2004-08-22 Communion Dedication - Baldwin Christian Church

John 6:54-59

54. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Back in verse 47, when Jesus began to explain the "Bread of Life," He says, "He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." In verse 51, He says, "...if any man eat of this bread (meaning the flesh of Jesus), he shall live for ever," and here He says, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life."

Jesus is drawing a comparison between the state of our belief in Him and the state of our body's hunger. When my stomach is full, it's hard to motivate me any further than the nearest couch, but hunger is a motivating force. If I'm one who says that I believe in Jesus, and I'm satisfied with that, then you'll probably find me on the couch, spiritually speaking.

In Mark chapter 9, a father approached Jesus with a seemingly impossible prayer request concerning his son, but Jesus told this man that if he could only believe, all things are possible to those that believe. The man tearfully confessed his belief, and then he asked Jesus to help his unbelief (Mark 9:17-29). The more I learn in Bible study, the more I realize how much more there is to learn. The more I learn about my belief, the more I realize how much more I should believe. These things should create a hunger, a spiritual hunger in me.

When my belly is hungry or my body is thirsty, I seek out the food or drink that will satisfy it, but no matter how much I eat or drink, no matter how healthy the choices I make, I'm still going to die someday. Jesus is teaching us about another kind of nourishment.

55. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

(indeed = true, so here is true meat and true drink)

56. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

(you are what you eat, or you are what you believe)

57. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58. 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.
59. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

If I'm hungry, you can't eat for me. You can give me food, but you can't accept it for me, you can't chew it for me, you can't ingest it for me, and you can't let it become part of me... for me. If I'm conscious and alert, you can't force me to eat. Even for as much love as you might have for me, and for as much as you may want me to eat, you just can't force me to. It's personal.

Nobody can believe in Jesus for me. Pastor Ray can't believe in Jesus for me, my family can't, and you dear folks can't. It's personal. Jesus was teaching this plainly to those folks in the Capernaum synagogue, but they weren't able to receive and digest His Words. We have an advantage today that they didn't have that day. We know that Jesus followed through with these words. He became our Passover Lamb (1 Cor 5:7). The audience in the synagogue could eat the Passover once each year, but we're invited to gather at this table every day, and that's the key word, "invited." You have to make the decision to partake. He loves you too much to force you, but how do you think it makes Him feel when we're satisfied to simply go through the motions of eating and finding the nearest couch, of believing and resting in our belief? Is that gratitude, considering what He went through for us? Is that gratitude, considering why He suffered and died? Lord, help Thou our unbelief.