35 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.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 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 6:35-59.
This teaching of Jesus has sometimes been viewed in sacramental and Eucharistic ways, and other times in metaphorical and Christological ways. I think there is room to see both emphases in understanding this text.
The very strong language of eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood supports the sacramental and Eucharistic point of view: “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 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, 55 for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever”vv.54-58. In the early church Christians leaned heavily on the Eucharist as part of their gatherings, and so it is likely that this is how Jesus’ words were understood.
This teaching of Jesus can also be viewed as a metaphorical and Christological teaching rather than a sacramental teaching. Something is metaphorical when you use it to stand for, or symbolize, another thing. If we take into fact that John is living and writing in Greek territory rather than in Jewish territory, even if we believe these words of Jesus to be more metaphorical than sacramental, we can certainly see strong overtones of the Eucharist in this passage. Remembering that John is writing this close to the end of the first century it follows that many of his readers will see the connection to the Eucharist in Jesus’ words. It seems quite possible that many would see theses words of Jesus point to the bread of life come down from heaven to give His life for the world, and in this sense the passage is more metaphorical than sacramental. If John is writing to non-Christians, as many believe, then viewing this passage in metaphorical terms may indeed be the preferred way.
The bread and wine are necessary for life, both metaphorically and sacramentally, without either approach being primary. Remember that John’s Gospel is primarily evangelistic and Christological, meaning that John is writing to spread the truth about who Jesus is! Remember how John closes his Gospel: “30 Now Jesus did many other signs (miracles) in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” John 20:30-31. Jesus changing the Passover Seder meal into the Eucharist on the night before He died. and then teaching that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” v.53, John wishes to say in his gospel that “believing and having life in His (Jesus’) name” includes many “signs”, especially the sign of the Eucharist. Believing, then, is not just an intellectual or matter of the heart, but also a matter of eating and drinking the bread and wine of life! The early church’s strong use of the Eucharist points to the church’s central object of faith - the Lord Jesus himself.
The next time you have the opportunity to receive communion, remember the huge gift this is to you. Everyone, obviously, is welcome to this table, this feast, including and me. Give God thanks for the grace of who He is and what this meal is for our life.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
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