Hard to Explain
Scripture – John 6:53-59: 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.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture) We know Jesus is describing what we call “communion.” That’s the time in worship when we eat a bit of bread, symbolizing Christ’s body, and we drink a small cup of juice, symbolizing His blood. The people listening to Him did not have that experience. This must have sounded very strange to them. There are things Jesus says that make no sense unless we already believe in Him. There are things we do within the context of worship that have meaning only for believers. For example, what would a non-church person think of our communion service? How would we explain it? Why is it important to us?
Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read) I will write out a brief description of what we do in a communion service, why we do it and the varying degrees of meaning it has for me.
Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer) Thank you, Lord, for your cross. The sacrifice you made for us is beyond my understanding. Yet because of what you have done, I have eternity to figure it out.
Observation – (Write down what you see in the scripture) We know Jesus is describing what we call “communion.” That’s the time in worship when we eat a bit of bread, symbolizing Christ’s body, and we drink a small cup of juice, symbolizing His blood. The people listening to Him did not have that experience. This must have sounded very strange to them. There are things Jesus says that make no sense unless we already believe in Him. There are things we do within the context of worship that have meaning only for believers. For example, what would a non-church person think of our communion service? How would we explain it? Why is it important to us?
Application – (Write how you will be different today because of what you have just read) I will write out a brief description of what we do in a communion service, why we do it and the varying degrees of meaning it has for me.
Prayer – (Write out a brief prayer) Thank you, Lord, for your cross. The sacrifice you made for us is beyond my understanding. Yet because of what you have done, I have eternity to figure it out.
1 Comments:
Hi Roger: Interesting readng your perspective of these verses. Bill's comments were that this ws hard to understand, but that he didn't need to understand it..just follow Christ day by day.
My perspective, on the otherhand , was I remembered the OT scripture where Isaiah (?) was told to eat the words....and I felt it meant that we had to incorporate Him into our very being, letting Him nuture you day by day...then I began thinking of the great feasts I have had from Him through the years...People who led me to Christ, taught me about Him, etc. etc. etc. and became very thankful.
(We did discuss that this helps us to understand where the catholics get the transubstantiation (Sp) idea. They take this literally.
Anyway there are so many things we cannot undestand, but as Bill says we don't have to. Just act on what we do undestand.
Have a good day. Barb
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