2 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.
John 6:52-59 (ESV)
Symbolic flesh
Yesterday we started a discussion of this difficult passage and questioned if the body and blood of Jesus in this passage should be taken literally. As we pointed out two days ago, Jesus is talking about spiritual things. In the whole chapter He is trying to shift their thinking from material to spiritual. In fact, you could almost say that Jesus is trying to get his point across by making his statement so repugnant that his listeners would take note. Tomorrow we’ll see in John 6:63 that Jesus says “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.”
Believe and Abide
So what does it mean to symbolically eat and drink Jesus? Good question. Thankfully He gives the answer in verse 56: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” It’s all about abiding in Jesus. We commune with Him on a regular basis and celebrate communion to remember Him by taking the bread and wine (or grape juice). Believe who He says He is and abide in Him, as a grape abides in the vine. (John 15:4)
Verse 53 tells us if we do eat and drink of Jesus (by faith), then we will have life in us. We are dead without Christ – dead men walking – so to speak. But when we trust Christ, His life fills us so we have life in us, eternal life. The Spirit of Life lives inside us!
Life!
Life is clearly the theme here. It’s mentioned 6 times. Jesus wants His heaters (including us) to know without a doubt that the Father has life in Himself and gives it to the Son, Jesus, who then gives it to anyone who believes in Him and abides in Him. When we believe, we partake of His body and blood, His life.
<- Reflection ->
- Have you believed in Jesus? Are you abiding in Him? If not, I encourage you to believe in Jesus.
