Scripture
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.”

Observation
Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven. If we eat this bread we will live for ever.

The Jewish people begin to argue among themselves. Jesus tells them that without Him they have no life in them. The one who eats His body and drinks His blood has eternal life.

Jesus lives because of His relationship with the Father, and so the one who feeds on Him will live because of Him. This is better than the manna that their ancestors ate in the desert.

Application
In Communion we feed on the body and blood of Christ. This is not some kind of gory ritual, but a representation of the life-giving power of Jesus’ death on the cross for us.

Eating bread and drinking wine or grape juice do not give eternal life in themselves. It is only when by faith we take the spiritual meaning of the physical objects that we feast on Jesus.

It was Jesus’ union with the Father that gave Him life, and it is our union with Christ that gives us eternal life. By faith in the death and resurrection of Christ we too are raised for eternity.

Prayer
Thank you Father for the power of faith in your Son setting us free from the law of sin and death. Amen.