True Food and Drink
See on YouTube
https://youtube.com/live/n8Kzt0Hg5f8
True Food and Drink
Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58
It said that it is difficult to talk to someone about wisdom or spiritual things or even about eternal things when the physical needs of people are not met. How can one tell a homeless and hungry person that God will provide all of their needs and then we just leave them to continue in their physical hunger? Sometimes the physical needs to be met first for their ears to be open to the spiritual needs. Jesus understood this well and while teaching the people about things of heaven, he also fed them with the miracle from a few fish and loaves of bread. The physical need was met and now the people are seeking more. However, now Jesus shifts towards a new lesson about what the people really lack and what they really need. They are worried about food that satisfy in the immediate but their hunger shall return. However, Jesus wants to share with them a food that will last forever and with this food they will never hunger again.
Jesus has just fed the people across the sea and now that they are fed, they are seeking more. More food and more signs. But now Jesus is giving this strange teaching. He claims to be the bread of life and he says that if they do not eat from his flesh and drink from his blood then they will surely die. They question among themselves how they can eat his flesh and drink his blood. Is Jesus talking about cannibalism? Then Jesus goes a step further and says that his flesh is real food and his blood is real drink. What does all of this mean? Do we not have life unless we literally drink of his blood and eat of his flesh. The answer is yes and no.
In those days a lamb would be sacrificed for sins. Some of the flesh was burned as sacrifice and some of the flesh was saved for eating. But even eating of this flesh once the food was used up you would be hungry again. Jesus though is the sacrificial lamb that will last forever. When we accept his sacrifice, we are in turn are eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood. While regular food will leave us hungry later on, Jesus will fill us up forever. Jesus will satisfy our hunger for peace and hope. Jesus will satisfy our hunger for joy. The food that Jesus offers is eternal and if we believe in him then we will live and will never hunger in his kingdom. Jesus was offering eternal life. This is not a gift that we must wait for but a gift that we can reap the benefits of in the present. We can receive the benefits of hope and peace of eternal life in the hear and now. For when our bodies die, we know that we will still live on.
How are we to live this eternal life in the present though? We must drink and eat of the wisdom of Jesus’ words. When we read our opening scripture in the context of Jesus’ message, it gives us a whole new meaning and understanding of wisdom. “She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table… Let all who are simple come to my house! To those who have no sense she says, Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.” Jesus’ words are insight and wisdom and we are called to feast on his words as if they give us the nourishment that we need to live. His Word is true food and drink. If we eat this food and drink this drink then we will never have hunger and we will never have thirst in terms of eternity. If our minds are set on the things of earth then we will eat and be hungry again because the food of earth can only satisfy for a short while. However, after the death of our bodies, and when we receive the reward of heaven, then we shall hunger and thirst no more.
Paul shares with us this wisdom in his letter to the Ephesians. “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are called to seek the Lord’s will and understand his will. Not living as the world lives. The things of the world lead to sin and death while the wisdom of the Lord leads to eternal life. How we speak to one another and communicate with one another reflects the understanding of our heart. For example, we have this group chat of text messages within our church that just kind of developed on its own. However, if you are a part of this chat, you may notice that there is no focus on silly things of this world but we are focused on communicating to each other in love, praying for one another and sharing praises and blessings for answered prayers. By doing so we are lifting each other up in the Spirit instead of tearing each other down. This is part of the true food and drink of the Lord.
I was asked a question this week on whether I believed that one can lose their salvation. This person felt that they had back slid and in reading some passages of Hebrews, they felt that they were dead to God. For it says it is impossible for someone who has been enlightened of the truth and if they fall away, that they be brought back into repentance. It is impossible for man to do so but it is not impossible for God. God looks to matters of the heart though. The truth is yes one can lose their salvation if their heart refuses the true food and drink. However, a heart that is filled with guilt I believe is also a heart that is repentant and still desires the true food and drink that lasts eternally. We are not dead to God until we are dead in our sins. However, if we eat of Jesus’ flesh and drink of his blood which washes away our sins then we shall live even though we die. We are called to live as wise rather than unwise. To live not as the world lives which seeks its own desires. There may be days in which we may make mistakes and slip up. We ourselves can never be perfect or measure up on our own. It is for this reason that Jesus says to eat of his flesh and drink of his blood and live, for his sacrifice fills in the gaps of which we fail. Praise God that we are not expected to be perfect all on our own but the true food and drink helps us to be satisfied and satisfies the payment for our sins and gives us life.