Is Jesus Advocating Cannibalism?

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John 6:52-59

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

 
 

In the long discussion that takes place after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus follows the same practice He often does when interacting with the Jews—He speaks cryptically, allowing Himself to be misunderstood on the surface to get people to lean in and really think about what He is saying. Here, it almost seems at first as if He is advocating some kind of bizarre cannibalistic practice:

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you [John 6:53].

Let’s break down what He is saying:

  • What do you do with bread? You eat it, i.e., you take it into yourself.

  • What has to happen for bread to sustain life? It has to be broken before the energy it contains can be transferred to your body. In some sense, you might say the bread has to die before it offers life.

  • In the wilderness during Old Testament times, the Lord provided heavenly bread—manna—for the Israelites.

  • Jesus feeds the five thousand in the wilderness, using only five loaves and two fish.

  • But the people miss the point of the miracle and want more literal bread, whereas Jesus wants to offer them the life that He came to bring.

  • So, Jesus tells them that what they really need is “heavenly bread” and tells them that He Himself is heavenly bread, sent from the Father to give them life.

  • What do you do with bread? You eat it. What do you do with “heavenly bread?” You “eat” it.

What does it mean to consume Jesus? He has told us in v. 30—to believe in Him. That is, to eat His body and drink His blood is to make Jesus the central part of your life.

Like so many of the things Jesus says, it is deliberately provocative and at first appears bizarre, but once you take your time and break it down, it makes sense.

QUESTION FOR THE DAY
How can you make Jesus more central to your life today?