Eating Jesus
John 6:53: "Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink".
Sounds appetizing eh? Eating another human. Mmmmm.
I first heard this phrase in the Anglican service of communion where it says something like, "that we might eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood." I always cringed in my seat when I heard this. "Sounds cannibalistic", I thought. "Sounds crazy. Is this even in the Bible? Are Anglicans heretics? Can I believe this"?
Let's be honest, I think Jesus was trying to raise some eye brows. If not ours then definitely his Jewish audience’s. This statement probably should offend us. It probably should stop us in our tracks for a double take. Does it?
I'd love to hear what you think about this passage. It's fascinating. There is so much packed into the summary of this passage when Jesus says, "I am the bread of life". What does "eating Jesus" actually look like? Is Jesus trying to be some morbid cannibal? I don't think so, but he is probably trying to offend you...us. Are we offended?
As a follower of Jesus the take away for me at this point in my life is this: Is Jesus a part of my very being, like the food and water that I consume? Is the historic, living Christ involved in the very blood flow of everything I do? Sadly the answer is no. Yes, I do receive communion most weeks but often in vain. When I eat the bread and wine am I actually inviting Jesus into my very body, into everything I do? If I did that well then I couldn't...If I did that then I shouldn't....
"Jesus, are you really serious? Do you really want to be a part of my body...my life...my junk"?
I guess so eh.
"Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you".
Prayer
Jesus, help me to feed on you. May your body sustain me. Live in me. Guide me. Amen.
Sounds appetizing eh? Eating another human. Mmmmm.
I first heard this phrase in the Anglican service of communion where it says something like, "that we might eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood." I always cringed in my seat when I heard this. "Sounds cannibalistic", I thought. "Sounds crazy. Is this even in the Bible? Are Anglicans heretics? Can I believe this"?
Let's be honest, I think Jesus was trying to raise some eye brows. If not ours then definitely his Jewish audience’s. This statement probably should offend us. It probably should stop us in our tracks for a double take. Does it?
I'd love to hear what you think about this passage. It's fascinating. There is so much packed into the summary of this passage when Jesus says, "I am the bread of life". What does "eating Jesus" actually look like? Is Jesus trying to be some morbid cannibal? I don't think so, but he is probably trying to offend you...us. Are we offended?
As a follower of Jesus the take away for me at this point in my life is this: Is Jesus a part of my very being, like the food and water that I consume? Is the historic, living Christ involved in the very blood flow of everything I do? Sadly the answer is no. Yes, I do receive communion most weeks but often in vain. When I eat the bread and wine am I actually inviting Jesus into my very body, into everything I do? If I did that well then I couldn't...If I did that then I shouldn't....
"Jesus, are you really serious? Do you really want to be a part of my body...my life...my junk"?
I guess so eh.
"Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you".
Prayer
Jesus, help me to feed on you. May your body sustain me. Live in me. Guide me. Amen.
posted by Matt at
8:49 PM
1 Comments:
I never looked at it quite like that before.
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