“But there are some of you who do not believe.”
And what is it that we must be believe? For this we need to go back prior to where you selectively started. The first thing to remember is that the Bread of Life Discourse came immediately after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. This was the reason that the crowd was looking for him: "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. It is response to this that our Lord gives the Bread of Life Discourse. He redirects them from seeking merely physical bread to the bread that will give eternal life: "Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life." And what is this bread?
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen [me], you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day.”So the context of “But there are some of you who do not believe,” is what Jesus said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him."The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.
“Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. The Words of Eternal Life. Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you twelve? Yet is not one of you a devil?” He was referring to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot; it was he who would betray him, one of the Twelve. (John 6:35-71)
First it should be noted that when the Jews quarreled over his statement, "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world," saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?", he did not correct them and say that they were misunderstanding him by taking him to literally. Rather he doubled down with his insistence that we need to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Additionally, the verb Jesus uses in "Whoever eats my flesh" is not one that is usually used for humans. Rather it was applied to animals and could best be translated as "munch" or "gnaw." Jesus is purposefully being very graphic here.
It is in this context that we must understand his statement, "It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." And the words that Jesus has just spoken, and which shocked his listeners, are:
Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.His flesh and blood is not mere flesh as in ordinary food but the actual body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. This is the food that endures for eternal life.
For those who would argue that our Lord is only speaking in metaphor, the idea of eating and drinking someones body and blood can only be a metaphor for the complete annihilation of a defeated enemy. His disciples took him literally many of them left. Jesus does not correct them but becomes even more graphic. Then he does something that he does nowhere else in the gospel, he challenges his apostles, "Do you also want to leave?" When Jesus speaks by way of parable, he explains its meaning to the Apostles. He does not do this here; he challenges them. Will they leave as the others? So when John says that "Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him," it is the refusal to believe that we must eat his body and drink his blood. To believe in Jesus is not just to believe the Cross, but also to believe what he has taught us, including that we must eat his body and drink his blood which are real food and real drink. This is the true context of this passage.
First it should be noted that when the Jews quarreled over his statement, "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world," saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?", he did not correct them and say that they were misunderstanding him by taking him to literally.
This is not the first time He did this nor the last.
He did not correct the rich young ruler. He did not always correct the Pharisees. He already knew they were misunderstanding Him.
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For those who would argue that our Lord is only speaking in metaphor, the idea of eating and drinking someones body and blood can only be a metaphor for the complete annihilation of a defeated enemy. His disciples took him literally many of them left. Jesus does not correct them but becomes even more graphic. Then he does something that he does nowhere else in the gospel, he challenges his apostles, "Do you also want to leave?" When Jesus speaks by way of parable, he explains its meaning to the Apostles. He does not do this here; he challenges them.
Jesus did not always explain the parables to His Apostles.
Will they leave as the others? So when John says that "Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him," it is the refusal to believe that we must eat his body and drink his blood. To believe in Jesus is not just to believe the Cross, but also to believe what he has taught us, including that we must eat his body and drink his blood which are real food and real drink. This is the true context of this passage.
No. Go back to the beginning of the passage. Jesus is talking about believing in Him.
All throughout John this is what He talks about.
IF this was essential to faith, as you are saying that it is His literal flesh and blood, He did not convey this to:
Nicodemus
John's disciples
The woman at the well
The Samaritans
The royal official with the sick son
more unbelieving Jews.
All of these were prior to the Bread of Life Discourse.
IF as you say we have to literally eat/drink His flesh and blood for salvation then Jesus omitted this in His conversation with these other people. But what He did talk about was believing in Him.
That is the clear consistent message of John, the Gospels and the New Testament.
In Romans 10:5-13 Paul does not mention the necessity of having to eat/drink the literal flesh of Christ. He does talk about believing in Him though. Just as Jesus told the unbelieving Jews...believe in Him. Again, the consistent message of the New Testament.
I always find it interesting that IF as you claim, we have to eat/drink the literal flesh and blood, why at the Passover meals did not Jesus prick His finger and allow the disciples to actually drink His literal blood?< .
At the Cross there is no record of anyone attempting to catch drops of His blood to drink later.
When they took Him down from the Cross....why did they not carve out pieces of His flesh....IF as you claim, we have to literally eat/drink His flesh? That would have been the time to do it....for it was the last time available.
Why not?
Because they understood His message correctly...we come to Him through faith. We have eternal life because we believe in Him.
Recall in this passage it is the unbelieving Jews who are thinking as the Roman Catholic does....that He is referring to literal flesh/blood. The unbelieving Jews were the ones who switched the conversation.
IF you want to say this passage in John is literal then you must never get hungry or thirsty.
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
Many Roman Catholics like to switch back to a metaphorical understanding when confronted with this passage. So, you get hungry or thirsty?
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