Eating the Flesh of the Son of Man and Drinking His Blood for Eternal Life
We will learn what the flesh and blood of the Son of Man represent and how we can eat and drink them in order to receive eternal life.
Reading Passage: John 6:53–55 (NASB)
“unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves”
Jesus also said, “The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” (John 6:54–55, NASB)
Just as a person must eat food to stay alive and healthy in this world, we must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man to keep our spiritual life and receive eternal life. Then what do His flesh and blood mean, and how do we eat and drink them? Why is it that we can receive eternal life only when we eat His flesh and drink His blood?
1. What It Means to Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man
Jesus said in John 6:53, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” (NASB) The flesh of the Son of Man refers to the flesh of Jesus, which means the Word of the Lord God. The Bible says, “The Word was God.” (John 1:1, NASB) And it also says, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, NASB) Jesus also said, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.” (John 6:51, NASB)
This means that we can receive eternal life only when we eat the true food, the flesh of the Son of Man, which is the Word of the Lord God. To eat His flesh is to take the Word of God recorded in the sixty-six books of the Bible as our spiritual food. Taking the Word as our food does not mean knowing the Bible only as knowledge. It means changing ourselves through the Word. A person who only stores the Word as knowledge forgets it over time and does not practice it. But a person who keeps the Word as food in the heart remembers its spiritual meaning, meditates on it, and shows it in action.
For example, if someone knows the verse “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44, NASB) only in the mind and does not keep it as food in the heart, he will feel hurt and hatred when someone does evil to him. In the end, he responds with evil again. But if he has taken the command “love” as food in his heart, even if he forgets the chapter and verse number, love and compassion rise naturally when someone acts with evil. By taking the Word of God as food in this way, we experience truth filling the heart and untruth leaving the heart.
2. How to Eat the Flesh of the Son of Man
Exodus 12 teaches about the Passover lamb, and it shows us how we can eat the flesh of the Son of Man, who is symbolized by the Lamb of God. It says, “Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire… and whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.” (Exodus 12:9–10, NASB)
First, what does it mean when God says, “Do not eat it raw”? It means we must not interpret the Word of the Lord God only by the literal letters without understanding its spiritual meaning. Raw meat is hard to digest and can cause sickness. In the same way, if we take the Word only in a literal and surface-level way, we end up with the wrong understanding. For example, Jesus said, “But when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret.” (Matthew 6:6, NASB) If we interpret this literally, we must always pray inside a room. But nowhere in the Bible do we see the forefathers of faith praying only in small rooms. Jesus Himself prayed on mountains and in quiet places. The “inner room” spiritually means the heart. So entering the inner room means shutting out worldly thoughts and praying with all our heart, mind, and strength. Therefore, to eat the flesh of the Son of Man, we must not interpret the Word only literally but understand its spiritual meaning through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and take it as food.
Next, when God says, “Do not boil it with water,” it means we must not mix the Word of God with worldly ideas. For example, if someone shares the Word and then quotes a human philosopher to make it sound wise, it is not the pure truth anymore. Human thoughts and knowledge are limited, and even great ideas are not perfect. But the Word of the Lord God is higher than any human knowledge (1 Corinthians 1:25). It is the only truth and never changes. Therefore, we must not mix the Word with worldly ideas.
God also said, “Roast its head, legs, and inner parts with fire,” meaning we must take all the Word of God—from Genesis to Revelation—as our spiritual food. Some people skip difficult parts like Leviticus or do not believe in the works and miracles of God. If they choose only what is easy or agreeable, what remains is nothing more than ethical teaching. And if they ignore the commands that are hard to obey, they cannot grow in faith or receive eternal life, no matter how much they read the Bible. We must not take only certain parts of the Word but must believe all of it and take it as food. That is why God commanded the people to eat the lamb whole. The fire represents the fire of the Holy Spirit. This means we must understand the Word through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and take it as spiritual food. If someone interprets the Word by force without the Holy Spirit, he may fall into untruth and go toward death (2 Peter 3:16).
Finally, what does it mean when God says, “Do not leave any of it until morning, and whatever is left until morning you shall burn with fire”? This world is spiritually night because the enemy, the devil, holds power over it. But when the Lord, the true light, returns, it will become morning spiritually. When He returns, there will be no more chance to prepare the heart, remove evil, or change into a true child of God. A person may regret and say, “I should have removed evil faster. I should have become sanctified to enter a better place in Heaven. I should have stored more rewards,” but by then it will be too late. So the command not to leave the meat until morning means we must quickly take the Word of God as our spiritual food and finish preparing ourselves as the bride of Christ before the Lord returns.
3. What It Means to Drink the Blood of the Son of Man
Jesus said, “The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.” (John 6:54–55, NASB) Just as we must drink water along with food to stay alive, we must drink the blood of the Son of Man along with eating His flesh to receive eternal life. Food and water together allow digestion, absorption of nutrients, and the removal of waste. In the same way, we must drink His blood along with eating His flesh to keep our spiritual life.
To drink the blood of the Son of Man means to practice the Word of the Lord God that we have taken as our spiritual food. When we obey and practice the Word, it becomes spiritual faith and spiritual life. That is why the Bible says, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected.” (James 2:22, NASB) When we practice the Word that we have taken as food, truth is absorbed into the heart, and untruth is removed. This changes the heart from darkness to light.
For example, when we take the command “Do not hate. Love one another” as our food and put it into practice, the nourishment of love is absorbed, and the waste of hatred is removed. As we continue to take the Word of the Lord God as food and obey it, untruth leaves the heart, and the heart becomes good and truthful.
I hope you understand the spiritual meaning of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man. May you take the Word of God as your daily food and keep it in obedience so that you may receive eternal life.
Plus: What Is the Lamb?
A “lamb” refers to a one-year-old sheep that has never mated. Spiritually, it represents Jesus, who is perfect, spotless, and pure. A lamb is gentle, obedient, and gives its wool, milk, and meat without holding anything back. In the same way, Jesus fully obeyed the will of the Lord God and gave even His own life for our salvation. Some people misunderstand and think the lamb represents new believers, because the Bible often calls believers “sheep.” But the Lamb does not refer to beginners in faith. It refers only to Jesus Christ, who is pure and without blemish.
Memory Verse: John 6:53 (NASB)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.”
Reference Verse: Exodus 12:9–10 (NASB)
“Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails. And you shall not leave any of it over until morning, but whatever is left of it until morning, you shall burn with fire.”
