705. The four items, flesh, blood, bread and wine, mean spiritual and celestial things corresponding to them, as can be established from the passages in the Word where they are mentioned. Flesh in the Word has a spiritual and celestial meaning, as can be established from the following passages:
Come and gather for the feast of the great God*, to eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of strong men, and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all free men and slaves, both small and great. Rev. 19:17, 18. And in Ezekiel:
Gather from round about to my sacrifice, the great sacrifice that I am making for you upon the mountains of Israel; that you may eat the flesh and drink the blood. You will eat the flesh of strong men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth. You will eat fat from my sacrifice until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk. And you will be sated at my table with horse and chariot, with the strong man and every man of war. Thus shall I set my glory among the nations. Ezek. 39:17-21.
Anyone can see that in those passages flesh does not mean flesh, neither does blood mean blood, but the spiritual and celestial things corresponding to them. What otherwise would be the meaning - unless they were meaningless and extraordinary expressions - of eating the flesh of kings, captains, strong men, horses and them that sat on them, of being sated at the table with horse, chariot, a strong man and every man of war? Or of drinking the blood of the princes of the earth, and drinking blood until one is drunk? It is perfectly clear that these things are said about the Lord's Holy Supper, for the feast** of the great God, and also the great sacrifice, are mentioned.
[2] Since all spiritual and celestial things have reference exclusively to good and truth, it follows that flesh means the good of charity and blood the truth of faith; and in the highest sense the Lord in respect of the Divine good of love and in respect of the Divine truth of wisdom. Flesh also means spiritual good in these words of Ezekiel:
I shall give them one heart, and I shall put a new spirit in your midst, and I shall take away the heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh. Ezek. 11:19; 36:26.
Heart in the Word stands for love, so a heart of flesh stands for the love of good. Moreover, it is more fully established that flesh and blood mean spiritual good and spiritual truth from the meaning of bread and wine in the next section, since the Lord says that His flesh is bread and His blood is wine, which was drunk from a cup.
* This follows the reading of some manuscripts of the Greek; but cf. 196.1, where 'great' is applied to the feast. ** Or: supper.
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