“Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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."

John 6:53-55

Jesus proclaims that he is ‘the bread of life’ (v. 48) and places his offer on the table—a feast of ‘bread straight from heaven’ (v. 41). This offer is open to all—‘anyone may eat and not die’ (v. 50, emphasis added). However, as the saying goes, ‘You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink!’ Jesus invites us to his table where he himself is the feast, but he will never force-feed us. The saying ‘We are what we eat’ is true! What we eat does not merely generate fuel for our bodies, it is also integrated into every cell in the body—skin, hair, blood, muscles, and so on. What we eat affects not just our physical well-being but also our mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Jesus repeatedly emphasized the need to ‘eat’ (six times), ‘drink’ (three times), or ‘feed’ on him (twice), promising that ‘whoever’ feeds on him will enjoy a life-giving relationship with him forever (vv. 51–58). When we ‘consume’ Jesus, we allow ourselves to be consumed by him, assimilating his life into our own, absorbing and integrating his ways and values until they become an integral part of us, so that we can say, like Paul, ‘I no longer live, but Christ lives in me' (Gal 2:20).

Closing Prayer

Father, build in me a great hunger for your Word. Help me to feast on Jesus there, continuing to be transformed by his love, compassion, and mercy. More and more, may others see Christ in me (edited from Encounter with God).