From The Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Chapter 4: VV.
1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted of the devil.
2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was
afterward an hungered.
3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son
of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, "It is written, Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the
mouth of God."
I asked some of my students, who are medical technologists at
St. Luke's Hospital in Oita, Japan, what did it mean when Lord
Jesus [Iesu-sama] said that Man is not given life by food, but
by God. And, they replied that the meaning was unclear to them.
The bread symbolized food. We know that we must have food to
live. It is difficult to see beyond such simplicity. However,
there is not one thing that we possess that we truly earn.
Farmers depend on the weather to grow food. We are still at the
mercy of things that are out of our control, as EL Niño is, at
this time, so ably demonstrating to the world. The giver
remains God; His word is His power, and by His command, and on
His authority alone, do we receive our blessings.
From The Gospel according to Saint John, Chapter 6: VV.
26 Jesus answered them and said, "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye
did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat
which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall
give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might
work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign showest thou then,
that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written,
He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth
you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven,
and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me
shall never thirst.
This passage, I said to my students, is particularly strange.
And it is! Jesus is telling us that unless we eat Him, we can
never hope to have life everlasting, but if we do "eat" Him we
will be given life forever more.
Was Jesus really calling us to cannibalise Him? And, if so, how
could we ever hope to, since He is no longer among us on earth
but in Heaven? I asked my students 'what does it mean to eat
Jesus?' This was clearly a difficult problem, and they had no
answer. However, I did not blame them. They had just the
previous Sunday had a special 'bible study' given to them on
this topic, but it is a weighty one. I appealed to them then as
the scientists they are: 'can you' I asked. 'tell me what
happens to food when we eat it?' This brought some merriment
because it was a little embarrassing to think about the end
products. Yet, one student explained that the food is absorbed
into our bodies and becomes part of us. And this is indeed the
case. 'How, then, is it with Jesus?' I asked. The logic
remained the same. I explained that when we believe and obey
Jesus' teachings and example it is like this food. Jesus is
absorbed into us spiritually, and Jesus' life becomes apart of
us. At the end of our physical lives, I said. Our old bodies
are going to perish. This is a well known fact, but that part
of us which has come from Jesus is going to live on. That is
why it is important for us to study the Bible and obey God's
Word.
Before His appointed hour, however, Jesus enjoined His
disciples, and through them, all who would follow; according to
Saint Matthew, Chapter 26 VV.
26 Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it
to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them,
saying, "Drink ye all of it;
28 "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins.
29 "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this
fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you
in my Father's kingdom."
30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount
of Olives.
31 Then saith Jesus unto them, "All ye shall be offended
because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the
shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.
32 "But after I am risen again, I will go before you into
Galilee."
And Saint Paul tells us, in his First letter to the church in
Corinth, Chapter 11, VV.
23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered
unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was
betrayed took bread:
24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, "Take,
eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in
remembrance of me." [See Lk.22:19]
25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had
supped, saying, "This cup is the new testament in my blood: this
do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me."
Communion is a shared experience. It was meant to be shared among those who believe in Him, and among those specifically who are committed to follow Him; these are the Christians, this is His body. There is no Jew or Gentile here. No rich man, poor man. No African, European, Asian. No mainlander, islander. No one superior, inferior. This is the family. It is not built on the sand of empty promises, or relativism. It is built on the Rock. It has a solid foundation, and a glorious future. We are not ashamed, but neither are we proud. We who love Jesus are not called to cannibalise Him, neither do we mystically become Him. We are by this rite of passage His. And, this is our act of love, that in the presence of all who love Him, we remember Him. He is our Saviour, and the Saviour of the world, our Lord Jesus. May God bless you.
