Proverbs 19-21
2 Corinthians 7
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51
There are some parts of the Bible that are difficult to understand, but when considered in context to the whole of Scripture, they make sense. The dialogue between Jesus and the Jews, after He performed the marvelous miracle of feeding 5,000 men, is an example of this. When the Jews asked Jesus to give them the bread of God, Jesus disclosed, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). In fact, Jesus repeated this statement four times to them, but they did not understand. Sometimes, the humanity of Jesus actually becomes a stumbling block to the crowd seeing the divinity of Jesus.
Jesus then added, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). This caused the Jews “to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’” (John 6:52). But Jesus doubled down on what was offending the Jews and did not offer any qualifying statement or explanation of the metaphor or sign pointing to a deeper truth. He continued, “Very truly I tell 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 them up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in them” (John 6:53-56). The Jews were offended by Jesus’s comment because they were familiar with the prohibition to drinking blood, as Leviticus 17:10-11 said: “I will set My face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood....it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
For us, we know in hindsight, post-cross, post-resurrection, that Jesus was alluding to the Lord’s Supper. Concerning this, Paul tells us, “the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’...He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
Every time we take communion, the reason we eat the bread and drink the cup represents the life and sacrifice of Christ for us. May we acknowledge that Jesus is the bread of life and the Lamb that was slain each time we eat the bread and drink the cup.
Dear Jesus, thank You for Your body and Your blood that You freely gave up for me so that I can have eternal life. Praise You!
2 Corinthians 7
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51
There are some parts of the Bible that are difficult to understand, but when considered in context to the whole of Scripture, they make sense. The dialogue between Jesus and the Jews, after He performed the marvelous miracle of feeding 5,000 men, is an example of this. When the Jews asked Jesus to give them the bread of God, Jesus disclosed, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). In fact, Jesus repeated this statement four times to them, but they did not understand. Sometimes, the humanity of Jesus actually becomes a stumbling block to the crowd seeing the divinity of Jesus.
Jesus then added, “Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). This caused the Jews “to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us His flesh to eat?’” (John 6:52). But Jesus doubled down on what was offending the Jews and did not offer any qualifying statement or explanation of the metaphor or sign pointing to a deeper truth. He continued, “Very truly I tell 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 them up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in them” (John 6:53-56). The Jews were offended by Jesus’s comment because they were familiar with the prohibition to drinking blood, as Leviticus 17:10-11 said: “I will set My face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood....it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
For us, we know in hindsight, post-cross, post-resurrection, that Jesus was alluding to the Lord’s Supper. Concerning this, Paul tells us, “the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’...He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
Every time we take communion, the reason we eat the bread and drink the cup represents the life and sacrifice of Christ for us. May we acknowledge that Jesus is the bread of life and the Lamb that was slain each time we eat the bread and drink the cup.
Dear Jesus, thank You for Your body and Your blood that You freely gave up for me so that I can have eternal life. Praise You!
← Older Post Newer Post →