There are a lot of challenging statements in the Bible. And not just challenging to us, Jesus’ own disciples found His teaching hard to embrace. Take blood, for example. There’s blood all over the place in the Bible, it’s not kosher, it’s kind of creepy, and we’re supposed to drink it?!
The best way for us to study challenging passages is to read the whole Bible in context. Certainly, Jesus was speaking about blood in the physical sense at times. For example, there is no forgiveness of sins without the (literal) shedding of blood”. But let’s not forget that one of Jesus’ most powerful teaching tools was the use of metaphor/parable.
When Jesus met a woman at a well, he told her that he would give her water, which if she received, would cause her to never thirst again. We don’t think that He was talking about something that she would literally put in her mouth, do we? No. Jesus was speaking of drinking from Himself in the spiritual sense. He means if we thirst for spiritual things, and we all do regardless of our belief system, we need go no further than to receive Him to be completely and perfectly quenched. Jesus satisfies our hunger and thirst for spiritual significance. Jesus provides the answer to every question regarding our life’s purpose. And in Him, our spirits are eternally satisfied.
Has My teaching offended you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascend to return to where He came from? The Spirit brings life. The flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have been teaching you are spirit and life John 6:61-63 The Voice
