Homilies on the Gospel of John

“Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have not eternal life in yourselves. Whoso eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, has life in himself.”

1. When we converse of spiritual things, let there be nothing secular in our souls, nothing earthy, let all such thoughts retire, and be banished, and let us be entirely given up to the hearing the divine oracles only. For if at the arrival of a king all confusion is driven away, much more when the Spirit speaks with us do we need great stillness, great awe. And worthy of awe is that which is said today. How it is so, hear. “Verily I say unto you, Except a man eat My flesh, and drink My blood, he has not eternal life in him.” Since the Jews had before asserted that this was impossible, He shows not only that it is not impossible, but that it is absolutely necessary. Wherefore He adds, “He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood, has eternal life.”

“And I will raise him up at the last day.” For since He had said, “He that eats of this bread shall not die for ever”, and it was likely that this would stand in their way, (just as they before said, “Abraham is dead, and the prophets are dead; and how sayest Thou, that he shall not taste of death?”) He brings forward the Resurrection to solve the question, and to show that (the man who eats) shall not die at the last. He continually handles the subject of the Mysteries, showing the necessity of the action, and that it must by all means be done.