“He that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day.” (John 6:54) That everlasting life is to be enjoyed by the one gaining it, not on earth, but in the heavenly kingdom with Christ. He will enter into such life when he is resurrected by Jesus Christ at “the last day.”

Today Jesus Christ lives again in the heavens, immortal, because of his heavenly Father, for this “living Father” resurrected him from the dead to spirit life. Correspondingly, the disciple that “feeds” on the antitypical manna (Christ’s “flesh”) before the coming of “the last day” will, as Jesus said, “live because of me,” for the living Jesus will resurrect him “at the last day.”​—John 6:54, 57, 58.

25. (a) Will those feeding on Christ’s sacrifice on earth continue to do so in heaven? (b) In what sacred office will they serve, and with what benefit to mankind?

²⁵ In heaven, when having ‘life in themselves,’ the resurrected spiritual Israelites will no longer need to feed on Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood. (John 6:53) They will be privileged to serve as “priests of God and of the Christ” and will thus be able to pass on to mankind the lasting benefits of Christ’s atoning sacrifice. (Rev. 20:6) Because in heaven they have everlasting life, they will need no successors in the priestly office. Like the High Priest, Jesus Christ, they will be able to serve as underpriests continuously throughout the whole millennium. In this way they will share with Christ in uplifting mankind to human perfection on earth.

He [of you, my listeners] that feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I shall resurrect him at the last day;

We can imagine the impact of Jesus’ words when he spoke, not only of feeding on his flesh, but also of drinking his blood. “Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said: ‘This speech is shocking; who can listen to it?’” (John 6:60) This statement shows that not all of Jesus’ disciples were shocked by his speech. Besides the shocked ones, there were more “disciples,” including the 12 apostles. (John 6:61-66) Thus Jesus’ words in John 6:53 were directed in large part to his disciples and, by extension, to those who would become his disciples before the “last day.” These became spiritual Jews, spiritual Israelites.​—Rom. 2:28, 29.