Catching up posting to the blog on the website. If you receive this as a duplicate email, I’m sorry I don’t fully understand the internet gremlins behind the scenes. It never hurts for us to read God’s Word again and again. 🙂
As we read and learned from Jesus last week, and looking ahead to the next verses we’ll read in John 6, I remembered a devotion I wrote several years ago to consider a deeper meaning of this passage.
A Hindu once said to a priest, “I know Christians. You are the people who swallow God.”1 What does it mean to swallow God?
When we partake of food, we eat it. The food we partake of becomes part of us. When we participate in Communion, we partake of Christ.
Communion first became real to me about 20 years ago, when I attended a “silent retreat.” As part of the retreat, the participants celebrated communion together. The leader offered the elements to each of us, saying “[his] body, given for you.” That simple act of someone saying those words to me personally, as opposed to a pastor reading the Scripture to a congregation, made it seem as if God was speaking directly to me.
The Communion service reminds us of Christ’s sacrifice. He died in our place. The Bible compares saints to eagles.
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:28-31).
Photo credit:
Kathy Bolan/USFWS 05/31/2024 Public Domain https://www.fws.gov/media/kootenai-nwr-bald-eagle-8
Eagles and other birds of prey seek out a carcass. So, too, we gather at the “carcass,” or the sacrifice of Christ. We partake of his flesh. He said,
“This is My body, which is for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24). The word “partake” means to assimilate, to make part of. Our bodies incorporate protein, fat, and sugar molecules into our cells. In Communion, eating the bread and drinking the cup symbolizes partaking of Christ.
How do we partake of Christ? We have God’s Word, Christ revealed, in the Bible (John 1:1, 14). We read His Word. We make His Word part of our lives. I experienced just a taste (no pun intended) of this when I taught at a small Christian school in southwest Washington. God brought many Bible verses to mind as I presented short talks in chapel, or talked with students in class. God’s Word was integrated into our daily lives.
I have experienced this since that time as well. My sons occasionally with questions about life or something they have heard at church. More than once an answer straight from Scripture has come to mind. Recently, in a small group discussion a participant asked a question about how Jesus took our sin upon himself. One verse led to another as the Holy Spirit guided us in God’s truth.
When my sons earned Eagle Scout, I thought about how Christians are like eagles. I talked with them about soaring above the things of the world. I encouraged them to read God’s Word and make it part of their lives.
The apostle John and the Old Testament prophets describe partaking of God’s Word as eating a scroll (Ezekiel 2:8-3:3, Revelation 10:9-10).
Sometimes what God says to us is sweet, and sometimes the awful reality of the human condition tastes bitter.
“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. … They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey” (Psalm 19:7, 10).
As saints, we seek to follow Jesus, partake of Christ and His sacrifice, and assimilate into our lives all He offers us through His death and resurrection.
“… Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them” (John 6:53-56).
If only I could make it a practice to partake of God’s Word for my spiritual health as often as I eat physical food!
1 That We May Perfectly Love Thee: Preparing Our Hearts for the Eucharist, 2002, p. 60
Photo credit:
Kathy Bolan/USFWS 05/31/2024 Public Domain https://www.fws.gov/media/kootenai-nwr-bald-eagle-8