This is My Body By Warren Zehrung – March 13, 2010

Let us begin by looking at one of the scriptures where Jesus said, ‘‘This is My body.”

We want to make sure that we understand what Jesus is teaching us, and the deeper spiritual meaning behind His words, ‘‘This is My body.”

Luke 22:15 [Jesus] said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer:

Where were they at this period in time? They were eating the Passover lamb. Passover had a meaning in the Old Testament, but then when we come to the New Testament we find that Passover has a deeper and futuristic meaning.

Luke 22:16 For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

That is yet future. What does Jesus mean that the Passover will be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God?

Luke 22:17-18 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Jesus Christ knew that this would be His last Passover, and that He was going to die on Passover. This is at the beginning of Passover. When Jesus Christ returns and establishes the Kingdom of God on earth, Passover would be kept all over the face of the earth. Jesus Christ and all of the saints would keep Passover.

Luke 22:19-20 And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shed for you.

Sometimes I try to imagine what it was like for the apostles at that last Passover, with Jesus Christ. The apostles were not able to connect the dots at that point, and they could not make sense of what Jesus was conveying to them at that point. They were not converted yet. There was Passover lamb, the unleavened bread, Jesus’ body, His blood, the wine, and it was all rather confusing to them. That is, until God’s Holy Spirit brought all of Christ’s saying to their remembrance and they began to put it altogether.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, it shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

We experienced it when we came into the church. There is so much that is new. It might be something like we do not eat pork, or we go to church on Saturday, or we tithe and then we save for the Feast, and all of these different things. We cannot put it together and somebody says there is more than one resurrection and it seems so jumbled at first. We read page after page in the Old Testament and we cannot make heads or tails of it. But then finally, it starts to come together, a little here and a little there.
That is exactly the way that it was for the apostles, at the time of the New Testament church. God’s Holy Spirit brought all things to their remembrance, then they came back and wrote the gospel accounts, and they put it together. I am sure that they chuckled remembering how difficult it was for them to understand.

Probably one of the reasons that they remembered it as well as they did is because it was confusing and they kept saying to themselves, ‘What does this mean?’ They would rehash in their minds the happenings, like this one that took place at that last Passover. It was after Pentecost before the apostles could even begin to understand the true meaning of the Passover.

Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst." Jesus Christ said that this is His body, and He is the bread of life who gives us eternal life.

As the true Passover Lamb (not the lamb of the Old Testament which was just a shadow of looking forward to the true Passover Lamb), Jesus sacrificed His body and blood to redeem us from the penalty of our sins, and to give us eternal life.

As Christians, we are commanded to observe the Passover every year. We do it on the 14th of the first month, at even.

"Jesus took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: do this in remembrance of me."

Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say unto you, Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
He was speaking of eternal life, but can you imagine how difficult those words were. Here is Jesus, a young man, not even 33 years old yet, and He is saying to them, “Unless you eat the flesh, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Those were very difficult words to hear, and some of them walked away and did not listen to Jesus anymore.

We must understand that Passover is a salvational requirement.
Speaking of the resurrection, Jesus said, “Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." You see how it is pointing forward.

If we do not eat Christ’s flesh, and drink His blood, then we will not be raised on the last day. Jesus Christ wants us to think of that. A lot of times we get set in our ways, and we think, ‘I am going to eat unleavened bread and drink this sip of wine’. Think of it this way, because Jesus spells it out so clearly: if we do not eat His flesh, and drink His blood, we will not be in the resurrection.

Why is the taking of the Passover symbols, a salvational requirement?

What then do these scriptural words mean, "Eat my flesh, and drink my blood?"

They are still difficult for us today. This is a hard saying to accept, indeed, but we understand that they are a definite and a clear picture of the true Passover Lamb being consumed. Think back to that lamb in Old Testament times. There was meat on the table. They did not drink the blood in those days, but they put it on the doorposts for their protection and their covering.
Jesus is the true, innocent Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

But, why is the lamb eaten rather than burnt up completely in a sacrificial fire?

What is the meaning behind the Passover symbols, and what are they meant to convey to us?

It is the words and teachings of Jesus Christ that are able to give life, yes even eternal life.

We cannot iterate this too much, so I will state it over and over, I will reiterate it again and again.

We are de-leavening our homes, our office, and our cars, and we will go to the Passover service with our tubs and towels for the foot washing.

But, I am concerned that too many church brethren put their emphasis on the rituals, and on the symbols, and not on the significant meaning that the rituals and the symbols are designed to convey to us, in order for us to make substantial changes in our lives and consciousness.

The true "Bread of Life," Jesus Christ, must live within us, enabling us to live an entirely new life – the spiritual life of Christ.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, -- and they are life.

He is not talking about the flesh of the lamb, but he is talking about the flesh that we are in right now. We are looking forward to something much greater, something much more substantial and much more real. Spirituality is reality. The world that we live in is an illusion, “the flesh profits nothing.”

If we are to follow Him, we must put on Jesus Christ until He becomes the very substance of our existence. Those are big words, but we must do things, say things and try to think things the way that Jesus Christ did. How do we do that? Jesus Christ must be in us. We are talking about how Jesus comes into us. We eat of His body, and we drink of His blood.

In the yearly New Testament Passover service, the unleavened bread and the wine are the symbols that Jesus selected to take the place of His flesh that was once sacrificed, and to take the place of His blood that was once shed.

The wine is Jesus’ own representation of His very life blood that He shed once and for all.

Christ does not intend for the point to be lost on us, that it is only by His blood that we have the remission of our sins. His blood was shed, and it covers our sins. Our sins are taken away, our transgressions are removed far from us.

Let us go back in history. Jesus did not institute Passover on the night before He died; it was already extant at that time. He did not institute Passover back in Egypt, at the time of the Exodus. Passover originated with God the Father and Jesus Christ at creation, at the inception of the plan of God.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

God the Father and Jesus Christ together, knew that Jesus would lay down His life. What an incredible thing. This was before Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. Way back there it was already established by God the Father and Jesus Christ, what they were going to do so many years before that cold Passover night. Jesus was out in the garden of Gethsemane praying to His Father the night before He died. Revelation 13:8 shows that it was a foregone conclusion from the foundation of the world that Jesus would have to die for the sins of all men.

In the New Testament Passover, Jesus maintained the same original concepts of redemption, deliverance, and salvation unto eternal life, that He incorporated in the Old Testament Passover that He gave to ancient Israel.

John 1:25-29 [the Pharisees] asked [John the Baptist], and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not; He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

We might take it for granted that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, but to those people in that day this was a new saying. God the Father had to reveal this to John, so that he would know it. But that said so much to John. It said Jesus Christ is going to be sacrificed; the spotless, pure Lamb of God is sacrificed. It has to shed its blood for someone else’s transgressions. This was a great revelation to John the Baptist, and He calls Jesus Christ the Lamb of God. That is so important for us to understand.
Let us go back to the Old Testament, and we will look at Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament. It will say LORD for Christ back there in some instances.

Jesus was the Passover Lamb, fulfilling the very meaning of Passover, and He changed the New Testament symbols to bread and wine to represent His body and blood. But that is not the way that Passover began. Jesus told the Israelites in Egypt to eat the flesh of the Passover lamb.

Exodus 12:5 Your lamb shall be without blemish [that points to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ], a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

It is important that we look at these verses; we are coming up to Passover. We are to examine ourselves; we are to live this all year long but especially in the spring and at Passover time. “Your lamb shall be without blemish,” that points to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. He is our role model, and we are to be like Jesus Christ. We are to live sinless lives if we are going to attain to eternal life.

Now we come to a very important point right here, and we do not want it to be lost on us.

Notice, very carefully, verse 6:

Exodus 12:6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Picture that. Here is a little innocent and pure lamb. He is not even fearful. On the nightly news I recently saw a sheep shearing contest down in Australia. The sheep just lies over on his back and he is so willing. He does the same thing when going to the slaughter. He willingly gives his life. Here is the innocent little sheep, and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it. It is almost like a mob scene around this poor little lamb.

We need to zero in on that, because sometimes we read over that. What does it mean?

Who killed Jesus? We can be quick to point to the Romans or Jews, or point at the world. The Church of God killed Jesus Christ, me and you, we killed Jesus Christ!

This is our day of salvation, and it applies only to us at this time. Later on it will apply equally to the world, in order of time.
The whole assembly of the congregation killed Him, and I was in on it! This is the way that we need to look at this, brethren.
Exodus 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it

Again, there is a picture there that Christ’s blood protects us, and delivers us.

Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Jesus said, “this is my body, eat of My flesh…” Unleavened bread also points to the sinlessness of Jesus Christ. There is no yeast in unleavened bread.

Jesus said of the unleavened bread, "Take, eat; this is my body..."

Back some years ago, when the Worldwide Church of God went off track, and the apostasy came to the full, the leaders said that the New Testament did not specify it was unleavened bread that Jesus used in the Passover ceremony. They quoted this next verse:

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

Any converted mind would realize that Jesus was keeping the Passover. He is the one who said, “As often as you do this...” He knew to take the lamb, and He knew to take the bitter herbs, and He knew to take unleavened bread as we just saw in Exodus 12:8. Jesus was eating unleavened bread at the Passover service.

Matthew 26:26-29 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.

When we participate in the Passover service by partaking of the symbols of His body and blood, we express our faith in Christ's death on our behalf, and renew our commitment to allow Jesus to live His life in us. He died for us, He shed His blood for us, and He was killed for us. We renew our commitment to allow Jesus to live His life in us. That is an important point in today’s sermon. We eat of Christ; He comes into us so that He can live His life in us. That is a big part of the picture. Jesus in us is what changes us to be like him. Without Christ in us we would be like everybody on this earth serving ourselves, serving our own lusts, going our own way.

John 14:18-19 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

There is this picture of eternal life. We had our sins covered by Jesus’ death, and we will have eternal life because of Jesus Christ’s life.

John 14:20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

We have been talking about Jesus Christ in us, but because the Father is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father we get both the Father and Jesus Christ in us.

John 14:23 If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Everything that Jesus said, mercy, forgiveness, compassion, love are all of the things that Jesus Christ taught. We cannot imagine how much God loves us.

We have laid down the old man of sin, we have received the Holy Spirit and we have faith in Jesus Christ and we eat of His body. He comes into us. Those were pictures of Jesus coming into us. He comes into us through His Spirit, but the Spirit symbols are so much more meaningful as we go through here.

Let me reiterate what my concern is again. I think that people say, I am going to keep Passover, I am going to have some broken unleavened bread, and I will take a drink of wine; I have had Passover. Brethren, if it means that God the Father and Jesus Christ come and make Their abode in us, and this makes it possible for us to become like God is, then that is the key to eternal life.

Brethren, Passover is the most serious, important, and solemn Feast of the year.

Let us pray that we may take of the Body of Christ worthily.

I Corinthians 11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come.

We do show the Lord's death till He comes, and we are guilty of His death, as we saw a moment ago in Exodus 12. Paul is almost glossing over it here, because he is bringing a number of other things to the fore. He is talking about division within the church and so forth. Let me say this again: When we show the Lord’s death we also show who killed Him. We are guilty of His death, we killed Jesus Christ, and He forgave us our sins.

Would we then turn around and kill him again by sinning?

Would we crucify to ourselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame?

I Corinthians 11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

I would add all over again: We have already been guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. We were the congregation, the whole assembly that was to kill it. We killed Jesus Christ. But we willingly sin again. We crucified Christ afresh, and we are guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. This is a very, very serious verse here:

I Corinthians 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

You have to determine to not sin, and when you slip and fail ask God to forgive you. Ask for God’s strength.

We come the Passover before Jesus Christ died. This would be Jesus’ third Passover in His public ministry – one year before He died.

John 6:4 And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
The Jews of Jesus’ day were very familiar with the events of the Old Testament Passover.

Jesus’ name was becoming very well-known by that time – so much so, that the people thronged Him wherever He went.

John 6:5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? [Jesus could have said “food” or “meat,” as He often does – but here, He specifically says “bread”.]

John 6:6 And this He said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

Jesus knew that He was going to work a great miracle, that this was a huge crowd, and that it would cost a lot of money to pay for it, in today’s money tens of thousands of dollars.

John 6:7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth [a great sum] of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

John 6:8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

John 6:9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves [spring time = early harvest], and two small fish: but what are they among so many?

John 6:10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, [“bread” is a better translation] and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples distributed to them that were sat down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

You know the story: there were twelve baskets of “bread” left over! There is no mention of left-over fish – because this chapter is about “bread.” The emphasis is on the bread…

So that great multitude of folks [Matthew 14:21, 5000 men alone] decided that Jesus must be some kind of Prophet, and they would have made Jesus a King if He had not gone off by himself.

Then the disciples got caught in the terrible storm in the north end of the sea of Galilee.

John 6:20 But he said unto them, It is I; I AM - be not afraid.
Jesus says “I AM” seven times in this chapter.

John 6:24-25 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, [in Bethsaida, north-east coast of the sea of Galilee] neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?

It was the Sabbath before Passover and Jesus as He customarily did, went into the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath day, and He was teaching.

John 6:26-27 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves [bread], and were filled. Labor not for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

This is an important instruction for them, but it is also an important instruction for us.

When did Jesus give them bread that endures unto everlasting life? It was when Jesus said, “This is My body.”

John 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? How do we labor for this bread?
John 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him [Jesus] whom He [Father] hath sent. They said therefore unto him, What sign [miracle] do you show then, that we may see, and believe thee? What do you work?
They were saying, in effect: ‘Let us see a real miracle – something spectacular. Yes, you fed a lot of people, but that has been done before. Even Moses fed all of Israel, let us see a new miracle’.

John 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

They thought about this as Moses gave them manna. This is not quite correct, and Jesus will call them on this.

In this chapter, John is going to show that Jesus Himself, is identified as the true manna, or the true bread from heaven.

John 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

The manna was not the true bread from heaven, but Jesus Christ is the true bread from heaven.

John 6:33 For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and gives life unto the world.

This is a sub-theme running in this message. Jesus is the food, He must come in us and live in us. We must change to be like Jesus Christ. The sub-theme is, “Then you will have eternal life.” Jesus makes eternal life available.

How does one take of the bread of God? How does one EAT of that bread?

John 6:34-35 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I AM the bread of life: he that comes to Me shall never hunger; and he that believes on Me shall never thirst.

So we see that Jesus Christ is the source of true spiritual nourishment which gives eternal life. That is what this is all about and it is not just about eating a piece of unleavened bread on Passover. It is about true spiritual nourishment over and over for the rest of our lives, which give us eternal life.

John 6:36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

Jesus then begins to tell them that God the Father is the One who selects those who will be able to come to Jesus. Not everybody then was able to come to Jesus and neither are they today. God the Father selects an elect few.

All the rest of the world is specifically excluded, at this time. There is a time order for them but this is the day of salvation for us.

John 6:37 All those that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
Notice here that God is not calling everyone.

John 6:38-39 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him [Father] that sent me. And this is the Father's will who has sent me, that of all those which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise them all up again at the last day.

Jesus will refer to “raise them all up again at the last day” again. He will actually say that in six different ways in this chapter.
John 6:40-41 And this is the will of Him that sent me, that every one which sees the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I AM the bread which came down from heaven.

Jesus Himself is the true manna, which gives eternal life.

John 6:42-44 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. [do not complain, or try to second-guess me…] No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus then quotes Isaiah:

John 6:45-49 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I AM that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

They sinned and they died – their promise was of physical blessings.

Then Jesus, referring to Himself, said:

John 6:50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.

This is exactly what Jesus would say at the last Passover; He would say, “This is my body,” (holding a piece of unleavened bread in His hand). It is not just the unleavened bread, that is the symbol, that is what we break each Passover. Each year we remember, we show the Lord’s death again. The bread, the true bread that comes down from heaven is Jesus Christ. We must think Jesus Christ when He says “This is the bread which comes down from heaven.”

John 6:51 I AM [eg-o i-mee] the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

It was very hard for those unconverted people to hear these words. “I will give my flesh.” Jesus is saying, ‘Eat my body’, just as they ate the lamb. ‘Take me into you, I will live in you; you will become Me and I will become you’.

John 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us His flesh to eat?

‘What will He do, give us one arm at a time? That is nonsense’. So, again, we see that it is a hard saying to accept. But we understand these words and they are a definite and clear picture of the true Passover Lamb being consumed, being eaten, being taken in, and being digested and becoming a part of us. You are what you eat. We eat of that Bread of life. Unleavened bread is symbolic; Jesus Christ in the Spirit with His Father, they come and make their abode in us, so that we can become God. That is something that all false religions want to dismiss. They say we will go to heaven. No, brethren, we will be in the Family of God, and we will put on the divine nature of God.

Brethren, we must follow Jesus Christ until we become exactly like Him, the perfection, the stature, the full measure of Christ, in the way we think, reason and act, until we put on all Godly Character. We will come short in this lifetime, but we strive, and this is the way that we are working and where we are going.

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

That is a very exclusive verse. This world today wants to be politically correct, and all-inclusive. Everybody, everywhere no matter how filthy a life that they life, everybody gets added in. That is not what Jesus said. “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”

There is no eternal life unless Christ lives in us. Jesus repeats that six times in different ways!

You can go back and do a Bible study on this. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” That is, no eternal life abiding in you. With God’s Spirit in us, we have a token of eternal life already in us.

John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

This is all things being equal, as Paul pointed out a while ago. If we go back after taking the Passover, and we crucify the Son of God afresh by going out and sinning, saying ‘I do not care’. Or we turn away from the truth and go back into the world, whatever. If we do that there remains no more hope, brethren. This is believing in Christ, having faith in Him, and following His way. Jesus says, “I will raise him up on the last day.” This is so encouraging and so joyful, and what a tremendous thing that God has given us.

John 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Feed on Jesus, it is kind of like, get fat on Jesus, get spiritually fat on Christ and His way. All we take is a little thimbleful of wine, but it represents Christ’s blood. It was shed and poured out, and then we learn from that and we too pour out our blood. Again, in a symbolic way, but we lay our lives down. Jesus Christ is so serious about these things. We are to live as He lived.
John 6:56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

He says it both ways. We eat of the bread; we eat of the body of Christ. In our way of thinking, He is inside of us, but Jesus turns it around and says, “he dwells in Me and I dwell in him.” The Father is in me, and I am in the Father. All of the attributes and the characteristics of God are in us. We are in Christ, Christ is in us.

It is the words, the teachings, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ that are able to give life, and work toward eternal life.

If we are to follow Christ, we must put on Jesus Christ until He becomes the very substance of our existence. You see how important Passover is. Christ puts it first in the year. Think of it this way, Jesus Christ is telling us in ways that cannot be mistaken. He tells us to eat His body. This is my body, He tells us. His principles must become our principles. His ways of doing things must become our ways. His words must become our words, and we must get rid of the words that we brought into the equation. His thoughts must become our thoughts. Where He is compassionate, we are compassionate. Where He is strong and unmoving, we are strong and unmoving. We must willingly lay down our lives for one another – just as He was sacrificed for us. When we see a brother in need we must die for him, a living sacrifice as it says in Romans 12.We must follow Jesus until we become exactly like Him in the way that we think, reason, and act.

Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Paul demonstrated this concept when he wrote in Galatians 2:20, "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

John 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me.

We could say, he that takes Passover shall live by Jesus Christ, and by every word of God.

Brethren, we must eat of the true sacrificial Lamb of God at Passover. We must take Him into our being.

John 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread [indicating Himself] shall live forever.

This was a picture, just like the Old Testament Passover lamb was a picture.

John 6:59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

The true "Bread of Life," Jesus Christ, must live within us, enabling us to live an entirely new life, a life in Christ.

John 6:60-61 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

Yes, it offended them!

But Jesus tells His New Testament church to “drink my blood.” We are to drink into us - of Christ’s life blood…

In Gal 3:27 We are to: “put on Christ.”

We are to take on Who and What Jesus is, and take on His very life.

John 6:62-63, 67-68 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

There it is brethren, Jesus Christ has the words to eternal life. He must live within us and those must be our words, so that we can go on to eternal life.

John 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

WZ/pp/sl

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Sermon:

"This is My Body"