Some Protestants do not think Jesus was talking about the Lord’s Supper when he spoke of our eating his flesh and drinking his blood in St. John 6 (e.g., Simeon). Others think that Jesus was indeed talking about the Lord’s Supper and that that is when we partake of him in a spiritual manner (Wright). Then there are those who think there is truth in both understandings (Moule).
I, for one, must think that Jesus at least had the Lord’s Supper in mind. I do so because of the way St. John has written his gospel. I appeal to John’s literary craft as a source of understanding what he is saying to us.
You will recall that the Lord’s Supper was instituted on the final Passover Jesus celebrated with his disciples, in the upper room. Well, the upper room is all over chapter 6. First of all, the whole story of chapter 6 takes place at the time of the Passover. When Jesus feeds the multitude, he does so in very much the same way he fed the disciples in the upper room: he gives thanks and passes the bread. In the upper room, Jesus spoke of his disciples eating his body and drinking his blood. He does that here as well. And finally, chapter 6 ends with a good bit about Judas betraying Jesus. That is also part of the upper room story. It appears obvious to me that John has recognized that, with all these parallels between what happened up in Gallilee at this Passover and all that happened later in the upper room, Jesus must have at least had the Lord’s Supper on his mind when he was telling his disciples to feed on him for eternal life. The fact that John preserves these parallels for us in his gospel indicate that he thought Jesus had the Lord’s Supper in mind, and, if so, then Jesus was at least preparing his disciples for their future understanding of the Lord’s Supper, once he had instituted it. I think it is wrong to say there is nothing about the Lord’s Supper here.
If that is so, then surely the Lord’s Supper is very important for us. It is something we are to do, in obedience to our Lord, that is an important part of how we are to have eternal life in us; to eat of him and thus “live by him,” as Jesus said. The Supper must be taken seriously as a means of salvation, in the broad sense of that word.
But we need Jesus every moment of every day. Our souls seek their life from God at all times, day and night. Does not Jesus talk about the same thing later in ch. 15, when he tells his disciples to abide in him? They are to never leave a vital connection with him as the source of their life and spiritual vitality. They are to remain dependent upon him, moment by moment, for their life, just as a branch in a vine depends upon the vine, receiving the life-giving sap throughout the day and the night.
In light of this, it appears that, though we may think Jesus at least has the Lord’s Supper in mind in chapter 6, he cannot be talking only of the Lord’s Supper. He is rather talking mainly about that activity of faith which is what makes the Lord’s Supper work for us and that is to be the constant occupation of our hearts. To prove this, I point us to the synonymous ways Jesus talks about feeding on him in chapter 6. He says we are to come to him, to believe in him, to dwell in him, to live by him. All these words point us to the understanding that to eat him for our life is one other figurative way of describing our receiving the virtue of his life for the needs of our hearts by trusting him to be what he says he will be to us. He says he will be the life of our souls, we believe it, and so he becomes that very thing.
Jesus knows what he is talking about. We need him. Our hearts are always hungering and thirsting for him. We sometimes forget this. Jesus knows we forget this. And so he has ordered his church to hold a supper on a regular basis to bring our minds back to our need of him and to give our faith an occasion in which we can do the very thing we need to do – to eat his flesh and drink his blood, which he gave to us when he died on the cross of Calvary. But we do this, not only that we may find life for our souls at that Supper – and by faith we do – but that we might be faced with the reality of what we always need, and what Jesus always gives, so that we may never hunger and never thirst, as we wait for the day when we will leave this wilderness behind us.
I, for one, must think that Jesus at least had the Lord’s Supper in mind. I do so because of the way St. John has written his gospel. I appeal to John’s literary craft as a source of understanding what he is saying to us.
You will recall that the Lord’s Supper was instituted on the final Passover Jesus celebrated with his disciples, in the upper room. Well, the upper room is all over chapter 6. First of all, the whole story of chapter 6 takes place at the time of the Passover. When Jesus feeds the multitude, he does so in very much the same way he fed the disciples in the upper room: he gives thanks and passes the bread. In the upper room, Jesus spoke of his disciples eating his body and drinking his blood. He does that here as well. And finally, chapter 6 ends with a good bit about Judas betraying Jesus. That is also part of the upper room story. It appears obvious to me that John has recognized that, with all these parallels between what happened up in Gallilee at this Passover and all that happened later in the upper room, Jesus must have at least had the Lord’s Supper on his mind when he was telling his disciples to feed on him for eternal life. The fact that John preserves these parallels for us in his gospel indicate that he thought Jesus had the Lord’s Supper in mind, and, if so, then Jesus was at least preparing his disciples for their future understanding of the Lord’s Supper, once he had instituted it. I think it is wrong to say there is nothing about the Lord’s Supper here.
If that is so, then surely the Lord’s Supper is very important for us. It is something we are to do, in obedience to our Lord, that is an important part of how we are to have eternal life in us; to eat of him and thus “live by him,” as Jesus said. The Supper must be taken seriously as a means of salvation, in the broad sense of that word.
But we need Jesus every moment of every day. Our souls seek their life from God at all times, day and night. Does not Jesus talk about the same thing later in ch. 15, when he tells his disciples to abide in him? They are to never leave a vital connection with him as the source of their life and spiritual vitality. They are to remain dependent upon him, moment by moment, for their life, just as a branch in a vine depends upon the vine, receiving the life-giving sap throughout the day and the night.
In light of this, it appears that, though we may think Jesus at least has the Lord’s Supper in mind in chapter 6, he cannot be talking only of the Lord’s Supper. He is rather talking mainly about that activity of faith which is what makes the Lord’s Supper work for us and that is to be the constant occupation of our hearts. To prove this, I point us to the synonymous ways Jesus talks about feeding on him in chapter 6. He says we are to come to him, to believe in him, to dwell in him, to live by him. All these words point us to the understanding that to eat him for our life is one other figurative way of describing our receiving the virtue of his life for the needs of our hearts by trusting him to be what he says he will be to us. He says he will be the life of our souls, we believe it, and so he becomes that very thing.
Jesus knows what he is talking about. We need him. Our hearts are always hungering and thirsting for him. We sometimes forget this. Jesus knows we forget this. And so he has ordered his church to hold a supper on a regular basis to bring our minds back to our need of him and to give our faith an occasion in which we can do the very thing we need to do – to eat his flesh and drink his blood, which he gave to us when he died on the cross of Calvary. But we do this, not only that we may find life for our souls at that Supper – and by faith we do – but that we might be faced with the reality of what we always need, and what Jesus always gives, so that we may never hunger and never thirst, as we wait for the day when we will leave this wilderness behind us.
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