John6:58
Previous VerseTranslation
This is the bread that has come down from heaven; it is not like what the fathers ate and then died. The one who eats this bread will live to the age.
Paraphrase
I am the source of life that has come directly from God; I am not like the temporary provision for life that our ancestors ate and then later died. The one who is plugged into me as a source of life will live forever.
Why did Jesus say this?
Jesus was saying that whoever did not take part in His sacrificial act could not have salvation. But whoever took that shed blood for himself as a life-giving sustenance would be under His covenant and enjoy life for eternity. In the end the image of drinking His blood is the twin brother to the image of being sprinkled by His blood. His blood (his covenant) and His flesh (the sacrifice of His life for ours) are the only true source of spiritual sustenance, the only thing one can be nourished with in order to have eternal life. The result of participating in, or taking for one’s self, the sacrifice of Christ, is that we will have a close bond to Him (he “abides in me, and I in him”). The converse is also true; the one who does not take Christ’s blood for himself will die.