"Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT QUICKENETH; THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."
Today's quote, in part, is a great part of the premise upon which the often abused doctrine of "The Lord's supper", "Last supper", or "Holy communion" is based.
We should remember that Jesus made those remarks in the context of the coming of one of the most cherished celebrations in Hebrew tradition, the Passover.
Jesus was making a spiritual comparison between His physical body and blood and the meat that was offered at the original Passover meal. When thoroughly studied in its proper context we see that what Jesus said herein had nothing to do with the literal consumption of His physical body and blood, rather it was the substance of His message and His blessed sacrifice that was required to be mentally consumed and accepted. When accepted, His spiritual body and blood protects the believer from the inevitable death angel as he seeks out the lost and unprotected.
Although Jesus clearly said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him."
Toward the end of today's quote Jesus clarified His statement by saying He was NOT literally implying that His flesh should be eaten nor that His blood should literally be consumed. He said, "IT IS THE SPIRIT THAT QUICKENETH; THE FLESH PROFITETH NOTHING: THE WORDS THAT I SPEAK UNTO YOU, THEY ARE SPIRIT, AND THAY ARE LIFE."
Jesus clearly intended that His words were what contained "life" and that they were to be taken as food for spiritual sustenance.
The flesh and blood of Jesus would eventually play the crucial role in guaranteeing salvation to those who would believe in Him, in that He would sacrifice His body and blood for the sins of all who would accept Him.~
No comments:
Post a Comment