INTRO TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, Sarah Barry
EAT HIS FLESH AND DRINK HIS BLOOD
Passage: John 6:41~59  
Key verse: 57
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph,(A) whose father and mother we know?(B) How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”(C)
43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them,(D) and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[a](E) Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;(F) only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.(G) 48 I am the bread of life.(H) 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.(I) 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven,(J) which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread(K) that came down from heaven.(L) Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”(M)
52 Then the Jews(N) began to argue sharply among themselves,(O) “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh(P) of the Son of Man(Q) and drink his blood,(R) you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.(S) 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.(T) 57 Just as the living Father sent me(U) and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”(V) 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Footnotes
- John 6:45 Isaiah 54:13
Cross references
- John 6:42 : Lk 4:22
- John 6:42 : Jn 7:27, 28
- John 6:42 : ver 38, 62
- John 6:44 : ver 65; Jer 31:3; Jn 12:32
- John 6:45 : Isa 54:13; Jer 31:33, 34; 1Co 2:13; 1Th 4:9; Heb 8:10, 11; 10:16; 1Jn 2:27
- John 6:46 : S Jn 1:18; 5:37; 7:29
- John 6:47 : S Mt 25:46
- John 6:48 : ver 35, 51
- John 6:49 : ver 31, 58
- John 6:50 : ver 33
- John 6:51 : ver 35, 48
- John 6:51 : ver 41, 58
- John 6:51 : Heb 10:10
- John 6:52 : S Jn 1:19
- John 6:52 : Jn 7:43; 9:16; 10:19
- John 6:53 : Mt 26:26
- John 6:53 : S Mt 8:20
- John 6:53 : Mt 26:28
- John 6:54 : ver 39
- John 6:56 : Jn 15:4-7; 1Jn 2:24; 3:24; 4:15
- John 6:57 : S Jn 3:17
- John 6:58 : ver 49-51; Jn 3:36; 5:24
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. Taught by God (41-51)
Neither manna in the desert nor three meals a day can keep people from dying. But whoever listens to the Father, learns from him, and comes to Jesus will live and not die. God teaches us through his word and draws us to himself by his Spirit. If one allows worldly desires to fill his heart, and hangs on to his old sinful ways of thinking and doing, he cannot be taught by God.
2. Eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood (52-59)
Jesus' body was broken and his blood shed on the cross for the sins of the world. To drink his blood means to repent of sin and accept cleansing by Jesus' blood; to eat his flesh means to receive him by faith as Lord and Savior, and be united with him in his death and in his resurrection. Eating once is not enough; I must continue to feed on him every day to remain in him.
Prayer: Lord, I come as I am; cleanse me by your blood, and bind me to yourself.
One Word: Feed on Jesus daily