Q45. Eating His Flesh

[Pastor Ralph]

Q45. (John 6:53-58) What does the metaphor of “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,” mean in practical terms? To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? How does “eating his flesh” relate to abiding in Jesus? Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him?

[Robomom3]

Q45. (John 6:53-58)

What does the metaphor of “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,” mean in practical terms?

We are to feast on the Word of God and walk by His Spirit daily.  It is our sustenance for our Spiritual Life.  Without His Spirit (Living Water) and His Word (Daily Bread) our spirits will be malnourished and desecrated.  

To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it?

To nibble the bread of life is to read the daily verse sent to your phone or email and decide that is enough to nourish your soul for the day.  Or to pray before meals and no other time and feel that is enough to keep you abiding with the Father through the day.  Nibbling is lazy and it entails that there isn't much thought put into it.  When I feel hungry but do not feel like making a meal or do not have the time to make a meal, I grab whatever is closest to me and eat enough of it to make my stomach stop rumbling.  What I choose is usually worthless to my body. Meals take time to prepare and usually cover a much broader spectrum of the foods necessary to keep us healthy.  The same is true of God's Word... we cannot take a verse here and there and expect that to sustain our souls.  We must take that same verse and look it up and read the context by which it was written and take in the complete meaning of it for our lives.  We must go to God continually in prayer throughout our days, not just at allotted times where we pretty much repeat the same thing to Him at each setting, as with praying over our food. Abiding in God takes a great amount of time and effort that we must choose to put forth.

How does “eating his flesh” relate to abiding in Jesus?

When we study God's Word, we take Him in, much the same way we take food into our body's.  "You are what you eat" is a saying for a reason.  We can take this same concept and apply it to a Christian's life choices.  We are what we choose to see, hear, feel, taste, experience.  We must choose Jesus.

Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him?

Jesus had a lot of people following Him for what He could do for them.  His miracles and unique teaching style drew many crowds.  Jesus is not looking for disillusioned star struck followers He wants solid like-minded followers who are willing to take in and walk in the hard teachings along with the blessings that come from following Him.  Those that follow Him for the wrong reasons are stumbling blocks to a world that needs Him.  We cannot misinterpret the Words of Jesus.  The Pharisees and Sadducees did this and look where that got them?  We must understand that living a Christian life is not an easy road here on this earth... in fact, it is the hardest road.  If you are following Him because you think your life will suddenly be roses and unicorns, you will quickly be disillusioned with your misinterpretation of the Kingdom of God.  I love Peter's response to Jesus when He asked His disciples if they were going to leave too, "Lord, where shall we go?".  This is how I feel about my walk with God.  Even when it gets tough, I draw closer to Him in my sorrow and fear, my anger and pain, because "Where else can I go?" there is only One Who is the Son of God.  There is only One Who offers Salvation and Eternal Life for my soul... He never promised an easy life... but He has promised us He will never leave us or forsake us... He is right here by my side, weeping with me, rejoicing with me, comforting me and guiding me.  I cannot imagine trying to navigate this life without Him.

[Niyonka16]

Q45. Parable of Eating Jesus’ Flesh (John 6:53-58)

What does the metaphor of “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,” mean in practical terms?

ANSWER: The bread and water represent the flesh and blood of Him who is the Bread of Life and the Living Water, poignantly reminding us of the price He paid to redeem us. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is a striking way of expressing how completely we must bring the Savior into our life, into our very being, that we may be one. This is what we must do to receive atoning grace.

To feed on the Bread of Life is to believe Jesus' Words and trust in Him as the source of our life. To eat Jesus' flesh and blood means to utterly depend upon Him and the truths He teaches for sustenance and life itself. Feeding on Jesus' Words and basking in His presence are the essence of trust, of true belief in Him. In sacrificing His flesh and blood, Jesus atoned for our sins and overcame death, both physical and spiritual.

To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it?

ANSWER: It means that rather than only supplying us with a serving of bread that satisfies for a day, He offers a way to have everlasting life by accepting Him. When we eat Christ as the Bread of Life, we are satisfied. When we eat other things, we remain empty and dissatisfied. Nothing and no one can satisfy our deepest hunger but Christ Himself as the bread of life. When we eat Christ as the Bread of Life, we are filled with life; He as the Living Bread makes us living, and as the True Bread, He makes us genuine, true, and full of reality. We need to masticate the Lord by taking in His Word in a prayerful way and muse on it, pray over it, and let it dwell in us in a rich way.

How does “eating His flesh” relate to abiding in Jesus?

ANSWER: Eating is believing! He did not want us to forget the very core of what we believe. So “eating Jesus” or feeding on Him is inseparable from doing His will and being obedient to Him. Abiding in Him means knowing His love and doing His will in obedience to His commandments. Jesus is the source of eternal life, and belief in Him is the only way humans can satisfy the hunger and thirst for God. Jesus is the bread of heaven sent down to provide eternal life. Christ is the true food that our souls need for us to enjoy eternal life. And there is no way to eat of this food other than by faith in Christ alone for salvation.

Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving Him?

ANSWER: To prevent being misconstrued, Jesus specifies that He has been speaking metaphorically: “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you, they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 6:63). Those who misunderstood Jesus and were offended by His talk about eating His flesh and drinking His blood were stuck in a physical mindset, ignoring the things of the Spirit. They were concerned with getting another physical meal, so Jesus uses the realm of the physical to teach a vital spiritual truth. Those who couldn’t make the jump from the physical to the spiritual turned their backs on Jesus and walked away (verse 66).

The more Jesus insists on being the means to eternal life, the angrier the crowd becomes, until the vast majority simply abandon Him. Most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away from Him in disappointment.They dropped their interest in Jesus and returned to their previous spiritual attitudes. They were not going to follow Jesus according to Jesus. They wanted to follow Jesus according to their ideas about Jesus, but not according to who Jesus is like.

[hanks]

Q45. (John 6:53-58)

What does the metaphor of "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood," mean in practical terms? To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? How does "eating His flesh" relate to abiding in Jesus? Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving Him?

I think Jesus was saying that for salvation we must by faith fully understand the value of His death on the Cross. Fully believing Him, trusting Him, receiving Him, and making Him our very own. Realising that it is by faith that we receive Him (John 1:12). Jesus said that “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). He who eats the bread which came down out of heaven … will live forever, and He is the bread which came down from heaven. He is superior to the manna they received in the wilderness, which was for this life. Christ is the Bread of God which gives eternal life to all who feed on Him. We need to eat this spiritual bread, make a meal of it, not just nibble on it now and then. We understand we need physical food; Jesus wants us to understand we also need spiritual food. There is a very close union between our Lord and His disciples. Whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood abides in Him, and He abides in that person. Nothing could be closer or more intimate than this. In the same way, when we eat literal food, it becomes part of us. When we accept Jesus as our Redeemer, He becomes part of us – He abides in us, and we abide in Him. Perhaps He wanted us to think seriously about their relationship with Him and about eternal life.

[haar]

A45.

To eat the flesh of the Son of Man mean is to believe in Jesus and to obey what he says.
 

[Zanele Tlhakanelo]

In the practical term it means we have communion with Christ and we remind ourselves that He gave His Life for us so that we may have eternal life. We are washed by the blood of Jesus Christ so that we can have direct communication with God.

Nibbling the Bread of Life means we do not have a good relationship with. We may be going to church but our actions do not show that we are in Christ. We do not apply the Word of God in our lives daily. If we say in Him we live, move and have our being, we must always quality time with God, understanding and applying His Word. Making a meal of it means spending quality time with God and understanding that we have been called to preach the Word of God so that those that are still in darkness can see the Light. We are called to be ambassadors of Christ.

Eating His flesh and abiding in Him mean that we acknowledge that Christ died for our sins, though not a sinner, He was cricified so that we may be the righteousness of God. When we abide in Him, we know that He is our Redeemer and appreciate that He will always be with us. His Word says "I will not leave you nor forsake you". We allow Christ to direct our steps.

Christ used this offensive analogy because He wanted to see if His disciples truly understand that He is the Messiah and that He came so that through His death, we may be forgiven our sins and become the new creation. They were offended because He called Himself the Son of God who came on earth to fulfil the mandate of God.

[GeraldG]

Eating His flesh and drinking His blood means to feed on the word of Jesus, to take it in. 

To nibble on the bread of life means not going all the way with, not 100 percent real with Christ, just wanting enough to feel good, but not the rest. But to actually make it a meal means you are going all the way with Christ, through the bad as well as the good. 

Eating His flesh means that you want Christ within you, that you cannot live without Him, for He is your bread of life, you want to abide or remain in Christ. 

Jesus probably used these words to weed out those who were not serious about following Him, just nibblers.

[Krissi]

I'm one of the shallow-thinking people who immediately thought this was a reference to the eucharist -- but now, as Pastor Ralph said, it's clear that no one even knew about the eucharist at that point, so He probably wasn't referring to eating his flesh/blood in this context. It must mean soemthing else. Yes, Jesus used the "shock effect" in his sermons -- I'm thinking of the camel going through the "eye of the needle" -- and cannibalism is certainly shocking/puzzling, but he used other puzzling/shocking parables to tell a truth, so there must be a truth in this parable as well.

Literally, we're told to eat God. Since I can't figure out a way to do this, I don't think the literal meaning is true. If I spiritualize it by making the words into singular metaphors, I come up with some sort non-textual equivalence such as eating=relationship, flesh=crucifixion, eating/nibbling=abiding/less-than-committed faith, etc. 

Bottom line: I have no idea what Jesus intended to convey with this parable.

 

 

[Debra Grant]

Q45. (John 6:53-58) What does the metaphor of “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,” mean in practical terms? To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? How does “eating his flesh” relate to abiding in Jesus? Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him?

1. It means we must have communion with him. When we do we should remember that his body was broken for us on the cross. His blood was shed for us on the cross. All of this was made possible so that we could have eternal life.

2. I think it means to eat the cracker as bread when we take communion and accept it as his life.

3. We eat the word of God which means to eat his flesh and feed on him. Believing in him and eating his word. We should also drink his blood. These things help us to remain in him.

4. Jesus used the offensive metaphor of believing and abiding to sort out the true believers from the ones that were hanging on.

 

[t-c]

Q45. (John 6:53-58) What does the metaphor of "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood," mean in practical terms? To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? How does "eating his flesh" relate to abiding in Jesus? Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him?

It means to trust in, rely upon and cling to Jesus for your salvation, that leads to eternal life. And to Him alone; no Jesus and….                                                         Only Jesus!

Nibbling on it means that I might want certain areas of my life to be private from God. Like I got this part God. I like some of what you’re offering but not sure about the rest. I’m with you and will obey you in the other parts of my life but I’m not going to allow You access into this area. (sin) Not all in, serving two masters.

I just think of it as Christ in us. As children of God and believers in Christ as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit lives in us.

It seems as though Christ was separating the wheat from the chaff. From those that were interested to those who possibly had other motives.

 

[Katy]

Q45.In practical terms to “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood”means to believe in Him, to have a close relationship with Him, to honour Him in every way we possibly can, and to obey Him always.

To nibble bread rather than making a meal of it means one is not serious about their relationship with Christ. Other things are more important and Christ gets whatever time is left, if there is any left.

Eating His flesh and abiding in Him are one and the same thing.

Jesus used this “ offensive “ analogy to seperate the true believers and those who were hangers on. 

[Irmela]

Q45. (John 6:53-58)

What does the metaphor of "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood," mean in practical terms?  Jesus also said that He was the Bread of Life .  Bread is the sustenance of life.  To live spiritually,  we are to feed on this Bread.  So this to me means to feed on His flesh.  To read His Word.  To learn from Him, for that enables us to live.  To become a partaker of His nature. To Drink His blood,  (life is in the blood),  to drink His Life.  To become a part of Him.  

To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? To nibble something gives a picture of taking in small portions of something.  As Robomom3 suggested, taking in a verse of Scripture here and there and being satisfied that that's enough.  

How does "eating His flesh" relate to abiding in Jesus? Abiding in Jesus would be staying in Him.  Being part of Him.  Feasting on Him, is not a one time occurrence, but a continual reading His Word and living accordingly.  

Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving Him?   It sure made those that only wanted the "nibbling of the crumbs" part, to leave and those that were genuine to continue with Him and draw even closer.  Acknowledging as Peter did,  You have the Words of Life.

[Lisa Wolf]

Q45. (John 6:53-58) What does the metaphor of “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,” mean in practical terms? To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? How does “eating his flesh” relate to abiding in Jesus? Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him?

Eating Jesus' flesh and drinking His blood means living so closely in Him that we share in His sufferings and His resurrection and should not be surprised by anything that He calls us to do.  'Making a meal of Him' so to speak, is abiding with Him so closely that He permeates our spirit, soul, mind, body, and we truly belong to Him.  I think Jesus used an offensive analogy because He wanted His followers to stay close and be willing to draw deeply into His Life.  It reminds me of 1Peter 2: 6-8, "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and, A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

 

[Nicolaas A.P. Mostert]

Q45. (John 6:53-58)

What does the metaphor of "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood," mean in practical terms?

JESUS refers here to HIS supper with HIS disciples. The bread is HIS body and wine is HIS blood.

To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it?

Nibbling the Bread of Life is too enjoy yourself with the Bread of Life, chew it piece by piece.

A Meal is once off and it is finished.

How does "eating his flesh" relate to abiding in Jesus?

It is the same by eating JESUS's flesh you commune with HIM and abiding is to form part of HIM, continuous relationship. We remain in him, meditate on him, ponder and hold fast his words, and find our spiritual nourishment in this living relationship.

Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him?

To make a clear statement and draw a comparison between HIM and what will happen around the Supper Table.

[George L]

Q45. (John 6:53-58) What does the metaphor of "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood," mean in practical terms? The teaching speaks of doing as Christ did, walking the Kingdom presence in the world before us. I can only say that when ministering to people right on with the Holy Spirit presence unbeleavable things happen at your hands and before your eyes. And when you finish you are as a limp rag, drunk in the Spirit presence residue. You know you have been used of God to touch a life. That is truely taking a drink of the life power and taking hold of the strong meat we are to grow into. I am often limp and in tears at so much love flowing into the need of another person.

To extend the same metaphor, what do you think might be the difference between nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it? Timidity rather than ‘boldness’. Milk faith, early learning to trust the word. Strong meat, bold demanding authorative actions, declarations with true ‘I know that is exactly as given by God for this situation’ events. Trust in God for the greater work.

How does "eating his flesh" relate to abiding in Jesus? Jesus has a ministry within this age of time. The work it needs finished, completed. The last rescueable soul saved. We are abiding if we take up our place rightly fit in the body of His to finish the work.

Why do you think Jesus uses this offensive analogy that resulted in many disciples leaving him? There is a great difference between invited for a dinner at the neighbors house and every meal at your home table. At the home table you are sharing the whole of family life. As a guest it is as a glimps of the neighbors family life. Those that continued heard a join the family invitation, the rest heard ‘questionable food and drink at the neighbors house party’. A planned, who is hearing to hear and understand or just hearing to get a good story to tell, gosip.

[Sister Evelyn]

Q.45 (John 6:53-58) The metaphor of "eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink his blood, mean in practical team is "communion."

When the Israelites were in the wilderness mana came from heaven and this is what God sent. Bread from heaven is flesh of Jesus.

Bread represents Jesus body and his blood is the symbol of wine, eaten and drinking at communion. The Bread is Jesus flesh in which he gave for the life of the world and the wine is the blood shed as His blood.

When you nibble on something you are just taking little bits here and there your not really consuming anything. The bread of life this is my body take and it and this is my blood take and drink.

When we partake in communion we are acknowledging what Jesus did on the Cross for us.

Jesus was very bold and loving. Many disciples couldn't continue to follow Jesus because his teachings were bold and many people couldn't handle it. They found it to be to strenuous to follow this walk with Him. Like today many people don'rt want to submit to God because they feel the flesh is more easier to live than to be a follower of Jesus.

[Zibuyile]

Q.45. EATING FLESH OF JESUS 

We eat bread to feed our bodies  , Jesus compares to Himself as the bread  that feed s our flesh , and Him being the bread of life when we partake of His flesh we are feeding ourselves with the word of God which Jesus is the wors

And when we drink of His blood  also symbolizes the blood of Jesus that cleanse us from all unrighteousness 

Nibbling the bread  is feeding on word of God through bits and pieces ( reading particular verse not whole chapter 

And making meal of it it spending time on His word reading it ,meditating on it until it saturates our minds such that we live by it 

eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking of His blood requires total surrender to Jesus and His teaching , giving your life completely to Him  which is nit an easy thing to many as it requires to die to what individual  wants and you to Gosd with your whole being

 

[Old Jerry]

I think the metaphor means that we should be studying the attributes of Jesus and try to emulate him. We should get to know him the best that we can. When we are doing that, we are eating his flesh and drinking his blood. I think that nibbling the Bread of Life rather than actually making a meal of it means we aren’t taking Jesus seriously and only going to Him when we are in trouble. I think that Jesus used this offensive analogy because he wanted his true followers to stick with him. All the passer byes left.