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The Bread of The Covenant
The sixth chapter of John opens with thousands and thousands of people coming to Jesus “because of the signs he did on those who were diseased”.
The sixth chapter of John ends with these same people—even disciples—leaving Jesus in droves. Turning their backs and walking away until there’s only a handful left.
Why did these people, who were drawn to Jesus by his signs, suddenly turn away?
They were offended -- offended by these words:
“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 you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 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 will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” John 6: 53-58
Jesus is a Jew. His hearers are all Jewish. Jews are forbidden to drink blood and now he says they have to drink his blood? Eat his flesh? Give me a break! Where’s this guy coming from?
This was a stumbling block, a rock of offence which sifted down Jesus’ following from thousands to a handful in short order.
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” “This is a hard saying.” “Who can listen to it?” And they walked away.
Maybe we’re saying to ourselves, “Those stiff-necked Jews just didn’t understand. We don’t have a problem with it. After all, that’s exactly what we are going to do today. We’re going to eat his flesh and drink his blood. This is a sacrament --- a means of grace. God imparts life to us as we eat this bread and drink this wine. Followers of Jesus have been doing this for 2,000 years.”
But maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the complaints of those angry Jews in the synagogue that day.
Maybe they understood what Jesus was saying better than we do.
“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
It wasn’t just drinking blood and eating flesh that offended them.
They understood that if you do this, you lose your personal sovereignty. You are connecting yourself to him in a way that binds you in a covenant.
Take and eat this is my Body given for you. Take and drink this is the blood of the New Covenant shed for your sins.
So now I eat this bread and drink this wine and, in a mystery, time is wiped away. I am joined physically to the pivotal event of all human history ---
Jesus’ death on the cross.
And now,
And the power that raised him from the dead stirs in me --- in my earthly body and lifts me out of myself and into the will and purpose of God.
But here’s the part that many of us are missing and which those Jews in the synagogue that day understood…
Now that I’m joined to the one that entered me in this strange way, I no longer belong to myself --- I belong to him.
My body which now contains his Body is under obligation to live the grace it has received.
If I’m going to keep what I’ve been given, if it is going to do me good instead of rotting inside me, I must become for others what he has become for me, a sacrament, broken bread and poured out wine.
I don’t just go home and have dinner as if nothing has happened to me, I go home and have dinner as one who is now broken bread and poured out wine for my wife and my children, for my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ, for my neighbors, for the strangers God sends across my path, for my enemies. I have now become a sacrament to the lives I touch.
If this doesn’t happen, if I fail to show to those around me the same mercy I received in this sacrament, then I am trifling with the holy. I am placing myself under judgment.
“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.” (1 Corinthians 11: 27-29)
Discerning the Body is not just a matter of grasping the doctrine of “the real presence”. It’s what you do with the miracle of grace after you’ve received it.
True, I discern his Body in the food which I have eaten and made a part of me, but I also discern his Body in these people around me. These people who are also trying to follow him. These people to whom I am joined by eating of this One loaf, drinking of this One cup. These people are the Body of Christ and the mercy which has come to me afresh in this food I now owe to them. I owe them mercy, compassion, forbearance, love.
“As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.”
So I am to live his life, think his thoughts, walk in his will, accomplish his purpose in the Body of Christ and in the world out there.
This food puts me under his yoke, joins me to him so that I live in him and he lives in me.
“He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him”
But don’t ever think that this happens automatically.
“Well, I’ve taken the sacrament and now I’ve been zapped again by his grace and my thoughts are sanctified like magic. And next week I’ll come back for another Treatment and get another shot of grace to keep me going.”
No.
What kind of marriage do I have if my wife gives herself to me, but I never give myself to her?
And what kind of sacrament do I have if Jesus gives himself to me, but I never really give myself to him.
Or if I take 100% of him in this sacrament, but only give 5% of myself in thanksgiving…”Thanks Lord. Here’s a little token of my appreciation.”
No. Jesus has given me his Body. Now I give my body back to him in thanksgiving.
“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1)
So when you eat His body and drink His blood expect to receive, divine grace, forgiveness, healing, life from God.
But understand, as you receive these gifts, your body which receives them is now being offered up to God as a living sacrifice.
You are no longer belong to yourself. You belong to him.
As Jesus was sent by the Father, and lives by the Father, so (as you eat his flesh and drink his blood) you are being sent by him, and you will live by him.
To do what?
To do everything that Jesus did when he was with us in flesh and blood.
You go forth from this meal anointed by his Spirit to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed.
Nothing less than this will ever satisfy you -- or God.
Because you have eaten the Bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world, you are no longer your own, you were bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body by becoming broken bread and poured out wine for the lives you touch.
During the week --- perhaps even today you will encounter someone who is in need of the encouragement, hope, and healing you have received in the sacrament.
Believe that the Spirit of God is empowering you to impart life to this person with a good word, a prayer, a touch, or a listening ear, maybe even a few dollars.
Know that the same Lord who brought this person across your path, will enable you to impart his life to them. You are a sacrament --- an earthly element through which he will impart a heavenly gift.
That’s what this Feast is all about. It’s not just getting --- it’s giving. It’s not just receiving grace --- it’s living grace.
May the Spirit of God enlighten us each time we partake of His nature in the communion and may He empower us as we go forth,
- to give as we have been given.
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