Eat His Flesh, Drink His Blood

 

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.                           Exodus 20:4-6

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”                         Exodus 20:17

One of the most significant issues of the Protestant Reformation was the emphasis on Scripture as the primary source for determining doctrine. The Roman Catholic Church believed it had been given the authority to supersede Scripture to serve its own interests. One example of this appears in the verses above. According to their version of the Ten Commandments, no commandment addresses idols; they replace that commandment by making two commandments out of verse 17: you shall not covet your neighbor’s house (goods), and you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. In Deuteronomy 12:32, “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it.” Martin Luther and other reformers resisted the Church's attempt to manipulate the Word of God to serve its own purposes.

My Flesh is True Food

Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" 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. He who eats 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. He who eats 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 he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. 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."        John 6:52-58

Another example is found in its interpretation of the above passage as they tied it to the Lord’s Supper, “the Eucharist,” even though the above passage was spoken more than a year before the Last Supper, when the sacrament of the Eucharist was commanded. Their interpretation is transubstantiation:

In the Confession of the Synod of the Fourth Lateran Council, transubstantiation is thus defined: "There is only one universal Church, beyond which no man can in any way be saved. In which Jesus Christ is himself the priest and sacrifice, whose body and blood are really contained in the sacrament of the altar, under the form of bread and wine, being transubstantiated, the bread into the body and the wine into the blood, by divine power." By the institution of Corpus Christi Day by Pope Urban IV in 1264 and Pope Clement V in 1311 at the Synod of Vienna, the doctrine in question was expressed in a liturgical form, thereby securing its popularity. Henceforth, the sacrifice of the Mass formed more than ever the center of the Catholic ritual and reflected new glory upon the priesthood.

After teaching the above passage concerning the eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood, Verse 66 tells us, As a result of this, many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.   This was a very difficult teaching; therefore, many could no longer be His disciples. So then, what is the intended meaning?  

Earlier in the John 6 passage, Jesus referred to the manna that sustained the people's physical need for food in the wilderness. The manna only sustained life for the Jews, but Jesus gives life to the whole world. The Jews ate the daily manna and eventually died; but when you receive Jesus Christ within, you live forever. When God gave the manna, He gave only a gift; but when Jesus came, He gave Himself. There was no cost to God in sending the manna each day, but He gave His Son at great cost. The Jews had to eat the manna every day, but the sinner who trusts Christ once is given eternal life.

Eating the living Bread is a figure of speech, meaning to believe on Him. To eat of this Bread is to live forever. When God gave the manna, He gave only a gift, but when Jesus came He gave Himself: And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19). There was no cost to God in sending the manna each day, but He gave His Son at great cost. The manna was given to a rebellious people; it was the gracious gift of God, and all they had to do was stoop and pick it up. They had to eat the manna every day, but the sinner who trusts Christ once is given eternal life. The manna came at night from heaven, and Jesus came to this earth when sinners were in moral and spiritual darkness. The manna was small (His humility), round (His eternality), and white (His purity). As the Living Bread, Jesus was claiming to be greater than the manna.

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood (Luke 22:20). The blood of the new covenant serves as the reminder of the sacrifice made on behalf of each one who accepts by faith that the offering is sufficient. For this reason, He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15). The old covenant is fulfilled in the blood of the new covenant.

Sweet as Honey

Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; for I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.                 Jeremiah 15:16

Then He said to me, “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” So, I opened my mouth, and He fed me this scroll. He said to me, “Son of man, feed your stomach and fill your body with this scroll which I am giving you.” Then I ate it, and it was sweet as honey in my mouth. Then He said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them. “For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult [kabed – clumsy, slow] language, but to the house of Israel, nor to many peoples of unintelligible speech or difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. But I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate.”                  Ezekiel 3:1-7

The fear [yirah – reverence] of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments [mispat – justice] of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.                  Psalm 19:9-10

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.                           John 6:35

“He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”                    Deuteronomy 8:3

Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, "Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land." So, I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. And they said to me, "You must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings."                     Revelation 10:8-11

The above verses paint an incredible picture regarding the relationship of the believer to the Word of God. It begins with two major prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and the Lord’s commands to each to eat the words of God and the effect the words had on each. Since they were commissioned as prophets, they had a special relationship with God’s words. They were required to be His spokesman to the people of God, so they needed to revere His words and handle them with great care to faithfully represent the Lord. In Jeremiah’s case, they produced a joy and the delight of my heart, and Ezekiel responded that it was sweet as honey in my mouth. Ezekiel was writing to the exiled Jews in Babylon, but they were stubborn and obstinate. In both cases, the people would not listen to God’s words.

David wrote Psalm 19 to exalt the roles of creation and the Word of God (His perfect Law) as a manifestation of who God is, His character and nature. In extolling the value of God’s words to him, he compared them to gold and honey - they are more desirable than gold, the most valuable commodity in the ancient Near East, and sweeter than honey, the sweetest substance known in the ancient Near East. The Law was not a burden to believers who were trying to please God with their lives. For David, keeping God's statutes, which warned him of the dangers of folly and sin, brought reward.

The first of Jesus’s “I am” declarations in John’s Gospel is found in John 6:35: I am the bread of life. He was comparing the bread of life to the manna given to the people in the wilderness as sustenance. While in the wilderness and being tempted by Satan, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Jesus was teaching that as the Word of God (John 1:1), He was the answer to man’s hunger and thirst for meaning and purpose in life – eternal life. Jesus taught the same truths to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:13-14: Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." The Word of God is symbolized by bread, and the Holy Spirit is represented by water.

In Revelation 10:1, John saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. The angel appeared to make an announcement that the seventh trumpet would bring about the accomplishment of the mystery of God. This mystery had been previously announced to God's prophets. The reference, therefore, is not to hidden truth but to the fulfillment of many Old Testament passages which refer to the glorious return of the Son of God and the establishment of His kingdom of righteousness and peace on the earth.

John obeyed the angel's instruction to eat the scroll, and though it was sweet like honey in his mouth, it soured in his stomach. The angel then added that John would prophesy again. It is evident that in partaking of the book he was appropriating what the book states. The scroll symbolizes the Word of God and divine revelation in general, for John was told to deliver the Word faithfully. To John, the Word of God was indeed sweet with its revelation of the grace of God and its many precious promises that belong to believers. It contrasted with his circumstances on Patmos Island. Though the Word is sweet to believers, it will be bitter to unbelievers when it brings divine judgment on them.

According to the Holy Spirit

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement [dikaioma – ordinance, precept] of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.                       Romans 8:3-4

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.          Ephesians 2:4-6

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.             Galatians 2:20

always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So, death works in us, but life in you.                    2 Corinthians 4:10-12

The transition from the old covenant to the new covenant is not based on the old covenant requirements, but is introduced by the Holy Spirit as the means by which the new covenant believer finds a new walk, not based on the religious institutions of the Law of Moses. A spiritual reality takes place within the believer at the moment of salvation (being made alive in communion with the life of Christ). Still, the believer implements the spiritual life by faith in the authority and work of Jesus, as directed by the Holy Spirit. This work comes to each believer by the grace of God, not by his own efforts. He sees himself as seated above, in the heavenly places.

According to the Bible Exposition Commentary:

“If a man is justified by the works of the Law, then why did Jesus Christ die? His death, burial, and resurrection are the key truths of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). We are saved by faith in Christ (He died for us), and we live by faith in Christ (He lives in us). Furthermore, we are so identified with Christ by the Spirit that we died with Him. This means that we are dead to the Law. To go back to Moses is to return to the graveyard! We have been raised to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4); and since we live by His resurrection power, we do not need the help of the Law. “

In Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he refers to his own life as a demonstration of the humiliation Christ experienced as "Christ crucified", a constant reminder that it is through human weakness that the power of God manifests God’s ability in him and through him (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). In his own body, Paul carried around the dying of Jesus, meaning, he suffered intensely for Jesus and bore physical scars resulting from wounds inflicted by beatings and a stoning because of his testimony for Jesus' sake. He was being given over to death, constantly facing death. Paul recognized that God usually chose weak people to serve Him. He subsequently argued for the testimony of his apostleship based on his sufferings and his weaknesses. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).

Come, Eat of My Food

Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars; She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maidens, she calls from the tops of the heights of the city: “Whoever is naive, let him turn in here!” To him who lacks understanding, she says, “Come, eat of my food and drink of the wine I have mixed. “Forsake your folly and live, and proceed in the way of understanding.”                        Proverbs 9:1-6