“He took a loaf, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: ‘This means my body which is to be given in your behalf. Keep doing this in remembrance of me.’”​—Luke 22:19.

When Jesus took the loaf and said, “this means my body,” he was indicating that the unleavened bread was representative of, or was a symbol of, his own sinless fleshly body, which he gave “in behalf of the life of the world.” (John 6:51) Although some Bible translations say “this is [Greek, es·tinʹ] my body,” Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament says that this verb often means “to denote, signify, import.” It conveys the thought of representing, or symbolizing.​—Matthew 26:26, footnote.

[Box/Pictures on page 6]

“THIS IS MY BODY” OR “THIS MEANS MY BODY” WHICH?

When Jesus said, “I am the door” and, “I am the true vine,” no one thought that he was a literal door or a literal vine. (John 10:7; 15:1) Likewise, when The New Jerusalem Bible quotes Jesus as saying: “This cup is the new covenant,” we do not conclude that the cup itself was literally the new covenant. So, too, when he said the bread ‘was’ his body, there can be no question that the bread meant, or symbolized, his body. Thus, the Charles B. Williams translation says: “This represents my body.”​—Luke 22:19, 20.