Tried To Get To Him (6:52-59)

[52] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this Man give us his flesh to eat?
[53] Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.
[54] Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
[55] For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
[56] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
[57] As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
[58] This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
[59] These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

Tried to Get To Him (vv. 52–59)

Striving means "to fight and argue." Because they were orthodox Jews, the people who heard it knew that God forbade eating human flesh or any kind of blood (Gen. 9:3–4; Lev. 17:10–16; 19:26). In John 2:19–21; 3:4; and 4:11, we see another example of people misunderstanding a spiritual truth by taking it literally. Jesus said, "You must take Me into your innermost being so that I can give you life, just as you take food and drink into your body and they become a part of you."

Some people say that Jesus was talking about the Lord's Supper and that when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we are eating His flesh and drinking His blood. I don't think Jesus meant the Communion (or Eucharist) when He said these things.

First of all, why would He talk about the Lord's Supper with a group of rude nonbelievers? He hadn't even told His own followers the truth! Why would He throw this valuable pearl to the pigs?

Second, He made it clear that He wasn't being literal (John 6:63). He was using a human example to explain a spiritual truth, just like He did with Nicodemus and the woman from Samaria.

Third, Jesus made it clear that eating and drinking were absolutely necessary for eternal life. He did not make any exceptions. If He was talking about a church ordinance (or sacrament), then everyone who hasn't done that is spiritually dead and going to hell. This would include all the saints from the Old Testament, the thief on the cross, and a lot of people who have put their faith in Christ in times of need (like in hospitals, accidents, foxholes, etc.). I can't believe that our kind God has left out everyone who can't go to a church ceremony from salvation.

The tense of the Greek verbs in John 6:50–51 and 53 is another thing to think about. It is the aorist tense, which means that something happened once and for all. The Communion service happens over and over again. In fact, it is likely that the early church had the Lord's Supper every day (Acts 2:46).
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The term "flesh" is notably absent from all accounts of the Lord's Supper, both in the Gospels and in 1 Corinthians 11:23–34. The term employed is body.

If someone thinks that our Lord was talking about the Communion service, they must think that the bread and the fruit of the vine somehow become the body and blood of Christ. He said, "so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." (John 6:57). How does this "miracle" happen? What is the key to getting it done? Why isn't it apparent?

The gospel of John is full of symbols and pictures that show what our Lord said. Taking them literally is the same mistake that the first people who heard them made.