ding was trying to reduce these verses to simply a question of literal or figurative interpretation of this scripture. However, it is so much more! ding and RC's in general need to note that when Christ said these words, He was standing before His disciples in His body, and He was holding up the bread and wine so that it was clear that the words This is my body were intended to be understood symbolically. There can't be any doubt about this because after He stated This is my body, He called it bread 3 times, which He certainly wouldn't have done if at that point it was no longer bread, but had literally become His body (every time you eat this bread . . . ) 1 Cor. 11: 26-28. Since it was Christ who called the substance both bread, and body, He must have been speaking symbolically either when He called it bread, or when He called it body. The question really is not, whether we should interpret the passage literally or symbolically. The question is "Which part must be interpreted literally and which part symbolically?" Was Jesus speaking literally when He called the substance which He held in His hand His body, or when he called it bread? One or the other must have been symbolic. The only other choice is that it changed from bread to His body, and then back to bread again.