Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The Sacrament of Holy Qurbana: How hungry are we?
John 6:41-59
Jeeva John
54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have
eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day;
In our faith and practices we believe and proclaim that the God created us. We believe that we were created for the sake of companionship for God. We also believe that when we were created we were created ‘immortal’ in nature, but through sin we all fell short of the glory of immortality and death became a part of the human story. This passage of scripture helps us to remember that sin was already paid for and that intimacy with God should be our main focus of our journey through life.
Through John 6:41-59 Christ brings to light that God the Father has always desired unity and intimacy with mankind and that this no longer is a challenge. He also warns to not take light of the fact that our debt of sin has already been paid for. In verse 44 he says “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up”. He goes on to quote from scripture “They will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.” Christ reminds us that He completes the equation between God and mankind and He is the only way to complete it.
In verse 53-56 “53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” Christ urges us to continually feed on the living bread, not just taste of it but to ‘feed’ on it, and from this act of believing and feeding on the living bread we are guaranteed salvation from a spiritual death.
In our everyday lives ‘eating’ or ‘feeding on’ something really involves a commitment of time and energy, and is often the end product of much curiosity. If we were to choose to make something we’ve tasted part of our staple diet, we have now learned to research it, find out where it comes from, its nutritional value, how it compares to the super foods that are currently on the market. We even go on to find the store that sells it for the best price, take time to cook it, experiment with it in all forms and flavors. Say I was to just merely taste something; I wouldn’t necessarily go through all that trouble, because to merely taste something I can just nibble on it experiment with someone else’s cooking etc.
Hence, in order to commit to feeding on something, we need to love it, relish every bit of it and even have a desire for more of it. In same way to ‘feed’ on Christ we need to know more about Christ, we need to dig deep and find him in crevice of the world we live in to completely enjoy the beauty of the Savior that we believe in. We need to have a deeper hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God. Hosea 4:6 says “My people perish for lack of knowledge of me”. Christ is fully aware of what He is asking of us but urges us to commit to knowing more about Him, and to not be satisfied by merely nibbling on the Word of God.
It’s easy to forget that Christ often spoke metaphorically in his teachings. It is important for us remember that merely participating in Holy Communion on a weekly basis doesn’t allow us to ‘feed’ on the living bread. It is only meant to remind us that there is more to know and experience in Christ and that His salvation is still available to us and to everyone around us. Yes, we are guaranteed eternal life but more so we are guaranteed an intimacy with a God we do not see, but can know through Christ who has seen Him.
In our faith and practices we believe and proclaim that the God created us. We believe that we were created for the sake of companionship for God. We also believe that when we were created we were created ‘immortal’ in nature, but through sin we all fell short of the glory of immortality and death became a part of the human story. This passage of scripture helps us to remember that sin was already paid for and that intimacy with God should be our main focus of our journey through life.
Through John 6:41-59 Christ brings to light that God the Father has always desired unity and intimacy with mankind and that this no longer is a challenge. He also warns to not take light of the fact that our debt of sin has already been paid for. In verse 44 he says “For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up”. He goes on to quote from scripture “They will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.” Christ reminds us that He completes the equation between God and mankind and He is the only way to complete it.
In verse 53-56 “53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.” Christ urges us to continually feed on the living bread, not just taste of it but to ‘feed’ on it, and from this act of believing and feeding on the living bread we are guaranteed salvation from a spiritual death.
In our everyday lives ‘eating’ or ‘feeding on’ something really involves a commitment of time and energy, and is often the end product of much curiosity. If we were to choose to make something we’ve tasted part of our staple diet, we have now learned to research it, find out where it comes from, its nutritional value, how it compares to the super foods that are currently on the market. We even go on to find the store that sells it for the best price, take time to cook it, experiment with it in all forms and flavors. Say I was to just merely taste something; I wouldn’t necessarily go through all that trouble, because to merely taste something I can just nibble on it experiment with someone else’s cooking etc.
Hence, in order to commit to feeding on something, we need to love it, relish every bit of it and even have a desire for more of it. In same way to ‘feed’ on Christ we need to know more about Christ, we need to dig deep and find him in crevice of the world we live in to completely enjoy the beauty of the Savior that we believe in. We need to have a deeper hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God. Hosea 4:6 says “My people perish for lack of knowledge of me”. Christ is fully aware of what He is asking of us but urges us to commit to knowing more about Him, and to not be satisfied by merely nibbling on the Word of God.
It’s easy to forget that Christ often spoke metaphorically in his teachings. It is important for us remember that merely participating in Holy Communion on a weekly basis doesn’t allow us to ‘feed’ on the living bread. It is only meant to remind us that there is more to know and experience in Christ and that His salvation is still available to us and to everyone around us. Yes, we are guaranteed eternal life but more so we are guaranteed an intimacy with a God we do not see, but can know through Christ who has seen Him.
Prayer: Lord, Grant us the wisdom, insight and curiosity to seek You in everything, to ask the right questions, to experience You deeply and to share this wisdom and knowledge with the world we live in. Amen!
Thought for the day: If
we don’t have a hunger and thirst for Christ and seek Him constantly in the
lives that we live, then participating in Holy Communion could be just a
routine Sunday activity for many of us.
MTC of San Francisco