Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
March 31, 1983
Feeding On Jesus
John 6:51-58, NIV
Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciples. During the meal Jesus took the bread and wine and said that they signified his body and blood. By eating the bread and drinking the cup, the disciples were taking part in a sacrifice but they did not understand how. The next day, Good Friday, Jesus was crucified.
Our passage in John also speaks of eating Christ's flesh and drinking his blood. But what is Jesus talking about? If we are to understand his words in John, we must begin first by realizing that they do not refer to the Lord's Supper or Communion. Many have looked at John 6 this way, especially the very liturgical churches. Generally speaking, there have been three major views of the Lord's Supper. The first is highly literal and it is the view of Roman Catholics and some Episcopalians. According to those churches, the bread and wine of the communion service are literally transformed into the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ by the priest. Some of them would say Christ is being sacrificed right there during the service. In this view, the words in John 6 literally describe what is happening. You are actually feeding on Jesus Christ.
The second view of the Lord's Supper is that it is a mere memorial meal. This understanding focuses on Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 11, "Do this in remembrance of me," and, "For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:24-26). There is truth in this view but it is weak because it does not show how Jesus can be present in any special way to those taking part in the service.
The third view is held by Calvinists, which include Presbyterians and many Baptists. They say that Jesus is actually present in the communion service but he is present spiritually, not physically. Often when we talk about God we say that he is everywhere present. It does not mean that God is physically present in physical objects, because this would be pantheism which says rocks, bugs, water -- everything -- is God. For God to be present everywhere means that he is present spiritually. We also say that God is present in a special way with those who are his children; that is, God lives in them. So God is present in Christians in some ways more than he is in the world. In the same way God is present whenever Christians gather together but in the Lord's Supper he is spiritually present in a special way.
These have been the three main ways Christians understand the Lord's Supper and each view has looked to the sixth chapter of John for support. In my view, however, John 6 is not really dealing with the Lord's Supper. Why? First because this passage in John follows the feeding of the five thousand and comes long before Jesus had the Last Supper with his disciples. Second, because Jesus is talking to unbelievers in John 6, while the Lord's Supper is for Christians only. Third, because the eating and drinking spoken of in John results in salvation, while the eating and drinking in the Lord's Supper is for those who are already saved. Fourth, because the Lord's Supper does not produce the results which John 6 attributes to the eating and drinking of Christ. This is the greatest reason, because it is obvious that thousands of people participate in the Lord's Supper and yet do not possess eternal life which Jesus says results from a true feeding upon him.
I have spent all this time telling you why John 6 is not referring to the Lord's Supper. Then why use this passage for a Maundy Thursday service? Because even though it is not primarily concerned with the Lord's Supper, you cannot understand the Lord's Supper unless you understand John 6. They both deal with the same issue - what salvation in Jesus really means. If the eating and drinking in John 6 is not communion, what does it refer to? What does it mean to feed on Jesus? The whole chapter gives us clues. In verses 29, 35 and 47 Jesus has said that men and women must believe in him. In verse 35 he says they must come to him. In verse 40 they must see him. In verse 45 he says they must hear and learn of him. All these terms -- believe, come, see, hear, learn of -- refer to what we would most naturally call faith.
In verses 51 to 58 John uses two more expressions for faith. He says in verse 53:
"Jesus said to them, "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."
This is a very stark and unpleasant way to describe faith. The idea of drinking his blood was especially repulsive to his listeners because the Old Testament condemned the eating of blood. The words "eat" and "drink" are in the past tense in the Greek. This means they are once-for-all actions. It is not a repeated eating and drinking, such as we practice in the Lord's Supper.
John goes on to say that this eating and drinking are absolutely necessary for eternal life. Those who do not eat and drink Christ have no life. Eating and drinking therefore appears to be a very graphic way of saying that a person must take Christ into their innermost being. These words stress that the commitment which is involved in Christian faith is as real, irrevocable and productive of results as any literal eating or drinking.
Have you committed yourself to Jesus Christ so that he has become as real to you as that? Is he as real to you spiritually as something you can taste or handle? Is he as much a part of you as what you eat? I don't mean to be sacrilegious but Jesus must be as real and as useful to you as a hamburger and french fries. I say this because although he is obviously far more real and useful then this, the unfortunate thing is that for many people he is much less.
There is one more point which we must see in studying these verses. It is that there are certain results that come from feeding upon Jesus. The verses suggest three of them. First, we receive the certainty of our salvation. This result is seen primarily in verse 54, where we are told about the gift of eternal life and of Christ's promise to raise us up at the last day. What is eternal life? Eternal life is a special kind of life. As Jesus says in John 10:10:
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
Eternal life is also life that lasts forever. It is the life of God. It is without end because God is without end. Our bodies may die but our souls go to be with God, and at the last day, the Second Coming, Jesus will give us new, resurrection bodies. Nothing will ever separate us from the One who loves us and who has taught us to love! Second, we enter into a life-transforming union with Christ as a result of coming to him. This thought is expressed in verse 56, where the idea of union with Christ is mentioned for the first time in John's gospel. When we are joined with Christ we have a change in our life and status. Before we are saved, we are sinners. After we are saved, we are redeemed sinners. We still commit sins but now they are washed away by the blood of Jesus when we confess them to God.
Finally, the words of Jesus also suggest that we receive strength for the living of day-to-day life as we feed on him. He says in verse 57:
"...the one who feeds on me will live because of me."
This verse is not talking about eternal life primarily -- it is talking about our present daily life to be lived in Christ's power. Galatians 2:20 also states this principle:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Do you live by the power of Jesus Christ?
As you eat communion, think of eating Christ.
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This sermon probably depends heavily on another source but I cannot identify it now.
Typed on February 20, 2006, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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