Do we believe God: Conclusion!

Hello To All:

"Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" (John 6:60)

There is a lot that happens in John, chapter six (I invite you to study the whole chapter).  There is a particularly revealing statement, made by Jesus, at verse 26: "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled."

If we are to rightly understand this rebuke of Jesus; we need to recognize, that He is telling us, that we can "seek" Him in two different ways. First, we can "seek" Him: for who He is. Second, we can "seek" Him: for how we might personally be blessed.  Hopefully we are recognizing the distinction being made. Jesus rebukes the people because they "seek" Him because of their desire for more bread.  They are looking to Jesus to satisfy their personal needs; and thus, their personal desires. They are not looking to Jesus because of who He is!

This brings us to this hard thing, referenced in previous blogs. We need to be rebuked because we are mostly inclined to seek Jesus because of our personal desires. Victorious discipleship demands that we seek Him for who He is! We need to be rebuked, in the strongest of ways, because our seeking, only to satisfy our personal needs, our personal desires; and yes, our personal perspectives: causes us to not believe God. In fact, because of these personal positions, that we most often take: we are guilty of not only not believing God; but, most dangerously, we are saying that God is a liar! (Please see: "Do we believe God: What is truth" and "Do we believe God?") This calling God a liar: this is the hard thing!

The time is at hand, for us to look to the proof of this hard thing.  The personal account of the Lord' Supper is recorded at Matthew 26:26-29; and Mark 14:22-25; and Luke 22:15-20.  The revelational account of the Lord's Supper is recorded at 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.  The distinction is made, between personal account and revelational account, for very good reason. In the gospels the disciples are personally present as Jesus personally blesses them with the communion of His body and His blood, prior to His death and resurrection. In the Corinthian account, the apostle Paul, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, receives from the Lord (thus the revelational account) the details of the communion of His body and His blood.

In all four of the accounts, Jesus is quoted as making the statement: "This is my body."  The hard thing regards the reality, that one of the dominant western perspectives, on what it means to be Christian, takes the position that: Jesus does not really mean what He says, when He says: "This is my body." This perspective, takes the position,  that Jesus is speaking symbolically; and thus He means to say, that the bread represents His body.

Now, if you want to take me to task, for something that I have said or written: that's all well and good. I am a fallen sinful human being - you, the reader, are a fallen sinful human being. It should not be assumed that we always speak the truth. The fact is: we do not always speak the truth. Truth must always be measured by the person of Jesus Christ, in the revelation of His Word.  Thus, if I hand you a piece of bread and say: this is my body - you would have very good reasons for taking me to task. Yes, you would be right in saying that I would be guilty, of lying, for making such a statement.

But, Jesus of  Nazareth, the same Jesus who is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the same Jesus who is our Creator and our Redeemer and our Saviour and our Lord and our King (and I could go on and on); this same Jesus is not a fallen and sinful human being.  Thus, when Jesus says, "This is my body," we need to accept this as truth.  But, for many of us, "This is an hard saying."

In our position, we join with the disciples of John, chapter six. In verse 53, we find written: "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." Our opening verse, for this essay, reminds us of their response (verse 60): "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" Later on, in verse 66, we find that many of his disciples, took the next step: "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." These disciples did not take Jesus to task for what He said; they just did not believe and they stopped following Him (see all of John, chapter six).

Many of us, instead of leaving and admitting our unbelief, we take the position that Jesus does not mean what  He says. We take Him to task. We take the position, that He is saying that the bread represents His body.  It is too hard, because of our personal perspectives, to believe what He says; but, because we do believe Him for salvation, we cannot leave Him, so, we must find a way to believe; and thus to continue to follow Him. Thus, we choose to believe that Jesus is speaking symbolically and that He is saying that the bread only represents His body. In doing this, we satisfy our personal needs and perspectives; but, in the process of seeking to satisfy our personal needs, we call God a liar.

According to the scriptures, I am nothing: "For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." (Galatians 6:3).  But, as "nothing," empowered by Jesus Christ, I do know the difference between "this is" and this represents.  Very apparently, much of western Christianity has lost sight of that difference.

If you are amongst those, who are proclaiming that Jesus does not mean what He says: then you must repent and believe.  To do otherwise is to continue to call Jesus a liar. There is no middle ground. From God's perspective: something is either the truth, or it is a lie. If Jesus does not mean what He says, then He cannot be who He claims to be; and, if He is not who he claims to be - then we, most miserable of creatures, are still dead in our sins! But, thanks be to God: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God; and thus: Jesus only speaks the truth!

In the gospel of Mark, the first words recorded, regarding the preaching of Jesus are: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:15). Will you, my beloved brethren; will those of you, my beloved, who are insisting that Jesus is speaking symbolically, when He says: "This is my body;" will those of you, my beloved, who do not believe God: will you, I beg you, will you: "repent and believe the gospel?"

If you do not repent, you place yourself in great danger. To embrace a lie; and to proclaim it as the truth is to welcome unbelief into our lives.  Unbelief is one of the enemies most effective tools.  He uses it, very effectively, to rob us of the victorious discipleship that we can have, in and through Jesus Christ.  But, there is danger here, that goes beyond our loss of victory.  To the degree, that we fail to believe God; and thus to the degree that we fail to believe Jesus Christ: to that same degree, we may come to a place where it is too hard a thing and we will be like those disciples, who: "went back, and walked no more with him" (John 6:66).

REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS AND THE TRUTH OF JESUS CHRIST!

Until next time, my beloved brethren, in Christ Jesus, I continue to be:

Your servant and your fellow pilgrim,
Elder Theophilus

P.S. Earlier, in this essay, the gospel accounts of the Lord's Supper, were referenced as "personal accounts;" and the account recorded, in 1 Corinthians, was referenced as the "revelational account."  When we next gather together, we shall take a deeper look at the relationship between the personal accounts and the revelational account.  Hopefully, this will help us to comprehend the truth of what Jesus says, when He proclaims to all of the creation, for all of time: "This is my body." As preparation for this essay, I invite you to study 1 Corinthians 10:16. Pay particular attention to the use of the word "communion;" and the many discussions we have had, in previous essays, regarding the relationship between the physical realms and the spiritual realms. The blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ, continue to be with you, my beloved. Amen.






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