John 6:55-56 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56The one who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
Jesus repeats many of the same themes in these verses and brings the images of this dialogue all together. Other key themes of John’s Gospel are also found. The significance of the food and drink Jesus supplies is found in the repeated word true (alēthēs). Truth and what is true are key themes in John’s Gospel. Truth is defined in Jesus. His words are true and should be believed. His life is truth because he embodies the purposes of God the Father. To look at Jesus in faith is to believe that God speaks through him. There are many false claims about how to be saved or have eternal life. Every religion seeks something beyond death. Death is the great mystery, and humanity strives to overcome it. As Jesus claims, there is only one way to overcome the power of death and that is through him, who is the resurrection and the life. Because he conquered death, he can provide resurrection to those who trust in him.
Another important theme is introduced in verse 56: abiding in Jesus. Abiding (menei) in Jesus is developed more significantly in 15:1-17. To abide means to remain or stay connected. In John’s Gospel, it has a strong sense of being in a relationship with Jesus of faith, commitment, and obedience. To abide in Jesus means to trust in him and the claims about him and then living out this trust by doing as he commands. There is a reciprocal relationship because Jesus will respond to our faith in him by abiding in us. He later promises the coming of the Holy Spirit who will live in disciples (14:17) and be the presence of the Father and Son with them.
Abiding is the promise of verse 56. Finding our spiritual nourishment in Jesus is the way to abide and remain in him. The world will tempt us and raise doubts in our minds. Although the text is not explicitly sacramental, the modern reader is reminded of the Lord’s Supper. It is easy to let the Supper become a ritual to us. Theologians refer to it as a means of grace. It can draw us into the presence of Jesus through the Spirit and help us remain in him in relationship. Any spiritual practice can become empty of power without faith, so we must remind ourselves that the goal of any sacrament is to allow our faith, hope, and love to Jesus grow stronger.
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