In popular culture there seems to be somewhat of an obsession with vampires and other mythical type monsters. There are films and TV shows that depict them as 'normal people' with a strange habit and those that present them as evil personified. They drink blood and eat human flesh. A rather graphic and distasteful image. Whatever the case there's no mention of them in the Bible!
When Jesus spoke in John about eating His flesh and drinking His blood the people of the day must have been both confused and shocked. Jesus' words are equally graphic. But they are intentional also. This level of graphic language shocks the hearer or reader. It causes you to stop and ask yourself - "What does Jesus mean here?". It certainly caused the crowd to ask this question.
Now we have the benefit of hindsight. We can see the story more fully than they. But lets not simplify this statement down to just a communion service where we eat bread and drink wine symbolically. What Jesus is saying is deeper than that. He's saying "you have got to participate in the life I live". We cant be spectators or distant admirers. We cant simply observe that Jesus was an amazing person. That wont allow us to experience the wonder of having eternal life within us.
It's hard to consider the words "eat my flesh" and "drink my blood" without being fully immersed in the life of Jesus. That's not a light touch christian experience. It's a full on, radical transformation of living for Him. There's a part of me that reacts by saying "I'm not there yet". But I'm certainly having a nibble and a sip!
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