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John 6:51-69 (ESV)

[Jesus said:] “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

And note that consistent with the abundant use of metaphorical language in Scripture, David plainly said that water was human blood, and thus would not drink it but poured it out unto the Lord. And that the Cannanites were "meat" for Israel, etc. And which is consistent with the use of metaphorical language in John. In John 1, the Lord is called the "Word became flesh," as representing Truth being incarnated, and "the Lamb of God" even though He took on humanity.

Then in Jn. 2:19,20, the Lord referred to Himself as the temple but spoke in a way that seems to refer to destroying the physical temple in which He had just drove out the money changers, and left the unbelieving Jews to that misapprehension of His words, so that this was a charge during His trial and crucifixion by the carnally minded. (Mk. 14:58; 15:29) But the meaning was revealed to His disciples after the resurrection.

In Jn. 3:3, the Lord referred to spiritual birth in such an way that its was misunderstood as physical, so that Nicodemus exclaimed, " How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? (John 3:4) Jn. 6:63, the Lord goes on to distinguish btwn the flesh and the Spirit, " That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," (John 3:6) thereby giving Nicodemus a clue to figure it out, inviting and requiring seeking, rather than making it very clear. And which requires more revelation than that chapter, as with Jn. 6, revealing being born spiritually in regeneration. (Acts 10:43-47; 15:7-9; Eph. 1:13; 2:5)

And had those carnally-minded Jews in John 6, who were looking for physical food, continued on in seeking the spiritual meaning, then they would understood, "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me," (John 6:57) And "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)

For just how did Christ "live by the Father"? The answer is that the manner by which the Lord lived by the Father was as per Mt. 4:4: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Thus for the Lord Jesus who lived by every word of God, the doing of His will was "meat."

For once again using metaphor, the Lord stated to disciples who thought He was referring to physical bread, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. (John 4:34) And likewise the Lord revealed that He would not even be with them physically in the future (which the lost Jews presumed would be needed under a literal meaning), but that His words which transcendent time and space are Spirit and life: “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:62-63)

For as with the rest of John and Scripture, it is faith which obtains spiritual life by believing the gospel. As John esp. makes clear, contrary to consuming flesh. Thus as Peter affirmed, "thou hast the words of eternal life." (John 6:68)

For the Holy Spirit only and always taught that that spiritual life was obtained by receiving the word of the gospel, and never shows this was by actual physical ingestion of anything, and that one "lives by" (upon) God's word as well, having first by repentant faith in the gospel and then by effectually feeding upon the word of God and thus obeying it. For while the Lord's supper is nowhere referred to as spiritual food anywhere interpretive of John 6 (Acts thru Rev.), the word of God is what is taught as being spiritual nourishment, being that which is called "milk" and "meat" (1Co. 3:2; Heb. 5:13; 1Pt. 2:2) by which believers are "nourished" (1Tim. 4:6) and built up, and with the preaching of which being the primary active function of pastors. (Acts 20:32) Thanks be to God.

And therefore to come together to take part in a communal meal in effectual remembrance and thus proclamation (1 Corinthians 11:26) of the risen Lord's death - by which each believer is made part of the Lord's body, the church, being itself "one bread," (1 Corinthians 10:17) - while selfishly neglecting other members even at the same time is to actually fail to eat the Lord's supper. (1 Corinthians 11:17-22) For such neglect fails to remember and declare the Lord's death by effectually failing to recognize the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:29) as consisting of those bought with the sinless shed blood of Christ by His death, (Acts 20:28) which makes each member part of that universal body. (Rv. 5:9)

Thus such hypocritical participation can result such chastisement as even unto death, and with the solution being that of penitent examination of oneself whether his\her attitude and actions are consistent with the love of Christ for His body, as shown by His giving of Himself, and eating at home lest the Lord's supper become a focus on food and satisfying physical hunger, versus communal sharing as members of the body bought with the sinless shed blood of the now risen Lord, which taking part in the Lord's supper is to show. Thanks be to God, yet I certainly fail in such selfish love and care.