Reading 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.”

Is this a reference to a savage practice or partaking in a superstitious ritual involving a clergyman with allegedly special power?  Maybe if you took the verse that was just read alone you might conclude one or the other.  Yet taken even in its immediate context, not to mention the whole counsel of Scripture where the real Jesus’ whole character is set forth for us, to understand this as a reference to a savage practice or a superstitious ritual is not only wrong, it also hides the weighty, deep truth which Jesus was communicating when He called Himself the bread of life.

Now reading John 1:1-5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”

The savages who have gloried in eating the flesh of other humans are among the most openly depraved, obvious expressions of the darkness of the human heart in its willing alienation from the true God.  Yet a weekly performance of a ritual where a wafer and wine are allegedly turned into the body and blood of Christ does not confront, much less remedy, the darkness of the human heart in its alienation from God.  That is an understatement too, especially considering that Christ was once incarnate and He has already offered His body and blood to provide an atonement for man’s sin.  

John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

He is not incarnate anymore.  He is at God’s right hand in glory until He returns to put His enemies under His feet and glorify the righteous (who will then reign over all with Him).  And this also by the way negates Roman Catholicism, which is entirely based on the Mass, wherein the body of Jesus is allegedly offered again and dispensed to the congregation through the alleged authority of the Roman Catholic priest performing the Mass.  This study is basically analyzing the Biblical meaning of the Bible passage the Catholic Church uses to try to validate and justify this practice.

Yet daily being confronted with the Word, the written Word of God which Jesus lived as a flesh and blood testimony of, does indeed deal with the darkness of man’s heart in his alienation from God.  Receiving Jesus for all that He is means receiving the testimony of Him contained in the written Word of God.

To properly receive Jesus Christ and live by Him, we must be subject to live by His Word.  

Matthew 4:4: “But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”  

Those who are in truth subject to the written Word are in turn pointed to the Living Word, the 2nd person of the trinity, Jesus Christ.  The two are in agreement, they work hand in hand, and you cannot have one without being constantly led back to the other.  They are always a both/and or all or nothing combination.  This is never a matter of either/or.

John 5:37-40: “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.  And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.”

Nor can anyone in truth come to Him without being pointed back to His Word to live by- over and over- with the certainty of spiritual death otherwise (the principles from the Garden of Eden never changed- the key difference now is that there a perfect remedy provided for our fall, our alienation from God, if we will heed God’s Word and choose right in relation to those principles).

 Jesus could give a logical Scriptural defense of everything He did.  

John 7:21-24: “Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.  Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.  If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit (every way) whole on the sabbath day?  Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

Those who are truly following Him are subject to the same principles of the written Word which Jesus lived by.  They are thus being taught by Him through the written Word (which the real Holy Spirit’s leading is always according to- and not only in accordance with, but also based upon).

John 8:31-32: “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

2 Timothy 3:15-17: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All scripture is given by inspiration of God (or, divinely breathed), and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

To truly seek the Lord and deal with Him as we ought to we must receive instruction from the written Word every day and consider that as important as eating our natural food, if not more.  

Job 23:11-12: “My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”

Psalm 1:1-4: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.  The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”

Properly relating to God and obtaining authentic spiritual life from Him is inseparable from living by His Word.  And to live by His Word, we must seek the Word and let it confront us and instruct us continually.

Hebrews 4:12-13: “For the word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

We see again by the verses immediately following, as Hebrews chapter four continues, how properly relating to Jesus Christ and obtaining His mercy and grace in truth comes within the context of being confronted by the written Word and responding properly in accordance with its directions, as we saw from verses 12 and 13.

Hebrews 4:14-16: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (that is, let us hold fast to Christianity as it is set forth in the Bible).  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

This brings us to the highly controversial, hotly contested over its meaning passage in John chapter 6 where Jesus tells His hearers that they must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have eternal life.  These people were actually looking for natural bread at the time.  Commending a savage practice like cannibalism was unthinkable to them.  Imposing a superstitious ritual upon them would not have upset them at all.  This was a people immersed already in rituals (some of them Biblical ones but many of them inventions of man that diminished or altogether made comprehensive Biblical obedience to seem to be of no practical effect).  

Yet when it is understood that Jesus Christ is the ultimate, and the only means of spiritual life, and that there is no shortcut to eternal life through Him besides being governed practically by the Word of God which is a testimony of Him, which points to Him, and which He always points those who come to Him back to, then this would truly be an offense to the natural man in his alienation from God. 

It is particularly a stumbling block to both the average religious Jew and the average professing Christian who cannot read nor hear the book they profess to believe without being reminded that the God they profess to love and believe in has a value system and priorities at odds with their value system and priorities.  He will not accept the honor of Him which comes from one’s lips while their heart remains alienated from Him.

John 6:25-69: “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither (here)?  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.  Labor not for the meat (food) which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.  They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee?  what dost thou work?  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.  Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.  But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise (or, never) cast out.  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.  The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.  And they said, Is not 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.  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him (my comment: that is, through the Scriptures): and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me (my comment again: learned of the Father through the Scriptures- John 5:37-40 has established this).  Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.  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 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.  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  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.  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.  For my flesh is meat (food) indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me (my comment: that is, through His resurrection life- we’re going to see that almost immediately).  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.  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you that believe not.  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him (my comment: read closely and note that it does not say that Judas believed not from the beginning- a lot of unconditional eternal security people try to use this to say that Judas was never, ever really a disciple of Jesus from the heart).  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?  thou hast the words of eternal life.  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Ephesians 5:22-33 is a similar and closely related Bible text.  

Any church which counterfeits these authentic life-giving truths, which would include making partaking of Christ’s flesh and blood seem to be participation in an unscriptural ritual involving wafers and wine supposedly becoming Christ’s body and blood, and which would also include putting people through a “one two three repeat after me” sinner’s prayer, is surely a counterfeit church.  

Aaron’s email is: [email protected]

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