Feeding On Jesus
Jesus’ words in John 6 concerning eating his flesh and drinking his blood not only caused consternation for the Jews that heard him that day, but they have also been controversial within the church. While some propose that Jesus uses a mere metaphor to speak about having faith in him that has nothing to do with the Lord’s Supper, I believe the language of John 6 closely resembles the language Jesus used when he instituted the Supper. John doesn’t record the institution of the Supper. It has already been well established by the first three Gospels and the practice of the church. The language is unmistakable. The Supper may not be everything Jesus is referring to, but it is certainly a primary reference.
While some see no reference to the Supper, others speak of it in this passage in almost magical terms. Bread and wine transform (“transubstantiate”) into the physical flesh and blood of Jesus. If you show up for communion, no matter how you live in relationship to the lordship of Jesus outside of worship, you have the blessings of the life of Christ. However, Jesus situates eating his flesh and drinking his blood within the life of faith (Jn 6:35, 40, 44-45, 47). Faith is allegiance to Jesus as Lord. Faith adopts the way of the life of Christ as one’s own. The bread and wine are not sacramental magic substances that somehow bind God to give you the promised life apart from loyalty to Christ Jesus.
The extremes must be avoided. The Lord’s Supper is an integral part of a life of faith in Christ and a means of grace for salvation. Whatever happens in the Lord’s Supper in the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine, we know that Jesus promises his presence and the power of his life in the sharing of this meal within the context of his church. This is his body. This is his blood. You meet Christ and receive Christ’s life where Jesus himself promised to give himself: in the worship of the church around Word and Sacrament. Jesus hasn’t made the promise to meet you in personal devotions, podcasts, or parachurch organizations. How can you say that you have faith in Christ if you don’t obey Jesus’ command to “Take and eat … and drink” at the Lord’s Table in the worship of the church? You can’t love Jesus and hate his church. You can’t be a part of the body of Christ without being a part of the body of Christ, the church.
Within the life of faith, as we participate in the Supper, Jesus gives us his life, the life he has from the Father (Jn 6:57). Whatever the Son receives from the Father, we receive. The love of the Father for the Son is the love we receive. The promises of the Father to the Son are our promises. The peace the Father has with the Son is the peace he has with us. The delight the Father takes in the Son is how he delights in us. The responsibilities he gives to the Son, he gives to us. We share this life, not as an intruder, but as one who has been fully incorporated into Trinitarian life.
Many mysteries swirl around the Supper that may never be resolved by us. However, because of Jesus’ words, we know that when we, in faith, eat his body and drink his blood in the bread and wine of the Supper, we share his life, a life that will culminate in the resurrection of our bodies on the last day (Jn 6:54).
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