Welcome Valley Reader

Lesson 24

John 6:52-58

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 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. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.

Background Information

Manna was the food God had miraculously supplied to the Jewish people during the Exodus.

In the Bible, blood is seen as the life of an animal (or a person) and God does not allow people to drink it. Under Old Testament Law, the blood of a sacrificed animal was poured out as part of the sacrifice. Jesus’ blood would be poured out as a sacrifice on the cross, a fact which may help you understand His words here.

Keep in mind that those who didn’t realize Jesus was speaking spiritually of partaking of His saving power might have misunderstood Him to be calling for them to drink forbidden blood and indulge in cannibalism. Had that been Jesus’ actual intent, His words would have been shocking indeed!

Related Scriptures

John 3:36

1 Corinthians 10:1-4

1 Peter 2:24

1 John 1:7

Questions

1. Did the Jews understand what Jesus meant by His speech about eating His flesh?
2. a. Which of the related Scriptures would suggest that it is possible to eat and drink of Jesus in a spiritual sense?
3. Comparing John 6:52-58 with the related Scriptures, what would you say Jesus meant by eating His flesh and drinking His blood?
4. Is trusting in what He did for us on the cross enough to give us eternal life?
5. What Scriptures can you think of that would indicate that such trust is enough?

This study is in the public domain and may be copied and distributed freely.

 Contents                                                                                                                              Lesson                                                                                                                                 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 (Projected: 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 and more to come later)