A SINNERS' FEAST

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread; he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh."

The Jews then disputed among themselves, 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 you.... " John 6:51-53

This is one of the most difficult and offensive statements Jesus ever made. It not only angered his detractors, it drove many of his disciples away from him for good. The essence of this statement is twofold.

1. "I'm offering myself up to be your atonement for sin."

2. "I'm offering myself up to be your nourishment .... your food."

That Jesus is our atonement for sin we accept. We may not understand it, but we accept it. But that Jesus is our food ... our nourishment ... that we draw our life from his outpoured life and that this is the only life we have, this we seem to find hard to accept.

"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."

Many of his disciples, when they heard it, said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" John 6:60

"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him." John 6:56,

Somehow,

- the life that was in Jesus when he walked among us in flesh and blood,

- the life which he offered up on that cross,

- the life that tore the veil of the temple and passed into the Holy of Holies of heaven itself,

- the life which blazed forth from his resurrection body and now intercedes before the Father's throne,

- this life has to get from him into us.

There are several ways in which the life which is in Jesus passes from him to us. One is by hearing and believing.

"It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." John 6:63

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5:24

Another way the life which is in Jesus passes from him to us is by doing.

"You are my friends if you do the things that I command you."

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments... do them .... and I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever." John 14:15

But one of the most difficult mysteries of the Kingdom to apprehend is that the life which is in Jesus also passes from him to us by eating.

"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." John 6:53b-56

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Matthew 26:26-28

This meal which they ate, and which we eat, is an outward manifestation of an inward miracle ... a communion with Jesus himself ... a receiving of Jesus into our whole being --- body, soul and spirit.

Now receiving the life of Jesus by hearing and believing his word is something which we do individually. And receiving life by doing his will of mercy is also done individually. But receiving Jesus' life by eating his flesh and drinking his blood is something we do together. We gather at his table and he gives himself to us in the bread and wine .... this is a feast and we eat this feast together.

And yet, there is something in us which keeps us from really entering into this feast and receiving the life he longs to give us, something which keeps us from really being one with him and with each other. We eat the bread and drink the wine but all too often there's no communion, we don't seem to be able to discern his presence. And when we can't discern his presence we never find unity with each other ... so what's getting in our way?

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and, said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." Luke 19:5 -7

Zacchaeus gave the feast. Jesus was there as the guest. But Jesus was also there as the food. And Zacchaeus was able to eat this food because Zacchaeus saw himself as a sinner --- and he saw Jesus as his forgiveness,

his healing,

his life.

But there were people who stood apart that day and instead of drawing life from Jesus were offended by him.

"He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner."

After this he went out, and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he left everything, and rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house; and there was a large company of tax collectors and others, sitting at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes murmured against his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Luke 5:27-30

Jesus was the guest at Levi's table, but he was also the food ... the life of that feast. Levi and his friends were able to draw life from Jesus because they gathered around him as people in need. But there were those who received no nourishment from Jesus that day. 'They stood apart and were offended.

"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?"

When the prodigal son came to himself he said,

"How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants." And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son." But the father said to his servants, "Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." And they began to make merry." Luke 15:17b-24

....a feast for a sinner who had come to receive mercy. In that feast was life for the prodigal and for everyone there. But there was one who received no life that day.

Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, "Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound." But he was angry and refused to go in. Luke 15:25-28a

To eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood … in other words to receive his life ... we have to approach the feast as Zacchaeus, as Levi, as the prodigal. It's not just the act of eating, it's the attitude, the state of the heart, which makes it possible to discern who this is.

To eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood ... to draw life from him ... we have to come to his table absolutely stripped of any righteousness we even thought we had, as people who are perishing with hunger for his righteousness. And we have to come with hearts which have turned away from self to him.

- The prodigal left his pigs.

- Levi left his thriving business.

- Zacchaeus left his old ways.

- And we have to leave ours!

We come to the table as people in need, as people who are repenting of ourselves. And coming as people in need, as people who are repenting of ourselves, we find Jesus, and we also find each other.

- It's at his table that the unity or disunity of the body always manifests itself.

The prime example was the church at Corinth. The power of the Holy Spirit was moving in that fellowship.

- People were getting healed.

- Wonderful prophecies were coming forth.

- Troubled souls were being drawn in from the world.

And yet, there was something wrong.

- They were divided into factions.

- There was immorality which wasn't being dealt with.

- People were getting out of hand with their new found "Christian liberty."

And the place where the root of this problem appeared was at the communion feast. At the communion feast the different factions sat by themselves. Some people were getting drunk ... some were going hungry. Things were really messy in this born-again Spirit-filled church.

So Paul takes up the problem in a letter:

"But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you assemble as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and I partly believe it, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you meet together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal, and one is hungry and another is drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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.' In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.' For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

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." I Corinthians 11:17-29

Paul was dealing with the attitude these people had as they came together to commune.

- They were busy with themselves.

- They were not conscious of the presence of the Lord in their midst.

- They were eating his body and drinking his blood without communing with him.

And because they were going ahead with this meal without discerning Jesus in their midst, and in the very bread and wine, they were taking it unworthily, profaning his body and blood.

But notice: Nowhere in this passage does Paul imply that these people are taking this meal unworthily because their lives are imperfect. Nowhere does Paul even hint that, because their lives are mixed up, they're unworthy to receive this food.

All Paul is saying is, "Pay attention to the One who comes and meets you in this wonderful meal! Remember who you are and who he is and you will receive it worthily."

"How come you're not taking communion today?"

"Oh, I'm not worthy. I've been a mess all week. I have no right to eat this food."

"How come you're not communing today?"

"I've been battling with lust all week." or, "I've been mad at my boss since Wednesday morning." or, "My wife called me a hypocrite on the way to church, and I'm not going to commune in front of her."

The very reason our Lord instituted this meal was so that by it we could remember what he did for us on Calvary. So that he might visit us with forgiveness and encouragement and healing in this food.

"This is my body given for you."

"This is my blood shed for your sins."

He never said we had to be perfect or nearly perfect, or calm and peaceful for 48 hours before we eat this meal.

All he's asking is that we fix our hearts on him, come with the prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"

When we draw near to him as sinners, needy ones who hunger and thirst for his healing life, this simple meal becomes a heavenly feast. The angels sing and so do we.

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, 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 you..." John 6:51-53

It's a sinners' feast!

God help us to come as sinners who have no righteousness but his.

God help us to come in unity with each other .

God help us to come for the nourishment of heaven.

God help us to truly commune with Jesus to know him,

to draw life from him,

as we eat his flesh and drink his blood.