life".

The symbolism of bread & wine within Judaism predates Jesus and is symbolic of life itself. At the end of a synagogue service, both are prayed over and offered just prior to the oneg (communal luncheon). In the NT, what Jesus did at the Last Supper was to extend this symbolism to include his body & blood given to all who may believe in him, thus granting eternal life.

I think this assessment is fair. But it doesn't matter
One can come up with an explanation of where the
idea of baptism comes from, for instance - but we
are told that baptism has a ceremonial significance
to Christians, and that's all that matters. Same with
symbolic ideas about bread.

 

[metis]

I think this assessment is fair. But it doesn't matter
One can come up with an explanation of where the
idea of baptism comes from, for instance - but we
are told that baptism has a ceremonial significance
to Christians, and that's all that matters. Same with
symbolic ideas about bread.

I agree with that.

 

[Thief]

Christ spoke: "This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die."
John 6:50

What is the meaning of this utterance? What is the significance of bread and wine as spoken by Christ in the Gospels?

that metaphor got out of hand the first time He used it

eat my body......drink my blood....

and the congregation turned on Him
took to a steep embankment as if to pitch Him over