This bread is my flesh…(John Chapter 6)

"It's raining cats and dogs."
"I'm in a pickle."
"Talk to the hand!"

I have enjoyed teaching my youngest daughter the meanings to many phrases we use in
our American culture, especially expressions that are "figures of speech". She is very literal and her reactions to some of these very colorful expressions can be comical!

The quick look up to check for cats and dogs falling overhead.
The cross look and wag of disagreement to assure me there were no pickles around and I definitely was not in one.

...And the AHA moment at the unveiling of those terms.

Her literal take on speech is a characteristic of Autism. The newly "discipled" or "un-discipled" may encounter expressions of scripture in much the same way my daughter encounters similes and metaphors. Odd? Yes, but only until unveiled.

"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread that comes down from heaven, which people may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:47-51 TNIV

Eternal life sounds good. Never dieing sounds good, but pump the brakes..."This bread is my flesh"! Um, things a crazed, cannibal might say? Hardly. Yet these very words, to this day, stump the intellects of those both wanting to understand and follow the teachings of Jesus and those who desire to discredit the teachings of Jesus.

Admittedly, breaking down figures of speech for my daughter causes me to have to pick
things apart that I just say out of habit..."that means a very heavy rain, this means I am in a difficult situation". Likewise, the habit of Christian rhetoric causes me to pause at this moment of discussing how Jesus flesh is bread.

..."This bread is my flesh". Not so much "a hard teaching/ saying" once your spirit gets it. Jesus satisfies our spiritual needs like bread satisfies our physical needs. The miracle of the fish and barley loaves (John 6:11) occurred not long before Jesus announced Himself as The Bread of Life (John 6:35). People following Him may have wanted more bread literally; however, Jesus knew the best He could offer them was Him.

In Exodus (ch. 16), manna fell from heaven in the wilderness. This food sustained the Israelites natural lives. It was from God. As great a miracle as manna was and as great a miracle feeding thousands was still the greater miracle, wonder, and marvel stood before them in the flesh. The best thing (before or) since sliced bread!

Isaiah 55:2a says "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does
not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good..." What's good you ask? "...my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.", He answers.

Why not just say what He means? Didn't He? Yet, sometimes a great way to get
someone to hear something is to help them experience it with their other senses. Jesus imagery rang the figurative dinner bell to the masses as if to shout "Come and get it!" He might as well have turned on the "Hot Now" light to which most scratched their heads..."How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

"Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me." In this case you are who you eat. As food is to natural life Jesus is to spiritual life. Hungry for food? Eat bread. Hungry for spiritual food? Eat the true bread.

How do I eat the true bread? What do I hear between the lines in John Chapter 6?

I Look to the Son and believe in Him.
(The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing...)
I Come to Him as I am enabled to.
(Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.)
I Believe in Him
(Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.)
I Know Him.
(The Son of Man, the son of Joseph)
I Learn from Him
(They will all be taught by God.)
I Follow Him.
(Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.)

It's all right there plain as day. The true bread is edible, full of Spirit and life. Let's eat 'till we pop! ...Or, as I would clarify for my daughter, 'till we are having and enjoying life to the fullest!


(c)Hungry Disciple

All scriptural references taken from The Holy Bible, Today's New International Version

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Signed,
Hungry Disciple