Matthew 14:34-36; Mark 6:53-56; John 6:22-71
Once again the Gospel of John overwhelms us with what Jesus has to say:
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on Him God the Father has set His seal.
John 6:27
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.”
John 6:29
For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
John 6:33
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.”
John 6:35
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.
John 6:37
For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:40
No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
John 6:44
I am the bread of life.
John 6:48
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.
John 6:51
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. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 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. 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.”
John 6:53-58
None of this is easy to understand, much less swallow. (Pardon the pun.) If Jesus is not God in the flesh, then His words are more than a little audacious. They are outlandish. Ridiculous. Crazy. And the crowd reacts accordingly, asking, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” (John 6:52) and “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (John 6:60) As a result, many fall away and stop following Jesus. (John 6:66)
So what about us? Do we believe what Jesus says here? How literal are His words? How are we to understand them? Of course, we have the advantage over the crowd, who at this point knows nothing of the Cross, nor of the Last Supper — what would become Holy Communion or the Eucharist. But do we then try to explain away the Eucharist as poetic metaphor, with no real relation to eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood — simply a sentimental memorial devoid of His Presence? Or does Jesus mean what He says here? Does that offend you?
See also: