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.” John 6:53 ESV1
Read John 6:29-67
As recorded in the latter half of John 6, Jesus, in some manner, repeatedly referred to Himself as the Bread of Life. He claimed to be “‘the Living Bread that came down from Heaven [and explained that] if anyone [ate] of this Bread, he [would] live forever … [He clarified] the Bread that [He gave] for the life of the World [was His] Flesh’” (John 6:51). Jesus insisted, “‘Whoever feeds on My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day’” (John 6:54). Why did Jesus push the issue of consuming both His Body and His Blood though it offended the religious and secular, the seeker and the devoted alike?
If Jesus’ Blood was shed for our sins, why did Jesus say we must partake of both His Blood and His Flesh? And why did “Jesus on the night when He was betrayed [take] bread, and when He had given thanks, … [break] it, and [say], ‘This is My Body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ [And] in the same way, also … [take] the cup, after supper, [and say], ‘This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25)? Why the emphasis on remembering both His sacrificed Body and His spilled Blood? Are they not for the same thing?