future tense seems to me a conclusive proof that " my flesh " cannot mean only " my incarnation." The " giving " was about to take place, but had not taken place yet. It could only be His death.
When our Lord says, "I will give my flesh," it appears to me that He can only mean, " I will give it to die, to suller, to be offered up on the cross, as a sacrifice for sin."
When our Lord says, " I will give my flesh for the life of the world," I believe He means, " I will give my body to death, on account of, for the sake of, to procure, purchase, and obtain the life of the world." I will give my death to procure the world's life. My death shall be the ransom, the payment, and the re- demption-money, by which eternal life shall be purchased for a world of sinners "
I hold strongly that the idea of substitution is contained in these words of our Lor J, and that the great doctrine of his vica- rious death, which is so directly stated elsewhere (Rom v. 6 — 8) is indirectly implied in this sentence.
When our Lord says, " I will give my fle^h for the life of the world," I can only see one meaning in the word " world." It means all mankind. And the idea contained, I believe, is the same as we have elsewhere, — viz., that Christ died for all man- kind, not for the elect only, but for all mankind. (See John i. 29, and iii. 16, and my notes on each text.) That all the world is not saved is perfectly certain. That many die in unbelief and get no benefit from Christ's death is certain. But that Christ's death was enough for all mankind, and that when He died He made sufficient atonement for all the world, are truths which, both in this text and others hke it, appear to my mind incontro- vertible.
Let us note in this verse what a full and broad offer Christ holds out to sinners. He says, — " If any man, no matter who or what he may have been, if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." Happy would it be for many, whose whole hearts are set on eating and drinking, and feasting their poor perishable bodies, if they would only look at these words I It is only those who eat this bread who shall hve for ever.
Let us remember how impossible it is for any one to explain the end of this verse wlio denies the sacrificial character of Christ's death. Once grant that Christ is only a great teacher and example, and that His death is only a great pattern of seif- denial, and what sense or meaning can be got out of the end of this verse ? "I will give my flesh for the life of the woiid " 1 I unhesitatingly say that the words are unintelligible nonsense if wo receive the teaching of many modern divines about