Episode47 - "Eat my flesh and drink my blood" - John 6:52-59

John 6:52   The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

The Bible has some hard things to understand. Jesus’ words in this section  are certainly difficult for those listening. Furthermore, if you read Christian scholars of our current era, you’ll discover there are still differing opinions about this section. 

In our last episode, I pointed out that the people who ate the “miracle food” and had identified Jesus certainly as the Prophet like Moses that was to come, and wanted to make Jesus their king had, like the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt, started grumbling. In verse 52 they’ve declined even further into arguing amongst themselves about what Jesus is saying. They are clearly moving to a point of rejecting Jesus and his claims. Their question, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” appears rhetorical. Essentially, if they can’t understand with their own reason, they are going to reject it. 

Jesus’ response is to assert that if they do not eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, they “have no life” in them. This is an indication that Jesus is speaking in a manner that is not to be taken in a pure literal sense. Why is that? Because clearly Jesus understands that they are living beings. But, Jesus’ point is that it’s not the true kind of life that he is offering them. Furthermore, the Law prohibited cannibalism and drinking blood. Jesus would not violate the Law.

Then Jesus tells them, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life . . . “ Once again Jesus made it clear that he is claiming to be the “son of man”; the eschatological figure spoken of in Daniel 7:13 who is led before the Ancient of Days and granted honor and authority and would have an eternal kingdom. Furthermore, he’s saying if you want eternal life and to be in this eternal kingdom, you must eat his flesh and drink his blood. Whoever does that, he says “has eternal life.” Jesus follows that by promising, “I will raise him up on the last day.” That indicates that Jesus is not saying your body won’t physically die. He is saying that even though you will physically die, you still have eternal life and Jesus will raise you up to experience that life for eternity. So, what does he mean by eating or feeding on his flesh and drinking his blood?

In the following verse, he says that his flesh is “true food” and his blood is “true drink.” Some people believe this text is speaking of Lord’s Supper, Communion, Eucharist, or whatever one’s tradition calls it. I don’t want to discount the possible significance this text may have to the Lord’s Supper. But, I’m inclined to think that the primary thing Jesus is communicating to people at this point is that he, Jesus, is the only source of eternal life and that we cannot think of Jesus as a decoration in our home or church. We cannot value him as another person who was a good and helpful teacher with morals. We MUST internalize everything about who he truly is and his purpose as intended by the Father. He is the true Son of God who came down from Heaven and took upon himself the punishment for our sins in order that we could receive  his righteousness upon ourselves and be acceptable before God throughout eternity. The flesh as food and the blood as drink is powerful imagery because it is easy for us to understand how food becomes digested and broken down within our body in order to provide energy and life throughout our whole body. When Jesus is internalized in our lives, it is “true food” and “true drink” for eternal life.

In verse 56, he repeats the phrase “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood” but then continues with “abides in me, and I in him.” That phrase reinforces the notion of feeding on Jesus flesh and drinking his blood is really about internalizing Christ, isn’t it? He abides in us and we abide in him.

Verse 57 provides the reasoning why he can offer eternal life to us. It is because the living Father sent him and he lives because of the Father and we can live if we feed on him. It emphasizes that our hope of eternal life is based upon our faith in the eternally living God who created life and sent “true food” in his Son Jesus.

This last verse of this section explains the “figurative nature” of what he is saying. He says this “bread from heaven” is NOT like the bread their fathers ate. Why? Because they died. The “true bread” sent from Heaven is not something you put in your mouth. So, where does this leave room for our ordinance of the Lord’s Supper? The Lord’s Supper is something Jesus gave us that tangibly reminds us of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. It reminds us of the Incarnation of the Son of God and most of all, it reminds us of the cross. We must feed on these truths and let it be internalized within us.