Saturday in the Word | Hard Sayings of Jesus

Jesus said some hard things.

Several weeks ago, Terri and I went and watched The Last Supper, a less traumatic telling of Christ’s final week on Earth than one of my favorite movies: The Passion of Christ. While tamer, the Chris Tomlin produced film is fairly well done and shares why Easter matters. In addition to the focus on Holy Week, the movie shared several of Jesus’ miracles alongside a few of His teachings.

If you’ve followed along for any length of time, you know that Jesus presented many challenging teachings during His earthly ministry. We find one such hard saying in the Gospel of John:

Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day, because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink.

John 6:54-55 HCSB

This statement was difficult for many to understand, even for those who followed Him, leading some to turn away. It calls for deep reflection on the spiritual nourishment Christ offers and challenges believers to embrace the mystery of faith and communion with Him. Jesus emphasizes the importance of a deep, abiding relationship with Him, which transcends physical understanding.

What did Jesus mean?

Jesus’ words about “eating His flesh” and “drinking His blood” in John 6:54-55 invite us to explore the profound spiritual meaning behind them. This teaching emphasizes the necessity of having a deep, personal, and sustaining relationship with Him.

In the context of His ministry, Jesus often used metaphors to convey spiritual truths. Here, He refers to the intimate and transformative relationship believers are called to have with Him. By “eating His flesh” and “drinking His blood,” Jesus encourages us to internalize His teachings and to draw life from Him, much like sustenance we receive from food and drink.

Through this statement, Jesus introduces the Lord’s Supper, where believers participate in the sacrament symbolizing unity with Christ and remembrance of His sacrifice. It is a call to abide in Him, accepting the salvation and eternal life He offers through His death and resurrection—a relationship marked by faith, commitment, and transformation.

In understanding this hard saying, contemplate Jesus’ invitation to embrace Him fully, receiving the spiritual nourishment that leads to eternal life, and reflect on how His sacrificial love sustains and redeems us.

In the context of Communion these verses reflect the profound spiritual reality that believers are invited to participate in. While Jesus initially spoke these words in the broader context of emphasizing a deep, abiding relationship, they certainly resonate with the sacrament of Communion that He instituted later.

Communion serves as a tangible expression of remembering Christ’s sacrifice—His body broken and His blood shed for humanity’s salvation.

When we partake in Communion, we are reminded of the deep, abiding connection with Christ that John 6:54-55 encapsulates—a relationship rooted in love, sacrifice, and the promise of eternal life.