those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eterntal life

L

luckyd Aug 16, 2006

I was wondering why people believe so strongly in other religions and i saw a website about muslims. I can see how easy they can make sense because they take things from the new testament and say scriptures such as the one i put and say that why didn't mary go drink his blood when he was on the cross and twist things around to fit thier beliefs. But i guess i have 2 questions. My first question is what is an effective way to really show that jesus is the savior without getting real trapped by other religions, and my second question is can someone explain the flesh and blood scripture for eternal life.

sermonindex Aug 16, 2006

Hi there-

I assume you are talking about John 6:54.

First of all, it seems immediately obvious that Jesus isn't talking about literal flesh and blood: cannabalism is forbiden, and so is the consumption of blood in the Bible. Surely he wouldn't instruct Jews to transgress the law. To see what he really means, compare how remarkably similar these two scriptures are in John chapter 6:

"Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him at the last day" (v40).

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (v54).

Also, keep in mind that the scripture says, "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. (v55),"

and not that the bread is real flesh and the drink is real blood. Some seem to have this reversed. Jesus is real food and His blood real drink because He gives eternal life.

In my understanding, eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood means genuinely believing in the Divine Messiah.

-K DAY

sermonindex Aug 16, 2006

Here are two sets of scripture in John 6 set up so you can easily compare them:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life” (v47).

“He who eats this bread will live forever” (v58).

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"Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him at the last day" (v40).

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (v54).

sermonindex Aug 16, 2006

Hi luckyd,

I want to quote to you from a Christian brother who shared this explanation of the flesh and the blood. From these words, I think you will understand how eternal life is part of the deal - from the very beginning of being born again.

"... for too long our weak churches have misrepresented this idea. If you eat a steak you are eating flesh that is not your own. Right? Yet what happens to this flesh? It enters into your metabolism and is distributed and imparted to you! It becomes your flesh! Then, if you become thirsty, you drink water that did not originate from within. After swallowing it, what happens to this water? It enters your bloodstream and gives life to your whole being...becoming your water! So we cannot say that Christ's 'foreign' righteousness, is a righteousness that we never touch or taste or imbibe. On the contrary, if we have biblical faith unto salvation, we will eat His flesh and drink his blood and partake of his righteous life. He will enter our body and change our spiritual metabolisms...."

Does this make sense to your spirit?

O

OverSeer Aug 16, 2006

can someone explain the flesh and blood scripture for eternal life.

Luckyd, there are some very good responses already to your question. I would just like to add another thought which is illustrated in the Lord's Supper.

The bread (unleavened; illustrating His being without sin) represented the Lord's body and it was ~~[i]~~broken[/i] for many. The Lord said, "~~[i]~~Take, eat; this is My body[/i]" (Matthew 26:26). He was in essence saying that proper application of His sacrificial death is necessary for salvation. It has to be something more than what we "know" about - it has to be "incorporated" into our very beings.

The same thing with the fruit of the vine (the cup); it represented the Lord's blood. "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:27-28). Again we see that it isn't enough to know about and sing about the blood of Jesus - proper application has to be made - it has to be incorporated.

I don't need inspiration - it isn't enough! If I am inspired by the sinless life and sacrificial gift of Jesus, I still can't live in obedience to God. I don't need inspiration - I need incarnation - I need for the One who can live in obedience to God to live His life in and through me - so eating the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine illustrates my incorporation of the death of Christ as my death and the life of Christ as my life so that I can say, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Grace and peace
Olan