JOHN 6:53-58 NKJV

Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

JOHN 6:53-58 NKJV

John 6:53–58 Eats my flesh and drinks my blood is not a reference to the Lord’s table, which He would institute a year later. For one thing, Christ has made abundantly clear in this context that eternal life is gained by believing (vv. 29, 35, 40, 47). These verses are teaching that the benefits of Christ’s death must be appropriated by each person. Christ has made explicitly clear that such appropriation is by faith.