We have seen how outraged were the Jews at hearing the Lord assert that a condition of obtaining eternal life was to eat his flesh and drink his blood (John 6:53-56 RV, as all quotes unless noted). Yet the Lord recognizes here, as he invariably does, that he has no independent authority. All derives from his Father: “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me” (v. 57).
“The living Father.” How eloquent is this simple statement, and yet how profoundly true. Here there is an implied contrast between the “dumb idols” of which there were many in the Graeco-Roman world and the living God (see I Cor. 8:5-6). The God of the Bible is “the fountain of life” (cp. Psa. 36:9), and Jesus had become a source of life because his Father had given this authority to him. So it was, and is, that he who eateth the Son derives life from him: “For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son to have life in himself” (John 5:26).
Christ superior to manna
The section of John 6 under consideration concludes by the Lord reverting to the figure of bread: “This is the bread which came down out of heaven (eks ouranou): not as the fathers did eat, and died: he that eateth this bread shall live forever” (v. 58). Hence the section concludes as it began, with the declaration of the Lord’s superiority over the manna in the wilderness.
We have already learned from verse 24 that the Lord is in Capernaum. Now we are informed he is “in synagogue” in Capernaum (v. 59). Why this break in the record and this detail? It may be the Lord is giving his audience time to assimilate his words. Perhaps, too, the volume of noise, caused by dissent, makes the Lord pause. John, who has been listening intently now, at this juncture, mentions they are in the synagogue at Capernaum. We are thus reminded of the earthly setting of the words of eternal life.
So probably when the noise has subsided, the Lord continues, putting his followers to a further test. “You have been offended by the claims I have already made, what then if you should see me ascend where I was before?” (v. 62; cp. 3:31). We note that in the same verse the Lord refers to himself as “the Son of man,” asserting once more his essential humanity.
A key pronouncement
He then makes a pronouncement which is the key to the understanding of his teaching: “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life” (v. 63). Earlier, we have been reminded that God is “spirit” (see 4:24). Here the spirit, speaking through Jesus, provides the words which bring life. The whole purpose of the Lord Jesus, here as elsewhere, is to provide the teaching which leads to eternal life. As Peter so wonderfully recognized, despite all the difficulty he had in probing the meaning of what the Lord said, Jesus spoke the words of eternal life (v. 68). Of those who embrace the Lord’s teaching, and strive to make it their way of life, it can be said, they “were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13).
Clearly the Lord’s pronouncement in verse 63, making the distinction between spirit and flesh, contains a paradox: here is a teacher who has declared unless one eats his flesh and drinks his blood, there is no hope of life. Now he declares the flesh profits nothing. How do we resolve this paradox?
We first note that “flesh” denotes our human nature and what characterizes it. Thus we read: “My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for that he also is flesh…” (Gen. 6:3). Yet flesh is a permanent feature of our person. Flesh and blood may not be able to inherit immortality (see Paul’s words in I Con 15:50), yet after the Lord rose from the dead and desired to demonstrate the reality of his resurrection, he said to the apostles: “See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having” (Luke 24:39). We perceive from this the flesh of the Lord had survived the experience of death and was thus a permanent feature of his and our make-up as humans, whether mortal or immortal. In the great prophecy which spoke of the Lord’s resurrection, the psalm foretold: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall dwell in safety” (Psa. 16:9, see also v. 10). The passage thus contains a remarkable anticipation of the nature of the Lord’s resurrection.
Access to eternal life
But if the Lord’s flesh was physically identical with ours, there was a fundamental difference between Jesus and ourselves. It was this distinction which enabled him to say that in eating his flesh and drinking his blood men have access to eternal life: “The word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In his unique case, we have a mature, mortal person who was not defiled by actual transgression. From Hebrews 10:5 we learn: “Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body didst thou prepare for me…Then hath he said, Lo, I come to do thy will…By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (see vv. 5, 8, 10). The passage goes to the very heart of the atonement. The word “will” reminds us of Gethsemane, with its anguish, and the words: “0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass away from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). It was thus, in total obedience to the Father’s will (see Phil. 2:8) that the Lord became a sacrifice for sins.
It is apparent the words in the synagogue, indicating the need to eat the flesh and drink the blood of our Lord, looked forward to the institution of the breaking of bread. That this is the memorial of the Lord’s human sacrifice should not escape us: we partake in symbol of his flesh and blood. The risen Lord was flesh and bones. There is no mention of blood, for the blood was shed indicating the surrender of life. In the Lord’s case, as in ours, the life was in the blood. However, because of the associations of his death, his blood was “precious,” as Peter so movingly testified (see I Peter 1:19).
This same passage in speaking “as of a lamb without spot” establishes a link with the Passover, and this needs to be explored for the light it throws on some of the more difficult words in John 6. We remind ourselves: John alone of the four evangelists records it was Passover time (John 6:4).
A lamb without blemish
The first Passover was associated with the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. They were instructed to choose a lamb without blemish (Ex. 12:50). We note they were told to “eat the flesh” (Ex. 12:8), words which anticipate John 6:53: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man…” However, in the Exodus account there is no mention of drinking the blood of the lamb. It was used for another purpose, being sprinkled upon the two side posts and lintel of each dwelling, thereby ensuring that the angel of death would pass over that household. Spared thus by God’s mercy, the deliverance of the Israelites from death was temporary, for they died in the wilderness. The first Passover lamb was not intended to give eternal life: this life was in the blood and this the Israelites were strictly forbidden to drink. Thus the Passover deliverance was but a foreshadowing of the greater Passover associated with the death of the Lord. In that sacrifice, we can drink the blood of the Lord Jesus and have access to the eternal life associated with it. Once more we turn to Hebrews 10 and note the mention of the Lord’s blood (v. 19) and his flesh (in v. 20).
All this provides a background to the words of Jesus in John 6. The very life of our Lord must become a part of us, otherwise we shall perish. No one understood the truths enunciated in the synagogue at Capernaum more completely than Paul. He himself links our Lord’s sacrifice with what happened in Egypt when he declares: “For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed” (I Cor. 5:7 NRSV). If anyone was sustained by the Lord it was Paul, for whom to live was Christ (see Phil. 1:21).
Our hope is to see in our next study what light is shed upon the concept of the bread from heaven by looking at the Gospel records and the earliest preaching of the Gospel.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One