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NASB | John 6:54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 6:54 "The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood [believes in Me, accepts Me as Savior] has eternal life [that is, now possesses it], and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day. |
Subject: Can anyone tell how he understand that? |
Bible Note: It is one of the “hard sayings” of Jesus. It means we have eternal life when we trust only in the fact his body was broken and his blood was shed for us. Many of his disciples, when they had heard it, said, “This is an hard saying; who can hear it?” Jesus was aware that they were having difficulty with it and yet, he did not explain it. Instead, he repeated it, insisting that we must eat his flesh and drink his blood. If you read the entire story in John chapter 6, it may seem that Jesus made the statements more and more complicated. First he had said we should believe on him. God had decided that “everyone who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have eternal life” (verse 40). That seems simple enough. But the people had difficulty with that, because he said he had come from heaven. Then Jesus said that anyone who is listening to God would know that they should come to him (verse 45). God had been talking to them and his ultimate message was that they should believe on Jesus. That was God’s message to them when he gave them manna in the wilderness. Then he said he was the bread of life. Just as God had given them natural bread to sustain their physical life, he had given them a spiritual bread which, if they ate it, they would have eternal life. Then he said he was that bread (verse 48). They were mystified. Still he was saying what they needed to do was to believe on him, and trust him (verse 47). He would give his body to be crucified, and that was the means by which they would have access to eternal life. Yet the people did not understand. They were asking, “How can this be?” Then Jesus said they must eat his flesh, etc. (verse 53). Do you see how the simple matter becomes more complicated with each additional piece of information that Jesus gives? The disciples simply believed on Jesus (verse 69) although they did not fully understand his words. Later they would say, "At last you are speaking plainly, and not in parables. Now we understand that you know everything and don't need anyone to ask you anything. From this (what you have just said) we believe that you came from God" (John 16). From this we learn that we should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we will understand the “hard” things later. There are many things that Jesus said, that the people found it hard to understand. One of the most famous ones is the fact we must be born again (John 3). The man asked, “How can these things be?” Jesus said those were the simple things. If we could not understand those how could we understand the more complicated things? He would say, (John 16): “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth”. The words that Jesus spoke are spirit (John 6:63), and only the Holy Spirit can help us to understand them (1 Corinthians 2). And yet they seem so simple! After all these words, (including those of my brother, who answered you minutes before I did) I trust the Holy Spirit will help you to understand. We eat his flesh and drink his blood when we believe that his body was broken and his blood was shed for us. |