He Is the Bread of Life
ICS Daily Devotions

Have you ever wondered why we take Holy Communion, what we believe and what are we proclaiming as we partake of the Holy Communion?

John 6:52-56 (NKJV) The Jews therefore quarrelled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, 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. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.

The Holy Communion is not a literal eating of the flesh of Jesus and drinking of His blood. In fact, it is advocated in the Old Testament that one should not eat blood. Instead, it is a spiritual nourishment. Jesus was teaching them that He is the bread of life and whoever partakes of this bread will live forever. He was teaching them to appropriate their faith in His blood and His death on the cross so they can be saved. This saying of Jesus is meant to help us understand the depth of intimacy that we would have when we partake of the Holy Communion, which He subsequently instituted (Matthew 26:26-27).

There is a scarlet thread that goes through the Bible from the Old Testament to the New Testament. God works through covenant relationships. In the earlier part of the chapter, Jesus had just fed the 5000 people and the same people were following him. Throughout history, people have followed Jesus for different reasons: some for materialism and some for a free meal. It is no different today, where people pursue money and materialism that will never satisfy them. Therefore, Jesus was teaching them to pursue food that will endure for eternal life, which is to have faith in the Son of God whom God had sent, and His work of redemption.

We also need to ask ourselves why we are in church. Are we pursuing God just for the earthly pleasures, such as promotions, good schools, financial blessings, materialism, or are we living a purposeful life for Him given what Christ has done for us through the shedding of His blood? The world is blindly pursuing materialism and significance in life, but sadly, they will never find fulfilment in it because true fulfilment can only be found in Christ. On the other hand, we who have found Christ, should have a different perspective about life. All of this should be a part of our reflection whenever we come to church and especially when we partake of the Holy Communion.

Sermon Series: The Holy Communion