We have seen that incarnation is the first step and that crucifixion is the second. Resurrection is the third step by which the Lord has made Himself available as our life. Several times in John 6 the Lord mentions something about “life” and “living.” On the one hand, He said that He was the bread of life; on the other hand, He said that He was the living bread (6:35, 51). Do you understand the difference between the bread of life and the living bread? Perhaps you may feel that both phrases mean the same. However, the proper way to study the Word is to investigate both phrases and determine the reason for the difference between them. The bread of life refers to the nature of the bread, which is life; the living bread refers to the condition of the bread, which is living. He is the living bread. Although He was crucified and slain, He is still living. He alone is the living One in resurrection. Verse 56 implies the matter of resurrection. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him.” This indicates that the Lord had to be resurrected that He might abide in us as our life and life supply. The Lord could not have abode in us before His resurrection. He could only abide in us after His resurrection. Thus, verse 56 indicates that He was going to be resurrected and become the indwelling Spirit.
In verse 57 the Lord says, “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me shall also live because of Me.” Eating is to take food into us to be assimilated into our body organically. Hence, to eat the Lord Jesus is to receive Him into us to be assimilated by the regenerated new man in the way of life. Then we live by Him whom we receive. It is by this that He lives in us as the resurrected One (14:19-20). In principle, this also is the changing of death into life.
Ascension follows resurrection. The Lord’s ascension is referred to in verse 62. Responding to His disciples who were murmuring about His words, the Lord said, “What then if you should see the Son of Man ascending where He was before?” Here in this verse His ascension is clearly mentioned. Ascension is the proof of the completion of His redemptive work (Heb. 1:3). The Lord ascended to the Father, and the Father accepted Him. That was a proof that His work on the cross for our redemption was acceptable to the Father. Thus, the Lord was seated at the right hand of the Father. His work on the cross satisfied God the Father.
Verse 63 says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” At this point, the Spirit who gives life is brought in. After resurrection and through resurrection, the Lord Jesus, who had become flesh (1:14), became the Spirit who gives life, as is clearly mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:45. It is as the life-giving Spirit that He can be the life and life supply to us. When we receive Him as the crucified and resurrected Savior, the Spirit who gives life comes into us to impart eternal life to us.
Many people understand verse 63 incorrectly, thinking that the flesh signifies humanity with its human nature. According to the context, the flesh here refers to the meat of the physical body, the same as in the previous verses where the Lord said that His flesh was edible. The Jews could not understand how He could give His flesh for them to eat. They thought that He would give them the meat of His physical body (v. 52). They did not understand the Lord’s word rightly. To them it was a hard word (v. 60). At this point, the Lord said that it is the Spirit that gives life and that the flesh profits nothing. In other words, the Lord told them that He would become the Spirit. He would not be literally in the flesh, but would be transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit. Thus, in verse 63 the Lord explained that what He would give them to eat is not the meat of His physical body; the meat, which is of the flesh, profits nothing. What He would give eternally is the Spirit who gives life, who is Himself in resurrection.
What kind of Christ have you received? Have you received Christ in the flesh or as the Spirit? The Apostle Paul said that formerly some knew Christ in the flesh, but now they know Him in the flesh no longer (2 Cor. 5:16). Now they know Christ as the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Before His death and resurrection, the Lord was incarnated in the flesh; after His death and resurrection, He was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Therefore, the Christ we now receive is not the Christ in the flesh, but the Christ who is the Spirit. When we come to John 20, we shall see that on the evening of His resurrection, He came to His disciples and breathed on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (20:22). That was Himself after His resurrection, for after His resurrection He was transfigured into the Spirit. He was no longer in the flesh as He was before His crucifixion. Now He is the Spirit; therefore, they had to receive the Spirit. Before His death, when He was in the flesh, all He could do was be with and among His disciples, but He could not be in them. Now, as the Spirit, it is easy for Him to be within us.
Today, we do not need to contact the Lord physically. Since He is the Spirit, we can contact Him as the Spirit within us. He is the life-giving Spirit. Since He is the Spirit, we can take Him and feed upon Him as our food.
When we receive the Lord Jesus, we get the Spirit who gives life. We can prove this by the matter of calling on the name of the Lord Jesus. When we call, “O Lord Jesus,” we receive the Spirit. We call on the Lord Jesus, but we receive the Spirit. Why? Because the Lord Jesus today is the Spirit. The fact that we get the Spirit when we call on the name of Jesus is a strong proof that the Lord Jesus is the Spirit today. Whoever says, “Lord Jesus,” is in the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Jesus is the name, and the Spirit is the person. The Spirit is the person of Jesus. At this point we need to read John 14:26. “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all things which I said to you.” The Father sends the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, in the name of the Son. The Spirit is sent in the name of the Son. Who is the Spirit? The Spirit is the person of Jesus. Thus, we have both the name and the person. The best way to get the Spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. Whenever you call, “O Lord Jesus,” you receive the person, and the person is the Spirit. Whenever we call on the name of the Lord Jesus, we get the Spirit. The Spirit is the person of the dear Lord Jesus.