John 6:52-59, Identifying with Jesus

52The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53So 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. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." 59Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

The literal Galileans think Jesus is advocating cannibalism. He ignores their question and repeats the need for faith. Faith in him is like eating his flesh and drinking his blood. This is truly to identify with Jesus, especially in his death and resurrection, to which he is pointing, yet still in obscurity. Jesus knew Leviticus 17:12, which says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.” God planned the animal sacrificial system to point to something greater than itself. He planned it to point to Jesus and his sacrifice. That is why with the death of Jesus, the sacrificial system came to an end.

How do you identify with Jesus? What does eating his flesh and drinking his blood mean to you? Take these questions to God in prayer.