John 6:54

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. WHOSE (OR 'HE THAT') EATETH MY FLESH, AND DRINKETH MY BLOOD, HATH ETERNAL LIFE. This is just the positive expression of what in the former verse He had expressed negatively. There it was 'Unless ye so partake of Me, ye have not life;' here it is, 'Whosoever does so hath life everlasting.' AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY. For the fourth time this is repeated (see John 6:39; ) - showing most clearly that the "eternal life" which such a man "hath" cannot be the same with the future resurrection-life, from which it is carefully distinguished each time, but a life communicated here below immediately on believing ...

54._He who eateth my flesh. _This is a repetition, but is not superfluous; for it confirms what was difficult to be believed, That souls feed on _his flesh and blood_, in precisely the same manner that the body is sustained by _eating and drinking _Accordingly, as he lately testified that nothing but death remains for all who seek life anywhere else than in _his flesh_, so now he excites all believers (162) to cherish good hope, while he promises to them _life _in the same_flesh. _ _And I will raise him up at the last day. _It ought to be observed, that Christ so frequently connects _the resurrection _with eternal life, because our salvation will be hidden till that day. No man, therefore, can perceive what Christ bestows on us, unless, rising above the world, he places before his eyes the last _resurrection _From these words, it plainly appears that the whole of

52-59 The flesh and blood of the Son of man, denote the Redeemer in the nature of man; Christ and him crucified, and the redemption wrought out by him, with all the precious benefits of redemption; pardon of sin, acceptance with God, the way to the throne of grace, the promises of the covenant, and eternal life. These are called the flesh and blood of Christ, because they are purchased by the breaking his body, and the shedding of his blood. Also, because they are meat and drink to our souls. Eating this flesh and drinking this blood mean believing in Christ. We partake of Christ and his benefits by faith. The soul that rightly knows its state and wants, finds whatever can calm the conscience, and promote true holiness, in the redeemer, God manifest in the flesh. Meditating upon the cross of Christ gives life to our repentance, love, and gratitude. We live by him, as our bodies live by...

Verse 54. _HATH ETERNAL LIFE_] This can never be understood of the sacrament of the Lord's supper. 1. Because this was not instituted till a year after; at the last Passover. 2. It cannot be said that those who do not receive that sacrament must perish everlastingly. 3. Nor can it be supposed that all those who do receive it are necessarily and eternally saved. On the contrary, St. Paul intimates that many who received it at Corinth perished, because they received it unworthily, not discerning the Lord's body: not distinguishing between it and a common meal; and not properly considering that sacrifice for sin, of which the sacrament of the Lord's super was a type: see 1 Corinthians 11:30....

In these verses Jesus repeats what he had in substance said before. EXCEPT YE EAT THE FLESH ... - He did not mean that this should be understood literally, for it was never done, and it is absurd to suppose that it was intended to be so understood. Nothing can possibly be more absurd than to suppose that when he instituted the Supper, and gave the bread and wine to his disciples, they literally ate his flesh and drank his blood. Who can believe this? There he stood, a living man - his body yet alive, his blood flowing in his veins; and how can it be believed that this body was eaten and this blood drunk? Yet this absurdity must be held by those who hold that the bread and wine at the communion are “changed into the body, blood, and divinity of our Lord.” So it is taught in the decrees of the Council of Trent; and to such absurdities are men driven when they depart from the simple meaning...

EXPOSITION JOHN 6:1 2. _Christ declares himself to be the Sustainer and Protector of the life of which he is the Source_. JOHN 6:1 (1) _The supply of human wants illustrated by a well known _"_sign_" _of power_. Chronological difficulties beset our treatment of this miraculous narrative with its varied consequences and results. Many curious and even violent measures have been resorted to with a view to solve them. Some have supposed that John 5:1. and 6. have been inverted in order, and that thus the presence of our Lord in Galilee, mentioned in...

WHOSO EATETH MY FLESH, AND DRINKETH MY BLOOD,.... Spiritually by faith, as explained in the preceding verse: HATH ETERNAL LIFE; the principle of spiritual life, which is evidently implanted in him, as appears from his eating and drinking; and is a durable and lasting principle: grace is an incorruptible seed; every part of it is abiding and permanent; and it is itself the beginning, pledge, and earnest of everlasting life, and is inseparably connected with it: moreover, such have eternal life itself, not only in Christ their head, but in themselves: they have a right unto it, and a meetness for it: and may be assured of it, as if they were personally possessed of it, from their election to it; the security of it in Christ; from the grace they have received, which is the beginning of glory; and the earnest of it in themselves: AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY; to enjoy it in soul...

John 6:22. _The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that the disciples were gone away alone: (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:) When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither the disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus._ Everything looked very favorable, did it not? These people put themselves to considerable trouble in order to get where the Saviour was; they were not satisfied to be away from him; they were «seeking for Jesus.» John 6:25. And when th

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The Feeding of the Five Thousand Men. (John 6:1 .)_ 2. The Attempt to Make Him King, (John 6:15 .) 3. The Stormy Sea. “It is I, be not afraid.” (John 6:16 .) 4. The Discourse on the Bread of Life. The Food of the Believer. (John 6:22 .) 5. The Falling Away of Disciples. (John 6:60) 6. Peter's Confession. (John 6:67 .) The events which are recorded in this chapter happened at the Sea of Galilee, the sea of Tiberias. John exclusively uses t

FURTHER JEWISH OBJECTIONS. Further advance is made by the use for the first time of the phrase, to eat the flesh. To their question How? Jesus answers that the gift of life can be obtained only by such means. The reference to the sacrificial death is made clearer by the addition and drink His blood. The true life can be gained only by the assimilation of the Body and the Blood, the life set free by death for wider purposes. Those who partake of this true food gain abiding union with Christ. The expressions used here are intelligible only in the light of Christian Eucharistie experience. John 6:60 ff. is historically important as describing the crisis in Galilee, when many even of the best disposed took offence and fell away. In place of their material expectations He offered them a spiritual conception of the kingdom. It proved a stumbling-block. What would their feelings be when He left...