"I am the bread of life. Your
fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which
comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the
living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he
will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the
world is My flesh." Then the Jews began to argue
with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to
eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the
Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My
flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last
day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 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 eats Me, he also will live
because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the
fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." These
things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. John 6:48-59 NASB
Remember
Me, Jesus said during the Last Supper. He took the bread and broke it…and He
took the cup and blessed it. Of these He said…This is My Body, broken for
you…and …This is My Blood, shed for you. We know these words by heart.
Communion liturgy. Jesus spoke and it was so…and we remember Him in this
sacrament. When the disciples heard Jesus speak these words during their last
Passover meal with Him did they have a moment of déjà vu?
Feast on the King’s words and live forever. He
IS the bread of heaven—let that bread satisfy your soul. Nothing satisfies
spiritual hunger and brings eternal life except actually eating heavenly bread.
Just admiring or even just tasting Jesus’ words doesn’t make them part of us. We
have to eat—to devour—His words to understand them. Savor His words on eternal
life. Do you want eternal life? Then Feast on His words—don’t just think highly
of them—make them part of you. Eat and drink them—let them into your very soul.
His “flesh” and His “blood” are all about a spiritual level. Jesus wasn’t here
to be an earthly king—but a spiritual one. His blood is offered as a sacrifice
for our sins. To accept the sacrifice that He made means to accept that we are
sinners—in need of a savior. If we are to “eat” His body or flesh spiritually,
then He becomes part of us. He comes to dine with us…and we dine with Him. But
more than that, we become like Christ as we eat of the meat of scripture. We
begin “eating” as we study God’s word, like
newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow
in respect to salvation, 1 Peter 1:2 (NASB). As we mature we desire meat or
“flesh” as it is written in Hebrews 5:14, But
solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained
to discern good and evil. (NASB) As we get into the meat of His word we are
transformed (Romans 12:1-2) and desire holiness. Personally, every day I want
to be more like Jesus. Ultimately I want to “rise up” and be with Jesus and our
Heavenly Father for eternity in Heaven.
This is
heavy food for thought. You can see why the Jews were arguing with each other
and wondering how Jesus could give them His flesh to eat. They couldn’t see the
big picture—the spiritual view. Here is a view of the ancient synagogue in the
town of Capernaum where those Jews and even the disciples were baffled by
Jesus’ teaching.
Don’t be baffled today by
Jesus’ teaching. Simply allow Jesus to forgive your sins and ask Him to be in
your life—to guide and direct your every thought. Seek to know Him—to drink of
His “blood” and eat of His “flesh” that you would become Christ-like. Savor His
words. My prayer for you is that you would desire to know Christ more eat day
and feast on His red letter words
Dear Heavenly Father — Now may
You, our God and Father Himself, and Jesus our Lord direct our way to you; and
may the Lord cause us to increase and abound in love for one another, and for
all people; so that He may establish our hearts without blame in holiness
before you at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. (1
Thessalonians 3:11-13 NASB)
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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