Wednesday 1st March
Read John 6:35-40
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’” (NIVUK)
If there was a misunderstanding arising in the early church about the nature of the eucharist and its power to save it likely reflected our deep-seated efforts to save ourselves by ‘earthly’ means. Regular communion might have become the ‘work’ required to keep God on your good side. After all, Jesus goes on to say, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ (v51). This misunderstanding persists to this day among great swathes of the church.
But the basis for the eternal life promised by Jesus is not found in the ‘eating’. Jesus explains what ‘eating’ and ‘drinking’ look like in practice (v35-36). To ‘eat’ is to ‘come to me’ and to ‘drink’ is to ‘believe in me’ (v35). The metaphor of ‘bread’ has a very simple and solid non-metaphorical meaning. Faith in Jesus is what saves – not regular communion. Our security is not found in the bread or the wine, it is found in the obedience of Jesus to the declared will of the Father (v38). All those gifted to Him, He will keep forever. He will lose none of them (v39-40). He will provide them with life in perpetuity. It is not an ‘earthly’ promise requiring regular ‘work’ by us to remain in communion through bread and wine – it is a gracious gift from heaven, brought to earth by Jesus Himself (v38), and guaranteed by Him (v37).
When we participate together in the eucharist we are remembering Jesus’ obedience and His promise. We declare that we belong to Him. He will keep us safe and secure forever.
