Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, 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 … Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him … Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever (John 6:53, 56, 58).

Good Monday to you all!  We are now entering the final week of our For Now/Forever series, and the first thing we need to say this morning is that this is a hard passage.  John 6 began with Jesus feeding a huge crowd, for free; it ends with Jesus solemnly predicting his betrayal by Judas.  John moves us from a well-fed and now interested in Jesus crowd to the treachery of one of his own that will lead him to the cross.

We need to hear Jesus’ “unless”: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”  Jesus repeats it, hammers it home: eat my flesh, drink my blood.  If we’re honest, it’s offensive.  We can quickly dismiss the idea that Jesus is talking about cannibalism (HE IS NOT!), but still: this talk of eating his flesh and drinking his blood is just too physical, too earthy, too tangible to be spiritual, right?

Wrong, says Jesus.  What I’m saying to you is exactly what you need to hear, to believe, and to do, together: “Take, eat, this is my body for you … take and drink this cup of the new covenant in my blood ... do this in remembrance of me.”

It is not within the ability of your CD writers to resolve the deep theological questions and disputes surrounding the Lord’s Table (communion, eucharist).  I think what we can say is that the Table is not an add-on or an accessory to the Word of God’s Good News in Jesus.  We are not saved by our participation at the Table; our participation at the Table re-points us to Jesus, who is himself our salvation.

That salvation is not merely “spiritual”; it is physical, bodily, it touches and engages and reaches every aspect and dimension of who we are as human beings.  Jesus IS the eternal life of God incarnated into our flesh-and-blood reality.  How do we get “life” into our bodies?  We eat.  How do we receive the gift of God’s eternal life into our lives?  We feed on Jesus, receiving his life into our lives in the bread and the cup.

The crowd in John 6 had their fill of multiplied barley loaves.  They’re thinking about Moses and manna in the wilderness, the “bread of heaven.”  They want bread that gives eternal life.

And Jesus says: it’s me.  Not your good works, not your best behavior, not your mystical experiences, not your religious observances, not something you can earn, buy or deserve.  I am the bread of life.  If you believe me, if you trust me, what should you do?  Feed on me: allow my life to enter your life, to become your life.  And the best way for me to picture that for you: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

For now.  Forever.

Take a moment to describe to yourself the ways in which the Table is meaningful, significant, powerful in some way for you.  What are some of the ways it roots and grounds you in Jesus?