JOHN 6: 51-59
PARTAKING OF CHRIST’S LIFE
Eating and drinking of Christ are here described as the means of bringing eternal life. As St. Augustine said these verses that call “for a man to eat that meat and to drink that drink is to dwell in Christ and to have Christ dwell in him.” It is to nourish yourself in Christ and satisfy your self in Him.
This consumption of Jesus described so explicitly springs from hungering and thirsting after the life of Christ and now it becomes a metaphor for the interior life one should have with Christ. For John, the spiritual life is not simply a confession, but a life of abiding in Christ or partaking of Christ.
I. FLESHED OUT BREAD, 51-52.
II. MANDATORY CONSUMPTION, 53-55.
III. PARTAKING TO LIVE, 56-59.
Let’s briefly look at verse 51 again. “I AM the Living Bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
These words sum up and drive home the preceding lesson. If the Living Bread is a person, then how does He give Himself so that people might partake of it or Him?
Jesus has declared Himself the Living Bread that came down (aorist tense), referring to His incarnation, and one must eat this bread (aorist tense), referring to the decisive moment when one believes. But it is in the third sentence of the verse where Jesus makes a pivotal statement, “This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” When Jesus refers to His “flesh” (Gk. sarx), we are at once reminded of 1:14, where sarx was used to describe the comprehensive life of the Son. Quote.
[ Jesus is flesh offered in sacrifice. The gift of this bread, this flesh, will come with His death. [Burge, Gary. NIV Application Commentary, Book of John: Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2000. 201-202.]
The second half of this sentence tells us that this flesh will be given in order that the world, made up of those who partake of Him, His life, will have life. Jesus is giving Himself in order that the world may have life. Jesus’s gift of the substance of life is nothing other than a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, a temple sacrifice, that will benefit the world. [This thought parallels 1:29, 36, where Jesus was described as the “Lamb of God,” referring once more to a sacrificial victim]. By Christ death, life is offered to the world.
Once again in verse 52 John points out that the crowd misunderstands what Jesus is saying. Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
The reaction of Jesus’ opponents was prompted by the apparent impossibility of His statement. As often happens, Jesus’ teaching was not understood (2:20; 3:4; 4:15; 6:32-34). Their perception remained at a materialistic level. They took literally the figure of eating His flesh. A violent argument erupted among them.
Unless one has spiritual perception, spiritual truth makes no sense whatsoever. Nicodemus could not comprehend the new birth; so, too, now the Jews considered the Lord’s words to be utter nonsense. In incredulity they responded, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Of course, Jesus is not proposing religious cannibalism. Earthly symbols must be converted into spiritual truths. How, then, are we to understand this life-giving meal? What deeper spiritual truth needs to be uncovered?
II. THE MANDATORY CONSUMPTION, 53-55.
Before answering their question, Jesus makes an even more offensive statement in verses 53 and 54. 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 yourselves. (54) “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Jesus repeated the statement to make Himself perfectly clear, adding for emphasis, "I tell you the truth." With such importance and deliberateness He then added another aspect that was even more repulsive to the Jews: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood.” What a shocking message! If what Jesus said before was nonsense, this statement bordered on gross sin. To eat flesh and drink blood sounds like cannibalism. The law of Moses expressly forbid any drinking of blood on penalty of being cut off from the people (Lev. 3:17; 17:10-14). Three times in this context Jesus refers to the importance of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. There could be no mistaking what He said now.
[The progression in thought in vv.51-54 is significant. First, Christ said he gives His flesh "for the life of the world" (v.51). Then He says whoever has not partaken of His flesh and blood has "no life" in Him (v.53). But then whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood "has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (v.54) [as in vv.39-40, 44].
The puzzle is unlocked by understanding that Jesus was speaking of His making atonement by His death and giving life to those who personally appropriate Him (John 6:63). Both eat and drink are punctiliar past tense [aorist] denoting once-for-all action. [Morris, 378]. This partaking of the Christ is absolutely necessary for eternal life or salvation. It is a graphic way of saying men must take Christ into their innermost being. Blood was the means of atonement. It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life (Lev. 17:11). Flesh and blood [the life is in the blood (Lev. ) are use to] indicate that partaking by faith of the atoning death and life of Jesus is intended. To eat and drink indicates a voluntary act of taking that which is external and making it part of oneself. They are challenged to partake of, to enter into, the closest and most intimate relation with Him. You must receive Christ in such a way that He truly become part of your life, if you would have His life.
In verse 55 Christ points out the only true food that gives life. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.
What Jesus is talking about is as real to Him as are the physical counterparts that His opponents had in mind. They had the wrong idea what constituted the true bread of life. Just as good food and drink sustain physical life, so Jesus, the real (reliable) spiritual food and drink, gives that gives real, spiritual, eternal life. He alone is the sustenance of life.
This verse is an emphatic statement that true food and true drink for man’s true need is found in Christ alone. He is the real food and drink of life. He is the only food and drink that produces real life.
III. PARTAKING TO LIVE, 56-59.
Jesus explains what He means by His flesh and blood in verse 56. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
The relationship that comes out of partaking of the flesh and blood of Christ is introduced. Jesus was not talking about His literal flesh and blood of course. He was saying that they had to partake of His life. That His life had to become their own. To partake of the life giving Christ brings Christ into one’s life which forms an abiding relationship. It is the Christ imparted life. It is the real communion, the real fellowship that sustains believers like the Father sustained the Son. [Abide, menô, is one of the most important theological terms in John’s Gospel.]
This concept is so basic to Christianity that the Bible uses the body and blood imagery in taking communion (1 Cor. 11:23-26). When we partake of communion we are to seriously remember that the life of Christ is to be our own and remember what He offered so that it could be reality.
The partaking of Jesus’ life is at the center of the Father’s mission as verse 57 communicates. “As the Living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.
Divine life is present in the Living Father. As the mission of Jesus is from the Father so the life of the Son is derived from the Father. Christ alone has direct access to the life of the Father. Jesus’ special life is sustained by the Father and is analogous to the believer’s spiritual life being sustained by faith in Christ. Believers receive life through faith in Christ. [Murray, Word Biblical Com. 95.] Therefore the one who receives Christ will have the life that comes only from Christ which comes only from the Father.
The discourse concludes with a summary statement located in verse 58. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”
Jesus now reminds them that, wonderful though the manna had been, there had been no life-giving quality in it. Those who ate it died like other men. But the bread which He has been speaking about is the bread which came down from heaven (10th reference in chapter 6) is different. The man who eats of Him will not die like other men. To be sure he will pass through the gateway of death, but he will live eternally.
Note the singular pronoun he used to denote the one in right relationship with Jesus. Faith must be personal. It is not enough to be a member of the right group or agree with the right message. [Morris, NIC, NT. 381]
In verse 59 John adds the location for the speech he has just recorded. These things He said in the synagogue s He taught in Capernaum.
This difficult discourse or sermon was taught in the synagogue. The thought is that these teachings are not off the cuff but a time of preaching for people who came to worship.
CONCLUSION / TIME OF RESPONSE
As Jesus spoke these difficult words, their graphic and shocking character stun the audience. Instead of fulfilling the selfish desires of these followers for daily physical bread, He speaks offensively to them. His hearers where wanting warm fuzzies and He told them to eat His flesh and drink His blood. He was not the dream fulfilling Messiah they had expected or wanted.
[ What are the predictable reactions of many who find this revelation intolerable? Rebellion. What sinful reflexes are at work among those who grumble and work to stop God’s work to feed His people? ]
The wonderful life Jesus offers is found only in radical obedience to His commands which is contrary to our fallen nature, the way of man. The way of Jesus is not always appetizing or easy, but only by partaking of His life can we partake of the Bread of Life. Other bread, even religious bread, does not address mortality; only this bread, this flesh and blood, this sacrifice, can give eternal life.
