2013-11-29
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week was the conclusion of the section of these “Our Covenant” messages called “Our Covenant Bond.” Each person must answer for himself the question: We all want unconditional love; are we willing to give it? However, in the course of this segment, the Holy Spirit helped to prepare us to deal with the issues needed to answer it. Today, I am led to begin a new segment of these messages called “Many Called Few Answer.”
In the early days of the church, many people walked away from Christ’s teaching, because of the obligations necessary for a covenant relationship with the Lord and fellow believers. They didn’t understand the metaphor Christ was using in JN 6: 51-54. “’I am the living Bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will love forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves. ‘How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you eat this flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” I’m sure some of the less sophisticated listeners to these words thought Jesus was speaking of something literal and disgusting. Others were simply confused by this language. With our own hindsight, we understand that Christ was prophesying His own crucifixion at Calvary and our subsequent taking of Communion. This direct reference to the Last Supper had no meaning to them, because they didn’t understand the significance of the body and the blood, as Communion-the most intimate connection we have to the One Whose death on the cross makes our salvation possible [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25].
The wording of this, ‘the living Bread that came down from heaven” has a symbolic connection to manna, this bread-like substance that rained down from heaven and kept the Jews wandering in the desert alive long before Christ’s first advent. EX 16: 14-16, “When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord commanded, ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. Take an omer, for each person you have in your tent.’” An omer is about three pints per person. Both passages suggest Christ’s ability to supply the needs of every believer. We all need food for life and health. We all need Christ to allow us to gain eternal life. JN 6: 32-33 helps us to better understand this connection. “Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father Who gives you the true Bread from heaven. For the Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’”
We get illumination from JN 6: 60-61, 63-65 “On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you?...The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are the life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe…This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has enabled him.” We need to understand that coming to Christ for salvation is never an entirely human achievement. And yes, it is hard to understand and accept initially for some people.
At this juncture, it’s important for me to relate some hopefully very familiar words, 1 COR 11: 23-25, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night 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.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” We know this as the words of Communion and hopefully all reading this message understand better now it’s significance to the life of a believer in the Lord Jesus (my Yeshua). After coming to understand the enormous importance to us of taking Communion, repeating these words over and over again while taking it is a great comfort to me personally. This is probably because of my long wait to recognize the Lord’s presence and intervention in my life, and to come to conscious faith in Him. My faith is tested, as is everyone’s, and I pray that all of us who have faith will retain it through these tests. We must remember that nothing will separate us from the love of God [RO 8: 38-39]. Our Covenant Partner is always true [HE 4: 12], always righteous [2 TIM 2: 13], and will never abandon us [PS 9: 9-10].
PRAYER: O Lord, we are deeply grateful for the faith You have given us. We recognize that we are unable to live with righteous, obedient faith without Your intervention and presence in our lives. That is why You have said, in MT 5: 3, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” We feel blessed to feel Your presence and are eager to listen for You, praying frequently. It is our hope to make time daily to spend with You through study of Your word and prayer. PS 86: 7, 11, “In the day of my trouble I will call to You, for You will answer me…Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.” Moreover, You have given us the Bread of Life in the Lord Jesus and the opportunity to gain a blissful fellowship with You while on earth and for eternity. When we take Communion with a contrite heart open to You, You touch us deeply with Your blessed forgiveness for our sins and with a reminder of Your heartfelt love for us. PS 86: 5, 15, “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to You…But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” We are imperfect sinners who are asking You to give us Your wisdom, guidance, and righteousness in the thoughts we have, decisions we make, and actions we take. In the meanwhile, we are grateful that You have given us Your word and prayer as regular channels for communication. You have told us, in COL 3: 9-10 that You are working to continually “renew us in Your own image, so that we can know You better.” It is important for us to cooperate with You in the process of sanctification. We intend to do this by listening for Your direction and always putting You first in our lives. We offer this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will continue looking at the reaction to Christ’s teaching as many are called and few answer. The history of the interactions between common people, the Sanhedrin [Jewish ruling council] and the Romans impact the spread of faith in Christ. We are obligated to Him and our fellow believers in Him, but this obligation is wholly good for our lives and our fate. I have a friend whom I met through another one. The other friend asked me to come with her to the hospital while this friend was having some pretty unsettling surgery. It’s a strange time from my human aspect to meet someone, but this was indeed a “divine appointment.” I didn’t know it at the time, but the Lord was to forge an on-going covenant relationship between this lady, Him, and myself. The Holy Spirit led me to take action I wouldn’t normally have taken. While I didn’t get to see her the day of her surgery, I did visit the next evening while she was still in the hospital. The news was good; her surgery had been a success. My husband and I brought her a Bible, and the Holy Spirit kept urging me on to encouraging this lady to visit our congregation. She hadn’t been regularly attending any church. Our mutual friend did the same. It took several months, and the result has been wholly satisfying. In time, my friend recovered nicely. She was tested by her doctor, and I went along at her request when the results were in. Eventually, she joined the new member’s class and joined our church. Today, she is a leader in one of the groups we have, and she finds herself surrounded by people who genuinely care about her. I couldn’t have asked for anything more! Faith doesn’t come in human time or by human ways; it comes on God’s clock and by humans obediently following His direction. None of this would be possible without Christ’s great Atonement and without Him being the Bread of Life. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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