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John 6 – A Hard Saying Made Clearer
A passage I have always struggled with became clearer with an “aha!” moment. Why does Jesus utter that difficult saying (vv.59-60) in John 6 about eating His body and drinking His blood? And why say that to a Jewish crowd wherein cannibalism was sinful? The answer turns out exactly because they were Jewish!
Let’s set the scene:
[ ] Jesus walked on water (6:16-21).
[ ] The Jews complain about food (6:34,41).
[ ] Jesus claims to be the bread of life or true manna that came from Heaven (6:35,48,51).
[ ] Jesus said they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood (6:53-54).
Let’s back up:
[ ] The Israelites walked through the Red Sea on dry ground (Exodus 15).
[ ] The Israelites complain about food (Exodus 16:2-3).
[ ] God sends bread or manna from Heaven (16:4).
[ ] God sent meat or flesh in the form of quail for the Israelites to eat (16:8,13); and water for them to drink (Exodus 17).
What John 6 is revealing is the Jews were exactly like their ancestors – a common point of Jesus. God had both times sent life from Heaven and drink for life.
The lesson for us is the same: What stories are we reliving? What mistakes do we keep making? Are we any different or better than others? Let’s have more “aha!” moments about ourselves!
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