John 6:52-59

THE BREAD OF LIFE, III

Text 6:52-59

52

The Jews therefore strove one with another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

53

Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves.

54

He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

55

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56

He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.

57

As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me.

58

This is the bread which came down out of heaven: not as the fathers ate, and died; he that eateth this bread shall live for ever.

59

These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

Queries

a.

Why did Jesus speak so emphatically of eating His flesh and drinking His blood?

b.

Where, besides John 6:56, does Jesus tell how we may abide in Him, and He in us?

c.

What is a synagogue, and where in Capernaum?

Paraphrase

The Jews argued angrily with one another, saying, How can He give us His flesh to eat? Jesus replied, I assure you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no Life in yourselves. The one trusting wholeheartedly in the saving efficacy of My death is the one eating My flesh and drinking My blood, and he possesses eternal life. This is true, for My body and blood sacrificed for the world's sin is the genuine food and drink for the soul of man. He who feeds on this spiritual food and drink dwells continually in Me and I also dwell in him. Just as the Father of Life sent Me, and I live by abiding in the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me shall live through Me. This is the Bread which came down from heaven. It is not like the manna of which your forefathers ate and died. To the contrary, he who eats the Bread from heaven shall live forever. He said these things in a synagogue while He was teaching in Capernaum.

Summary

Westcott summarizes this section in one sentence: The personal appropriation of the incarnate Son. In John 6:41-51 the question of the Jews was the Personage of Jesus, Is this not the son of Joseph? Jesus answered that question. Now the question of the Jews (John 6:52-59) is, How does He communicate to us this life which He claims to offer? Jesus answers in figurative language: men must take His life into the very center and core of their hearts; men must eat the spiritual dynamic which He alone is able to provide.

Comment

The crowd is a little nauseated (cf. John 6:60-61) at the literal implication, which they themselves attach to His words. Their objection is open and argumentative. Unbelief always takes offense at the truth. He is demanding that every man who desires eternal life must eat His flesh, Over and over (cf. John 6:53-58) He repeats the demand that men must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Why is Jesus so emphatic? What does He mean? Can it be that He means a literal eating of flesh and blood? Impossible! Yet, ever since Jesus uttered these words men have misinterpreted and wrested them to suit their purposes and schemes. The Transubstantiationists pervert this context to support their absurd doctrine of the actual presence of the flesh and the blood of Christ in the Loaf and the cup. They contend that one must literally partake of the flesh and blood of Jesus, and they, therefore, sacrifice the body of Jesus anew each week at the Mass. The book of Hebrews is plain as to the heretical nature of such a practice (cf. Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:12). The sacrifice made of Christ's body at Calvary was once for all.

The Sacramentalists also pervert this passage. According to the Sacramentalists, this passage demands unfailing observance of the Lord's supper. They make the Sacrament the means of life. According to this teaching, the Christian, by absenting himself from the Lord's Table, cuts himself off from any contact with the saving blood of Jesus Christ. Carried to its logical conclusion, this doctrine is equally as heretical as the Roman Catholic's transubstantiation. The Sacramentalist theory comes very near the Roman system of meritorious works.
None of these false doctrines would prevail today if religious leaders would read this context and apply only the very basic rules of Hermeneutics. A first principle in the interpretation of any book is: Let an author's own explanation of his meaning take precedence over any other interpretation. Jesus Himself explains exactly what He means by eating His flesh and drinking His blood when He says, It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. (John 6:63) (Italics mine). It would profit us nothing to eat the literal flesh and blood of Jesus, even if it were possible. We appropriate the flesh and blood of Jesus (Life) when we partake of His humanity and His divinity by abiding in all the words of Jesus and His apostles.

The absolute necessity of living by abiding in God's Word is the point of emphasis here, not the literal flesh. The message Jesus seeks to deliver here is that He is the Word of God manifest in the flesh, and that this multitude must divorce their minds from seeking only the physical bread, and turn to the heavenly Bread of Life (cf. Matthew 4:4). The great apostle Paul says it so clearly, I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20).

To eat and to drink is to assimilate something external to oneself, digest it and make it a part of one's very being. That is what Paul does by living in faith. There is much more to eating and drinking the flesh and blood of the Son of man than partaking of the Lord's Supper, for even that observance, regardless of how often, may be done unto condemnation unless accompanied with proper attitudes of faith and love and obedience. Besides, as Barnes says, there is no evidence that he (Jesus) had any reference in this passage to the Lord's Supper.

By assimilating His sacrificed body to our spiritual life, we abide in Him (John 6:56). To abide in Him is to continue in His commandments, to participate in the benefits of His death, and to bear fruit. Check all the following references to abiding in Him:

a.

Love and obey (John 14:15-17; John 14:21; John 14:23; John 15:10).

b.

Bear fruit (John 15:1-6).

c.

Dwell in unity (John 17:21-23).

d.

Walk as Jesus walked (1 John 2:6).

e.

Love one another (1 John 2:10; 1 John 3:17-18; 1 John 4:12-13).

f.

Let the apostle's words abide in us (1 John 2:24).

g.

Refrain from continuing in sin (1 John 3:6-9).

h.

Keep His commandments (1 John 3:24).

i.

Confess Jesus as the Son of God (1 John 4:15).

j.

Abide (continue, dwell) in love (1 John 4:16).

A very few early manuscripts add, at the end of John 6:56, this gloss: even as the Father is in me and I in the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, unless ye receive the body of the Son of man as the bread of life ye have not life in him. Most of our earliest and best manuscripts (Aleph, B, etc.), however, omit this gloss, It is very interesting to note that the latest great manuscript on the Fourth Gospel (Bodmer Papyrus, P. 66) also omits this gloss: more evidence for the purity of our present text.

John 6:57 reads much the same as John 5:26. The Son, being One with the Father, has life in Himself. Because He has life we may be partakers of that life, if we eat Him. The food which Christ gives is His Incarnation. The bread which came down out of heaven is the humanity of Christ, The best explanation for the reason behind Jesus-' taking the form of flesh and blood is found in Hebrews 2:14-18. Christ's participation in our nature was necessary in order that He might conquer death, His Incarnation is not only the means of our salvation, but an example for our daily profession (cf. Philippians 2:5-8). It is well to note here that the word trogon (the one eating) is in the present tense and must be translated the one continuing to eat me. etc. Assimilation of the Bread of Life must be continuous.

In John 6:33; John 6:35 Jesus stated that He was the genuine Bread from heaven, as contrasted with the transistory manna which was only the type. The temporal nature of the manna is emphasized again here in John 6:58.

Among the ruins of Tell-Hum, one of the given sites of Capernaum, an explorer found what remains of a once elegant synagogue. Upon one of the stone blocks of the former synagogue he found an engraving of a pot of manna. Westcott remarks, This very symbol may have been before the eyes of those who heard the Lord's words. Jesus taught in other synagogues in other villages and cities (cf. Luke 4:16; Matthew 12:9).

Quiz

1.

Give some Scriptural reasons why Transubstantiation is a false doctrine.

2.

Why is the theory of the Sacramentalists wrong?

3.

How should Jesus-' words be interpreted?

4.

What do you think Jesus means by eating and drinking?

5.

Is there any evidence that Jesus is speaking of the Lord's Supper in this passage?

6.

Name at least five ways of abiding in Christ.

7.

Why, according to Hebrews 2:14-18, did Jesus take upon Himself the form of flesh and blood?