statements at first sight appear somewhat repulsive, for we read of "eating His flesh" and

"drinking His blood", but when we remember the references to "the bread of life" which

gives life to the world, we are supplied with the key to their meaning: "I am the bread of

life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never

thirst" (John 6: 35). Here "coming" and "believing" are used instead of "eating" and

In verse 63 we find another guide: "The flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I

speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." So when we read: "Except ye eat the

flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you", and "Whoso eateth

My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath aionion life; and I will raise Him up at the last

day" (John 6: 53, 54), we interpret these words as words of spirit and life. And we

realize that "coming" to Christ and "believing" on Him is something more than a passing

phase of interest; it is in some way a partaking, an incorporating, a communion. So the

passage continues: "He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood dwelleth in Me, and

I in Him" (John 5: 56). These words anticipate those of John 17: 23: "I in them, and

Thou in Me, that they may have been perfected into one."

This idea of intimate incorporation is found in John 6: 57: "As the living Father hath

sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." If we

therefore seek instruction and example as to translating this "eating" and "drinking" into

spiritual reality, we must closely follow the attitude of heart that characterized the

Saviour's absolute faith in the Father: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,

and to finish His work" (John 4: 34).

There is an insistence upon life in the sixth chapter of John:--

We have, moreover, seven passages that use the word "living":--