“So Jesus said to them, ‘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 you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.’” (John 6:53-54)
As we have been reading in John 6, Jesus is the Bread of Life. Though all men claim to seek true wisdom in life, it comes only from feeding on this Bread, Jesus Himself. Luther taught that Jesus was speaking of faith, faith in Him alone as the source of spiritual and eternal life. Yet when Jesus said this to the Jews they were confused because they assumed that faith was insufficient. To make one self right with God religious deeds and animal sacrifices were required. Such deeds were defined by the Mosaic Law. But, as Jesus says, the flesh is no help at all.
Faith in Jesus as the Bread of Life confuses our contemporary culture as it did the Jews, though for a different reason. Our culture values and emphasizes the sovereignty of the individual as well as freedom of choice. This contradicts what Jesus says. He teaches that it is impossible for man by his own efforts to achieve salvation. Salvation comes not by mere mental assent, or by agreeing that Jesus was a good man, a good moral teacher, perhaps one among many. Salvation comes not by religion or good works no matter how noble or charitable.
Salvation is by eating the Bread of Life, that is, by having faith in Jesus, by the bowing of the knee to acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our sins and accept the mercy, grace and eternal life earned by Jesus work on the cross of Calvary. It is not just a matter of believing about Him, but of trusting in Him alone for eternal salvation. And mankind does not like that idea because man has no control over it nor does it boost his self-esteem or pride to realize that he is incapable of doing good. We all need faith in Jesus to enter into eternal life. We all need to say with Peter “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)