John 6:54-58 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Whoso eateth my flesh, &c., hath eternal life Has the principles of eternal life implanted in him, and shall enjoy it; for I will raise him up, &c. For my flesh is meat indeed, &c. My flesh and blood are the true nutriment of the soul: they feed it and make it grow: they give vigour to all the faculties, preserve it in spiritual life, and make it fit for heaven. He that eateth my flesh, &c., dwelleth in me, and I in him By an intimate and inseparable union. As the living Father The great source of life and felicity; has sent me, and I live by the Father Being one with him: or, as to my human nature, live by his support, protection, and care; he continually dwelling in me, and communicating his Spirit to me in the richest abundance of gifts and graces; so he that eateth me That confides in, and cleaves to me, by a lively operative faith; shall live by me A spiritual, holy, and happy life, through the Spirit which I will communicate to him: he shall be united to me by an internal and vital union. This is the bread This, of which I speak, or, I am the bread; which came down from heaven For the purposes aforesaid. Not as your fathers did eat manna, &c. This bread is not like the manna which your fathers ate, who died notwithstanding; and it is not to be eaten the same way that your fathers did eat the manna, nor with the same effect; for he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever He shall be so far from dying, as your fathers did in the wilderness, that his life and happiness shall have no end, but shall run parallel with the longest line of eternity itself.