Eat My Flesh

John 6:51-58 "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.  [52] The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  [53] 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.  [54] Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. [55] For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  [56] He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. [57]  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. [58]  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."

There are many who feel that Jesus spoke only the soft word, the gentle word, the loving word from God. Here is no gentle word, but a shocking word, a true word.

From the beginning many followed after Jesus. Sometimes the crowds were so packed that our Lord could scarcely move. Men followed Him for many reasons. Some followed Him because He was a curiosity. Who was this Man who could command disease to be gone, who could cast out demons with little effort? Who was this Man who could callously delay going to His friend Lazarus, finally go, then cry when He heard of His death?  Even then, after crying, who was this Man who could stand in front of a tomb and shout, "Lazarus, come forth!", and Lazarus, dead but now alive, responded to His call?

Others followed Jesus because He was a miracle man. Humans are selfish at heart, and mothers followed Jesus begging that He heal their children. People  carried their sick friends on pallets, lowering them through roofs for Jesus to heal them. Lepers chased after Him, the blind stumbled after Him, the lame crawled after Him. Here is the miracle Man, He will heal. He will heal.

Still others followed Jesus because He was the "new Preacher" on the block. Jesus was always entertaining, a good speaker with a good heart, and many followed Him as if He were a prophet. Others followed Him to persecute Him, to argue with Him. Yes, many followed Him ...

But few walked WITH Him. Few took the time to try and understand Him, to really listen to His message. Oh, some understood. A woman of questionable virtue went to Him and washed His feet with her tears, dried His feet with her hair, and anointed Him with precious ointment. Another woman, Mary Magdalene, always sat at His feet when He came to preach in her area, concentrated on His words, loved Him for Who He was. Peter, hardheaded Peter, finally understood that Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, and told Him so. But these were just a few, just a few understood.
 

"Most people in America have just enough religion to keep them from getting the real thing. They have just enough to inoculate them against God!" (Billy Graham, S.B.C. 1982)

One day while everyone was sitting in Jesus' presence some were perhaps dozing. Others were comfortable with their lives, and just went to see Jesus as an attraction. Still others followed Him out of some sense of duty, a mechanical following. Then all of a sudden Jesus said something that shocked each and every person listening. His words were a dash of ice cold water on each soul that had become complacent and lazy under His ministry. Jesus said:

John 6.53  "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."

This sent a shock wave through the crowd. "Eat His flesh, Drink His blood? What does He think we are, cannibals? What a terrible thing to say, so irreligious, so out of place!".  The religious people who followed after Jesus, who persecuted Him, they began to mutter "How can this Man say this? How can He give us His flesh to eat?" They didn't understand, and would never understand. Religious people never do, but Jesus wasn't addressing the religious, but those who hungrily wanted to be the Children of God.

Have you ever been without air? Years ago, when I was considerably younger and stupid, I loved to climb trees. I remember climbing to the very top of the trees in my yard, so high that each wind that passed caused me to sway violently back and forth. On one of my heroic climbs I stepped out on a branch that would not hold my weight, and with a snap like a cannon going off it broke. I fell about 20 feet to the ground, and landed square on my back. As I lay there, contemplating my stupidity, it came to me that I wasn't breathing. I struggled to breathe, but no air would come in. You see, I had knocked the wind out of myself. I didn't rationalize it, didn't scientifically examine it, but I struggled desperately to get a breath. Finally, when it seemed that all was lost, just the tiniest trickle of air moved into my lungs. Oh, how sweet that was! I struggled, and the second breath came. Finally the barrier of paralysis was broken on my body, and I began to gulp in great lungfulls of air. My body tingled with the joy. I was starving but, praise God, here was air. For years I had taken air for granted. It's always there, always around me and always readily available. But when it was removed, Oh, how I appreciated air. How I hungered for it. I wanted to eat it, to drink it, it was so beautiful.

In the Greek language two tenses are used to describe the action of "eating" and "drinking" in these passages. In John 6.53 the Lord uses the Aorist Tense for "eat" [PHAGO] and "drink" [PINO]. Jesus was literally saying, "Unless you eat, once and for all, My Flesh and drink, once and for all, My Blood, you do not have life". What does this mean? Well, eating and drinking are two of the most intimate things we do. When we eat or drink something, whatever we partake of goes inside of us and gives us energy, nourishment. What we eat literally becomes a part of us, goes into our innermost being, allows us to live another day.

Jesus was not saying that we had to cannibalize His Body and Blood to be saved, but that we, at one point in our lives, had to make a conscious decision that He was going to be a part of our lives. What do you do when you eat? You concentrate on the food, chew it, enjoy it's savor, it's flavor, willingly accept it into your body. For you to have the life of God in you, there had to be a time in your life when you concentrated on Jesus, forgot yourself, and took Him, intimately, into your life. There had to be a point of time when you cried out to God, "I am so alone, unable to reach you of myself. I am so inadequate, so bogged down. Feed me at the Table of Jesus", and at that moment you sensed that Jesus was more than just a curiosity, more than a magic man, more than entertainment. At that moment you reached out with your heart and accepted Him into your life. You ate Him, you drank Him, like a hungry and starving man or woman, boy or girl. When you did, He became a part of your life. Unless you have received Jesus into your innermost being by faith you are still spiritually dead. Unless He has become a part of you, a part of who you are, you are still lost and undone.

John 6.54-55  "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. [55] For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

Jesus continues with His illustration of eating and drinking, but this time He changes His statement in the Greek text. He uses a Present Linear tense for "eating" [TROGO] and "drinking" [PINO]. This is significant because the Present Linear refers to REPEATED action. A Christian is not someone who occasionally comes to Church, or who has joined a local Church. No, a Christian is a changed person. Jesus uses a harsher word for "eating" here, TROGO, which means "to eat voraciously, to eat with gusto". A Christian is someone who is hungry, starving for Jesus. He will feast at the table of Christ daily, seek His face, seek to learn more of Who He is. A Christian is not satisfied with a taste of Christ, but wants to drink deeply, frequently, heartily. These are the characteristics that our Lord ascribed to those who have eternal life. We are hungry for Him, we partake of Him daily, He is our life.

A relationship, a saving relationship with Jesus Christ brings five immutable and wonderful things from God. Jesus tell you what these things are in this text:

First, the believer, the one who has eaten His flesh and drank His blood has eternal life. Jesus said it:

John 6.54  "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Say this with me: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". The world fears death, believes death to be the great ending, but to us who have eaten and drank of Jesus death is only a new beginning. You, who know Jesus, will one day, if He does not return first, walk out of this life and into the next. Jesus Himself will be there to greet you - not Saint Peter as so much of the world believes, but Jesus. He will raise you up, He will raise me up. This is not hard to understand, because if you have put on Jesus you are His friend, and Jesus is a good friend to have. He will guide you gently into your next estate - you have no need to fear. One day I will close my eyes for the last time in this flesh, but in the next instant I will open them and see Jesus, with arms outstretched, welcoming me home. It will be so good to be home!

Second, the Christian is one who has true satisfaction in this life:

John 6.55  "For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."

The result of receiving Jesus is true satisfaction, not false satisfaction. People run after the things of the world seeking satisfaction. When they get it, whether it be money, power, or whatever, they put it in their mouths and discover it is but ash. The rich man never ceases hunting for more riches, because his joy is always somewhere just over the next hill. The sensuous man never ceases the hunt for more pleasure, because the ultimate pleasure is always just beyond him. Not so Jesus. He satisfies with a deep satisfaction, He quenches the thirst of our heart, the hunger of our being.

Third, the Christian is one who is never alone:

John 6.56  "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him."

Jesus is closer to you than your wife, your sons, your daughters, your grandchildren. I have felt His hand in the middle of the night, and reached up to grasp it, when my wife slept soundly beside me. He has been there in the time of my mourning, quenching the bitterness that threatened to engulf me. He has held my hand in pain and suffering, touched me through others, dried my tears and restored joy to my being. I feel His presence now as I stand before you, and thank Him that I never stand alone. Alone is such a terrible place to be, and He removes this terror - like King David, He is always by our side.

Fourth, and very important, the Christian has a life of purpose and meaning:

John 6.57  "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me."

You are never too old or too young to have a purpose on this earth, as long as Jesus is a part of your life. Those who eat or partake of Jesus lives by Christ. He becomes a part of the greater plan of God, and has a specific purpose, a goal set before Him by the Savior. Do not believe that you have no purpose in this Church because you are "too old". Your purpose it set before you: teach the children, show the married how to love one another, become a prayer warrior for the Church, greet newcomers, call a friend and love them over the phone, be a shoulder to cry on when someone grieves, a counselor of peace. Do not believe that you have no purpose in this Church because you're "too young". Your purpose is set before you: Invite your friends to Church, become voluntary ushers, help your Sunday School teacher, help an older person down the aisle, greet newcomers, sing specials for the Church, show Jesus in you by stretching your young wings in Him and fly! Do not believe you have no purpose, young or old, rich or poor, busy or unemployed. Your purpose is His will, His goal for your life. Seek out and follow that purpose.
 

One Sunday, on their way home from Church, a little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, the preacher's sermon this morning confused me". The mother said, "Oh, why is that?". The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that's true honey". "And He also said that God lives in us. Is that true, mommy?" Again the mother replied, "Yes". "Well", said the little girl, "if God is bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn't He show through?" (James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, pg 303)

Fifth, the Christian has been the partaker of incorruptible Food, energizing your life forever:

John 6.58  "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."

The manna that Israel ate gave them physical life, but did nothing to give them spiritual life. I call each of you here today "brother" and "sister" because we have all taken of the same Food. This Food will not pass out of our bodies once its energy is expended. No, this Food energizes and keeps on energizing forever. Christ and Christ alone has the power to energize us, make us alive, to give us eternal life. No other food or religious system has this power - only Jesus and Him alone.

As we come to the Lord's Table I want you to understand that this is not a time of entertainment. Those who partake of the Lord's Table should only be those who have already eaten and drank of Jesus by accepting Him as Savior. The Table symbolizes the close intimacy that each partaker has with Christ, and with this Church. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior you are not to partake of this Table. To take it lightly is to bring a possible death penalty on yourself:

1 Corinthians 11:27-30 "Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. [28]  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. [29]  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. [30]  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."

If you are not saved, you now have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as Savior. The doors of Heaven are opened, waiting for you only to ask. Come forward and I will pray with you, or raise your hand and I will go to you. If you are not saved, do not take the cup nor the bread when it passes by you. Eat and drink of Him first, now, then take the Table as a New Creation in Christ.
 

The Governor of Ohio, Governor Nash, was also a Christian. He heard of a man who was on death row and decided to go and tell this man about Jesus. The young man had murdered his girlfriend, and was just hours away from his appointment with the electric chair. The Governor grabbed his Bible, and headed over to the prison. Once inside he approached the young man's cell, but the young man assumed he was a prison chaplain. He began to curse him, and sent the Governor on his way. Afterward a prison guard told him, "You fool, don't you know who that was? That was the Governor, the only man alive who could have pardoned you, and you sent him away." The young man died a few hours later. He had not only sent away his only hope for pardon, but his only hope for freedom and life.

If you are saved, but have backslidden in your walk with Him, you have the opportunity to repent now. The doors of Heaven are opened, Jesus is listening, waiting for you only to ask. Speak to Him now from where you are, or come forward and I will pray with you. If you are out of fellowship, do not take the cup nor the bread when it passes by you. Become restored to fellowship first, then take the Table as a Renewed Believer in Christ.