Eat His Body and Drink His Blood?


WHAT DID JESUS MEAN WHEN HE COMMANDED
US TO EAT HIS BODY AND DRINK HIS BLOOD? (ALL ABOUT COMMUNION)

It must have been an incredible sight to watch Jesus
preach. John 6 details a real-life meeting between Jesus,
the disciples, and 5,000 witnesses.

Can you imagine? They sat on a hill, Jesus at the bottom,
the disciples sitting at his feet listening to every word out of
this miracle healer's mouth. He was already gaining quite a
reputation for being a man who could perform miracles over
nature, and he even claimed to be able to forgive their sins.

The Bible doesn't describe the message. We don't know if
Jesus was preaching about following God or about a husband
treating a wife with respect. What we do know is that he was
setting the stage for something great!

The message was about to end, and Jesus leaned over to
Philip and said, "Where shall we buy bread for these people
to eat?" (John 6:5).

He knew what he was doing (verse 6). The Bible says he
already had a plan. He was testing Philip to see what the
disciples' response would be. I suppose you can infer that
he was ready to really put their faith to the test.

Crowds of people were following, but did they really believe
Jesus could perform a miracle this big--feeding 5,000 people?
(Actually, in Jesus' time, 5,000 referred to the number of men
only; there could have been double the amount if they counted
women and children.)

Can you imagine Philip's face when Jesus asked him where
to buy bread? To Philip, it probably seemed as if Jesus were
commanding him to go and find the money, the restaurant,
and the catering company to deliver the food; and surely the
crowd was getting hungry.

I don't know if you've ever seen a crowd go into a feeding frenzy,
but if they were anything like American crowds, Philip knew they
were about to have a problem.

They didn't have the money to feed all those people. They didn't
have the resources even if they had the money. There wasn't a
place where 10,000 people could sit down and eat all at the
same time. What was Philip to do?

You've probably read the story before. If not, check it out in John 6.
Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish and prayed to
God to supply their need. The Bible records that the meal was
so bountiful the disciples picked up the scraps and filled 12
baskets with the leftovers. It was a miracle over nature.

The next day, Jesus began to teach the disciples about
bread that would keep you from going hungry (verses 32-59). He
gave them a history lesson of the Old Testament Israelites in
the desert and reminded them of God's provision in their hunger
by miraculously placing manna in the desert every morning for
them to eat.

Then he recalled the miracle just performed in front of their eyes,
as if to say, "Hey, guys, if I can provide you with physical food,
don't you think I can provide you with spiritual food?" He says
in John 6:53, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood; you have no life in you."

He was making a point. You have physical hunger, but you
also have spiritual hunger. If I can feed your physical body,
don't worry--I'll take care of your spiritual body as well.

The New Testament is full of wonderful analogies of bread and
water as sustenance for our bodies, as well as Jesus' provision
and their meaning in our spiritual lives. Jesus even ends his
three-year earthly relationships with his disciples by conjuring
up an analogy of bread and wine as it relates to his body and blood.

WHY DID JESUS BREAK BREAD WITH THE DISCIPLES
BEFORE HE WENT TO DIE?

Just like baptism, the other sacrament you can find in almost
every church in the world is communion. It's the time when they
pull out the silver offering plates full of broken crackers and
grape juice--or whatever format your church uses.

Growing up, my pastor always used to tell us about how we are
to remember Jesus by eating his body, represented by the
bread, and drinking his blood, represented by the grape juice.
And although I think remembering Jesus' death on the cross
is vitally important, I don't think it's just Jesus' death that's
cause for this ceremony.

Jesus took his disciples into an upper room to eat the last supper.

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks
and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and
eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and
offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my
blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins." --MATTHEW 26:26-28

What if he wasn't trying to tell the disciples to remember the
event of the crucifixion merely for the event itself? What if
Jesus was actually trying to communicate that the spiritual
sustenance was about to be poured out? He commanded

the disciples to remember--but remember what?

WHY DO WE "DO COMMUNION" TODAY?

I think communion is one of those things we need to take
a look at and ask ourselves if it's necessary to do it like
we've always done it.

Imagine for a minute you were about to give someone the
gift of eternal life, but you were going to have to face the
most excruciating torture known to the world to this point
in order to give it. If she accepted your gift, would you want
her reflecting on the sacrifice, or the gift?

I think Jesus wanted us to use communion as a rallying
cry, not as a memorial. He wanted us to remember his
sacrifice, sure; but I think he smiles down on us when we
|approach his throne with a joyful attitude of thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving. Don't we have a holiday like that?

Isn't Thanksgiving the time when all our families gather
around one common table of thanks? We make certain
foods to remember the pilgrims and their voyage to
America. We give thanks for all the blessings we've had
during the year, and often those blessings include loud,
funny stories. Sometimes they even help us recall
embarrassing moments. We tell jokes. We have serious
talks. We sit around and remember--remember for the
sake of our family here in America.

I wonder if communion should be the Christian Thanksgiving
feast. What if we all gathered around a table and took
communion like we eat Thanksgiving dinner? We remember
the good times, we recall the sacrifice, and we celebrate
the fact that Jesus came to die so we could live. Wouldn't
that be cool?

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNION?

- Who are those free from sin?

- Who has received eternal life through Jesus?

- Who is set free from their old sinner selves and reconciled to a righteous God?
- Who has experienced God's grace?

- Who has accepted God's forgiveness?

- Who is living an abundant life because of Christ's death?

- Who is making disciples?

- Who is obeying Jesus' commands?

- Who really loves Jesus?

I suppose there's your answer.

**

Taken from "Duplicate This!" by Andy Braner, copyright 2008, Youth
Specialties/Zondervan. Used by permission. Order the book here.
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=581