Eat Jesus’ Flesh and Drink His Blood? (Pt 3)

Daily Devotion | Day 337

“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and His church” (Ephesians 5:29-32, NKJV).

Yesterday we discussed Adam’s marriage covenant with Eve and how this covenant made them one flesh. We also noted that the one flesh principle is true for all married couples. Husband and wife are one flesh because they feed on each other. They do this through fellowship of their bodies, not through chewing of their flesh. The questions before us remain the same: At the Lord’s Supper, do we eat Jesus’ flesh and drink His blood? If so, how? If not, why not?

Toward the end of yesterday’s presentation, we noted that Jesus does indeed give us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink, but the means is not through our mouth. Feeding on Jesus does not involve swallowing Him the way we chew and swallow lamb chops. Today we will take our discussion one step further. Note carefully every word, every phrase and every line of our opening Scripture.

We are told that Adam is a type or figure of Jesus (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). The Bible calls Jesus, “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45). In the Old Testament, Adam is paired with his wife, Eve. Similarly, in the New Testament Jesus is paired with His wife, the Church. Just as Adam had a marriage covenant with Eve, so does Jesus have a marriage covenant with the Church. Jesus is not paired with (or have a covenant with) any other woman. When Jesus took bread and wine, saying, “Take, eat; this is My body . . . Drink . . . For this is my blood of the new covenant (Matthew 26:26-28), He was inviting us to enter into a marriage covenant with Him. The price He paid to marry us was the sacrifice of His body and blood (1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Peter 1:18-19).

“A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife” was first applied to Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:24). But now Paul applies it to Jesus and the Church (Ephesians 5:29-32). In Paul’s own words, “This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and His church” (v. 32). Jesus left heaven’s glory and came to earth to be joined to His wife, the Church. Because He did this, the two (Jesus and the Church) have become one flesh just as any husband and wife are one flesh. Keep the word “flesh” in mind. In v. 29 Paul writes that no one ever hated his own flesh. By “his own flesh,” Paul is referring to the man’s wife. But the same is true for the wife. Her husband is her flesh indeed. Therefore, when a man sees his wife, he sees his own flesh. Likewise, when a woman sees her husband, she sees her own flesh.

Applied to Jesus, when He sees the Church, He sees His own flesh. And when the Church sees Jesus, she sees her own flesh. Jesus and the Church now form one indivisible entity. Without hesitation, Paul drove the point home when he stated, “For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones” (v. 30). This reminds us of what Adam said when he saw Eve, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). Notice the striking similarity.

Jesus’ invitation that we eat His flesh and drink His blood does not involve chewing His flesh as meat in our mouth. It is an invitation to be married (and stay faithfully married) to Him, thereby becoming one flesh and one blood with Him. When He tells us to eat His flesh and drink His blood, He is speaking like a husband to his wife: “Take all of me. In turn, I take all of you. Together, we will be one flesh and one blood.”

Jesus is not asking His bride (the Church) to swallow Him like a piece of meat. Jesus is a Person and our Husband. We feed on Him through love, obedience, fellowship and holiness – abiding by the terms of our covenant with Him. That is how we stay nourished. And it is in this sense that Jesus is our Bread of Life.

To be continued next time, God willing. Remain faithful to Christ. Amen.

For further study: 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 and John 6:47-58