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Jesus said many things that were hard to interpret, hard to accept, or both. Some of the most difficult are found in John 6. For example, He says to the disputing Jews in the synagogues:
“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 you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” (vv. 53–55)
John 6 is about feeding the hungry. Jesus takes a boy’s lunch, blesses it, and feeds five thousand families, so perhaps fifteen to twenty thousand people in all. The amazed people want to make Him king on the spot. But Jesus, knowing that they are just looking for more bread, makes a statement that is key to the entire chapter: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life” (v. 27). Later the crowd asks for a sign, reminding Him that Moses gave Israel bread in the wilderness. Jesus responds, “I am the bread of life” (v. 35).
John 6 provides several lessons about spiritual hunger. First, since we are made in God’s image, spiritual hunger is universal. People will go to great lengths to satisfy this inner longing. Second, only Jesus can satisfy this spiritual hunger. Jesus is the Bread of Life that has come down from heaven. Third, this spiritual hunger is satisfied by believing. When the people ask what works God requires, Jesus responds, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (v. 29). Later, Jesus says, “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (v. 35).
In this discourse Jesus is saying: “I am the only bread that will satisfy. The bread I gave you to eat was a sign to point you to the true bread of heaven.” The crowds of John 6 were satisfied with too little. They wanted bread to satisfy temporal hunger. We can do that too. We hunger for the bread of a good marriage, a nice family, a good job, or satisfying relationships.
When the crowd learned that He had come not to bring temporal bread but to offer His life for the world, they walked away. They were looking for the wrong bread.
Jesus did not come just to bring the bread that perishes. He gives us true bread: “This is My body, which is broken for you; this is My blood, which is shed for you.” He came to bring grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God. He reveals that we may feed on Him and be satisfied.
Eating His flesh and drinking His blood is a metaphor for casting oneself fully on Christ. It describes feeding on Jesus Christ in our hearts by faith. It is embracing Christ as all that we ultimately want or need.
Whoever feeds on Him will never be hungry, and whoever drinks His blood will never thirst.