“The Partaking of Eternal Life”
John 6:41-71
“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” [John 6:51]
This is our Lord’s declaration of sacrifice “for the life of the world.” It is a spiritual truth described in physical language. It is what we call an illustration. But this illustration confused His hearers.
“The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” [6:52]
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.’” [6:53]
This wouldn’t be the first time that a misunderstanding of the spiritual and physical occurred, and it wouldn’t be the last. Remember the “born again” teaching in John 3? And the “living water” teaching in John 4?
But what is interesting in the record of John 6 is that even today many believe that Jesus was literally speaking of a physical eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood, and therefore the dogma of transubstantiation.
Transubstantiation is the belief that during Communion, the bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus, while still looking like bread and wine. And thus, the partaking of communion underscores this John 6 teaching.
But there are some challenges with this interpretation. Firstly, in the context of teaching this to “The Jews” [v.52], it contradicted their law in Leviticus 17:10-16, 19:26, which prohibits the eating of blood. What these Levitical scriptures highlight is blood used for atonement.
Secondly, it would have been impossible in that first communion for the bread and wine to become Jesus’ body and blood when He was physically before the Twelve and partaking with them.
So, there are obvious problems with a literal physical interpretation of John 6:53. It is better to interpret this as figurative just as the born-again teaching in John 3 and living-water teaching in John 4 were figurative.
Also in John 6:63, Jesus clearly stated, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”
It therefore makes sense that His teaching in John 6 point to a Spirit-filled consumption of Jesus, not a physical one, which is the partaking of eternal life.
