At the last supper as he ate together with his disciples on the first day of the Passover, Jesus Christ took bread, 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).
BY PROSPER TINGINI
These were instructions directed at the 12 disciples of Christ. Due to lack of space, I will not comment further but have decided to share with you a religious whatsapp platform member’s posting on the same topic. I will, however, not put it in its original form.
In John 6:53-56, Jesus said to them “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink of 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.”
The Jews had disputed among themselves saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (verse 52). The people had referred Christ to the manna which their fathers ate in the wilderness, as if the furnishing of that food was a greater miracle than Jesus had performed; but He shows how meagre that gift was compared with the blessings he had come to bestow.
The manna could sustain only this earthly existence; it did not prevent the approach of death, nor insure immortality; but the bread of heaven would nourish the soul into everlasting life.
The Saviour said, “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eats of this bread, he shall live forever (John 6:5). To this figure, Christ now adds another. Only through dying could He impart life to men, and in the words that follow, He points to His death as the means of salvation. He said, “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world.”
The Jews were about to celebrate the Passover at Jerusalem, in commemoration of the night of Israel’s deliverance, when the destroying angel smote the homes of Egypt. In the paschal lamb God desired them to behold the Lamb of God, and through the symbol receive Him who gave Himself for the life of the world.
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But the Jews had come to make the symbol all-important, while its significance was unnoticed. They discerned not the Lord’s body. The same truth that was symbolised in the paschal service was taught in the word of Christ.
But it was still undiscerned. They tended to understand His words in the same literal sense as did Nicodemus when he asked, “How can a man be born again when he is old?” (John 3:4). To some extent, they comprehended the meaning of Jesus, but they were not willing to acknowledge it. By misconstruing His words, they hoped to prejudice the people against Him.
To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins, and that we are complete in Him.
It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul.
Food cannot benefit us unless we eat it, unless it becomes part of our being. So Christ is of no value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. Just a theoretical knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him; receive Him into the heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be assimilated.
But even these words fail to present the privilege of the believer’s relationship to Christ. Jesus said, “As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me” (John 6:57). As the Son of God lived by faith in the Father, so we are to live by faith in Christ. So fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the Father alone appeared in His life. Although tempted in all points just as we are, He stood before the world untainted by the evil that surrounded Him. Thus, we are also to overcome as Christ overcame . The Jews had murmured at him, because he had said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven”. And they said, “Is this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?” Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, “Murmur not among yourselves” (John 6:41-43).
Jesus did not attempt to explain the mystery of His birth. He made no answer to the questionings in regard to His having come down from heaven, as He had provided none to the questions concerning His crossing the sea. He did not call attention to the miracles that marked His life. Voluntarily, He had made Himself of no reputation and taken upon Him the form of a servant.
But His words and works revealed His character. Every word and act of Jesus aroused antagonism in them. The people did not choose to receive His statements of divine truth.
Jews honoured Moses as the giver of manna. Their fathers had also murmured against Moses, and had doubted and denied his divine mission. Now in the same spirit the children were rejecting Jesus as the one who bore the message of God to themselves.
Christ had indeed once fed the multitude with barley loaves; but in the days of Moses, Israel had been fed with manna for 40 years, and far greater blessings were expected from the Messiah. The fact that He claimed to be the sent of God, and yet refused to be Israel’s King, was a mystery which they could not understand. His refusal was misinterpreted. They opened their hearts to unbelief.
Many concluded that He dared not assert His claims because they thought He Himself doubted as to the divine character of His mission.
In John 6: 35, Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall not thirst”.
l I would like to invite those who wish to train and be certified as ministers of religion through an internationally recognised training institute to contact me on 0771 260 195 or Dr. Oneas Mufandaedza on 0783 687 395. There is an added option to also train and be certified in agricultural skills.
