Jesus, the Son of God, humbled Himself to the point of giving His body and blood to us for food. This is beyond comprehension. Jesus wants to unite with us to so intimately that He wants to be a part of us, inside us and united inseparably from us.
In the Gospels, Jesus teaches about the Eucharist, most notably in the Bread of Life Discourse (John 6). He prepares His apostles for this gift. He also performs signs pointing to the Eucharist. Below are some passages listing either teachings or signs.

Scripture passages listed below:
- Wedding at Cana
- John 2:1-10
- The Lord’s Prayer
- Matthew 6:9-13
- Feeding the 5,000
- Matthew 14:15-21
- Mark 6:32-44
- Luke 9:11-17
- John 6:1-13
- Feeding the 4,000
- Matthew 15:32-39
- Mark 8:1-9
- Bread of Life Discourse
- John 6:25-69
The Wedding at Cana
John 2:1-10

The Lord’s Prayer
Matthew 6:9-13
The prayer has a number of petitions focused on the spiritual. Then, in the middle, we have the phrase, “give us today our daily bread.” This seems out of place, asking for material support. Certainly, the phrase can be considered as asking for our bodily well-being, but this is not the primary meaning. It has a much deeper spiritual meaning.
The request is primarily for the Eucharist. Jesus says we must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have life within us. We must consume the bread of life that came down from heaven. Jesus’ prayer includes a request for Him under the appearance of bread. Without this bread, we have no life within us. We need the Eucharist. The original Greek points to this. The word we translate as “daily bread” is used
The original Greek points to this. The word we translate as “daily” (epiousion) is used nowhere else in ancient Greek writings. It is unique to the Lord’s Prayer. Everywhere else in the Gospels, another form of the word daily is used, and that form is not used in this prayer. Another translation of the word is “super-substantial.” St. Jerome used both versions in the Vulgate. In Matthew, Jerome translated it at super-substantial, and in Luke as daily. He likely did this to highlight the dual meaning of the word. We should remember this petition is not just a request for a material needs but also a request to receive the Eucharist.
Feeding the 5,000

Feeding the 4,000

Bread of Life Discourse
John 6:25-29
Jesus challenges them to seek the food that endures for eternal life. The crowd asks what they need to do. Jesus’ answer is to believe the One sent by God. It is easy to gloss over the significance of this statement. Of course, we need to believe in Jesus. The placement of this is critical. This command provides the introduction to Jesus’ teaching on the Eucharist. The implication is clear. Yes, we must believe everything Jesus teaches, but to have eternal life, we especially need to believe in the teaching on the Eucharist.
John 6:30-42
Jesus wants them to know how different He is from Moses. Moses did not perform any miracles under his own power. Everything done through Moses was done by God. Jesus is different. He does the will of God through His own power, and He will give the bread of heaven.
The crowd is still thinking with their stomachs. They ask for the bread. Jesus’ answer is shocking. He says He is the bread from heaven, the bread of life. This bread will give life to the world.
Jesus knows the Jews do not believe Him, and they start murmuring. The statement that Jesus is the bread of life is ambiguous. Is He speaking symbolically or is He really saying He is bread from heaven that people will eat?
John 6:43-51
Jesus states again that eternal life is contingent on believing Him, and the key belief is that He is the bread of life. This had to have been shocking language for a first century Jew. If we truly contemplate this, that God sent Jesus from heaven to be bread for us to eat, it is no less shocking.
Up to verse 50, we could get away with thinking that Jesus could be speaking metaphorically. We could see that His teaching feeds our souls like bread feeds our bodies. That is a possibility until verse 51. Jesus then removes all doubt. He is speaking literally. The bread that He gives is His flesh.
John 6:52-60
It is truly shocking that Jesus is commanding that we eat His flesh. With the Jews quarreling, He has the opportunity to correct them, “Wait, you misunderstand me. I meant this symbolically.” That is what we would expect from a great teacher if He was misunderstood. Any teacher, especially the greatest teacher of all time, would correct the students if their understanding was wrong. That is what teachers do. They correct us until we arrive at truth.
But, Jesus was not misunderstood. He meant exactly what He said.
Jesus then steps up the command. He repeats that we must eat His flesh and adds that we must drink His blood. This would have been revolting to a first century Jew. Drinking blood was forbidden, and now Jesus is demanding His followers drink His blood.
Jesus then goes on to repeat this command three more times. Four times in a row He states we must eat His flesh and drink His blood. There can be no doubt about the meaning of His words. The Jews cannot accept it. It is a difficult saying.
John 6:61-69
In verse 63, Jesus states that the spirit gives life and the flesh is of no avail. This seems to undermine everything that came before. Is He retracting His statements on eating His flesh?
No, Jesus is stating that He is spirit and life, He is divine from heaven, and He provides life. The flesh He mentions is not His flesh. Previously, every reference to the Eucharist is a command to eat “His” flesh, not a generic command to eat “the” flesh. The flesh He says is to no avail is the flesh of man, our flesh. Our bodies cannot save us. We can do nothing for our own salvation. We can only be saved when we have the life of God within us, and we receive that life through the body and blood of Jesus.
Jesus disciples choose to leave over this teaching. He watches them go. The teaching on the Eucharist is so important that He turns to the Apostles and challenges them to accept the teach or leave as well. The Eucharist is a deal breaker. You cannot share in the life of Jesus without the Eucharist.
Peter answers this challenge. He admits His reluctance, “To whom shall we go.” Peter and the others were troubled by this teaching, but they saw the signs and they knew Jesus was who He said He was, so they stayed. Jesus has the words of eternal life, and even though Peter may not have understood the teaching on the Eucharist, he trusted and stayed.
Images:
Unknown, The Marriage at Cana, illumination about 1190; written about 1490, Tempera colors and gold leaf on parchment, Leaf: 11.9 x 17 cm (4 11/16 x 6 11/16 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Unknown, The Marriage at Cana, about 1460, Tempera colors, gold, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 17.1 x 12.1 cm (6 3/4 x 4 3/4 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Unknown, The Feeding of the Five Thousand, about 1400 – 1410, Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink on parchment, Leaf: 33.5 x 23.5 cm (13 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.), The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Gospel Lectionary, The feeding of the five thousand, Walters Manuscript W.535, fol. 107r