This Is My Body

Brethren, who killed Jesus Christ?  Was it the Romans or the Jews?  The answer may surprise you.  The answer can be found by comparing Exodus 12 with 1 Corinthians 11.  First of all we need to take note of who killed the Passover lamb of Exodus 12:6.  "You shall keep [the Passover lamb] up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening."  Everyone – all Israel – had blood on their hands.

Now, let's ask the question again, "who killed Jesus – the Lamb of God?"  Do not point fingers at the Romans or Jews, and do not point at the world.  The whole assembly of the congregation of the Church of God killed Jesus – and I was in on it!!!  That is me and you, and all the brethren – we are guilty of killing Jesus Christ!  The guilt applies only to the Church at this time.  It will apply equally to the people of the world in their order of time (1 Corinthians 15:23).  This is our day of salvation (Isaiah 49:8) – we are being judged now (1 Peter 4:17).

whole assembly of the Church of God killed Jesus Christ.  Passover shows this:  "As often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes."  (1 Corinthians 11:26 )  We proclaim the Lord's death – and we are guilty of His death – as we saw in Exodus 12.  We killed Jesus Christ This is our day of salvation (Isaiah 49:8) – we are being judged now (1 Peter 4:17).  and He forgave us our sins.  Would we then turn around and kill him again – by sinning again?  W>ould we crucify to ourselves the Son of God afresh [again], and put Him to an open shame (Hebrews 6:6)?

em>"If we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins."  (Hebrews 10:26)  Continuing in sin  – that is taking the Passover unworthily. "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."  (1 Corinthians 11:27)  We would be guilty of the death of Jesus all over again – but Jesus is only going to die once (Hebrews 10:10).  There is no second chance if we are willfully sinning.  "Only a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."  (Hebrews 10:27)  Repentance is the only answer.  "So, let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup."  (1 Corinthians 11:28)

Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." (John 6:35, 48)  The Lord's Passover is the most important and solemn Feast of the year.  Without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, there is no forgiveness of our sins.  Jesus is the Bread of Life who gives us eternal life.  As the True Passover Lamb, Jesus sacrificed His body and blood to redeem us from the penalty of our sins and give us eternal life.

As Christians, we are commanded to observe the Passover each year.  "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."  (Luke 22:19)  "Jesus said unto them, 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.  (Passover is a salvational requirement.) Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:53-54)

What then do these Scriptural words mean, "Eat my flesh, and drink my blood?"  This is a hard saying to accept, indeed, but we understand that they are a definite and clear picture of the True Passover Lamb being consumed.  Jesus is the True Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29).  It is the words and teachings of Jesus Christ that are able to give life.  Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." (John 6:63)

If we are to follow Him, we must put on Jesus Christ until He becomes the very substance of our existence.  His principles must be our principles.  His words must be our words.  His thoughts must be our thoughts.  We must willingly lay down our lives for one another – just as He was sacrificed for us.  We must follow Jesus until we become exactly like Him in the way we think, reason, and act.  That is when Christ is in us, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).  Paul demonstrated this concept when he wrote, "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." (Galatians 2:20)

"Jesus took bread, and gave thanks, and broke it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body... This cup is the new covenant in my blood." (Luke 22:19-20)  The true "Bread of Life," Jesus Christ, must live within us, enabling us to live an entirely new life. In the yearly New Testament Passover service, the unleavened bread and wine are the gracious symbols that Jesus selected to take the place of His flesh that was once sacrificed, and His blood that was once shed.  The wine is Jesus’ own chosen representation of His very life blood that He shed once and for all – but He 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 (Ephesians 1:7).

Passover originated with creation and the inception of the Plan of God. Jesus was, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).  This verse shows that it was a foregone conclusion that Jesus would have to die for the sins of the world.  Jesus maintained the same original concepts of redemption, deliverance, and salvation in the New Testament Passover, that He incorporated in the Old Testament Passover that He gave to ancient Israel.  "The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world."  (John 1:29)

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.  Jesus said of the bread, "Take, eat; this is my body..." just as He had told the Israelites in Egypt to eat the flesh of the Passover lamb (Matthew 26:26, Exodus 12:7-8).

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.  Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you...At that day you shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you." (John 14:18,20)

Brethren, Passover is the most serious, important, and solemn Feast of the year.  Pray for one another that we may take of the Bread of Life worthily.  "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.  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup." (1 Corinthians 11:27-28

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Sermon:  "This Is My Body"    


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