What does John 6:65 mean?
Jesus commented that "the flesh is no help at all" (John 6:63). This directly indicates that His teaching on "eating" His flesh and blood were symbolic, not literal. At the same time, the remark illustrates the difference between legitimate belief and mere "interest." Many people who followed Jesus at that time had a shallow, selfish interest in His ministry. Throughout this passage, Jesus has challenged their motivations (John 6:26), their understanding of Scripture (John 6:27–29), and what it really means to have faith in the One God has sent (John 6:37–40). Their behaviors in response to these challenges—their "flesh," so to speak—both discourage and disprove their faith.This also speaks to the earlier point made by Jesus that only those God has "given" to Him can be saved (John 6:37). This is related to the controversial doctrine of predestination. Other passages of the Bible speak of concepts such as "choice" and "calling," and so forth. The ideas of predestination and election are not meant to be understood by examining only one or two verses. Here, however, the emphasis is clearly on the fact that only God can call a sinner to repentance. The reaction of the crowd in this story proves this idea in direct terms. Interest and action are not what save us: it is submissive faith in Christ, which is fundamentally something we can only credit to God.