Eternal Life

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In the Gospels Jesus tells us we must eat his flesh and drink his blood if we are to have eternal life.  Was Jesus speaking metaphorically, or was he making a powerful assertion that would be difficult to believe?  The latter is true.  His followers at the time were horrified when Jesus told them to drink his blood.  Why?  Because to the Israelites blood was ritually impure, and one needed to go through certain purification rituals in order to become “clean” again.  And make no mistake, in Jewish philosophical thought, “impurity” is an actual substance that attaches itself to a person, requiring said person to use “pure” water to wash it away.

Let's look a passage from the Gospel of St. John:

"Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whosoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:53-54)

Here is the passage in John in the original Greek:

εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ φάγητε τὴν σάρκα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πίητε αὐτοῦ τὸ αἷμα, οὐκ ἔχετε ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ ἐγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.

φάγητε = "to eat" (passive verb)
τρώγων = "to crunch between the teeth"  (active verb)

Was Jesus speaking figuratively? No, the literal meaning is clear. To "crunch between the teeth" is an definite action, and is not the passive word, meaning simply to eat.  Let us share thoughts on the subject.
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Miko-dono's avatar
Ah, this is a most fascinating subject to talk about. I'll refrain from the obvious pun which has sprung to my mind.

Earlier in John chapter 6, Jesus talks to the people about the difference between manna, the 'bread of heaven', which God gave to Moses and the Israelites, and the true 'bread of heaven' which is also called the 'bread of life'. (verses 31-33) When Jesus speaks of life, it is not the adding onto years of mortal life, but life eternal.

In verse 35, Jesus calls himself the 'bread of life' and speaks of never again hungering or thirsting, which is a reference to when He talked with the woman at the well and spoke of the 'living water' of which, if people drank, they would never again thirst. My understanding of hunger and thirst here is not literally the hunger and thirst our mortal bodies need to sustain life, but of the hunger and thirst of the spirit, the mind, for truths which we instinctively know are out there.

Verses 38 and 40, Jesus explains to the people why he calls himself the 'bread of life', because he came down from heaven, sent by the Eternal Father to give everlasting life to those who believe, or receive in themselves, on Christ.

When we eat or drink something, we take it into our self, and it becomes part of us, extending our life. By taking the gospel of Christ into our self, our life is extended eternally, not just for days or weeks as is the case with food or drink we find on earth.

At the last supper, Jesus gives the apostles a metaphor, an emblem, of partaking of the 'bread of life' and the 'living water', which is had in and through Christ. These emblems, or symbols, are given to us because it is easier for us to remember something if we have a symbol. Think of the symbolism of the Statue of Liberty, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and all the other memorial dotting our country and the world. Those symbols are not just for those who lived through the times which should and need to be remembered, but for all the generations after.

Things are very nicely summed up in verses 47-51. I think it very astute of Jesus to remind the Jews that their ancestors which ate the manna in the time of Moses are dead. Therefore, the manna could not have been the true 'bread of life'.

Do I believe in the literal transfiguration of bread and wine/water that Christians partake of during Sacrament into actual flesh and blood? Sorry, major eww and emphatically no. I'm convinced the Greek text that talks about to 'crunch between the teeth' refers to the bread and wine Jesus gave the disciples, and not to cannibalism. That the words used are those given to action for me means that we are to evermore actively seek and partake of the words of Christ, His gospel, not just to hear the words passively and to not do the things which His gospel specifies we must in order to receive life eternal.