Reaction To Jesus' Claim
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The Jews' Reaction To Jesus' Claim
The Jews began to have a heated debate among themselves:
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus' Statement
Jesus replied:
"I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." (verses 53-58)
The Meaning of Jesus' Statement
To the Jews listening to Jesus, this last comment must have made their hair stand on end. How can he say: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you? Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life? That's cannibalism!"
Of course Jesus wasn't advocating cannibalism. He meant that to receive ETERNAL (ie SPIRITUAL) LIFE, we need to take him into our very being, just as we take food inside us for physical nourishment and life.
Biblical Pictures of Faith in Jesus Christ
The Bible gives us several pictures of what it means to put our faith in Jesus, including:
• Eating his flesh and drinking his blood JOHN 6:53-56
• Coming to him for streams of living water JOHN 4:10-14
• Opening the door when he knocks REVELATION 3:20
The Point Of Each Picture
Faith in Jesus Christ means taking him into my life by the power of the Holy Spirit..
For more on this, go to A NEW CREATION
