JOHN 6:59-64
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. 60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" 61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 "What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 "But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
The things that Jesus taught them had to do with His flesh and His blood and how apart from partaking of these “[they] have no life in [them]” (vs. 53b). It was a hard saying indeed – difficult to understand.
Why would such a Jew as Y’shua Who was always obedient to the Law of Moses make such a statement when cannibalism and drinking blood were forbidden??
LEV 26:29; DEUT 28:53-57; JER 19:9; LAM 2:20; 4:10; EZEK 5:10 – in regards to cannibalism, this isn’t explicitly referred to as sin; but the result of sinning, they were faced with famine; something that they would have never encountered has they remained faithful to the LORD. The drinking of blood however is explicitly forbidden: GEN 9:3-4; LEV 17:10-11, 14; ACTS 15:29.
The LORD here addresses their thoughts, knowing that as observant Jews this would offend them. He then directs their attention to His origin: He is the LORD of heaven where He would ascend to, where He came from to begin with (vs. 62), and if any would partake of that Heavenly Life as its citizens, they would have to do so through Jesus Christ and His Spirit of Life (vs. 63).
He then comes to the heart of the matter: He was speaking of His flesh and blood metaphorically; we know this because He plainly states: “It is the Spirit Who gives life…the words I that I speak to you are spirit and they are life” (vs. 63).
The LORD goes on to say that “the flesh profits nothing”. Eating the physical body of Christ would not avail any spiritual benefits. I believe this also includes the Eucharistic dogma of the Roman Catholic and Episcopalian churches of transubstantiation. That teaching tells us that the wafer of bread and the cup of wine, while outwardly unchanged, inwardly become the very flesh and the very blood of Christ and that only by consuming them, have an installment of grace necessary – but not sufficient for salvation.
Yet Jesus states that partaking of Him brings life, and by this we must conclude He’s referring to more than mere life, for everyone has this already. He must rather be referring to eternal life. Scripture is replete on how eternal life in Christ is obtained:
JOHN 3:14-17
14 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 "that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
JOHN 10:28
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
JOHN 17:2-3
as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
ROMANS 5:21
so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
ROMANS 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
TITUS 3:7
that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
And then there is this:
1 JOHN 5:13
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
It’s reassuring that we can know (not hope, not guess, not wish for) that we have eternal life! So, what spiritual application can we use in this idea of “consuming Jesus”?
Well, it’s rather simple really…
Just as we consume physical food that imparts physical life, taking it into our bodies, the nutrients are assimilated into us, producing everything we need to grow, to gain strength, vitality, repairing and or replacing cells, etc.
Likewise, just as we receive dinner, we receive Christ (JN 1:12-13): we take Him in so that He then dwells in hearts (JN 14:20; GAL 2:20; EPH 3:17; COL 1:27; 1 JN 3:24; akin to food dwelling in our bellies!).
Just as the shekinah glory of GOD rested in the Holy of Holies in a visible sense of the Old Testament Temple on the Day of Yom Kippur (and the Tabernacle that preceded it), we are indwelt by the very Spirit of GOD, permanently sealed (2 COR 1:22; EPH 1:13; 4:30) as the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 COR 6:19).
There are many, too many (!!) who will “accept Christ” at some invitation and led in a prayer that the pastor or evangelist says will save them. But there is no call for repentance, no forewarning of counting the cost as a disciple of Christ, no mention that if the sinner receives Christ, then they are purchased by the blood of the LAMB and they are no longer their own (1 COR 6:20).
Upon raising their hand, or walking the proverbial saw dust trail and accepting Christ, they believe that they are saved – and if genuine, they are – but not because of a recited prayer (as if that were some sort of magic spell that when spoken would render the desired result: avoiding hell, and promised heaven) – but because they have believed by faith from the heart!
ROMANS 10:9-10
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
ROMANS 6:17-18
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Such a belief from the heart, and indeed, confession with the mouth also will result in a changed life so that one is no longer in bondage to sin, but liberated and free to live godly through Christ Jesus (1 TIM 4:8; 6:3; TITUS 1:1; 2 PET 1:3)! I believe “the sinner’s prayer” is biblical in it’s content, but not able in and of itself to provide salvation.
If my house is on fire, I pick up my phone and contact the Fire Dept. and they come and save me (and hopefully the property). The phone didn’t save me; it was merely the means by which I reached out and contacted those who can – and did save me!
So is the sinner’s prayer – merely the means for the humble and contrite souls to be heard of GOD (PSALM 9:12; 10:17; 141:1-2) and this brings our Savior to us to redeem us from GOD’s Holy Judgment and everlasting destruction!
My own sinner’s prayer in the privacy of my own bedroom a few decades ago was simply “Take me LORD, I’m Yours! I want You!”
It didn’t have all of the theological T’s crossed and all the doctrinal i’s dotted, but it was absolutely genuine and resulted in observable “fruit to holiness”.
I’ve been a partaker of Christ Jesus my precious LORD and Savor ever since!
ROMANS 6:22
But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
Next time, we’ll look at JOHN 6:65-66, “Walked With Him No More”.
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