John 6:56

“It’s as simple as this: whoever eats my body and drinks my blood becomes a part of me, and I become a part of them.” John 6:56 EFP

OK.  Jesus adds a new dimension to his “flesh and blood” imagery.  There is a reciprocity that takes place when this eating and drinking of real flesh and real blood takes place. 

Understood on a purely material level, it is easy to see how eating another person’s body and drinking their blood, would be the most intimate experience possible, as disgusting as the thought might be to me.  There would be a physical connection unlike any other.  There would be a level of commitment unmatched in any other human experience.  Does that mean one person willingly lays down his or her life so that the other can eat and drink his remains?  Certainly the person who lays down his or her life makes the supreme sacrifice, but the one who eats and drinks the flesh and blood is making an astronomical commitment as well.  This is not cannibalizing for the sake of satiating common hunger. 

Although Jesus is making sure the blood and body being eaten refers to a real sacrifice, remember this whole conversation begins with Jesus making a spiritual reference to contrast with the physical needs the crowd is seeking to satisfy (verse 27).  This is intended to be chilling and graphic imagery.  The reason will become clear soon, and I sense, it will be brought back to mind on the days of Jesus’ passion leading to his death on the cross.  Perhaps it is one of those things that makes sense in time—you have to wait for it.