WWUTT 858 My Flesh is True Food and My Blood is True Drink?

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Jesus said that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink, and if you eat of his flesh and drink of his blood you have eternal life.

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What did he mean by that? The answer is simple, when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the

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Word of God. For questions and comments, email whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

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And don't forget our website, www .utt .com. Here's our host,

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Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. We're back to our study of the Gospel of John, Chapter 6.

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I'm going to come back to verse 52 and we'll read through verse 59. The Apostle John wrote,

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The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

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So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the

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Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

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For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

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Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.

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As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

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This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died.

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Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum.

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So again, in verse 52, the Jews disputed among themselves. Remember, they seem to take to grumbling over the things that Jesus said.

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We read that back in verse 41. So they say, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

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And as I mentioned yesterday, they think that Jesus is saying, You have to literally eat my literal flesh and literally drink my literal blood.

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That's what they hear him saying. And this is the same mistake that the Roman Catholics in the

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Eastern Orthodox make because they read Jesus saying the same thing.

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Now their response is different than the Jews in this sense, because it's kind of like the

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Catholics go, Well, OK, fine, we will. We'll eat his flesh and we'll drink his blood. This bread literally becomes the flesh of Jesus, and this cup literally becomes his blood.

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Oh, and by the way, we are the only church that is capable of doing this, having priests that can transform the bread into the flesh of Christ.

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And so you can't actually receive a real communion and thus live forever unless you do this in the

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Catholic Church or in the Orthodox Church. And that's the way that they teach. They hear the same thing from Jesus that the

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Jews were hearing, but they just approach it different. They hear

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Jesus literally saying, Eat my flesh and drink my blood. But they go, Well, OK, fine, we'll do it. The Jews, of course, were not going to do that because they thought it was nonsense.

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That's the way they were interpreting what Jesus was saying and what they heard was nonsense because they thought with the minds of men instead of with the mind of God.

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This was what Jesus said to Peter when Peter tried to prevent Jesus from going to the cross.

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Jesus rebuked him sternly and said, Get behind me, Satan, for you are not thinking with the mind of God, but with the mind of a man.

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Paul puts this in First Corinthians two, that the naturally minded man cannot understand things for they are spiritually discerned.

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And Jesus is talking about something spiritual here. He is saying that we must receive everything that he says, and it must be way deep down into our core, our very heart of hearts, so that what we speak and what we say, what comes out of us is going to be a reflection of a transformation that has happened by God through Jesus Christ in the very heart of a man.

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And what we understand from what Jesus is saying here is is all in the context of what he's saying.

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It has to do with everything that has been said in the Gospel of John up to this point and all of the things that are going to come after it as well, because note that Jesus says here that you must abide in me and whoever abides in me,

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I will abide in him. And Jesus says the same thing again later, John 15, four is where we have the very famous verse about I am the vine and you are the branches.

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That whole verse goes like this, abide in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine.

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Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine.

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You are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit for apart from me, you can do nothing.

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If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned.

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If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you as the father has loved me.

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So I have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.

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I kept going there. I went through verse 10. That's in John 15, by the way. But Jesus comes back to this concept of abide again in this particular chapter in John 15.

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He's using the reference of a vine and its branches. Here in John six, he is talking about abiding in him and he uses the reference to being flesh or to eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

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Those who take this literally and think that you literally have to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life.

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Why don't they read John 15 for as Jesus saying, I am literally a vine and you are literally branches.

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They don't interpret that passage that way. But because of the abuses that the

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Roman Catholic Church imposes upon the scriptures, they've created this horrible, blasphemous practice called mass in which the priest somehow has control over Christ and can beckon him into the the the

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Eucharist to become Jesus and this cup to become his blood.

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He can command Christ into these things. What man can command God to do anything?

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It is it is absurd and is a blasphemous lie. This thing that is being done in the

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Catholic Church, it is not what Jesus was saying here. And we understand the meaning of eat his flesh and drink his blood when we read the full context of what

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John is laying out. This is from J .I. Packer and J .I. Packer was answering the question, what did

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Jesus mean in John six fifty four, where he says whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.

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Here's what J .I. Packer says. The reference Jesus made to eating his flesh and drinking his blood is a metaphorical way of describing the person who draws on claims or lays hold of the reality of his atoning sacrifice by putting personal faith in him.

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We've constantly got to come back to that. The Gospels capture that from beginning to end.

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Jesus is a person who confronts us through his word. And when we realize that he's confronting us, then we have to respond to him.

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That's the ground, the base of what's being said in this passage. The flesh and the blood are words which point to Jesus death as a sacrifice.

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But it's eating me that Jesus talks about, in other words, receiving him as he confronts us in his character as savior and Lord.

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The commentators say different things about this passage, but these references do not directly relate to the

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Lord's Supper. Instead, they refer to what the Lord's Supper is about. Christ's upcoming sacrifice on Calvary.

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The Jews were understandably bewildered because they didn't know that Calvary was coming.

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And so they scratched their heads and asked the question, which at the stage was unanswerable.

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How can this man give us his flesh to eat? And what's flanking it on both sides is material in which the idea of eating

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Jesus is prominent and central. You eat the bread of life. Jesus makes it plain.

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That means coming to him, which is the heart of the matter. An encounter with the Christ who confronts you.

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He goes right on to the end of the discourse, talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood and having life as a result of doing so.

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Put all of that in the framework of John's gospel. There have been five chapters of John's gospel leading up to this point.

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They establish the frame of reference into which eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood actually fits.

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Come to him and believe in him as Nicodemus was taught to do in John three, as were as were the woman at the well and the other folk from Sychar in John chapter four.

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And in chapter five, you've got the reality of Jesus healing the cripple and restoring to him a life he did not have before.

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It all adds up, you see. And this is something that I find myself wanting to say over and over again to people who ask about difficult scriptures.

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If you read what leads up to them in the book from which they come again and again, you'll find that the problem answers itself because the foundation for resolving it has already been laid.

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Amen to that. That's what when we understand the text is all about. Reading and understanding the

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Bible in context. So that's what Jesus is saying here in John six, is that you listen to his word.

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You believe in who he is. You abide in him. You obey his commandments.

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And those who do so, who believe in Christ, who follow him, who obey his word will have eternal life.

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Now don't think that I just said that salvation is by works. You have to obey

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Jesus and therefore you will be saved. On the contrary, the salvation that you've been given, the transformed heart will result in obedience.

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You will demonstrate that you trust God when you obey what it is that he has said.

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And this goes back to a reference that I made, I can't remember if it was yesterday or the day before, but back to Ezekiel 36, where God says,

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I will sprinkle clean water on you. I will put my spirit in you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

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You are not even capable of believing in Jesus until God has done that.

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So therefore following him and obeying him is not something you do to be saved. It is a result of the salvation that you have.

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You are demonstrating that Christ abides in you and that you abide in him, drinking the blood of Christ.

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The reference to his blood is the giving of his life. And we have this over and over again in the, in the new

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Testament, there's types and shadows of it in the old Testament. For example, Leviticus 1711 saying the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.

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There's nothing really significant or unique about the blood of Jesus because he was a man.

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He was very man and he was very God, but blood is the aspect of his humanness.

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It's not an aspect of his godliness. His blood was just like any other man's. So there's nothing about the blood of Jesus that has any unique or superficial qualities to it.

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What is being represented by Christ giving his blood? And when we even talk about being covered by his blood and any of these things, it's a reference to the fact that he gave his life for us specifically.

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That's what we mean when we talk about there's power in the blood. What can wash away my sins?

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Nothing but the blood of Jesus. When we sing these songs, what we're saying is that Christ gave his life for us.

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There's really not anything unique about the blood of Jesus except that it is in reference to the types and shadows that were given to us in the

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Old Testament. That blood represents life. So when blood is spilled, that life that spilled that blood dies.

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The animal sacrifice is on the altar. So a life was given for the forgiveness of sins, which

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Jesus then comes and does. He sheds his blood. He doesn't die by being stoned to death.

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He dies by being pierced and his blood spilled out for the forgiveness of sins.

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And that's what Jesus even references about the cup that he passes to his disciples at the

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Last Supper. He says, this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,

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Matthew 26, 28. In Ephesians 1, 7, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.

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And Hebrews 9, 22, indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

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It is the giving of one life for another. Remember that the wages of sin is death, Romans 6, 23.

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But the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So what we owe God for our sin is our own deaths.

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But that would not be enough to atone for our sin because we are sinful people. Therefore, we are not without blemish.

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We cannot be the perfect sacrifice for ourselves, which needs to be paid in order for us to have right standing with God.

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Jesus Christ is that right sacrifice and his blood, the giving of his life, so much greater than the giving of any of those other sacrifices that had been given to God, the the hundreds of thousands upon thousands upon thousands of sacrifices that had been offered up to God in the

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Old Testament. The blood of Jesus Christ is even greater than all of this. But it's the giving of his blood that symbolizes the giving of his life.

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So when we talk about power in the blood of Jesus, we're talking about power in the life of Jesus, the life that he gave and therefore the gift he gives to us, that all who believe in him will not perish.

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But we will have everlasting life. He was a sacrifice for our sins. And so Romans 12 one says we must be living sacrifices unto him in righteousness.

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Again, Jesus says in John six fifty three, 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 giving your whole life to him because he gave his whole life for us.

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That's what Jesus is talking about. Verse fifty four. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

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Now it's possible that there is a reference here to this being his word, because remember that Jesus said in referencing

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Deuteronomy that man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

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And then in Matthew chapter six, he in teaching his disciples to pray, he says, give us this day our daily bread.

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And there's a double meaning to that. Give us the basic needs that we need. And then also feed us your word that we may know and live by the word of God.

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And so there is kind of a reference to that, that that when Jesus says my flesh is true food, he's making a reference, having referred to his flesh as bread, to his word being true food.

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And we live according to his word. My blood is true drink. The giving of my life is for the forgiveness of your sins.

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Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks, my blood abides in me and I in him has the living father sent me and I live because of the father.

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So whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

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Whoever feeds on the word of Christ and is nourished by it, meaning they understand it and their life is transformed by what they have read and what they have heard that has come from the mouth of Jesus.

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They will have eternal life. Whoever believes will be saved. In Luke chapter nine, verse 26,

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Jesus said, for whoever is ashamed of me and my words of him, will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the father and of the holy angels.

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Later on in chapter 21, verse 33, Jesus says, heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

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In Romans chapter 10, verse 17, we read that faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.

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It is hearing the gospel and believing it saves and gives eternal life.

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I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, as we read in Romans 1, 16, as the living father sent me and I live because of the father.

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So whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. Verse 58. This is the bread that came down from heaven.

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Once again, showing that he is the fulfilling of the type and shadow that was given in Exodus 15 regarding the manna that had been given to the children of Israel.

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This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

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Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum. That's where he was when these people, his disciples came back across the

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Sea of Galilee looking for him. And once again, John refers to these individuals as disciples, though he distinguishes between them and those that he refers to as the 12 because we get to verse 60, which

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I'll come to this section next week on Monday. It says, when many of his disciples heard it, they said, this is a hard saying.

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Who can listen to it? And we'll read the final portion of John 6 and finish up this chapter next week.

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Let's conclude with prayer. Our heavenly father, you have considered our need and you have sent to us your son to fill that need and more.

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For we have life in Christ, but we have life more abundant. We have the forgiveness of sins, but we've also become fellow heirs of his eternal kingdom.

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All who live, all who believe in Jesus will live.

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And we thank you for this gift of your grace that you have shown to us. I pray that as we apply these things, practically what we've considered today, that we would cherish the word of Christ and we would feed upon it.

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And we would not just listen to the words that are being said, but we having the spirit of God living within us are compelled to obey them.

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Help us to do those things that are pleasing and honoring unto you so that we may become that living sacrifice in all that we do be an honor and praise to our great king who has bought us at a great price.

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You are a good God and remind us of that daily as we pray these things in Jesus name.

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Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a

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New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers.