Unless You Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood

Unless You Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood

Do This In Remembrance of Me

The difficult teachings of Jesus are like buried treasure, you must dig deep to discover the riches. In 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV, we are instructed to diligently study the Scriptures so we can rightly understand the correct meaning. All too often difficult truths are wrested from their dependent contextual home and their original meaning distorted. Distorted meanings affect us in two ways. First, distorted meanings can mislead us into confusion or worst convince us of something that is not true and possibly harmful.  Secondly, accepting the distorted meaning as correct denies us the benefits of Jesus’ original meaning or message. Therefore, when we read the words of Jesus in John 6:54, “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” we must understand that Jesus is speaking figuratively and not literally. It would be absolutely absurd to suggest Christians must literally eat Jesus’ flesh and blood to possess eternal life. Moreover, the scriptures teach us that salvation and eternal life is received by grace through faith, “that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

To correctly understand John chapter 6 we must read and reflect upon the full context of this chapter. The occasion and primary audience addressed was a large group of people that were anxiously following Jesus for the wrong reason. The previous day they were part of the 5,000 plus crowd that were miraculously fed from a young boy’s 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish. After seeing a small basket of food supernaturally multiplied to feed the 5,000 plus crowd, they wanted to make Jesus their king (John 6:15). With His supernatural power, there would be no end to what he could provide for the people. Perhaps, an endless supply of food and most likely anything they would ever need for a happy carefree life. When they caught up with Jesus on the other side of the sea of Gallie, Jesus exposes their wrong motives:

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27)

There exist a hunger and thirst inside every one of us that cannot be satisfied by natural food alone. Our souls and spirits hunger and thirst to be satisfied and only Jesus, the true bread of life sent from the Father, brings wholeness and satisfaction to our lives. He is the true “bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33).

When Jesus challenges the crowd of seekers to believe in him, they demanded He performs another miraculous sign along the lines of the “manner” (bread) God sent to the Jews during their 40 years in the desert. After the exodus from Egypt, God supernaturally rained down bread “manner” from the heavens to provide food for the Israelites to feed on and survive (Exodus 16:4).

We, humans, understand that food is necessary to maintain life, without which we will become sick and die. Using metaphoric language to communicate spiritual realities, Jesus uses the life-giving attributes of food (bread in this case) to teach that he is the spiritual food that imparts eternal life to all who believe in him.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:35-40)

Here is real food for thought. We read in v35 above, “whoever comes to me will never go hungry…” and “whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” This is so true in a spiritual sense because we are feeding on the spiritual food and drink that flows freely into our soul, spirit, heart, and mind. We are not literally feeding on Jesus’ flesh and blood, except in a metaphoric sense.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

In v40 we read, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life…“. These words are literally consistent with all scriptures concerning salvation and the most important question one could ever ask, “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).  The answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved,” (Acts 16:31).

To believe in Jesus as your savior and be born again is an event that most believers can recall throughout their life. How did you come to Christ? Where were you when your first believed the revelation that Jesus was truly God’s Son and Savior of the world? Tell me, did you fall on your knees at a church altar? Were you in a Bible study or prayer meeting?

Repentance and believing in Jesus is an experience or event that ushers us into a new spiritual life in and through Christ. However, feeding on Jesus (metaphorically) involves an intimate relationship wherein we grow and mature through His presence, fellowship, studying His Word, and prayer. In other words, we must eat, drink, breathe, and live Jesus on a daily basis to remain in Him, see v56 below. We must feast on Jesus! It is Jesus in our hearts, thoughts, decisions, and actions to the extent that the apostle Paul fully expressed in Galatians 2:20, “I no longer live, but Christ lives within me.”

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. (John 6:53-59)

The metaphoric language spoken by Jesus was “Spirit and life” words never intended to be understood as literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Jesus explains:

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”  (John 6:63-64)

The Lord’s Supper

On the night before Jesus would offer Himself to be condemned to crucifixion, bruised, beaten, broken and shed His blood for the sins of all mankind, He instituted what we now call the Lord’s Supper. 

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt. 26:26-29

Using similar metaphoric language Jesus uses the bread to represent His body and the cup (considered wine) to symbolize His blood. Neither the bread nor the cup was His literal body and blood, but nevertheless, they are representative of the real thing—something to be grasped. While we cannot subscribe to our Catholic friends’ doctrine of transubstantiation, first introduced as the official church position at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 A.D., we understand the ceremonial usage and representation of the elements are to be highly respected and discerned as emblems of the Lord’s body and blood. This is why the apostle Paul warns the Corinthian believers:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. 32 Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. (1 Cor. 11:23-33)

Two things to keep in mind: First, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper “in remembrance” of our Lord’s great sacrifice. Secondly, we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

It is offensive to our Lord when we disrespect and fail to recognize the celebration of the Lord’s Supper with the highest level of honor possible. The bread and cup are much more than mere emblems, they represent and remind us that the Lord’s body was violently nailed to the cross and crucified in our place and that His blood has cleansed and purified us from our wretched and sinful lives. That our salvation, so freely received, was a costly gift that came to us through the Lord’s painful suffering. That God’s love was openly demonstrated in Christ’s sacrifice. It is a grave and solemn ceremony that we are participating in and even the emblems carry a special significance, not to be treated unworthily. These emblems are no longer common but sanctified, that is, separated and set aside for God’s exclusive use only to represent Christ. While the emblems are not the literal body and blood of Christ they most definitely represent the literal body and blood of our savior. The emblems are a type and shadow of Christ in the sense that the Old Testament lamb and lamb’s blood sprinkled in the temple’s most holy place were symbolic of the body and blood of Christ, though they were literally a lamb and lambs blood. Dare anyone fail to examine themselves, their faith, their attitude, or have the wrong spirit, they could come under divine discipline or judgment. This is why many pastors warm the congregation before serving the communion elements. “If you are not a real born-again believer, you should repent right now and receive Christ or not participate.” This is not a time to play church and pretend we are Christians when we know we are not. An introspective examination is in order for everyone.

Whenever I officiate a communion service, I love to randomly call upon congregational members to offer thanks for the Lord’s body and blood. The prayers of thanksgiving offered up are so edifying and filled with heartfelt thanks that I have seen entire congregations weep tears of great joy as our Lord is remembered and proclaimed.

Conclusion

May I encourage you to become a truth seeker. Carefully, prayerfully, and diligently study the Scriptures and discover the buried treasure of Jesus Christ.