To gain the value bread has to offer it must be eaten. Jesus, the spiritual bread who came down from heaven, is eaten by believing on Him.

“came down” = aorist tense indicating a once-and-for-all action, pointing to the single act of the incarnation. Maclaren states that “Heaven must come to earth if earth is to rise to heaven.”

“this bread is my flesh” = This statement would be very hard for the Jews to swallow, so to speak, but Jesus is expounding upon that which He has already said. He is the bread from heaven, but more specifically, the bread from heaven is His flesh which He “will give” for the life of the world. It looks to the future when He will give His flesh on the cross. Again, this bread will be eaten by believing on Him and His atoning sacrifice and its efficacy (ability to save).

“flesh” = sarx = the soft matter that covers the bones; thus the nature of man. This word puts emphasis on the physical side of life. The usual term to be used would be “body” but Jesus probably used “flesh” because of its crude forcefulness. It could not be ignored by the Jewish listeners; it would have riveted attention on the sacrifice He would make for mankind.

“the world” = Jesus came to give His life as an atoning sacrifice for sinners. This includes Jews and Gentiles alike.

Robertson states that “Jesus has here presented to this Galilean multitude the central fact of his atoning death for the spiritual life of the world.” and elsewhere “The wonder and the glory of it all, but quite beyond the insight of this motley crowd.” (RWP)

As noted before, to eat is to assimilate into one’s own being that which is “eaten.” The food we take in actually becomes part of our own bodies. When we “eat” of Christ, we get much more than just His gifts of salvation, relationship with God, peace, etc. We get Christ Himself! He becomes part of our being as we assimilate Him into ourselves. The holy life we could never have dreamed of living now becomes quite possible — not because we have become better — but because the Holy One of God now resides in our hearts and when we let Him live His life through us, all things become possible. We can be Jesus to a lost and dying world because we carry Jesus around in our hearts as part of our essential being. He now lives within us.

We can have food on our plates but if we never eat it, then it is worthless. To have any value, the food we have available to us must be eaten. This is true of the once-and-for-all action of believing upon Christ and receiving His gift of salvation, and it is also true of feasting upon Him every day to maintain our strength and health and in order to grow spiritually. We need Jesus. We need to spend time with Him and “eat” of the bread of heaven continuously. How do we do this? By talking with Him in prayer and by listening to Him by reading His Word. Don’t leave your food on your plate untouched. Feast upon Him and what He has for you every opportunity you have.