Have you ever sat with Jesus’ profound words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood and wondered how these seemingly mysterious concepts translate into your everyday walk with God? This isn’t just abstract theology – it’s a life-changing invitation. When Jesus declared, “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has everlasting life” (John 6:54), He wasn’t speaking in mere metaphors but offering us the key to genuine spiritual nourishment.
Think about how intentionally you plan your physical meals each day – what if we approached our spiritual sustenance with the same deliberate care? The truth is, this divine sustenance Jesus spoke of is meant to be our daily bread, transforming our spiritual disciplines from routine habits into life-giving encounters.
Biblical Insight
The primary passage where Jesus introduces this concept is found in John 6:53-58:
“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.”
The context is crucial—Jesus had just performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000, and the crowds followed Him wanting more physical bread. Instead, Jesus redirected them to the eternal spiritual nourishment He offers.
This teaching caused many of His followers to stumble because in Jewish culture, consuming blood was strictly forbidden (Leviticus 17:14). By using this shocking language, Jesus was deliberately distinguishing between physical and spiritual sustenance. The Greek word for “eat” in this passage is “trōgō,” which means to gnaw, crunch, or chew thoroughly—suggesting not casual consumption but deep, intentional internalization of His life. In Hebrew thought, flesh represented the whole person and blood represented life itself (Leviticus 17:11), so Jesus was inviting believers to completely take in His life, character, and sacrificial death.
This teaching aligns with His later institution of communion in Matthew 26:26-28, where He took bread saying, “Take, eat; this is My body,” and the cup saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” The symbolism points to the same spiritual reality—we are called to internalize the Messiah’s life and sacrificial death, allowing His nature to become part of our own. The Apostle Paul further develops this idea in 1 Corinthians 10:16: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?” The word “communion” (koinonia) indicates intimate participation and fellowship—not just remembering, but actively participating in the life of Jesus.
Practical Wisdom
In practical terms, eating Christ’s flesh and drinking His blood means daily intentional absorption of His life, teachings, character, and sacrificial love into our own being. This begins with dedicated time in Scripture, particularly meditating on the Gospels where we see Jesus’ life, teachings, and character most directly. This isn’t casual reading but “feeding” on His words—studying until they become part of you. As Jeremiah 15:16 says, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” This involves reading slowly, repeatedly, meditatively, and with application—asking the Holy Spirit to make these words nourishment for your soul.
“Drinking His blood” involves daily appropriation of His sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins and the power to live a new life. This means regular confession and repentance, claiming the cleansing power of Jesus’ blood over specific areas of struggle in your life. As 1 John 1:7 reminds us, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” When we confess our sins, the record against us is wiped clean, and the Accuser has no legal standing to condemn us. This isn’t just a mental acknowledgment but a heartfelt receiving of His grace that produces thankfulness and freedom from shame. Each time we recognize our sin and turn to the cross, we are “drinking” the life-giving reality of His blood shed for us.
Regular participation in communion (the Lord’s Supper) becomes a focused, tangible way to practice this spiritual reality. Rather than a mere ritual, approach this sacrament as a profound opportunity to consciously receive Christ’s life and sacrifice. Before partaking, examine your heart (1 Corinthians 11:28), confess any known sin and thank Him for His forgiveness, and intentionally receive afresh the life and forgiveness Jesus offers. This sacred practice helps translate the abstract concept into physical, experiential reality that can transform our daily walk with God.
Clearing Up Misunderstandings
A common misunderstanding is reducing Jesus’ teaching to mere participation in the communion ceremony. While the Lord’s Supper is important, “eating His flesh and drinking His blood” encompasses our entire approach to spiritual nourishment and growth. It’s about how we absorb and assimilate the life of Jesus into our own daily experience—not just during a church service but in every moment. The sacrament serves as a powerful focal point for this reality, but the principle extends to our entire spiritual life.
Another misconception is interpreting this language in a purely intellectual sense—as if studying doctrine about Jesus is sufficient. While understanding is important, Jesus was speaking of something more visceral and transformative. Just as food must be digested to nourish the body, the truth about Jesus must be internalized until it transforms our character, desires, and actions. Many believers have accumulated knowledge about Jesus without allowing His life to fundamentally change their being. True “eating and drinking” results in noticeable transformation—we begin to think, love, and act like Jesus because we are nourished by His very life.
Some may also mistake this teaching as promoting mystical experiences detached from Scripture. While there is certainly a mystical aspect to communion with Christ, Jesus’ flesh and blood are primarily received through the means He has established—the Word, prayer, fellowship, and communion elements. The Holy Spirit makes these ordinary means extraordinary channels of Christ’s life to us. Our spiritual feeding should be grounded in biblical truth rather than subjective experiences alone.
Conclusion
Jesus’ invitation to eat His flesh and drink His blood is a call to the most intimate form of communion with Him—taking His very life into our own. This daily spiritual nourishment transforms us from the inside out as we intentionally feed on His Word, appropriate His sacrifice, and commune with Him through prayer and sacrament. The beautiful promise attached to this practice is that “he who feeds on Me will live because of Me” (John 6:57). As you develop these spiritual disciplines of “feeding” on Christ, you’ll find yourself increasingly abiding in Him, with His life flowing through yours in remarkable ways. This isn’t about religious obligation but about receiving the very life of God that sustains, transforms, and empowers you for every challenge you face.
Did You Know?
The Greek word “trōgō” that Jesus uses for “eat” in John 6:54-58 originally referred to the munching noise animals make when eating fruits or nuts. It’s a deliberately visceral term that emphasizes thorough, audible chewing—quite different from more polite words for eating. Jesus intentionally chose this graphic, almost crude term to emphasize the thoroughness with which we are to internalize and assimilate His life, leaving no room for misunderstanding that He was speaking metaphorically about casual intellectual agreement. This wordplay would have been even more shocking to His Jewish audience and underscores the radical nature of the spiritual intimacy Jesus was proposing.
