The Message of the Cross (24) Eating of the Flesh and Drinking of the Blood of the Son of Man (1)
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November?15, 2020 |
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 “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 yourselves…For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink’” (John 6:53-55).
In order to sustain physical life an individual must eat food and drink water to remain hydrated. Water allows the digestion and absorption of nutrients as well as the discharge of unnecessary wastes and poisonous materials from within the body. The same type of process applies in a spiritual sense.
After we accept Jesus Christ and are born again of water and the Holy Spirit, we gain the right to become God’s children. We must then ‘eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man’ to sustain our spiritual life.
Today let’s delve into the meaning of ‘eating the flesh of the Son of Man’.
1. Significance of “Eating the Flesh and Drinking the Blood of the Son of Man”
What does it mean to eat the flesh of the Son of Man? It is spiritually consuming the flesh of Jesus which is true food leading to eternal life.
John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus also described Himself as “the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” in the first half of John 6:51.
Eating of the flesh of the Son of Man-God’s Word, the bread of life-is closely related to the likening of Jesus to the “Lamb.” The way to eat it is recorded in Exodus 12 through the analogy of the Lamb on Passover.
Generally speaking a lamb obeys only the voice of its shepherd. They are gentle and provide man with only benefits. In the same manner, in obedience only to the will of God, Jesus has given mankind only good things and like a gentle lamb He became an atoning sacrifice for us. Among the lambs, those less than one year of age are especially pure as they have not yet mated and in spiritual terms, they are likened to Our Jesus who is spotless and blameless.
When the Plague of the Firstborn swept through all of Egypt striking all first born in the land, as depicted in Exodus 12:7-10, God instructed the Israelites to take a lamb for themselves and “take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat” the lamb. God also gave the people of Israel detailed instructions on how to eat the lamb.
2. Eating of the Lamb
1) It is not to be eaten “raw or boiled at all with water,” but roasted with fire.
Here, “fire” represents the fire of the Holy Spirit and we are to understand and make bread of God’s Word in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). 2 Peter 3:16 warns us that interpretation of God’s Word not in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but in a distorted manner will drive us away from the truth and ultimately lead us to destruction.
To “eat God’s Word raw” is the literal interpretation of God’s Word without understanding the spiritual significance embedded in it.
Consuming raw food can lead to indigestion or stomachaches. By the same token, “eating God’s Word raw” can lead to imprudent and false interpretations of the Bible.
For instance, Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:6, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Yet, nowhere in the Bible do we read about any fathers of faith praying in “an inner room”; Jesus likewise never prayed in an inner room but rather in a garden or at a remote place. It means that when we pray we must not be caught in worldly needs and concerns and thus repeat the same things but we must communicate with God from the depths of our heart.
Next, the lamb is not to be eaten “boiled at all with water”. This tells us that no elements of this world are to be added to God’s Word. The thoughts of man and his knowledge are extremely limited and no great ideology of this world is perfect. God’s Word surpasses any worldly knowledge and it is the only lasting and unchanging truth. Keeping this in mind, one must not testify to the knowledge or speculations of this world but to God’s Word found in the Bible as interpreted only in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Through this knowledge of the word imparted by the Holy Spirit, believers must be taught about the living God, ways in which they can meet Him, and the correct model of a life in Christ necessary for salvation.
2) “Both its head and its legs along with its entrails” as a whole must be eaten.
This means that we are to make bread of God’s Word found in all of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation.
When reading the Bible, some people omit such difficult parts as Leviticus while others either refuse or are reluctant to believe in the instances of signs and wonders plainly recorded in the Bible. If people ignore or cull out parts of the Bible that are not in agreement with their thoughts, then what remains is neither the Truth nor Faith.
Only ethics and morals would remain. On top of that, if they do not even harbor in their heart God’s commandments that are seemingly difficult for them to keep, they will not gain eternal life no matter how many times or how frequently they may read the Bible.
God’s Word is not to be taken in portions and parts but must be made bread as a whole. Then, we can gain eternal life.
3) No part of the lamb is to be left over until morning; any leftover must be burned with fire.
It means that they had to eat the lamb before the morning came. In spiritual terms, “night” refers to the period of time during which the enemy devil and Satan wield authority over this world. The “morning” signifies the time when the Lord will come back. We should eat all the Word of God-the flesh of the Son of Man-before the Lord comes back.
In the last days, as the world becomes increasingly drenched in sin and evil, darkness will only grow. When the Lord returns, the darkness will be driven away and the light will bring forth the morning. At that time, people will realize that everything that had been written in the Bible is true.
Therefore, before morning comes-before Our Lord returns-we must diligently make bread of all of God’s Word, complete our preparations as the Lord’s bride, and await His coming.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the extent to which how well we have made bread of God’s Word will determine the quality of life in this world as well as in Heaven in terms of heavenly dwelling places and rewards.
Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will make bread of every bit of God’s Word and enter the most glorious place in all of Heaven.
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