Section 10
that both phrases mean the same. However, the proper way to study the Word is to investigate both phrases and determine the reason for the difference between them. The bread of life refers to the nature of the bread, which is life; the liv ing bread refers to the condition of the bread, which is living. He is the living bread. Although He was crucified and slain, He is still living. He alone is the living One in resurrection. Verse 56 implies the matter of resurrection. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him." This indicates that the Lord had to be resurrected that He might abide in us as our life and life supply. The Lord could not have abode in us before His resurrection. He could only abide in us after His resurrection. Thus, verse 56 indicates that He was going to be resurrected and become the indwelling Spirit.
In verse 57 the Lord says, "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me shall also live because of Me." Eating is to take food into us to be assimilated into our body organically. Hence, to eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us to be assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life. Then we live by Him whom we receive. It is by this that He lives in us as the resurrected One (John 14:19-20).