He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him

 

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  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.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  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 feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

 

- John 6:52-59 

 

We are currently reading chapter 6 of John's Gospel.  The season is Passover, and it is the second year of Christ's earthly ministry given in John's Gospel.  In this chapter, the theme of Christ as the bread of life is expanded; recently Jesus has fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, after which they sought to force Him to be king.  This began a series of dialogue and disputes in which Jesus has been speaking of Himself as the bread of heaven.  Yesterday we read that the Jews then complained about Him, because He said "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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." 

 

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  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.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  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 feeds on Me will live because of Me."  My study Bible comments here that Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  It says that we receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, it says, we truly eat His flesh and drink His blood, and this grants the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and us in Him, as Jesus says here.  St. Hilary of Poitiers is quoted:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."

 

"This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  On the whole of today's passage, my study Bible comments that its eucharistic significance is indisputable.  Christ's declaration that He is Himself the living bread that gives life is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.   It notes also that John never reports the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution" recorded in Luke 22:19-20).  But here, instead, he reveals the significance and truth of these events -- events which were already known to his hearers -- by reporting Christ's own words.  

Jesus says, "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.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  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 feeds on Me will live because of Me."   As we will see, Jesus will face considerable rejection for these words (in our following reading).  Just as at that time for Jesus, perhaps Christ's words here fall on ears in our day and age that are equally as unaccepting as then.  Eat His flesh?  Drink His blood?  What kind of words are these?  Are we cannibals?  What kind of language is this for us to take in?  There are those who think these words and teachings are meant only as metaphors.  Or perhaps they are merely symbolic.  But the truth is that the mind of the Church has not accepted them in these ways, then and even now (with perhaps some dissenting in more modern times).  This is because in the mind of the New Testament Church, and right from the beginning, there was understood a mystical reality that underscored all that transpired in our faith, that these words are not meant in a simple literal sense, but in a different kind of "real" sense.  For that matter, right from the beginning, the kingdom of heaven, Christ's kingdom, was not understood as a literal earthly kingdom, but as a nevertheless "real" mystical Kingdom that is present to us.  As Jesus says, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (see Luke 17:20-21).  We should keep in mind that in the Greek, the "you" is clearly plural; this may be understood both as literally within you, but also as "among you."  It is best, in the Gospels, to take both meanings at the same time.  But this reality of the Kingdom that is within us is one that is not literally true in an earthly sense nor is it merely symbolic or metaphorical.  This is a Kingdom which is mystically present, in which we mystically participate through our faith, faithfulness, worship practices, prayer, and through following His commandments.  For we must understand that we, also, have parts of ourselves that are mystical in nature, and in living a eucharistic faith we are united body, soul, and spirit in participating in His Church and its sacraments.  It is also necessary perhaps to understand sacrifice in the ancient sense, as a communion meal -- with Christ Himself become the Passover once and for all, mystically and without limit always prepared and distributed to us for this depth of participation in His life, death, and Resurrection and in the life of the Church.  We are united to Him via this endlessly giving and unlimited sacrifice through which we abide in Him and He in us.  Jesus teaches about a mystical participation when He says, "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."  Just as we are mystically the Body of Christ in the Church, so without this understanding and perception of the mystical we will fail to understand His words and teachings and how He may live in us and we in Him.  For that takes another kind of perception, one not simply of our material senses nor simply of our intellect, but rather one which encompasses all of these and surpasses them as well.   Let us be attentive to His teachings and God's work in us.