The bread of life

B-A-C · May 18, 2020

In John 6:35; Jesus says He is the bread of life. He says when you eat this bread you will never die.

John 6:31; "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"
John 6:32; Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
John 6:33; "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."
John 6:34; Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
John 6:35; Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

Thirteen verses later in John 6:48; Jesus says He is the bread of life again.

John 6:47; "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
John 6:48; "I am the bread of life.
John 6:49; "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
John 6:50; "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
John 6:51; "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."

Again He says if anyone eats this bread, they will live forever. He says the bread is His flesh which He "will give for the life of the world".

John 6:58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."

We know the Israelites received bread (manna) from heaven during the 40 years in the wilderness. But even though they ate that bread, they still died.
Jesus says if you eat His bread, you will never die. What does that mean? Even unbelievers eat bread.

John 6 ends this discourse with these verses.

John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
John 6:68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

Now seemingly Jesus says the bread is His flesh. But here He says 'flesh profits nothing'. He goes on to say His words are life.
Peter says Jesus's words are life also. If the words Jesus said are life. Shouldn't we know those words? Shouldn't we study those words?
Should we adhere and obey those words? We should be memorizing His words. We should be comsuming it, like we consume bread.
Apparently we need to do this daily. Not just once.

Matt 6:11; 'Give us this day our daily bread.
Luke 11:3; 'Give us each day our daily bread.

There is a passage where a Gentile woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, (some people are upset Gentiles are called dogs here) but the point is
it seems that healing this womans daughter could be 'giving her bread'. I say that because Jesus says 'the children's bread'. (the Jews are the children here).
Matt 15:26; And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
Mark 7:27; And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
( Luke 14:12-24; ) However in this parable Jesus seems to say the Jews wont be invited to the wedding feast, so I don't get too hung up on being called a dog.

1Cor 10:16; Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
1Cor 10:17; Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

[The Lord's Supper]
1Cor 11:23; For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
1Cor 11:24; 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."

When we take the bread of communion, we are doing this "in remembrance" of Jesus. The price His body paid for our sins.

1Cor 11:25; In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
1Cor 11:26; For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
1Cor 11:27; Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
1Cor 11:28; But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
1Cor 11:29; For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
1Cor 11:30; For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
1Cor 11:31; But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.

These last verses are a warning to make sure we are right with God before take the bread of communion.
Apparently some people have taken it in an "unworthy manner". There is a price for this.

Beetow · May 22, 2020

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Which flesh of Christ's body are Catholics supposed to eat in the Eucharist ritual? The flesh of his crucified body or the flesh of his glorified body?

I think the nature of the Eucharist's flesh might be important because the flesh of Christ's crucified body was mortal flesh whereas the flesh of his glorified body is immortal flesh; viz: the one is natural flesh and the other supernatural flesh.

» We should probably take into consideration that Christ's natural, mortal, flesh that bled and died on the cross no longer exists.
_

Beetow · May 23, 2020

FAQ: Didn't Jesus designate the flesh of His glorified body for communion services?

A: On the night of his last supper, Jesus specifically designated the flesh of his mortal body to be eaten. Any other version of his body misses the point

● 1Cor 11:26. . . For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Christ's glorified body is immortal; thus quite useless for proclaiming his death

» The Greek word translated "proclaim" is somewhat ambiguous but one of its meanings is to preach.

In other words; when the congregation partakes of the Lord's flesh and blood in the manner he prescribed, they're delivering a homily; which should be accompanied by an oral explanation just in case there are visitors is church who don't understand what the ritual is all about.
_

Trevor · May 23, 2020

B-A-C said:
In John 6:35; Jesus says He is the bread of life. He says when you eat this bread you will never die.

John 6:31; "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"
John 6:32; Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
John 6:33; "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world."
John 6:34; Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
John 6:35; Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

Thirteen verses later in John 6:48; Jesus says He is the bread of life again.

John 6:47; "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
John 6:48; "I am the bread of life.
John 6:49; "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
John 6:50; "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.
John 6:51; "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."

Again He says if anyone eats this bread, they will live forever. He says the bread is His flesh which He "will give for the life of the world".

John 6:58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."

We know the Israelites received bread (manna) from heaven during the 40 years in the wilderness. But even though they ate that bread, they still died.
Jesus says if you eat His bread, you will never die. What does that mean? Even unbelievers eat bread.

John 6 ends this discourse with these verses.

John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
John 6:68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

Now seemingly Jesus says the bread is His flesh. But here He says 'flesh profits nothing'. He goes on to say His words are life.
Peter says Jesus's words are life also. If the words Jesus said are life. Shouldn't we know those words? Shouldn't we study those words?
Should we adhere and obey those words? We should be memorizing His words. We should be comsuming it, like we consume bread.
Apparently we need to do this daily. Not just once.

Matt 6:11; 'Give us this day our daily bread.
Luke 11:3; 'Give us each day our daily bread.

There is a passage where a Gentile woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, (some people are upset Gentiles are called dogs here) but the point is
it seems that healing this womans daughter could be 'giving her bread'. I say that because Jesus says 'the children's bread'. (the Jews are the children here).
Matt 15:26; And He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
Mark 7:27; And He was saying to her, "Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs."
( Luke 14:12-24; ) However in this parable Jesus seems to say the Jews wont be invited to the wedding feast, so I don't get too hung up on being called a dog.

1Cor 10:16; Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
1Cor 10:17; Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

[The Lord's Supper]
1Cor 11:23; For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
1Cor 11:24; 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."

When we take the bread of communion, we are doing this "in remembrance" of Jesus. The price His body paid for our sins.

1Cor 11:25; In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me."
1Cor 11:26; For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.
1Cor 11:27; Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.
1Cor 11:28; But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
1Cor 11:29; For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.
1Cor 11:30; For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.
1Cor 11:31; But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged.

These last verses are a warning to make sure we are right with God before take the bread of communion.
Apparently some people have taken it in an "unworthy manner". There is a price for this.

The bread of life is the Word of God B-A-C as I believe you have just said, and we are called to feed on it. bless you.

Dave M · May 23, 2020

John 6:53
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.

John 6:54
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

John 6:55
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

I actually had John 6-54 tapped to the back of my phone recently to memorize, to me its saying READ THE BIBLE, saturate yourself with Jesus Word, hunger for the word of God, I remember when I first got changed I was in the word of God 4 hrs a day for good period of time, I could not get enough of it, I still have to start my day with a bare min of 1 hr of morning reading in the word. I couldnt imagine any other way to start my day.

Can you know Jesus with out hunger for his word?? Can you mature in faith with hunger for his word??

of course we also have to apply it,

Beetow · May 23, 2020

We must insist that churches are very wrong in serving their congregations bread in the form of crackers, biscuits, dumplings, sticks, and/or wafers etc. when it's supposed to be helpings of bread from one single loaf recently torn apart. All other forms of bread-- including so-called hosts --miss the point.

● 1Cor 11:23-24 . . I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that 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.

The broken loaf of bread reminds the congregation-- and any visitors present --that Christ's body was very nearly destroyed during his crucifixion.

● Isa 52:14 . . Many were appalled at him-- his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man, and his form marred beyond human likeness--

When the three hours of darkness lifted that day, the man who emerged was so badly disfigured that even his own mother wouldn't have recognized him had she not been there and seen the whole thing for herself.

What's even more shocking is that the Romans aren't to blame for doing that to Christ; no, they had their fun and nailed him up there, but it was God who put on the finishing touches, viz: his own Father is responsible for the extreme severity of Jesus' injuries.

● Luke 23:47 . .The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said: Surely this was a righteous man.

The centurion had likely presided over lots of crucifixions, but you can bet your bottom dollar never over one like that before.

● Luke 23:48-49 . . When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.

No surprise. It's a wonder anybody could catch their breath after an event like that.
_

Beetow · May 25, 2020

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● 1Cor 10:16-17 . . Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.

The bread that the Lord broke on the night of his last supper represented his crucified body; and whenever I partake of communion's broken bread, it reminds me that not only did Jesus go to the cross for my sins; but that I was with him in the act.

● Rom 6:2-4 . . Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

● Gal 2:20 . . I am crucified with Christ

FAQ: What's the point of going to the cross with Christ?

A: Jesus died for the sins of the world; which means that by going to the cross with him, I died for the sins of the world too: in particular my world, i.e. my own little personal share of all those sins.

FAQ: So?

A: Well the thing is: Jesus is never going to die for the sins of the world ever again because that one time on his cross was enough. The same thing with me: I'm never going to die for my sins ever again either because that one time with him on his cross was enough.

There was a time when I was dead to God, but thanks to Christ and his crucifixion, that's no longer my status.

● Rom 6:10-11 . .The death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

So the communion service is not only a memorial of his body's near destruction for the world's sake, but also a celebration of my own body's rescue from certain destruction in the lake of fire depicted at Rev 20:11-15 wherein people dead to God will undergo the loss of their lives in a manner similar to a foundry worker falling into a kettle of molten iron.
_

Beetow · May 26, 2020

FAQ: Didn't the Lord clearly state that the bread and wine were his flesh and blood? (Matt 26:27-28, John 6:55)

A: Not all things "clearly stated" in the Bible are meant to be taken literally; for example:

Was John the Baptist really a reincarnation of Elijah the prophet?

● Matt 11:14 . . And if you care to accept it, he himself is Elijah, who was to come.

Is Christ really a beast with two horns, cloven hooves, and fleece covering its skin?

● John 1:35-36 . .The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said: Look, the lamb of God!

● Rev 13:8 . . All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast-all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.

Is Jesus really a garden planting?

● John 15:1 . . I am the true vine

Is Jesus really a geological feature like those in Utah's Canyon Lands?

● Matt 21:42 . . Jesus saith unto them: Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?

● Acts 4:11 . . He is the stone you builders rejected

Does Jesus belong in a zoo?

● Rev 5:5 . . .Then one of the elders said to me: Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.

Was the Lord's piety adequate nourishment to keep his body fit, healthy, and strong?

● John 4:34 . . My food, said Jesus, is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish his work.

The thing is, much of the Lord's teachings in the sixth chapter of John are spiritual instead of literal.

● John 6:63 . .The words I have spoken to you are spirit

Spirit words oftentimes contain hidden meanings not easily discerned by human intelligence.

● 1Cor 2:13-15 . .We speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
_

Beetow · May 27, 2020

FAQ: Well then; how might somebody actually go about eating and drinking the Lord's flesh and blood if not literally?

A: There's really only one sane way to go about it; based upon Jesus' statement that it's his words that are life rather than his flesh (John 6:63). Knowing that; then it's simply a matter of following the prophet Jeremiah's example.

"When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight" (Jer 15:16)

In other words: the correct way to eat and drink Jesus' flesh and blood is by swallowing his teachings hook, line, and sinker; so to speak.

● John 5:24 . . Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life, and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.

FAQ: Which teachings?

A: Start with the one below.

● John 3:14-17 . . As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

The incident to which Christ referred is located at Num 21:5-9. Long story short: Moses' people became weary of eating manna all the time at every meal. But instead of courteously, and diplomatically, petitioning their divine benefactor for a different diet, they became hostile and confrontational; angrily demanding tastier food.

In response to their insolence, and their ingratitude for His providence; God sent a swarm of deadly poisonous vipers among them; which began striking people; and every strike was 100% fatal, no exceptions.

After a number of people died, the rest came to their senses and begged Moses to intercede. In reply; The Lord instructed Moses to fashion an image of the vipers and hoist it up on a pole in plain view so that everyone dying from venom could look to the image for relief.

The key issue here is that the image was the only God-given remedy for the people's bites-- not sacrifices and offerings, not tithing, not church attendance, not scapulars, not confession, not holy days of obligation, not the Sabbath, not the golden rule, not charity, not Bible study and/or Sunday school, not self denial, not vows of poverty, not the Ten Commandments, not one's religion of choice, no; not even prayers. The image was it; nothing else would suffice to save their lives.

As an allegory, the brazen serpent indicates that Christ's crucifixion for the sins of the world is the only God-given rescue from the wrath of God; and when people accept it, then according to John 3:14-17 and John 5:24, they qualify for a transfer from death into life. Those who reject his crucifixion as the only God-given rescue from the sum of all fears, are already on the docket to face it.

● John 3:18 . .Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

His son's "name" in this case is relative to the brazen serpent incident.
_

Dave M · May 27, 2020

Beetow said:
In other words: the correct way to eat and drink Jesus' flesh and blood is by swallowing his teachings hook, line, and sinker; so to speak.

Amen to that !!

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