John 6:56 - Exposition

He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I (dwell) in him . This mutual indwelling is illustrated elsewhere ( John 15:1-5 ) by the image of the vine and its branches. The vine abides in the branch in the virtue of its life-giving forces. Cut away from the parent stem, it can do nothing. Fruitlessness condemns and fire consumes it. The branch abides in the vine, as deriving all its worth, its true place, its possibility of growth and fruit, from the vine (cf. also John 17:23 ; 1 John 3:24 ; 1 John 4:16 ). The dwelling of the believer in Christ involves an utter self-surrender to him, a recognition of the supreme claims of the God-Man and his work, a complete trust in him as the Source of all life, a sound and abiding place of rest, a justification before God as one with Christ, as one identified with him in his well pleasing to the Father. The dwelling of Christ in the believer is the fulness and riches of the Divine life. Christ liveth in him ( Galatians 2:20 ), thinks in his thoughts, moves through his will. This is sanctification. The believer is in Christ as the members are in the body. Christ is in the believer as God is in his temple. What is the condition of this mutual indwelling? Christ puts the condition of this Divine interpretation thus: "He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." £ The verb is in the present tense, implying the continuous appropriation of the Divine sustenance.