One day, Jesus spoke what could be the most important words concerning His legacy upon the earth. These words shook His followers and provoked absolute wrath among the religious leaders of His time. His statement made hell tremble. It would mark the difference between those who had been given to Him truly by the Father, and those who followed Him out of mere curiosity or self-interest. “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:51-54
What Jesus is talking about here is a matter of life and death. It is of such importance that He risks the loss of all His disciples and ignites the wrath of the Pharisees. Jesus is giving us the key to possess our entire inheritance, and for this reason, Satan has fervently tried to rob it from us throughout the ages.
What is Eternal Life? Jesus is the Son of God manifested in the flesh. In Him the unfathomable mystery is fulfilled, as the Creator of the whole universe becomes one with human nature. In Jesus, heaven and earth are united in the same body. He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth.
Ephesians 1:9-10 The coming of Christ marks the fullness of the times and the uniting of all things, those in heaven and those on earth. When Jesus was conceived, the Father’s nature was fused with that of the woman. Blood can only be transmitted through the seed of the man to the egg of the woman. In this case, the Father puts His life in the form of blood into the womb of Mary. The Father used the instrument of His blood to unite human and divine nature. It is through this blood given by the Father that the blood of Jesus was formed. Eternity penetrated time and inhabited a body for the first time at Jesus’ conception. This is ETERNAL LIFE.
This term does not only mean life that does not die, but it has to do with the very nature of God, penetrating our humanity and uniting us with Him. The Son of God became flesh and dwelt among us, and He continues to become flesh through His body, the Church. This great miracle began during the Annunciation: The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35 The two natures of Jesus united. The Holy Spirit operated as the vehicle, whereas the Father contributed His blood and the flesh came from the egg of Mary.
The eternal life that is God Himself first became blood (the soul is in the blood) and then flesh. This illustrates what Jesus was trying to say to His disciples. It is not only necessary to have faith in Me, which brings My Spirit and presence to you, but you must eat my body and drink my blood so you can receive eternal life and become one with My Spirit.
Just as the body needs food, your spirit also must be fed so that I can resurrect it (paraphrased). Jesus is trying to tell us that the spirit of man needs to eat in order to live. He compares it with the supernatural walk of God’s people in the desert: Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33 Please note that in order for the Father to give life, He must present Jesus as a form of food, which is bread.
All life created by God must not only be born, but must be fed. Otherwise, it becomes weak and dies. What is true in the natural is true in the spiritual. Jesus did not speak haphazardly. His words were carefully chosen because they carried within them the Spirit of the Father. He said: For My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. John 6:55
Jesus is about to introduce an extremely powerful concept, and He chooses the everyday terminology of eating and drinking. He is not talking about a ritual or a memorial. He isn’t using religious words of any kind, but talks about something as simple as our daily sustenance.
Our spirit, in order for it to live and stay strong, must eat every day, just like our body. He is establishing a principle that will become a way of life, something that must be done daily. Jesus wanted to make Himself present in our spirit every day. If He were attempting to establish a ritual to be performed once a month or once a year, He would have selected different words.
Eating and drinking are not annual or monthly events, but something that is ESSENTIAL and must be done DAILY. The early Church had no problem understanding this. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. Acts 2:46
Jesus had instilled in His Apostles the importance of participating in His flesh and in His blood to keep eternal life in them. It not only kept the presence of God continually in their spirits, but it would be the basic requirement TO DO THE WORKS OF GOD. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:27-29
Note that the context in which Jesus talks about believing in Him and coming to Him is concerning the difficult words He was about to speak: Eat My flesh and drink My blood. “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” John 6:35 His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink. He who eats and drinks of Him will do the works of God, just like Jesus. The Father who dwelt in Him is the One who did the miracles. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me.” John 6:57 Jesus made it very clear that it was the Father who operated through Him, in order to do the works of God. Later in this same Gospel, we read: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” John 14:10 Like the Father’s supernatural life operated in Him, Jesus wanted His supernatural life to operate in us; this is His inheritance for us. For this, our spirits need to abide in Him, by eating and drinking everything He is. Through this abode, our prayers would always be heard and the miraculous power of God will flow through us. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” John 6:56 Just as eating and drinking are things that we do every day, so is abiding, which means a permanent dwelling place where we live every day. Jesus, speaking later on in His teachings about this abode, said: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:5-7How are we to abide in Him? We abide in Him by eating His flesh, drinking His blood and keeping His commandments. The power of prayer increases in a great way as we remain in His presence. This is the place where all prayers are answered, where all things are done by the Father. When the church understands this awesome principle, it will conquer the world.