What Does it Mean to Eat Christ’s Flesh and Drink His Blood?

We are continuing yesterday's meditation on what Jesus taught about Himself being the true manna from heaven. What Christ said next shocked His listeners to the core.

⁴⁷I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. ⁵⁰But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." ⁵²Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" ⁵³Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:47-54; emphasis added).

Many turned away from following Jesus after the statement in verse 66. As a nation, God had forbidden them from drinking blood (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26-27), so how should we interpret what He was saying? Some claim that they have the power to transform bread and wine into Christ's body and blood, but is this correct? Should we view this as a literal statement or a spiritual one? Jesus clarified that He was speaking in spiritual terms. He said to them, “The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).

We understand that when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well in Samaria, and mentioned the water He would give, Christ was referring to the Spirit of God (John 4:13-14). Why should we think literally about eating His flesh and drinking His blood? When He said, “I am the vine” (John 15:5) or “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:10), we should not believe even for a second that He was speaking literally. He was using metaphorical, picture language. In Exodus 12, the Passover lamb, whose blood was applied to the lintel and sides of the doorposts before being eaten, served as a type or shadow of Christ's sacrificial death. The sacrificial lamb then had to be completely consumed before the exodus from slavery in Egypt began, and none was left over for the morning (Exodus 12:9-10). Eating His flesh and drinking His blood symbolize a complete encounter with the Lord Jesus, the real Passover sacrificial Lamb of God (John 1:29).

When Jesus spoke these words, it was close to Passover (John 6:4). Just as household members had to eat all of the Passover lamb, we are to feed on Jesus spiritually, the Bread of Life, the true fulfillment of the Passover Lamb of God. Like how we eat bread and drink wine, and the blood delivers nutrition to every part of the body, feeding on Christ spiritually allows His Word and Spirit to influence every aspect of our character as we live for Him and not for ourselves.

Paul the Apostle wrote about what happens to us when we give our lives to Christ, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). Eternal life is to partake of the Bread of Life, the staple diet of the Christian. These words call for radical steps of giving up ownership of ourselves and all we have. The Christian hymn writer Isaac Watts said, "Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.” Do you have Him? And does Christ have you? Jesus said,

⁵⁵“For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷Just 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. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever” (John 6:55-58).

We must accept Christ into our lives and continue to nourish ourselves on Him throughout our lives, starting with the moment we believe and receive Him. This eternal life begins the moment we take that step of faith. Jesus could not have been more evident than when He made this statement:

I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life (John 6:47). Keith Thomas

Shortened from the more extended study at the following link: Jesus, The Bread of Heaven