HARD SAYINGS

"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.'" John 6:53-54

This morning Pastor Dave began a new sermon series based on The Hard Sayings of Jesus by F. F. Bruce. We looked at John 6:53-58, Luke 22:19-22, I Corinthians 5:7-8, and I Corinthians 10:16 - passages with allusions to the Lord's Supper, specifically on what is taking place when we eat the bread and drink the wine of the New Covenant. In what manner is Jesus Christ present at the Lord's Supper? Historically, until the 1500s, transubstantiation was the dominant teaching of the church, that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ. In essence, the priest is re-sacrificing Jesus at each mass. After the Reformation, Protestants agreed that this teaching was unscriptural, but there were differing views on the subject among the Reformers. Martin Luther taught consubstantiation - that by the power of the Word, the actual body and blood of Christ exist in, with and under the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, but there is no change in the substance of the bread and wine. Zwingli denied the bodily presence of Christ, maintaining the Lord's Supper is commemorative, though Christ is spiritually present to believers. Calvin agreed with Zwingli that there is no bodily presence of Christ, but he believed that Christ's presence is a real presence in the person of the Holy Spirit, so that by faith we are indeed feeding on the Christ. Our souls are nourished by the spiritual renewal of meditating on Christ's atonement in our behalf. Calvin emphasized that the Lord's Supper is a divinely appointed means of strengthening the faith of believers. To close the worship service we sang this hymn written by Charles H. Spurgeon:

Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands

Amidst us our Beloved stands,
and bids us view his pierced hands;
points to the wounded feet and side,
blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,
When at his table sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now, with eyes defiled and dim,
We see the signs, but see not him;
O may His love the scales displace,
And bid us see him face to face!

O glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,
Your present smile a heaven imparts!
Of lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint your glory see!