JOHN 6, THE FLESH AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

By Nana Yaw Aidoo

A lot of things had happened in a short while, in the life of Christ, during the great Galilean ministry. The "limited commission", which He embarked on with the apostles, had brought Him to Herod Antipas' attention (Mark 6:16). Not only that, but His cousin John the baptizer, had been beheaded also (Mark 6:27). As a result of these things, when the apostles returned to give a report of their work (Mark 6:30), Jesus Christ, together with them, withdrew from Herod's territory, and crossed over the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 6:1) to a deserted place near Bethsaida (Luke 9:10). Upon arriving, a great crowd that had noticed his departure, followed Him to the place (Mark 6:33), evidently to seek healing (John 6:2). And as was customary of our Lord, "He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing" (Luke 9:11).

As evening approached, Jesus Christ who had rejected the advice of the apostles to send the crowd away (Luke 9:12), implored them to survey the crowd for anything eatable. This they did and returned with "five barley loaves and two small fish" (John 6:9), leading to Jesus working a miracle, that fed atleast five thousand people (John 6:10). This miracle had such an impact that the Jews wanted to take Him by force and crown Him King of the kingdom, which they had wrongly perceived was a physical one (John 6:14, 15). This led to Jesus first of all, sending the apostles away toward Capernaum and then the multitude away to their various homes (Mark 6:45). Jesus would then follow His apostles later, even walking on the Sea of Galilee at a point (John 6:16-21).

Apparently, some of the great multitude that Christ sent away did not go away, but followed Him to Capernaum no doubt because of the free food they had received the previous day. "And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, Rabbi, when did You come here?" (John 6:25). Jesus Christ, perceiving their motives, answered them thusly; "...Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:27). He was right! He always is. When Christ asked them to labor or work so they could have nonperishable food, they replied; "...what shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" (John 6:28). Even when they asked for a sign, they wanted food as that sign (John 6:30-31). These circumstances led to Jesus' hard discourse (John 6:60) on the "Bread of Life", in John 6.

Friends, this background has been given so we know what was actually happening. They had sought Christ for free food, which indicated a lack of faith in Him. And Jesus, wanting them to examine their motives for following Him, gave the discourse that we read about in John 6, so everyone present would ask; ""What attracts me to this Man? Why do I follow Him? Who do I really think He is?"" (Roper. "The Life of Christ 1". pp.471). It was in the process of discoursing, that our Lord made the statements found in John 6:53-56. Some suggest that Christ was talking about the Lord's supper in these texts and "it is natural that those of us familiar with the symbolism of the Supper should be reminded of it by Christ's terminology in verses 53 through 56" (ibid. pp.476). However, the context does not warrant such a conclusion.

The people wanted free food and when they heard that they could get nonperishable food, they replied; "...Lord, give us this bread always" (John 6:34). This is similar to the Samaritan woman at the well, who when she heard she could receive nonperishable water, replied; "...Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst nor come here to draw" (John 4:15). Of this similarity, Roper noted that, "Many parallels exist between Jesus' discussion with the woman in John 4 and His sermon in John 6. Christ used the figure of water in John 4 because water was on the woman's mind, and He used the figure of bread in John 6 because the crowd's concern was food. The main point is the same. However, the John 4 discussion resulted in acceptance, while the John 6 discourse ended in rejection" (ibid. pp.472).

Jesus Christ all along in this discourse, had been telling the audience, how to eat His flesh and drink His blood. First of all, notice the use of the word "believe(s)" in verses 29, 35, 36, 40 and 47. Now, let us compare verses 47 and 54. In John 6:47 Christ said; "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life" and in John 6:54, He again said; "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day". Notice if you would that according to verse 47, believing in Christ leads to eternal life and in verse 54, eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ also leads to eternal life. If so, then it follows that "believing in Christ" equals "eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ". Jesus used both statements interchangeably, to refer to the exact same thing. Brother Roper so forcefully noted; "Unless there are two ways to life (and there is only one; Jn.14:6), "eating His flesh and drinking His blood" equals "believing in Him" (ibid. pp.475). "Jesus was talking about accepting Him as Messiah "in the flesh"" (ibid. pp.474).

Friends, this is not a much ado over nothing. Catholics use this text to teach their heretical transubstantiation doctrine and brethren ought to take heed lest they inadvertently enter into such realms. The Lord's supper does not become the literal body and blood of Christ but the "bread and cup" simply represent or memorialize the body and blood of Christ (1 Cor.11:23-26). The context clearly proves that the Lord's supper was not the "bone of contention" in John 6 and thus we implore our brethren everywhere who lead at the Lord's table, to speak as the oracles of God (1 Pet.4:11) in this regard.