Eating Jesus' Flesh and drinking His Blood - Research Paper Example

OF of the Paper Goes Here A Research Paper/Book Report/Lesson submitted to SchoOl of Biblical Studies by Student Name Goes Here CITY AND STATE OF UNIVERSITY Date Submitted Goes Here, 2011 Introduction: Peter referred to the blood of Christ as the "PRECIOUS BLOOD" (1 Pet. 1: 18, 19).  Because the Jews hated Jesus with such passion, they demanded that the Romans crucify Him (Mt. 27: 22, 23).   To appease the Jewish mob, Pilate delivered Jesus and two common robbers to his soldiers and they crucified them (Lk. 23:32, 33, mention some details and introduce John 19: 31-34). The Hebrew writer tells us that His blood was shed for the transgressions of those who lived under the first testament, as well as those who live under the second (Heb. 9:15).  So, all humanity, who desire salvation, are dependent upon the blood of Christ   In this lesson, we shall   list some of the things that are said to be accomplished by the blood of Christ. VERSES 51-52:   I AM THE LIVING BREAD 51I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats (Greek: phage) of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh (Greek: sarx)." 52The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"  "I am the living bread which came down out of heaven" (v. 51a).  This "living bread" parallels the "living water" that Jesus offered the Samaritan woman (4:10).  "If anyone eats (phage) of this bread, he will live forever" (v. 51b).  Phage is the aorist of esthio (to eat), and thus represents a one-time action.  To eat of this bread, in this context, means the once-and-for-all action of accepting or believing in Christ.  "Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh (Greek: sarx)" (v. 51c).  Jesus does not retreat from the offense of his words, but instead adds to it with his mention of flesh (sarx).  This is sacrificial language.  The Torah requires ritual sacrifice of animals, and specifies how they are to be prepared and how their flesh is to be used.  Some flesh is to be burned on the altar and other flesh is to be eaten.  Jesus makes his sacrifice in behalf of the world –– not just Israel (see also 3:16-17).  "The Jews therefore contended with one another, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” (v. 52).  "Flesh" is a provocative word, raising the specter of cannibalism.  No observant Jew would consider eating human flesh. VERSE 53:  UNLESS YOU EAT AND DRINK 53Jesus therefore said to them, "Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat (Greek: phagete) the flesh (Greek:  sarka –– from sarx)of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves. "Most certainly I tell you" (v. 53a).  These words make emphatic that which follows.  "unless you eat (phagete)the flesh(sarka –– from sarx) of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don't have life in yourselves" (v. 53b).  The title that Jesus uses for himself here is Son of Man, which is a less provocative title than Messiah. The first significant issue here is whether Jesus' words are Eucharistic in nature (referring to the Lord's Supper) or simply incarnational/sacrificial (referring to the incarnation and the cross).  The question is significant.  Is Jesus emphasizing participation in the Eucharist here?  Should a sermon based on this text emphasize participation in the Lord's Supper?  Scholars are divided on this question.  My conclusion is that incarnational, sacrificial, and Eucharistic emphases are intertwined in 6:51-58, and that the emphasis shifts to favor the Eucharistic at verse 51c.  If this is correct, it is appropriate, perhaps even important, to emphasize participation in the Lord's Supper when preaching from this text. We should also note two things that were happening at the time of the writing of this Gospel that might have influenced the author to emphasize the eating of Jesus flesh and the drinking of his blood:  • The first was the influence of Docetic and Gnostic heresies, both of which considered flesh to be evil and denied that Christ could have a physical body.   • The second was Jewish discrimination against Christian believers.  Christians who observed the Lord's Supper were likely to be banned from synagogues.   VERSE 54-55:  HE WHO EATS AND DRINKS HAS ETERNAL LIFE  54He who eats (Greek: trogan)my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. "He who eats (Greek: trogan) my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (v. 54a).  Jesus shifts from the polite word for eating (phage) to a much coarser word (trogan) ––munch –– a word more commonly used for animals munching on their feed.   "has eternal life" (v. 54a).  The promise is not only eternal life (available now –– realized eschatology) but also resurrection (available only later –– final eschatology) (Brown, 292).  However important the Eucharist might be, it is one of the means by which we experience the presence of God.  "and I will raise him up at the last day" (v. 54b).  "The continuing reference to Christ's raising up the believer at the last day is interesting.  There may be more to eternal life than life in the age to come, but life in that age is certainly prominent" (Morris, 336). "For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" (v. 55).  The manna that their ancestors experienced in the wilderness was not true food –– did not give them life (v. 49).  The bread that Jesus used to feed the 5000 on the mountaintop was something less than true bread, because it satisfied the people's hunger only momentarily.  By way of contrast, Jesus' flesh and blood are true food because "anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever" (v. 51) –– and "has (present tense) eternal life" (v. 54).  VERSE 56:  HE WHO EATS AND DRINKS LIVES IN ME  56He who eats (Greek: trogon) my flesh and drinks my blood lives (Greek: menei –– from meno) in me, and I in him.     The promise to those who eat and drink is that they abide in Jesus and Jesus in them.  This concept of "abiding in" or "dwelling in" (meno) is important in this Gospel (14:17; 15:4-7, 10; 17:21).    Paul expresses the same idea in different words when he talks about Christians being "in Christ" (Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 15:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17, etc.).  VERSE 57:  HE WHO FEEDS ON ME WILL LIVE BECAUSE OF ME  57As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father; so he who feeds (Greek: trogon)on me, he will also live because of me.   Jesus establishes the life-giving chain of authority.  The "living Father" sent him, and he lives because of the Father.  In like manner, the person who eats him (believes in him/ accepts him/participates in the Eucharist) will live.  As the Father gave him life, so he gives us life.  VERSE 58:  HE WHO EATS THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOREVER  58This is the bread which came down out of heaven—not as our fathers (hoi pateres –– the fathers –– ancestors) ate the manna, and died. He who eats (Greek: trogon) this bread will live forever."   Jesus has already reminded his listeners that the manna could not be the bread of life, because their ancestors, who ate it, died in the wilderness (v. 49), and he reiterates that thought again here.    Jesus is promising eternal life (v. 54) –– a quality of spiritual life that we can begin enjoying now rather than a continuation into infinity of physical life.  In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus will define eternal life in terms of the relationship of the believer to the Father and the Son:  "This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ" (17:3).     SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS are from the World English Bible(WEB), a public domain (no copyright) modern English translation of the Holy Bible.  The World English Bible is based on the American Standard Version (ASV) of the Bible, the Biblia Hebraica Stutgartensa Old Testament, and the Greek Majority Text New Testament.  The ASV, which is also in the public domain due to expired copyrights, was a very good translation, but included many archaic words (hast, shineth, etc.), which the WEB has updated.   John chapter six The chapter opens with the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 (verses 1-13). After the food scraps were collected and the magnitude of the miracle became obvious, the crowd of people realised that such a useful miracle-worker should be kept with them. So, they decided to force Jesus to be king (vs.15). Seeing this, Jesus left so quickly He did not even have time to preach a sermon. In fact, it almost seems like the miracle had been wasted, apart from the fact that a crowd of people received a free lunch. Jesus had no opportunity to preach, nobody repented, and the people came to the wrong conclusion. Nobody knew where Jesus had gone, not least the disciples, who eventually gave up waiting and decided to return to Capernaum (vs.16-17). Apparently the crowd of people were watching closely, for they knew that Jesus did not get into any of the boats. During the voyage across the lake, a storm blew up and Jesus walked across the water to get into the disciples’ boat, which then “immediately reached the shore where they were heading” (vs.18-21). By the next day, most of the crowd had arrived in Capernaum, and they were quite puzzled by how Jesus had got there (vs.22-25). Some of the fervour to crown Jesus king had died down, but they were still interested in seeing what they could get out of the situation. A source of free food would be very useful! Jesus rather bluntly points this out to them (vs.26). Jesus’ next words are recorded in John 6:27, which sets the theme for an extended sermon, which continues to the end of the chapter. This sermon marks a turning point in Jesus’ popularity, for upon hearing that they would have to eat His flesh and drink His blood (vs.53), “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (vs.66). Some people even wanted to kill Him (Jn 7:1). The sermon The bulk of the sermon is in verses 27 to 58. It is not a sermon in the sense that Jesus was preaching in a synagogue, but is more of a dialogue between Jesus and His audience, most of whom were having a very difficult time with what He was saying. John 6:27 begins the message. John 6:27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” NASU John 6:27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” NIV John 6:27 Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life – the food which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.” This verse touches on several topics: (i)                  work (ii)                the food which perishes (iii)               the food which endures to eternal life (iv)              this food is given by the Son of Man (v)                God the Father set His seal on Him Interestingly, all five of these points are covered in the chapter. The ‘food that perishes’ obviously refers back to the miracle Jesus had done the day before, and to the temporary nature of such food. His audience’s first question was as to what kind of ‘work’ Jesus meant (vs.28). Jesus’ reply was neither expected nor received warmly: John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” NASU The work we are supposed to engage in is to believe in Jesus the Christ. Remember the two purposes John had in writing the Gospel? This incident is included because of the truths it teaches about believing that Jesus is the Christ. Oddly, the people then requested a miracle as proof that Jesus was who He said He was. Had they forgotten the loaves and fishes of the previous day? O Or were they still hoping that Jesus would become their king? Perhaps they just wanted more food (vs.30-31). Jesus then explains exactly what He meant by the food which endures to eternal life (vs.32-35): John 6:33,35 33 “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. NASU The food which endures is Christ Himself. He is the bread of life; He is the eternal food that alone brings eternal life. The people did not understand, and Jesus rather matter-of-factly explains that the reason why they don’t understand is because they don’t believe (vs.36). In other words, they were not ‘doing the work of God.’ The work is to believe, but the people didn’t believe so they did not get the ‘eternal food’. Jesus goes on to explain the mission He was given by His Father (vs.37-40). This relates back to the ‘seal’ in verse 27, which could be a mark of approval (as in the NIV and NET) or an empowering for the mission. Jesus explains that He came down from Heaven only so that He could accomplish His Father’s will, which was totally centred upon giving eternal life to those who believe. John 6:40 For this is the will of my Father – for everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him to have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” NET The people still didn’t understand, and some began turning hostile (vs.41-43). Jesus is not surprised about this, as faith itself is a gift of the Father (vs.44-46). Jesus renews His emphasis on eternal life. John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. NASU The only way to get this eternal life is to believe in Him, and Jesus then rephrased this statement in a very graphic way: John 6:48-51 48 “ I am the bread of life.  49 “ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  50 “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  51 “ I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”  NASU It is Jesus Himself who is the food which endures. Eating this food is the only way to get eternal life (vs.53-58). John 6:54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. NET Notice that here the result (has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day) is produced by eating (Jesus’) flesh and drinking his blood. Compare John 6:40 where the same result is produced by “looking on the Son and believing in him.” This suggests that the phrase here (eats my flesh and drinks my blood) is to be understood by the phrase in 6:40 (looks on the Son and believes in him). (NET Bible footnote). Even His own disciples found this concept difficult to take. Jesus urged them to look at it in the spirit, and believe (vs.59-65). Some disciples left, although the twelve stayed (vs.66-71). Work The word ‘work’ in John 6:27 means “to work for, earn by working, to acquire” (NT:2038 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon). Nowhere in John chapter six does Jesus talk about work as ‘place of employment’ either generally or specifically. Therefore, John 6:27 is not a directive about which kinds of employment we should or should not engage in. On the contrary, Jesus defined exactly what kind of work He was talking about in verse 29: to “believe in Him who [God] has sent.” John 6:27 What then can we conclude about the meaning of John 6:27? John 6:27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him. NKJV Rather than being motivated by the endless acquisition of temporary benefits, our principle ‘work’ is to believe in Jesus the Christ, and so lay hold of eternal life. This belief in Christ is so thorough and all-encompassing that it can be spoken of as eating the bread of life and drinking the very blood of Him whose blood was shed for our salvation. The question of whether or not one has a secular job has nothing to do with it. The verse does not exhort Christians to become full-time missionaries or preachers. In this passage Jesus was talking about a far more grave consideration, the question of whether or not we have eternal life. The work of God is to believe in Jesus as the Christ, this is the faith that should motivate our lives. Nothing is more important than this: to find eternal life in Christ Jesus the Lord. Summary: As indicated earlier, while I don't believe Jesus deliberately gave this teaching with reference to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, I do believe that St. John, as he composed the Fourth Gospel, included this discourse knowing that his readers would read it with the Lord's Supper in mind. The Bread of Life passage and the Lord's Supper have parallel teachings.The Lord's Supper deliberately uses elements intended to remind us of Jesus' body and blood: chewy bread to remind us of flesh, red wine to remind us of blood. The act of partaking of the Lord's Supper certainly is one of feeding on Jesus -- a physical symbolic act that speaks of a much deeper communion indeed: To feed on the Bread of Life is to believe Jesus' words and trust in him as the source of our life. To eat Jesus' flesh and blood means to utterly depend upon him and the truths he teaches for sustenance and life itself. When we partake of the Lord's Supper we are commanded to remember Jesus' death for our sins. Our mind also turns to the Spirit of God that raised him from the dead, the same Spirit that gives us spiritual life to us and will ultimately raise our bodies from the dead on the Last Day. The Lord's Supper as an act of remembering, reflecting, believing, trusting -- this indeed reenergizes us as food to our souls and life to our faith. As the Anglican service directs as the bread is given to the recipient: "Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith, with thanksgiving." Feeding on Jesus' words and basking in his presence are the essence of trust, of true belief in him. Yes, partake of his body and blood in the Lord's Supper as a sign that you indeed feed on him in your heart -- and so grow in your faith. Amen Article summary The centrality of the Johannine statement about consuming Jesus' flesh and blood is shown by literary interconnection between the central sign of the loaves (6:1-71), the first sign of Cana (2:1-12) and a suggested final sign on the cross: the flow of blood and water from Jesus' side. Questions posed about the nature of the bread in the loaves' sign and the statement about consuming Jesus' flesh and blood may be answered by interpretation of the first and last signs. Just as Jesus took the cup of bitter wine in the seventh sign, so must John's community take the cup of "good wine" as the chief steward did in obedience to Jesus word. There is no need to appeal to a hypothetically transferred institution narrative to establish the setting of chapter 6:51-58. Prayer Father, so often my devotional life seems dry. Sometimes I partake of the Lord's Supper without really thinking too much about what I am doing. Forgive me. Teach me to truly feed on Jesus in my heart by faith, with thanksgiving. Help me to become less dependent upon my own ways, but wholly dependent upon Him, wholly trusting, wholly walking by faith. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. BIBLIOGRAPHY:   Barclay, William, The Daily Study Bible, "The Gospel of John," Vol. 1 (Edinburgh:  The Saint Andrew Press, 1955)   Borchert, Gerald L., New American Commentary:  John 1-11, Vol. 25A (Nashville:  Broadman Press, 1996)   Brown, Raymond, The Anchor Bible:  The Gospel According to John I-XII (Garden City:  Doubleday, 1966)   Bruce, F. F., The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids:  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983).   Brueggemann, Walter; Cousar, Charles B.; Gaventa, Beverly R. and Newsome, James D.,  Texts for Preaching:  A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV––Year B (Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 1993)   Carson, D. A., The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids:  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991).   Craddock, Fred R.; Hayes, John H.; Holladay, Carl R.; and Tucker, Gene M., Preaching Through the Christian Year B  (Valley Forge:  Trinity Press International, 1993)   Gossip, Arthur John and Howard, Wilbert F., The Interpreter's Bible, Volume 8 (Nashville:  Abingdon, 1952)   Howard-Brook, Wes, Becoming the Children of God:  John's Gospel and Radical Discipleship (New York:  Maryknoll, 1994).   Lincoln, Andrew T., Black's New Testament Commentary:  The Gospel According to Saint John (London:  Continuum, 2005)   Morris, Leon, The New International Commentary on the New Testament:  The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids:  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995).   O'Day, Gail R., The New Interpreter's Bible, Volume IX (Nashville:  Abingdon, 1995)   Sloyan, Gerald, "John," Interpretation (Atlanta:  John Knox Press, 1988)   Smith, D. Moody, Jr., Abingdon New Testament Commentaries:  John (Nashville:  Abingdon, 1999) Joseph A. Grassi , Religious Studies at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053   Read More