John 6:45-59 (ESV)

⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 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.

Jesus referred to Isaiah the prophet’s teaching and added that all who hear and learn from God will come to Jesus as a result of the internal illumination the Holy Spirit gives. Jesus continued to emphasize that if one truly trusts in him, she has eternal life, and the credit even for her trust belongs to God. Again, Jesus proclaimed himself to be the bread of life. Then Jesus took them back to the manna that God gave their ancestors in the wilderness. Even after eating the manna, they still died. But those who “eat” of him will never die. When Jesus talked about “eating” his flesh, he wasn’t speaking about the Lord’s Supper or Communion, because he didn’t institute that until a year later. John began this Gospel by stating that the Word became flesh (1:14). Eating his flesh meant putting one’s full hope, trust, and confidence in the work that he came to do. Only by turning to him can anyone ever gratify the longings of her restless heart. Of course, the Jews were quite puzzled and even offended by all this, wondering how Jesus could give his flesh for food. Jesus said, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” The things he referred to were necessary for salvation. But drinking blood was forbidden! What was he talking about?

In saying his flesh and blood must be consumed, Jesus meant that one must ingest or feed upon him to be saved, describing total dependence on Jesus and his teachings. It isn’t enough to be familiar with Jesus. Instead, we must be nourished by him as if he were our very food. We must realize that we cannot survive without him. Was this a hard teaching? Yes! In fact, many left after Jesus spoke these words. But followers of Jesus understand what he meant. We recognize that we have no source of life outside of him. Jesus is our everything. When we eat food, we are strengthened to do what the day requires. In the same way, when we turn to Jesus as our sustenance, he provides us with everything we need to live and act as God desires. May we never neglect the true bread who satisfies and strengthens the souls of his people.