Sunday 18 August 2024
"For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them." (vs 55-56)
Background
In verses 1 to 50 of John 6, which precede this passage, we have an account of Jesus feeding a large crowd of people with a young boy’s five barley loaves and two fish.
Jesus walks on water (John 6:16-21) after withdrawing because the crowds "were about to come and take him by force to make him king". (John 6:15)
John's Gospel then returns to the miracle of the loaves and fishes, and, from verse 22, a dialogue between Jesus and the crowd about its meaning. There is reference (John 6:31-32) to the Old Testament story of God feeding Israel in the wilderness with ‘manna’ – a miraculous bread – from which we get the phrase ‘manna from heaven’ (Exodus 16:1-36). This culminates in Jesus declaring “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), and controversy in the crowd about his saying. (John 6:41-42)
The author of John’s Gospel notes that "the Passover…was near" (John 6:4). The writer also names the miracle as "having eaten the bread after the Lord gave thanks". The word for ‘gave thanks’ in Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, is eucharistein, from which is derived ‘Eucharist’: another name for Holy Communion.
In verses 51-58, Jesus further expands and deepens his claim that he is the bread of life, with some very graphic and even shocking sayings, such as "the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh" (v. 51); "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (v. 53); and "whoever eats me will live because of me" (v. 57).
Commentators differ about whether Jesus’ words in John's Gospel chapter 6 are a direct reference to Holy Communion. John’s Gospel is the only one with no account of the Last Supper. So the reference in verse 4 to the Passover (the Jewish festival – and meal – which becomes the Last Supper in the other three gospels) may add weight to the idea that Jesus is pointing to Holy Communion and its significance. The language of taking the bread, giving thanks, and giving it to people (John 6:11), which echo the Last Supper language elsewhere in the New Testament, may do the same.
To Ponder:
- How do you react to the Jesus using language such as eating his flesh and drinking his blood in this passage? How do you understand this in relationship to his words about ‘life’/’eternal life' and ‘abiding in him’ in the passage?
- Do you think Jesus is talking about Holy Communion here in any way? If so, in what way/s? If not, why not?
Bible notes author: The Revd Dr Carole Irwin
Carole is a presbyter and has served in circuits in Kent and Bradford, and on the staff of Wesley House. She is currently stationed in the Cambridge Circuit and is leading a research project for a Christian community of people with and without intellectual disabilities, of which she is also a member.