@nedsk
Ned, Please read through it wont take long. Just trying to help. Jesus often spoke using pictures and symbols, not in a literal way. Many times people misunderstood Him because they took His words too literally. For example, when Jesus told Nicodemus,
“Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3), Nicodemus thought of a man going back into his mother’s womb. But Jesus was speaking of being born of the Spirit, a spiritual rebirth.
Another time Jesus said,
“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved” (John 10:9). He was not a wooden door with hinges, but the only way to God. In the same chapter He said,
“I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11). He was not literally a shepherd holding a staff, but He cares for His people as a shepherd cares for sheep.
To the Samaritan woman at the well He said,
“Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:14). She thought He meant physical water, but He was speaking of the Spirit and eternal life.
He also said,
“I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5). He was not a plant, and His followers were not wooden branches. He meant there must be a living connection between Him and His people.
In the Sermon on the Mount He told His followers,
“You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). They were not the sun or a lamp, but their lives were to shine in righteousness so others could see the way to God.
When He warned His disciples,
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6), they thought He was talking about bread. But He explained He meant their false teachings.
He once said,
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). The Jews thought He was speaking of the stone temple in Jerusalem, but He was speaking of His body that would rise from the dead.
He also said,
“Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). He was not asking people to kill themselves, but to give up their selfish ways and follow Him.
With all these examples, it is clear that Jesus often spoke with deep spiritual meaning, not with plain literal words. So when He said in John 6,
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53), He was speaking in the same way—using powerful symbols to teach a spiritual truth. Many who heard Him were offended because they thought of it in a literal, physical way. But Jesus explained it plainly a little later:
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
Just as with being “born again,” or Jesus being a “door,” a “shepherd,” “water,” a “vine,” “light,” “leaven,” or “temple,” His words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood were spiritual. They mean we must accept Him fully, trust Him completely, and live by His words, for they are spirit and life.
In the Bible,
when Jesus repeated His words more than once, even three times, it was to show great importance, certainty, and urgency. In Hebrew culture, repeating something was the strongest way to stress that it is true and must be taken seriously.
For example, Jesus often said,
“Most assuredly, I say to you” (John 3:3 and many other places). In the original language He was repeating “Amen, amen,” which means, “This is absolutely true.”
He also asked Peter three times after the resurrection,
“Do you love Me?” (John 21:15–17). This was not by accident. Peter had denied Him three times, and Jesus gave him three chances to confess his love and be restored. The threefold question also showed the depth of love and loyalty Jesus was asking for.
Another example is in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus prayed the same words three times,
“O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done” (Matthew 26:39–44). The repetition showed His deep struggle and also His complete surrender to God’s will.
And in His teaching about watchfulness, Jesus said three times,
“Watch therefore” (Mark 13:33, 35, 37). The triple call shows how serious it is that His followers stay awake spiritually and be ready for His coming.
So when Jesus repeated something three times, it was never careless or empty—it was His way of pressing the truth into people’s hearts so they would not forget.
And this brings us to the deep meaning of His words,
“eat My flesh and drink My blood.” In the spiritual sense, “flesh” means His life given for us on the cross, the sacrifice of His body to bring us forgiveness and peace with God. “Blood” means His life poured out, because in the Bible blood represents life itself (Leviticus 17:11). It also means the blood of atonement, fulfilling the requirement for everyone’s sin, just as God had shown from the beginning that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. When Jesus says we must eat His flesh and drink His blood, He is calling us to accept His sacrifice fully, to trust in His death and the life He gives, and to let His words and His Spirit become part of us.
Just as food and drink enter the body, giving strength and life, so taking in Christ by faith gives spiritual life and strength. To eat His flesh and drink His blood is to believe in Him deeply, to make Him our daily bread, our only source of life, TO accept His sacrifice for us and to live by every word He has spoken. That is why He said,
“He who eats Me will live because of Me” (John 6:57).
So the meaning is not about physical eating,
but about a union with Him so close that He becomes our very life. His sacrifice on the cross is the bread that feeds us, and His poured-out life is the drink that gives us eternal life. This is why He ended by saying,
“The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
