Eating the Flesh and Drinking the Blood of Jesus

There is no question that Jesus said some things that did not make sense to His listeners. In fact, some of the things He says does not make sense to 21st century believers and skeptics. John 6 is filled with sayings Christ said that make people scratch their heads. Probably the most famous one is "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" (John 6:53).

Take this out of context, you might think Jesus is telling his followers to embrace cannibalism and their inner vampire. In John 6:22-71, Jesus is telling his listeners that he is the Bread of Life and all who feast on him has life. Many disciples thought Jesus was teaching some hard lessons and most of them deserted him. Many believers today still have a hard time dealing with eating the flesh and drinking the blood. Here is how the ESV Study Bible explains this:

To "eat" Jesus' flesh has the spiritual trusting or believing in him, especially in his death for the sins of mankind...Similarly, to "drink his blood" means to trust in his atoning death, which is represented by the shedding of his blood. Although Jesus is not speaking specifically about the Lord's Supper here, there is a parallel theme, because the receiving of eternal life through being united with "the Son of Man" is represented in the Lord's Supper (where Jesus' followers symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood).

Eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Jesus simply means that Jesus alone can satisfy all our longings because He is the one who gives life to all who believe.