LENT 2

 

1 Cor. 10:1-6

     I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

 

John 6:51-59

     “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

    The Jews then argued among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

 

I found out recently that my daughter Beth’s My Space page has, or had, a picture on it of me playing golf at home on our Wii game system. At Christmas Beth gave me the Tiger Wood’s Wii golf game, and the picture is from one of the days after Christmas. It’s a link to the past; the recent past, but, nevertheless, the past.

 

Web sites often have links to other web sites and organizations. By just clicking on a link you can be whisked away to a different country, a different language, a different culture, even a different time.

 

Tonight’s Scriptures speak of Jesus as being a link: between different times, different groups of people, and different places. In 1 Cor. 10:1-4 the apostle Paul says:
 

“I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.”

It was Christ who led the people of Israel out of Egypt and was their food and drink! 1,500 years later, Jesus says: “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” (John 6) Jesus again offers Himself as food and drink! He is the link between the Old Testament people and the people of the New Testament, between the Israelites led by Moses and the Corinthians led by Paul. In His flesh Christ unites the people of every age and place.

 

Jesus speaks of Himself as food and drink; in fact, as the truest, most real, food and drink. “My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink,” He says. To eat of His flesh and drink of His blood is to receive life. What kind of life?

 

First of all, to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood is to receive eternal life: “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” His flesh is greater than death – the resurrection of His body from the dead proved this – and so greater than anything in this world. For, death is the end for every living thing in this world. Just consider: when you receive into your mouth the flesh and blood of Jesus on Sunday you are receiving eternal life into your body! Eternal life isn’t something that we can look forward to receiving only after we die. We receive it now in Holy Communion!

 

Jesus also speaks of His flesh raising us from the dead: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54) The food that we consume on a daily basis also aids our bodies and preserves our lives. But, this is only temporary, and only partially effective, for our food does not prevent the affects of age and injury on the body. Jesus promises that His flesh and blood overcomes every ill effect that this life has on our bodies. He will raise us up at the Last Day. And so, even though we will die and our bodies will rot in the grave, we will rise to life again with new bodies!

 

Finally, as we receive Jesus’ flesh and blood we receive a life that is blessed and free. “I will raise him up on the last day,” He says. The Last Day is Judgment Day, the day when we will be summoned before God to give an account for how we have lived our lives. On that great and awesome Day Jesus will raise us up to life. those who are condemned by and in their sins are spoken of in Scripture as being raised up to eternal death. to be raised to life means receiving a life that is free from judgment, for it is free from sin. We will receive such a life, for in the body and blood of Christ we are given in Holy Communion we are given a foretaste of it now. “This is My body… this is My blood, shed for the forgiveness of sins,” says Jesus. We receive now the one whose death purchased the full and free forgiveness of our sins, and then who rose from the dead as a testimony that our forgiveness had been accomplished. “I will raise him up on the last day,” Jesus promises, for He raises us up as we receive Him now. Truly, the Lord’s Supper is a foretaste of the feast to come! 

And, boy, will that be a great Day, that Day when we hear not one word of criticism or judgment from Jesus but receive our blessed freedom in Him! In this world and life we hear plenty of criticism, plenty of judgment. We hear it from employers and bosses; from fellow employees; from teachers; from acquaintances and neighbors (and sometimes behind our backs); from fellow church members; from family members; and, sometimes, even from ourselves. For some people you can never do things well enough, and so you hear a constant litany of negativity. Some of you are your own worst critics, for you know your failings and weaknesses better than anyone else. Our guilt is clear for our sins are obvious. Constant are the reminders we receive of this. 

But, not from Jesus! “As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.” This bread and this wine, this body and blood of Jesus, is life, and is our life. It is life to the fullest, life to the freest, for it is the life of the eternally living Savior – He who is one with the eternally living Father – given to us and abiding in us. 

It is for this reason that, before we receive Communion, we sing, “With angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious Name, evermore praising You and singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna in the highest!’ ” Heaven and earth are joined together in praise of the One who gives us His body and blood. The Church in heaven and the Church on earth are one. Heaven and its host has come down to us, and we are raised with them. In His flesh Christ unites the believers of every age and place. 

What a blessed link is Christ in His body and blood! In Him we are separated from our sins and joined with one another; and, above all, we are joined with our heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit. Praise be to Christ, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever!