VII

In the discourse at Capernaum, after the feeding of the five thousand recorded in the Fourth Gospel, in close connection with the miraculous meal previously described, instruction on “the meat which abideth unto eternal life” is summed up. Our Lord identifies Himself with “the bread of life,” of which the manna in the wilderness was only a sign. In Him is to be found the gift of eternal life. “This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea, and the bread which I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world.” To the puzzled question of the Jews, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” the reply is given, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, ye have not life in yourselves. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father; so he that eateth Me, he also shall live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven: not as the fathers did eat, and died: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.” Knowing of the perplexity and murmuring of many of His disciples, our Lord went on to say, “Doth this cause you to stumble? What then if ye should behold the Son of Man ascending where He was before? The Spirit is the life-giver; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.” Three comments may be made here on the teaching contained in this discourse. (1) A possible means of communion with Christ, and a necessary means of possessing Christian life, is described as eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood; and it is hinted that this is made possible by the operation of the Holy Ghost. (2) It is unnatural to separate the language of the discourse from the only other occasion on which our Lord used similar language, namely, the institution of the Eucharist. (3) The gift of our Lord’s flesh and blood is viewed in relation to His death in the words “the bread which I will give is My flesh, for the life of the world,” and in relation to His resurrection when He spoke of Himself as “the bread of life” and “the living bread”.