At the Last Supper what would the disciples make of what Jesus said about partaking of the bread and the wine?

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The occasion of Last Supper (called so because it was the last earthly supper that Jesus partook of with his apostles) was not on any count the first in which the apostles would hear of Jesus offering his own flesh and blood as their spiritual food. John the Evangelist does not mince words when he writes the following at 6: 47-68 (NRSVCE).

"Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. "

Of course, Jesus and the apostles also had the normal food of Passover on that day , as we see from Mtt 26:26 :

"While they were eating, Jesus took bread, spoke a blessing and broke it, and gave it to the disciples....."

So, the apostles had been well-oriented into believing what Jesus said about partaking of his body and blood, at the last supper. And they did believe .

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While it is true that the Disciples had heard Jesus teach in parables, and they had heard him use many word-pictures to describe himself, the vine, the door, the way, the living water, etc, this must have been nothing less than shocking to them to hear Jesus say that this was his body and blood.
Most Christians today are Gentile- and are also very far removed from Jewish culture and customs, and laws. For Jews, eating or drinking blood was very strictly forbidden, and so this imagery was no doubt disturbing. Saying you are a door, or water or the way might be weird, but not directly opposed to the religious laws of your entire culture.

As others have noted, these word pictures gained an entirely new and deeper meaning after the crucifixion and resurrection, but when they heard this - they must have been confused, shocked and a bit creeped out.
I'm not suggesting that they thought they would literally eat Christ's flesh on his arm, or drink his blood while he sat there. The notion of the elements literally becoming Christ's actual flesh and actual physical blood contradict multiple scriptures, which expressly forbid eating and drinking of blood, and this is heresy.

This also presents a huge problem for those who believe that the elements are magically changed into Christ’s literal blood, because it means that they should take all the other places literally where Christ described himself using symbolism. Was Christ actually transformed into a vine?? Was Christ's body physically and visually changed into a wooden door, with metal hinges? Of course not.

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My best guess is that at the Lord's supper the disciples were probably confused. In the gospels the disciples seem to pick up on things and miss out on others. They seem to have a difficult time grasping things until post resurrection when the Holy Spirit is poured out. Even then some get a little off track and need to be corrected (Peter in Galatians).

Do I think they took the breaking of bread literally, if so, maybe at first until they understood later with the Spirit that it was representative and not literal. It's not a focal point at all in their writings after these events other than correcting bad behavior.

In addition, Christ taught in parables. A small story they would be familiar with to illustrate a truth. In the same way he used figurative language to illustrate truth. This "I am the bread" phrase is that same figurative language tied to this event...

There are multiple "I AM" statements in John in which Jesus is using figurative language to communicate truth. I am the Light, I am the true bread, I am the door, I am the good shepherd, I am the resurrection and the life, I am in the Father, I and the true vine, I am a king. Recognizing the literary style is key to understanding the claims within each context.

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