THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS, THE CHRIST AND THE SON OF GOD, ACCORDING TO JOHN. Manfred Diefenbach
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of the heavenly “God” (v. 46a) on earth (cf. 7:29; 9:16, 33; 17:7) like the “Son” of God573 (v. 40b) as “revealer” – note especially the verb “horáo” in verse 46a, c and in 14:9– of the “Father” (v. 46a, c – note the chiastic structure574). This statement has to be a scandal in the ears of the Jewish people – blasphemy (cf., for example, 10:36).
v. 47: The basis/precondition for the life-giving (to “have eternal life” in vv. 40b, 47b, 54a2 and in John 3:15–16, 36; 5:24, 39[; 10:10; 20:31]; 1 John 3:15; 5:13) is the continual faith/belief of the believers in Him (cf. vv. 29c, 35d, 40b, 47b and John 3:15–16, 36; 5:24).
v. 48: The phrase of self-revelation mentions again the topic: “I am the Bread of Life” in verse 35b as “eternal life” (vv. 40b, 47b, 54a2). So He shares His life with those who believe in Him. He is essential for our life.
Verses 49–51 show the alternative as a contrast – eternal death versus eternal life575 – with the help of an antithetic parallelism576:
v. 49: In the past, the Jewish “fathers”/ancestors (v. 48a) “died” (vv. 49b, 50c) in spite of “eating ( ) the manna” (in Greek “mánna” in vv. 31a, 49, [58c]) “(in the desert)” (cf. Exodus 16:16–18, 21–26) as physical and temporal food.
v. 50: Now, however, Jesus is the “Bread from Heaven” (vv. 33a, 41c, 51b) and the “Bread of Life” (vv. 35b, 48, 51a) which “you /may/ eat” (vv. 49a, 50c) “and /do/ not die” (vv. 49b, 50c)
v. 51: and you “will live forever” (vv. 51c, 58e – in others words: You have “eternal life” (vv. 27b, 40c, 47b, 51d, 54a2, 58e) – note the parallelism577 in verses 50a–c and 51a–c. He has finished the lack of eating, drinking, dying578. God, our Father in “Heaven”, had given the manna as His life-giving food to the ancestors in the desert, but Jesus, His Son, is more: He, the “Son of Man” (v. 53c) is the real, “personal life-giver” for the believers in Him. The life-giver is also the giving/gift of God in Jesus579. This gift, the “eternal life”, based on the personal relationship/faith/belief in Him (cf. vv. 29c, 35d, 40b, 47b and John 3:15–16, 36; 5:24), the teacher, helper and guide like a “Good Shepherd” (cf. 10:11–21).
In a nutshell, verses 51 and 58 are a summary of the (Eucharistic) discourse “Bread from Heaven” in verse 31c. The main points in verses 51 and 58 are as listed below:
v. 51a: Jesus is (“I am”580 – cf. Exodus 3:14 in the sense of JHWH) the “Bread” (vv. 41b, 58a – note the inclusion here!) “of Life” (vv. 35b, 48), “the (living581) bread ( )” (cf. v. 51a);
v. 51b: The “manna” respectively Jesus has “come down from Heaven”582 (vv. 33a, 41c2–d, 50a2–b, 51a2–b, 58a2–b). Once God gave Moses the manna for the Jewish forefathers in the desert583 (cf. vv. 31a–c, 32c–d, 49, 58a–d). However, Jesus, the “Son of Man” (vv. 27e, 53c, 62a), the “son of Joseph” (v. 42b), and “Son of God” (cf. v. 40a), gave His life for the life of “the world”/people (cf. vv. 33, 51g) like the “Lamb of God” (cf. 1:29, 36).
And the new main points of His speech are:
v. 51c: He gives “eternal life”584 (cf. vv. 27b, 40c, 47b, 51d, 54a2, 58d);
v. 51d: Jesus identifies/personifies His “flesh”585 (cf. vv. 51–55 and 1:13–14) with the “Bread from Heaven” “for the (life) of the world ( )” (cf. vv. 14, 33 and John 15:13) – “pro nobis” (in Greek “hupér” in v. 51d and Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24).
+ Jesus’ Eucharistic586 Discourse as a Monologue (vv. 52–58/59)
The significant words in verses 52–58 are “flesh’, “blood”, “eat” and “drink”. The “flesh”/“body” of Jesus in biblical language signify the person of Jesus, the “son of Joseph” (v. 42b). The reference is not to the physical “flesh” (in Greek “sárx” in vv. 51g, 52b, 53c, 54a, 55a, 56a, 63b) and “blood” (in Greek “aῖma” in vv. 53d, 54a, 55b, 56a – cf. Leviticus 7:26–27) of the earthly Jesus, but to the spiritual, Spirit-filled “flesh” and “blood” of the heavenly “Son of Man”. The Eucharist as “the sacramental body” of Jesus, is the real heavenly bread which God gives to human beings/us, as spiritual nourishment for the eternal life, and everlasting being with Jesus: Someone “stays in Me and I in him” (v. 56b) – in Saint Augustine’s words (13th November 354–28th August 430 A.D.):
“To be what you see and receive what you are” (Sermon 272) “and to live as the ‘body of Christ’ so that their Amen will be true”. In other words:
“Receive what you are – ‘body of Christ’/‘corpus Christi’ so that
you become what you receive – ‘body of Christ’/‘corpus Christi’”.
# The Question of “the Jews” (v. 52)
Jesus will give His own “flesh” for “the life of the world” (v. 51g). In the ears of the Jewish people, this is the next scandal – note the verb “máchomaɩ”587 in verse 52a (cf., for example, Exodus 17:2). The Jews’ misunderstanding588 of Jesus’ self-revelation leads to their third protest (cf. vv. 28b–c, 41a–42e) and intervention in the form of an inquiry: “How can this” man– “the son of Joseph” (v. 42b) – “( ) give (us) [His] flesh [ ] /to/ eat”589?
# Jesus’ Answer (vv. 53–58)
v. 53: In the description of the Eucharist as “eating flesh” and “drinking blood”, “flesh and blood” is a Hebrew idiom for the whole person (v. 42b). In this way, the “sacramental communion is a personal communion (encounter) with Jesus who shares his life and the life of his Father with us”590: “This is my body which is given for you” – so Jesus’ words during the Last Supper according to Luke 22:19 and 1 Corinthians 11:24. In the Jewish way of thinking, (life-)blood (cf. John 19:34) stands for the life (cf. Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 15:23). After the “Amen-amen”-phrase (vv. 26b, 32b, 47a, 53b) Jesus replied to this question with a condition: You have to “eat the flesh of ‘Son of Man’” (cf. vv. 27c, 62a and John 1:51; 3:13–14; 5:27; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23, 34; 13:31) and to “drink591 His blood” (cf. vv. 53c, 54a, 56a). He expressed this in a contrasting way: the first one is in a negative way in verse 53d like the (earthly) attitude of “the Jews” with the result: “( ) You have (no) life in you”.
v. 54: The second one is in a positive592 (heavenly, spiritual) way (cf. vv. 54a–c, 56) – “have (eternal) life ( )” (v. 54b – cf. v. 53d) as an imperative and a basic necessity for the eternal life as a “raising them up /on/ the last day” (vv. 39c, 40c, 44c, 54c) like the Easter event.
v. 55: The phrase “(my) flesh ( ) … and (my) blood ( )” (vv. 54a, 55, 56a) as “real food” and “real drink” (v. 55) appears to represent the Eucharistic formula. The meaning of the conclusion of the (Eucharistic) discourse is: Someone who “eats” the “flesh” (vv. 54a, 55, 56a, 58d) of the Glorified “Son of Man” as “real food” (v. 55 –