Sunday, August 26, 2001
Sunday, August 26, 2001
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it,
gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."
To the Jewish believers, blood represents life. That is why they are forbidden to eat any meat
unless the blood has been thoroughly drained from it. This taboo was part of their early covenant
with God in Genesis 9: 4 and Deuteronomy 15: 23. The image of drinking Jesus' blood must have
been repulsive to his Jewish hearers. It is a horribly intimate picture of how the believer takes
Jesus' very life into his own.
It is obvious, though, that Jesus is referring to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper that he will be
leaving with his disciples. When we take the bread and the cup, in a sense we are touching Christ.
In a symbolic way, we are taking him into our own body and spirit. Because he lives, we too can
live. There is something about eating the bread and drinking the cup in the sacrament that brings
us
great comfort.
(Matthew 26:26
NRSV)
Jesus said, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he
will
live 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 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
him up at the last day."
Loving God, thank you for the gift of the Lord's Supper that brings me close to the life giving
presence of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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