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 

 

On Saturday we read that the rulers in the synagogue and their allies complained about Jesus, 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.  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.  As Jesus begins the theme of the living bread (in Saturday's reading; see above), so He develops here the understanding of the Eucharist; my study Bible calls it the revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  It adds that St. John's Gospel does not report the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution" found in Luke 22:19-20).  Instead, here is revealed the significance and truth of these events (which were already known to the first hearers of this Gospel) by reporting Christ's own words.  Moreover, Jesus now clearly ties in the Crucifixion to the Eucharist.  My study Bible notes 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, and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  For the Orthodox and others, in Communion we eat His flesh and drink His blood, as Christ says here, and this grants the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and us in Him (verse 56).  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."

 

 Jesus says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  Here He speaks about a depth of communion that cannot be minimized.  It is closer than two people can be, except when Jesus speaks of the communion between His Bride, the Church, and the Bridegroom, Himself.  For that wedding metaphor, we have Jesus' very words regarding marriage, referencing Genesis 2:24:  "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (see Matthew 19:5; Genesis 2:24).  St. Paul affirms this explicitly in his Epistle to the Ephesians:  "For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church" (Ephesians 5:30-32).  There is really no mistaking this language; that "the two shall become one flesh" is also a description of the communion between Christ and His Bride, the Church.  So it is affirmed here by Jesus in speaking of partaking of His flesh and blood, in saying that "he who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  We should not forget this primary and basic understanding of what the Church is and what it is for, and what the Eucharist is for:  the gift is to ally us fully and mystically within Christ, and He within us.  In this way, we are given eternal life.  In Jesus' words, "He who eats this bread will live forever."  It is with this communion Christ describes, this union, akin to a marriage, that this happens.  In this description of Holy Communion, Jesus makes it clear that therein lies salvation, and this -- as explicitly stated here -- was how the early Church understood it and passed it on to us.  This notion of union with Christ is something that begins with Baptism, and we are meant to grow through our lives into all the ways that may build and extend itself in us and into community.  Christ states it very succinctly, we are meant to abide in Him and He in us.  In St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus tells the Pharisees that "the kingdom of God is within you" (which may also be understood as "among you," in our imdst).  This is indeed the model for salvation, the way we are meant to be with Him.  For the Orthodox, this is understood as participation in Christ's grace, in what are called the "energies" of God.  Let us remember that the key to what Jesus describes is participation; this cooperation with grace is described as a process of synergy, in which He shares Himself in us, and we are meant to abide in Him.   This is a mystical reality, a gift given to us and made possible only through Christ.