Faith Is The Way To Life
FAITH IS THE WAY TO LIFE
JOHN 6:47-59
We share in Christ and receive his life—we eat the bread—when we put our trust in him.
Jesus repeats some of what he has said before in a slightly different way in order to reinforce his message (6:47-51). Faith is the way to life, to be enjoyed in the present (cf. 3:15). He alone in his person can give true spiritual sustenance of a permanent kind which enables men to avoid death and brings them into a new spiritual realm. But the bread must be given—in death—for the life of the world. And the bread is his flesh. It is by his incarnation and Passion that the world can be sustained.
There is inevitably misunderstanding not only of his person but also of his offer. It is taken as a literal promise of his giving his flesh for them to eat, which sounds very much like cannibalism. In reply Jesus makes no attempt to soften the language which he has used. Rather he strengthens it. He speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood as being essential for life and for resurrection. He describes it as the true food and drink. He asserts that it is the means of union with him and mutual indwelling. He claims that those who “eat” him will have his life in them as he has the Father’s life in himself. He reminds them once more of the temporary effects of the feeding with the manna, and contrasts the heavenly origin and eternal effects of this bread.
The language is supposed to be strong and startling. The metaphors, eating and drinking, clearly point to that act by which one “comes” and “believes” in Christ (6:35), and through which he is made one with him. His flesh and blood alone provide our spiritual sustenance. This is clearly demonstrated in the Lord’s Supper, but the sacrament is not the source of this experience nor is it the only place where this spiritual truth is realized. The believer knows it as a permanent reality, and enjoys a closeness of identification with Christ, parallel to his relationship with his Father, drawing upon his unlimited resources in a relationship of absolute love, dependence and obedience.
Notes 6:52: “How can …?” This question is not answered directly (cf. 3:5,9). 6:54: “eats”– the word is a harsh one almost meaning “munches.” 6:59: perhaps the synagogue lesson was the story of the manna.