Thoughts

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Bread

John chapter 6 begins with Jesus feeding the five thousand, then He walks on the water to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, and then He points out to the people that followed Him there that they did so because he fed them bread. And He talked about the fact that He is the bread of life, and anyone who comes to Him will never be hungry and whoever believes in him will never be thirsty. 

Wait. What?

Then He says something that must surely have shocked the crowd. He says that unless you eat His flesh and drink His blood, you have no life in you. And He says, "This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."

What could Jesus possibly mean? He of course was not talking about cannibalism, as many evidently thought. So what was He saying? Throughout His discourse, He dropped hints. Jesus likened Himself to bread. The bread of life. To that culture, bread was the source of life, because it was their staple food. Bread represented life itself. Without bread, you starved. He said He was sent by the Father from Heaven. He reminded them that their ancestors had received manna from Heaven, and yet died. 

A Reminder

What is it that enables us to have eternal life? Isn't it the sacrificial death of Jesus? Isn't it his broken body and spilled blood? Of course. Every time we take communion, or the Lord's supper, whatever you call it in your church, we are reminded of his broken body and spilled blood. The bread and the wine are symbols of the sacrifice he made.

Jesus, in saying that unless you eat his flesh and drink his blood you cannot have life, is not saying that taking communion saves you, is He? Is there any place in the Bible that says you must take communion to be saved? What did Jesus say, even in this chapter? He said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life…" Many, many verses say virtually the same thing: If you believe in the Son, you will be saved.

It Was Another Word Picture

So what Jesus was saying when he said you must eat his flesh and drink his blood, is that you must accept the sacrifice he made of his own body and spilled blood, for yourself. You must believe that His sacrifice covers your sins. You must make that the central part of what and who you are, just as when you eat and drink, that food becomes a part of you.

Today's Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 40-41 NIV, Ch. 42-43 ERV

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