You Are What You Eat; John 6

May the mumbling commence!

The pendulum continues to swing.  Sometimes, we are told that things like chocolate are bad for us.  Sometimes, we are told they are good for us.  We cannot seem to make up our minds.  We only know that what we eat or drink makes a difference in our level of healthiness. 

So, what should a main staple of a Christians’ diet be?  What should be at the bottom of a Christians’ food pyramid?  Read from John chapter 6:

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."  They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?" 

"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.  "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.  No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.  I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.  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." 

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 

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.  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.  Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.  This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." (Verses 32-58)

The disciples called this a hard teaching.  Many of Jesus’ followers left him after this teaching.  They got hung up and eating human flesh and drinking blood.  The Law prohibits drinking blood, and most societies frown on cannibalism.  It is no wonder that they made to leave!

What does it mean to eat of Jesus’ flesh and drink of Jesus’ blood?  These words can easily be connected to the Lord’s Supper.  But to simply state that Jesus was talking about communion doesn’t really address the issue at hand.  What does it mean to eat Christ’s flesh and drink Christ’s blood?  Well, we are what we eat.

And good food deserves to be eaten slowly and enjoyed.  In fact, the Greek word used in this passage for eating has the connotation of grazing.  When we eat of the essence of Christ Jesus, we mull over and meditate over how Jesus lived his life.  When we eat of the essence of Christ Jesus, we incorporate his way of life into our very being.  We are what we eat.

Let us take in Christ Jesus slowly and thoughtfully.  Let us integrate Christ’s way of life into our very beings.  That is the currency of belief.  And a new and enhanced life – eternal life – will be ours. 

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out