53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the fleshof the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent meand I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. -John 6:53-59 NIV
“Ewww. This is so gross! Here, try it!” Have you ever been in this situation? With a friend? A spouse? My immediate response is, “Absolutely not!” (Hopefully, you’ve never been the one to do this to someone!)
Jesus uses a repulsive metaphor to describe life in him. Why would he do this? This certainly isn’t the way to gain more followers or increase his influence. Why describe following him in such an offensive way?
Thinking through this, is it any less repulsive to be asked to limit ourselves for our faith, for the weaker brother or sister, for life in Christ than it is to be asked to eat flesh and drink blood? Not to our American sensibilities. In fact, we would probably come nearer to cannibalism than to the possibility of diminishing ourselves for someone else.
The way of Jesus can be repulsive to us because of what it asks of us. This isn’t a call to a picnic at the beach or tiptoeing through the tulips. It’s a complete surrender to King Jesus, a picking up of our cross daily, laying down of my rights, my way, my life, my everything.
I recoil at the thought of eating Jesus’s flesh and drinking his blood. I recoil no less at the thought of giving up my life in total surrender to him.