Sermon Central
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The Broken Bread.
Contributed by Christopher Holdsworth on Jun 13, 2021 (message contributor)
Summary: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. John 6 verse 53.
THE BROKEN BREAD.
John 6:51-58.
Everlasting life is not a thing that is earned: it is a free gift of God. All that is required is that we put our trust wholly and entirely in Jesus (John 6:28-29). Jesus says quite categorically that whoever believes in Him has everlasting life (John 6:47), and calls this “eating His flesh and drinking His blood” (John 6:54).
Jesus emphasized again that He is the bread of life (John 6:48). Unlike the manna which was eaten by men that are now dead (John 6:49; John 6:58), Jesus is the living bread which when a man “eats” it, i.e. puts his whole trust in Jesus, causes him to live for ever (John 6:50-51). This is made possible because of the sacrifice which Jesus was going to make: “the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).
Like Nicodemus who struggled with the concept of being born again (John 3:4; John 3:9), the Jews in the Capernaum synagogue (John 6:59) struggled to understand what Jesus was talking about (John 6:41; John 6:52). Jesus’ response (John 6:53-57) is only a veiled reference to the communion in its immediate context. However, since these words were spoken at the season of Passover it is not inappropriate to refer to “eating His flesh and drinking His blood” at Communion, provided we understand that this is only a figurative expression and symbolic action for “believing unto everlasting life” (cf. John 6:47).
