Living the Eternal Life
Upon this the Jews began murmuring against Jesus for saying—”I am the Bread which came down from Heaven.”
“Is not this Jesus, Joseph’s son,” they asked, “whose father and mother we know? How is it that he now says that he has come down from Heaven?”
“Do not murmur among yourselves,” said Jesus in reply. “No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him to me; and I will raise him up at the Last Day. It is said in the Prophets—
“‘And they shall all be taught by God.’
“Every one who is taught by the Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father, except him who is from God—he has seen the Father. In truth I tell you, he who believes in me has Immortal Life. I am the Life-giving Bread. Your ancestors ate the manna in the Wilderness, and yet died. The Bread that comes down from Heaven is such that whoever eats of it will never die. I am the Living Bread that has come down from Heaven. If any one eats of this Bread, he will live for ever; and the Bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the Life of the world.”
Upon this the Jews began disputing with one another:
“How is it possible for this man to give us his flesh to eat?”
“In truth I tell you,” answered Jesus, “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have not Life within you. He who takes my flesh for his food, and drinks my blood, has Immortal Life; and I will raise him up at the Last Day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood true drink. He who takes my flesh for his food, and drinks my blood, remains united to me, and I to him. As the Living Father sent me as his Messenger, and as I live because the Father lives, so he who takes me for his food shall live because I live. That is the Bread which has come down from Heaven—not such as your ancestors ate, and yet died; he who takes this Bread for his food shall live for ever.”
All this Jesus said in a Synagogue, when he was teaching in Capernaum.
—John.