Unless You Eat My Flesh And Drink My Blood

FireDragon76

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Jesus encountered that attitude a number of times. Many of his Jewish opponents were more concerned about the practice of their religion than the welfare of their fellow man.


We are indeed concerned about the welfare of our fellow man. My church, probably more than any you have ever gone to, pays a great deal of attention to this, and not just about matters of ritual observance, either.

Giving a tiny amount of wine to a child does not turn him into an alcoholic. We don't even have alcohol at our social gatherings at church. Yet, wine drinking in moderation is not considered a sin in our religion, and nowhere in the Bible is it described as such.


For those that are really concerned, we do offer grape juice. However, that is an accomodation to peoples needs, we do not consider wine sinful.
 
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FireDragon76

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Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

By the thief speaking kindly to our Lord, he could be forgiven his sins and enter into Paradise without the otherwise needed sacrifices.

From our perspective, Jesus declaration to the thief is the same grace we receive in baptism or at communion.
 
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Ing Bee

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What is this flesh and blood?

Reading the passage from John 6:56 by itself is a sure path to misunderstanding. Reading the entire passage in John 6 (and the preceding chapters of John), we get the context for his use of eating and drinking metaphors.

Context:
  1. Chapter 6 opens up with Jesus feeding the 5,000 by multiplying bread. The people's response to this miracle is interesting: they want to instantly make him their king by force (v.15), so Jesus withdraws. This is not how his kingdom will be inaugurated, but by giving his life (body and blood) on the cross.

  2. After an interlude in which Jesus' nature is made plain to the disciples (see Job 9:7-8, and 11), the crowd finally catches up to Jesus in order to get more free bread. (v.26)

  3. Jesus tells them not to work for bread that perishes but for food that endures to eternal life (v.27) to which the people ask the question :"What must we do to be doing the works of God?". They are responding to his statement with a logical question, "How do we get eternal life from God?"

  4. Jesus answers them: "This is the work of God: believe in the One he has sent." Eternal life comes from belief in the Son, who John has already identified in John 1. John's persistent equation throughout his gospel is : eternal life/divine adoption= personal trust in the person and work of the Son. "Eternal bread" is the same as eternal life which comes through faith (personal trust) in Jesus as God's Son who died to make rebellious sinners into beloved sons and daughters.

  5. Still hungry for bread, they ask for a specific kind of proof: more bread, possibly from heaven, like the manna their father's ate in the wilderness provided by Moses.

  6. Jesus corrects them: The Father (not Moses) sent the bread then, and he sends the Bread of life, "he who came down from heaven that gives life to the world" (vv.32-33).

    Recall John 3:16 which says the same thing but with different words: The Father gave his unique Son, that whoever believes in the Son will not perish but have eternal life. How do we obtain eternal life? Believe in the Son.

  7. Jesus is explicit in v. 35, "I am the bread of life". How can we "eat" him? In true Jewish style he gives a parallel answer 1)come to me and you won't hunger 2) believe in me you won't thirst. He inserts the idea of "drink" for the first time, but it is parallel to the bread: coming to him is to believe in him.

  8. Jesus points out that seeing is not believing, but that everyone who sees him and believes will have eternal life and resurrection (v.40). Up to this point no mention of "eating" to gain eternal life has been used only "believing in the 'bread' that came down from the heaven (i.e. the Son).

  9. Disappointed ("it doesn't look like we'll be getting any bread") and confused, the crowd starts to grumble and cast doubt on the same person they were ready to crown only 24 hours before!

  10. Now Jesus starts using "eating" language and as we see later, it totally turns off Jesus's bread fanclub. Jesus also indicates that the Father is drawing people to the Son.

  11. Jesus then gets very clear about the fact that eating the 'true bread of heaven' is not like the Isrealite's eating the manna in Exodus in a few ways:
    • v. 45-47 - Belief in the Son gives eternal life (trust in the Son is how we eat this bread)
    • v.49-50 - This bread is permanently life-giving
    • v.51 - This 'bread' is actually Jesus's own body and blood. He is going to die in order to save the world: all those who believe in him will enter into eternal life as adopted heirs with him (John 1:12).
  • If anyone is still confused that Jesus is NOT talking about cannibalism, he says again (v.63-64) that salvation has nothing to do with the material world (food and drink), "it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken are spirit AND life. But there are some of you who do not believe." The implication is if you don't believe Jesus' words about how God rescues the world through his death, you don't have the Spirit so you don't have Eternal life.
 
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W2L

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Reading the passage from John 6:56 by itself is a sure path to misunderstanding. Reading the entire passage in John 6 (and the preceding chapters of John), we get the context for his use of eating and drinking metaphors.

Context:
  1. Chapter 6 opens up with Jesus feeding the 5,000 by multiplying bread. The people's response to this miracle is interesting: they want to instantly make him their king by force (v.15), so Jesus withdraws. This is not how his kingdom will be inaugurated, but by giving his life (body and blood) on the cross.

  2. After an interlude in which Jesus' nature is made plain to the disciples (see Job 9:7-8, and 11), the crowd finally catches up to Jesus in order to get more free bread. (v.26)

  3. Jesus tells them not to work for bread that perishes but for food that endures to eternal life (v.27) to which the people ask the question :"What must we do to be doing the works of God?". They are responding to his statement with a logical question, "How do we get eternal life from God?"

  4. Jesus answers them: "This is the work of God: believe in the One he has sent." Eternal life comes from belief in the Son, who John has already identified in John 1. John's persistent equation throughout his gospel is : eternal life/divine adoption= personal trust in the person and work of the Son. "Eternal bread" is the same as eternal life which comes through faith (personal trust) in Jesus as God's Son who died to make rebellious sinners into beloved sons and daughters.

  5. Still hungry for bread, they ask for a specific kind of proof: more bread, possibly from heaven, like the manna their father's ate in the wilderness provided by Moses.

  6. Jesus corrects them: The Father (not Moses) sent the bread then, and he sends the Bread of life, "he who came down from heaven that gives life to the world" (vv.32-33).

    Recall John 3:16 which says the same thing but with different words: The Father gave his unique Son, that whoever believes in the Son will not perish but have eternal life. How do we obtain eternal life? Believe in the Son.

  7. Jesus is explicit in v. 35, "I am the bread of life". How can we "eat" him? In true Jewish style he gives a parallel answer 1)come to me and you won't hunger 2) believe in me you won't thirst. He inserts the idea of "drink" for the first time, but it is parallel to the bread: coming to him is to believe in him.

  8. Jesus points out that seeing is not believing, but that everyone who sees him and believes will have eternal life and resurrection (v.40). Up to this point no mention of "eating" to gain eternal life has been used only "believing in the 'bread' that came down from the heaven (i.e. the Son).

  9. Disappointed ("it doesn't look like we'll be getting any bread") and confused, the crowd starts to grumble and cast doubt on the same person they were ready to crown only 24 hours before!

  10. Now Jesus starts using "eating" language and as we see later, it totally turns off Jesus's bread fanclub. Jesus also indicates that the Father is drawing people to the Son.

  11. Jesus then gets very clear about the fact that eating the 'true bread of heaven' is not like the Isrealite's eating the manna in Exodus in a few ways:
    • v. 45-47 - Belief in the Son gives eternal life (trust in the Son is how we eat this bread)
    • v.49-50 - This bread is permanently life-giving
    • v.51 - This 'bread' is actually Jesus's own body and blood. He is going to die in order to save the world: all those who believe in him will enter into eternal life as adopted heirs with him (John 1:12).
  • If anyone is still confused that Jesus is NOT talking about cannibalism, he says again (v.63-64) that salvation has nothing to do with the material world (food and drink), "it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken are spirit AND life. But there are some of you who do not believe." The implication is if you don't believe Jesus' words about how God rescues the world through his death, you don't have the Spirit so you don't have Eternal life.
Thank you for the reply.
 
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Ing Bee

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So if one doesnt take communion they are dead?

I'm sensing you already know this, but John 6 is not about communion/eucharist, it is just another way of saying what John says throughout his Gospel: Trust that the Son was sent by the Father to rescue rebels into his family by putting sin to death on the cross. (see John 1:12, John 3:16, John 20:30).

There is no mystery of the eucharist, it's a memorial (according to Jesus) and a proclamation of the Lord's victory over death (according to Paul in 1 Cor. 11). It confers no spiritual benefit and (apart from tearing a few verses out of their context in John 6) is never presented as such.

Eternal life is a personal relationship we enter into, not a thing we can get or lose. How many other love relationships do we know of that require eating or drinking something in order to obtain and continue? Answer: zero.

John 6:63-65 is the definitive conclusion and explanation of the entire chapter.
 
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Ing Bee

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To eat the flesh is to "live in Christ" - live the life He did - read this in the epistles of John.

Hi timewerx,

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you statements, but that is not what Jesus said he meant by the phrase in John 6. Eating the flesh is simply trusting in the Son the Father sent to defeat death and give eternal life. This is repeated throughout John (1:12, 3:16, @0:30, etc.) Eating the bread/flesh is just another way of saying the same thing. It's personal trust in the Son who came from the Father.

The John 14 passage you quote is a description of what happens through those who are connected by faith to the life of God in the Son through the Spirit. We "live the life He did" once we have been brought into that life through belief; living in Christ is a consequence of being connected to him, not the way we are connected to him.
 
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WebersHome

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John 6:53 . . Jesus said: "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you."

John 6:54 . . .Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,

John 6:50-51a . . This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever.


FAQ: Does any of that apply to Old Testament personages, e.g. Able, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua. Ruth, Gideon, Samson, and David, et al?

A: Yes; all of them.

FAQ: How do you know that?

A: Jesus' crucifixion benefits the whole world rather than only a portion of the world.

John 6:51b . . the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.

1John 2:2 . . He himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.

John 1:29 . . Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!


FAQ: Did they even know about Jesus back then?

A: Abraham knew.

John 8:56 . . Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.

Jacob knew.

Gen 49:18 . .I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord

Isaiah knew.

Isa 52:14 . .There were many who were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness

Isa 53:6 . .We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Others among the prophets knew too.

1Pet 1:10-11 . . Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

David knew.

Ps 16:10 . .You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. (cf. Acts 2:25-36)


FAQ: Well, if there was no such thing as a communion service until Jesus' last supper, then how did those people back there eat his flesh and drink his blood?

A: Hook, line, and sinker; if you get my drift. For example:

Many years ago, when I was a young welder just starting out in the trade, a Baptist man employed by the same company for whom I worked; asked me if I was going to heaven. Of course I replied that I didn't know: I was a Catholic, and Catholics don't know things like that. Then he asked me the question that put my life on a whole new track: Haven't you heard that Christ died for you?

Of course I had heard of Christ's crucifixion in catechism, but not till that moment did I realize it was so personal, and especially; so complete.

Coincidentally, I had only recently been doing some serious thinking about hell. The way I figured it; this kid would never be good enough to merit going to heaven, so hell was pretty much a foregone conclusion for the likes of me. But the very moment that man's question sank into my thick skull; I instantly knew that heaven was in the bag. I had swallowed the story about the offering of Jesus' flesh and blood for my sins hook, line, and sinker.

Some may call me naïve for so easily buying into Jesus' dying for my sins, but I don't feel naïve; no, I feel very fortunate.

Mark 10:15 . . I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.
_
 
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