Johannes 6 en die heilige Nagmaal

Abstract

John 6 and holy Communion. It is often observed that the Gospel of John, in its account of the passion week, does not give attention to the Lord's Supper. John definitely does recount a final, special, climactic supper of Jesus with his disciples (John 13:21 ff). But what he fails to mention is the institution of the bread and cup which relate to the body and blood of Christ. Already in chapter 6 John had presented what clearly seems to be an interpretation of the bread and the cup in connection with the Lord’s Supper. In a long, interpretative discourse Jesus speaks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The heart of that interpretative discourse is that the believer is to eat and drink Jesus Himself. This is stated quite crassly in materialistic terms. The metaphor of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is however used by Jesus to explain the mystery of a continuing communion with Him as the crucified and resurrected Lord.