Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jdd@db.toronto.edu (John DiMarco) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Importance of sacrifice Message-ID: Date: 21 Aug 90 02:40:36 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto Lines: 99 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu lae@io.UUCP (Larry Enos) writes: >Like the Jews who were stumbled by the Lord's words at that time, many >nominal Christians even today do not understand that the food and >drink Jesus provides are spiritual in nature (not physical), and are >found in His WORD--both His constant word (logos) written in the bible, >and His instant word (rhema) spoken through the Holy Spirit in our regenerated >spirits. This isn't what the scripture says. Then Jesus said unto them, 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. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. John 6:53-56 (KJV) Shocking? Yes. His disciples found it shocking: These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this], said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life. John 6:59-63 Larry interprets this passage as saying that the flesh and blood of Christ which gives life are his words. But the passage doesn't say that at all. On the contrary, it explains that Jesus' disciples were offended by his teaching. In reacting to their taking offence, Jesus explains that the the natural reaction of the disciples to his talk of eating flesh and drinking blood is not the right one, and that the message he had given, difficult as it was, was of the spirit and gives life. This only serves to emphasize the importance of Christ's message: Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. So what then is the flesh and blood of Christ? At the last supper (the first eucharist): And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake [it], and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave [it] to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. Mark 14:22-24 Paul writes: I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 1 Corinthians 10:15-16 And again: For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the [same] night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake [it], and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also [he took] the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink [it], in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink [this] cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of [that] bread, and drink of [that] cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 1 Corinthians 11:23-29 The scriptures are quite clear. The body and blood of Christ that we are called to eat and drink is the transformed bread and wine of the eucharist. Christ did not say that the bread and wine was a sign or symbol of his body and blood. After Christ blessed and broke the bread, and gave thanks and passed the cup, he said, without any hedging, that that bread and wine *was* his body and blood. And Paul recognizes this, when he makes it clear that the one who participates unworthily is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. For to eat and drink at the eucharist without discerning the Lord's body - his real presence - is to eat and drink damnation to oneself. I know many of you don't recognize eucharist, and your celebrations of the Lord's supper are simple memorials, not eucharists. But I urge you to study the scriptures carefully, to open yourselves to the prompting of the holy spirit, and to seriously struggle with it. For it is a hard and difficult teaching which Jesus' disciples have stumbled over since he first taught it. But in it, Jesus gives us the Eucharist, in which ordinary people like myself, sinners all, can receive the sacred and life- giving body and blood of Jesus the Christ, who is Lord. John -- John DiMarco jdd@db.toronto.edu or jdd@db.utoronto.ca University of Toronto, CSRI BITNET: jdd%db.toronto.edu@relay.cs.net (416) 978-8609 UUCP: uunet!utai!db!jdd