“the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”” 1 Corinthians 11:23b-25 ESV
Reflection: why do you desire to be one with Christ?
20%, or one out of every five children in the United States are considered “obese”. Many of these will have health issues their whole lives as a result, from diabetes to heart disease, and will not be able to enjoy many physical activities that life has to offer. This is an absolute disgrace, a crime, that we allow this for our children. What in the world are we doing? They are children! Of course the cereal full of sugar looks and tastes better than a slice of whole grain bread with meat and cheese. But the problem is deeper. Even adults have become lazy, used to a quick fix, eating fast or highly processed foods resulting in a 40% adult obesity rate. Healthy food alternatives are available, but often take more time to research, to prepare, and will not taste the same. We are each accountable for what we put into our bodies every day, as well as what we allow into the bodies of our children. And as a society, we have let this happen, this health degradation, and we will pay a big price for years to come.
The prophet Hosea wrote “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Hosea 4:6 ESV. The Lord spoke through Hosea to inform His people had the ability to walk with the Lord, to choose His ways, but opted to ignore Him. “Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.” Hosea 4:1-3 ESV
You might be wondering where I am going with this, related to today’s focus verses. Think about it for one moment, have we ever had more access to spiritual food than today? We have the Bible in many translations (ESV, NIV, ASV, KJV, etc), we can read it any time and anywhere; even on our phones. We have churches everywhere, even online. We have almost an endless amount of books and writings, available through a couple of clicks. We can watch a church services not even getting out of bed. But, with this huge amount of available spiritual food, is our spiritual health improving? Is God’s people closer to Him today than 50 years ago? Or, perhaps the question should be, does God’s people truly have
a desire to be one with Christ?
The Lord’s Supper consists of two elements – the bread and the wine, representing his body and his blood. While we often focus on and most understand the blood signifying his sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, we might not talk as much about consuming the body. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 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 you. 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. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 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. 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.”” John 6:48-58 ESV.
There is an equivalence between the Word of God, Jesus flesh or body, and the bread from heaven. John explained it this way “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.” John 1:1, 14, 17-18 ESV. Paul wrote to the Colossians “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.” Colossians 1:21-23 ESV
In a similar way that we consume physical food to maintain our bodies, we consume Jesus, the Word, the bread of life, to give us spiritual life; eternal life. Ok, a lot here to “chew on”. But one of the key thoughts to take with you today is this – the more we consume Jesus Christ, the more we become one with him; One in Spirit, in thought and in action. Let Him, the King of kings, the Word, saturate each of us today.