Feed On Me
Tony Nester
John 6:51-59
Let's not pretend these are easy words to understand.
How can Jesus tell us to eat his body and drink his
blood?
Those of us who have been Christians for a long time
just assume that Jesus was talking about Holy
Communion. And we're so neat and tidy with this
sacrament. We take a little piece of bread and a few
drops of juice and that's that. The bread is covered
with a white cloth and the chalice of wine is often
gold or silver plated. It's all quite lovely. And
not at all shocking.
But those who first heard these words of Jesus took
his words at face value. And they were shocked by
what they heard him say:
(John 6:52 NRSV) The Jews then disputed among
themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?"
I think these doubters were closer to the truth than
are those who receive the sacrament without thinking
very much about its meaning. Sometimes we go through
the motions of this sacrament and fail to grasp what's
really going on.
I heard about a woman who was holding her small
daughter in her arms while standing in line to receive
Holy Communion. When the minister said to her, "This
is the Body and Blood of Christ," her daughter yelled
out, "Yuck. Don't take it Mom." At least that child
was taking the minister's words with real seriousness.
Jesus wasn't the first to talk about eating the things
of God.
"Taste and see that the LORD is good," says Psalm
34:8.
The prophet Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll on
which God had written His words to His people Israel.
(Ezekiel 3:2 -3 NRSV) {2} So I opened my mouth, and
he gave me the scroll to eat. {3} He said to me,
Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your
stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was
as sweet as honey.
This isn't as strange as it might sound since we still
use similar expressions of speech. We say that we
"devour" books, ...
Tony Nester
John 6:51-59
Let's not pretend these are easy words to understand.
How can Jesus tell us to eat his body and drink his
blood?
Those of us who have been Christians for a long time
just assume that Jesus was talking about Holy
Communion. And we're so neat and tidy with this
sacrament. We take a little piece of bread and a few
drops of juice and that's that. The bread is covered
with a white cloth and the chalice of wine is often
gold or silver plated. It's all quite lovely. And
not at all shocking.
But those who first heard these words of Jesus took
his words at face value. And they were shocked by
what they heard him say:
(John 6:52 NRSV) The Jews then disputed among
themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?"
I think these doubters were closer to the truth than
are those who receive the sacrament without thinking
very much about its meaning. Sometimes we go through
the motions of this sacrament and fail to grasp what's
really going on.
I heard about a woman who was holding her small
daughter in her arms while standing in line to receive
Holy Communion. When the minister said to her, "This
is the Body and Blood of Christ," her daughter yelled
out, "Yuck. Don't take it Mom." At least that child
was taking the minister's words with real seriousness.
Jesus wasn't the first to talk about eating the things
of God.
"Taste and see that the LORD is good," says Psalm
34:8.
The prophet Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll on
which God had written His words to His people Israel.
(Ezekiel 3:2 -3 NRSV) {2} So I opened my mouth, and
he gave me the scroll to eat. {3} He said to me,
Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your
stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was
as sweet as honey.
This isn't as strange as it might sound since we still
use similar expressions of speech. We say that we
"devour" books, ...
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