To Live is Christ — who is my life

When Jesus talked to the crowds, I’ve wondered if some of what He said was more for those who would read His Word later since no one seemed to understand it at the time. The verse in my devotional reading is one of those sayings.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)

The Jews who first heard it would remember the manna that God sent from heaven to feed Moses and their forefathers in the wilderness. It was unlike anything they had seen before, but gave them the nourishment they needed. It was bread from heaven and they knew it.

That means Jesus made a claim that was not entirely foreign for them. However, their minds were not able to leap from the physical manna to the spiritual intent of Jesus’ words. Verse 52 says, “The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’” This made no sense to them.

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53–58)

If they were confounded before, this added to their confusion. The disciples grumbled also. They didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms. He was talking about the intimacy of knowing Him, a deep relationship in which His people would participate in Him. He becomes not only our spiritual nourishment, but our very life as well. Because of His presence in me, I will live forever.

I shared this once with a Jewish friend. He retorted that it was very presumptuous to claim that I knew I had eternal life. He said that no one can know that. I’d agree — if I based my reason for eternal life on the same criteria that he used. In his mind, eternal life is a decision God makes based on whether a person is good enough or not. This is the opinion of many who assume that a place in heaven is earned by good deeds and a clean life.

The problems with this are many. For one thing, no one is perfect so where is the line drawn? I wouldn’t want to put that decision on anyone, not even God. It conjures a pitiful scene where some squeak over the line and others fall just short.

The other problem with it is that it makes useless the death of Christ. If we were not sinners in need of a Savior, then this perfect man who is God would not have had to die. Not only that, He would not make the claim that anyone who “eats this bread will live forever” because salvation would not be about Him but about those who pass muster when their deeds are evaluated.

The Jews did not like what Jesus said about eating His flesh. They took it literally and were repulsed. The disciples had that same image come to mind and were grumbling. John 6:61–66 tells how Jesus took them aside and asked them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”

He knew that out of the many who followed Him at that time, some who did not believe and would betray Him. For this reason, He added, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

Jesus laid down a dividing line. It wasn’t about good deeds or being good enough. It was about having a God-given faith that drew people to Jesus and caused them to have this deep relationship with Him. At that, some of his followers knew that they were hanging around for the wrong reasons. They were not on the right side of the line. Verse 66 says, “From this time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”

For me, this speaks of a continued walk of faith. God wants me to trust Him and cling to Jesus. My salvation is not about what I do but about who I know, and the One who knows me. It is about having the life of Christ and participating in that life.

Out of that faith and relationship will come good things, but I know that apart from Him, I can do nothing. To live is Christ means always being aware that He is my life. Without Him, I cannot please God.