Jesus used the manna as the basis for what he taught next. Though the manna was a miraculous provision from God, those who ate it eventually died. (John 6:49) In contrast, Jesus called himself “the true bread from heaven,” “the bread of God,” and “the bread of life.” (John 6:32, 33, 35) Jesus pointed to a key difference between the manna and himself. He said: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.” (Read John 6:51.) Those Jews were puzzled. How could Jesus claim to have come down from heaven as “the bread” superior to the miraculous manna that God gave their forefathers? Jesus provided an interesting clue when he said: “The bread that I will give is my flesh.” What could he have meant? We should want to understand because the answer shows how everlasting life is possible for us and our loved ones. Let us see what Jesus meant.

LIVING BREAD AND HIS FLESH

4. Why were some shocked by what Jesus said?

⁴ Some of those hearing Jesus were shocked when he spoke of giving his “flesh in behalf of the life of the world.” Did they think that he was going to give them his literal flesh to eat, which would be a form of cannibalism? (John 6:52) Note this startling detail that Jesus added: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.”​—John 6:53.

5. Why can we be sure that Jesus did not mean that people would have to drink his literal blood?

⁵ Back in Noah’s day, God prohibited humans from consuming blood. (Gen. 9:3, 4) Jehovah repeated that restriction in his Law to Israel. Anyone eating blood was to “be put to death.” (Lev. 7:27, ftn.) Jesus upheld that Law. (Matt. 5:17-19) So it is unthinkable that he would urge a crowd of Jews to consume his actual flesh or drink the blood in his veins. Nonetheless, with this striking statement, Jesus was, in fact, teaching the people how to gain life​—“everlasting life.”​—John 6:54.

6. In what sense are we to understand Jesus’ words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood?

⁶ What was Jesus’ point? Clearly, Jesus was speaking in a figurative sense, as he had done earlier when he told a Samaritan woman: “Whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty at all, but the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water bubbling up to impart everlasting life.” (John 4:7, 14)b Jesus was not suggesting that the Samaritan woman would get everlasting life simply by drinking certain literal water. Similarly, he was not saying that the crowds he spoke to in Capernaum would live forever if they ate his literal flesh and drank his literal blood.

11. What did Jesus say in Galilee that shows that he was not referring to a limited group?

¹¹ When Jesus was in Galilee in 32 C.E., he was mainly addressing Jews who wanted bread from him. However, he called their attention to something much more beneficial than literal food. He identified a provision by which they could gain everlasting life. And Jesus said that those who died could be resurrected on the last day and live forever. He was not referring to a chosen few, a limited number, as he did later during the Lord’s Evening Meal. Rather, in Galilee he focused on a blessing that would be available to all people. In fact, he said: “If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever . . . The bread that I will give is my flesh in behalf of the life of the world.”​—John 6:51.c

12. What is needed to gain the benefits Jesus spoke of?

¹² Jesus did not tell the Jews in Galilee that this blessing would come to every person who had ever lived or would ever be born. Only the ones who ‘eat of this bread,’ those who exercise faith, will benefit.