Hard Words

Today, we studied John 6 in Sunday School. We had some new people, and I probably would have preferred a different section of scripture for visitors. It’s tough to come into the middle of the book of John. The truths presented in this portion are a bit obscure unless one has some familiarity of “the big picture.” But, God is in charge of our times, and this is what we heard:

John 6:50-51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
And, vs. 53-57, “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. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him."

Do you see what I mean about being hard? We discussed how these statements would have sounded to Jesus’ listeners—eating human flesh and drinking blood. Many turned away from Jesus after hearing these words. To be honest, I’m not sure what my reaction would have been—a man speaking about cannibalism and/or vampires while declaring he was from God (I avoid “Silence of the Lambs” types and “Twilight” books).

The listeners did not have the advantage of hearing about the new covenant meal just before Jesus was arrested, Matthew 23:26-28 “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them... This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

And I Corinthians 11:23-26 “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

That’s a whole different slant on the body and blood. Lissa pointed out that Jesus did not seek to make his message popular or easy to understand. Why not? Maybe because of John 6:65, "No one can come to me unless the Father enables him." God is the source of our faith in Jesus. Perhaps that’s why we can’t “prove” Christianity to the world. We can’t explain Jesus with human rationale; but we learn in John 12:32, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me.”

May we all be drawn to Jesus and have supernatural understanding of his words even when they are hard.

♫ “Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidst me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.”
By Elliott and Bradbury