If I had stood in the synagogue in Capernaum and listened to Jesus say these things, I’m pretty sure I would have thought he was crazy. Or seriously disturbed. Reading (or hearing) this bit all by itself just does not make any sense whatsoever.
But if we put it in context of the rest of the story, it starts to become clear….
Remember that right before this conversation, the people had received bread from Jesus when it seemed impossible. He had taken some boy’s five barley loaves and two little fish and fed over 5,000 people. (John 6:1-13) Now the people are looking for more bread from Jesus.
At this point, Jesus makes, what seems to them, a drastic shift. He goes completely spiritual- and they don’t quite get it. This could absolutely confuse us too, unless with stick with Jesus for the rest of the story. Communion is coming. And in the context of communion, this passage makes all the sense in the world.
So what is communion about? It’s about remembering. Remembering Jesus. Remembering who he is… Who God is… What God has done for us in Jesus. It’s about confession. Coming clean in front of the Holy God. Recognizing our sin. It’s about admitting our need for a savior. It’s about admitting our need for Jesus and recognizing that true life comes only from him.
When we take communion (eat bread representing Jesus’ broken body and drink wine representing his spilled blood) it is our chance to once again recognize who we are without Jesus and at the same time claim the life that Jesus gives us. In eating his “body” and drinking his “blood” we are put in position to take the life that he gives- it is nothing we can do on our own. It is Jesus who gives us life. So all of a sudden a passage like John 6:52-59 doesn’t seem too crazy when it is context of who Jesus is and what he calls us to do.
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