6:51
Jesus again claims to be the bread of life, the living bread. The manna was inanimate, Jesus is a living person. Like the manna, He came from heaven. The manna was not natural bread, Jesus is fully human, but He came from heaven. God’s answer to us comes from heaven. In our rebellion we look purely at the earth, if we are in a proper relationship with God then we should also look to heaven. Jesus reiterates that if we eat the true bread of life we will live forever. Then He says that the bread He gives is His flesh. Now the people would immediately interpret this as referring to eating His flesh, an abhorrent thought. What He actually meant was the giving of His life on the cross. The physical death of Jesus on the cross is absolutely central to the fulfilment of God’s plans.
6:52,53
The Jews, the religious leaders, did indeed start arguing about “how can this man give us His flesh to eat”. Now Jesus did not actually say that. He was using metaphorical language in referring to Himself as the bread of life, but He would actually die on the cross. In a sense He makes things “worse” by then talking about drinking His blood! Just to heighten any reaction against what He was saying! However, the mention of blood also clarifies things, and makes it clear that He is talking about His death, not physically eating His flesh.
6:54
Under the Law it was strictly forbidden to eat meat with blood in it, and eating human flesh was obviously wrong. So it seems that Jesus is being deliberately provocative in the way He is speaking. Perhaps Jesus is speaking like this to emphasise the metaphorical nature. The emphasis should be on what Jesus did on the cross.
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