In episode 168 of the No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast, host Greg Ryan explores John 6:51‑58, the passage where Jesus tells his followers to “eat my flesh and drink my blood.” Ryan recounts creating a provocative “Eat Me…the Truth” t‑shirt based on that verse, the push‑back he received from his Southern‑Baptist brother, and his decision to keep the shirt off the market. He uses the passage to illustrate his “no plan B” theology: Jesus demands total, exclusive commitment, and those who reject the hard saying are weeded out. Ryan highlights the disciples’ reaction, especially Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ and the source of eternal life, presenting it as the ideal response. He distinguishes physical from spiritual truth, linking the passage to the Eucharist/Lord’s Supper, and frames divine testing as a silent teacher that forces believers to rely on prayer and the Holy Spirit. Throughout, Ryan urges listeners to surrender fully to Christ, pray for guidance, and embrace the difficult, narrow path without compromise. The episode ends with a prayer reaffirming the central claims.
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Welcome to episode 168.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Spending time in the Word of God is the best way to spend time with God. Welcome to No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast, where we will encourage, inspire, and empower you to live your best life in Christ. Here's Greg.
Welcome to episode 168. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, I told you yesterday, or the last episode, that I was going to talk about a place where I read— it's in John, it's in John chapter 6— where I said, I said to myself, did God really just say that? In fact, just because I am built this way, I made a t-shirt based on this specific thing. And my brother, who is a Baptist minister, Southern Baptist minister, pretty much told me, you can't print that shirt. But I printed it anyway. I just never sold it. And I may have to put a picture of it up on the line somewhere. This specific shirt, if you've ever seen 1211 Apparel, you'll know that the truth signs everything. And that is because Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father except through me. So instead of putting Jesus' name on the shirts when he signs his name. I just use one of his pseudo names, which is the truth. And you know, there are 7 I AMs in John, and one of the I AMs is I am the truth. I am the way, the truth, and the life. So anyway, I let Jesus sign the truth at the bottom of every shirt. And this particular shirt is based on John 6. Let me get the exact— it is John 6:51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. And then it goes on in 53. 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. And when you read that scripture, and it bet— by the way, if you're wondering, if you're working out or mowing the grass or walking or running or driving a car, The shirt says, "Eat me... the truth." And that, I thought, was just the best shirt that would start the most conversations. And my Southern Baptist preacher brother told me, "Look, you can't." I said, "Well, is it not scriptural?" And he said, "Yes, it is scriptural. You are gonna mislead people, or you are gonna have people read it wrong." And I, you know, I'm still praying about it. But I currently— is not for sale, but I think it is an incredible truth. He just kind of says something and then he just says, God does not back down. And I— and here's the point that I wanted to make in the previous couple of episodes where I said there's no plan B. Well, Jesus pretty much gets his disciples to that understanding that there's no plan B. In fact, my favorite apostle Peter pretty much tells Jesus, hey, where are we going to go? I mean, you are the one that has life. In fact, I'll read that later. I want you to see how Jesus doubles down on this eat me phrase, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna read John 6:51-58, and I need you to just bear with me. I know I have superior reading skills, but I want you to listen to all the time Jesus says Eat me, to his disciples. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? 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. And I just want you to let that sink in for a minute, but Jesus just pretty much said, eat me. And I know this tongue-in-cheek, but I can't think of anything— I mean, he said eat me and drink my blood is exactly what he just said. And you've got to understand when you read in the Bible that there are physical truths and there are spiritual truths, and this is a spiritual truth. The words that I speak, they are spirit and they are life, Jesus said. And this is a spirit— spiritual truth. And it was talking about the Eucharist or the Lord's Supper that was coming up, that Jesus knows the end from the beginning. He knew he was going to die on the cross. He knew he was going to be raised the third day. And he knew, as a remembrance, that he was going to put in the Lord's Supper as a remembrance at the Passover supper before he went to the cross. But he hadn't gone there yet, and so he's speaking in front of all of these followers. And then I want you to see what Jesus' disciples said. It starts in 60. Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can understand it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples complained about this, he said to them, Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who would betray him. And he said, Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more. And that is so strong. Just because you don't understand the truth, you don't ever just throw your hands up and walk away. Not if you're a disciple of Christ. This is where Jesus weeded out the non-believers. He came up with this incredibly difficult truth, and he just pretty much told them, and then he just sat there and looked at them. How am I— how are we supposed to eat your flesh? And then he goes on and says it 5 more times. Hey, if you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you're, you're dead. If you don't eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in me. It was an incredible truth. Starts in John 6:22, because he had— he kind of getting on to him because all of these people followed him. And this was after that he fed the 5,000 and he walked on the water to get across the way. It's just an incredible story. And Jesus pretty much is saying, look, the only reason you're coming here is because I fed you. And so he calls them out and he says, I am the bread of life. And so this is one of the I ams that Jesus was talking about. But I want you now to listen to what my boy Peter, the Apostle Peter, says, because Jesus, after he watches these— like, let's just say there's probably 200 people in this crowd and 150 of them walk away. Because they just don't understand this saying. This is a hard saying. You know, he's done me in. He just— he's just looking at him. I mean, because he said what he was going to say and he didn't say anything else. And then they walked away and didn't follow him anymore. And then Jesus said to the 12, do you also want to go away? But Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. I want you to understand how powerful the words that Peter spoke to Jesus. He declared Jesus was the Son of the living God. He called him the Christ, the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God. Peter pretty much said, look, where would we go? We got no other place to go. We've dropped everything to follow you. You have the words of eternal life. That is where, again, we're talking about that no plan B and just not backing down and just going in, that pearl of great value, just sell everything. We have to sell out on this Jesus following thing. And it's not gonna get easier. It's difficult, it's narrow, it's a hard road, but we're on this road and we just don't ever back down. We just pray to God, we just ask the Holy Spirit, How do you want us to interpret this? What do you want me to do next? I know you had said in your word that you will never leave us nor forsake us. I don't feel like you're here with me right now, God, but I know your word says that you are. So you just have to understand that the word of God— sometimes when you're in a test, the teacher does not speak. And I've been in class, I've been in school more than I wanted to be. Every time I got a test, the teacher never gave me the answer. The teacher administered the test, but then they remained silent until I finished with the test. And I think sometimes that's what God is doing. He's trying to grow us. He's trying to help us get to that next level, and he hands us this test and says, here, go get this. And I don't exactly know what God does after he hands us the test, but I'm pretty pretty sure he don't answer, that you are going to have to answer the question for yourself. And if you get it wrong, guess what? It's been my experience in life that you get to take the test again. I would suggest that you just pray. If you right now are going through a difficult time, just ask the Holy Spirit, God, I need some help. What scripture can I use to help me through this time? And, and the Holy Spirit, I think, would direct you. And I think that's the kind of question that God would enjoy answering He's not going to take the test for you. You are going to have to take the test and you are going to have to go through the battle yourself. Well, that's enough right now. I just wanted to share this with you. I thought this was amazing. I did do a quick video on my YouTube channel and I don't know if any of you have gotten the chance to go by there and take a look at it. The YouTube channel, not the video, but I'll put a link into the show notes here.
I—
it is not the No Doubt, No Fear, Only Belief YouTube channel because I didn't have one of those channels. I have the Jesus Mighty Men channel, and I know that's confusing and I apologize, but again, my ready, fire, aim mentality. I already have the Jesus Mighty Men YouTube channel, so I'm using that YouTube channel with the No Doubt, No Fear and the 1211 Apparel. And I know, I know there's a lot of moving parts here. You're strong enough, you can handle it. Well, let's pray. God, I thank you so much for the person listening to this episode. Lord, I pray in Jesus' name that you would just quicken in them, in their soul, what it is you want them to understand. And God, there is no plan B. We know that you are the Son of the Living God, that you are the Christ, and you have the words of eternal life. And just like Peter said, Lord, where would we go No one knows everything. No one is as powerful, and no one is everywhere all at the same time. God, you are him, and you are our God, and we declare you as our Lord and Savior again on this episode. Lord, we thank you, we love you. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, thank you for being a part of this, and I look forward to visiting with you on the next episode.
Thanks for listening to the No Doubt, No Fear, Only Believe podcast at www. Www.nodoubtonlybelieve.com
