Now, as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My Body” … And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:26-28 ESV1
Read Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-26 & Luke 22:23
You have probably heard the proverb; “You are what you eat.” That phrase means that what you eat significantly impacts your health and well-being. Because the food you eat provides the nutrients for the function of every cell in your body, eating nutrient-rich food builds a healthy body while eating junk food contributes to the tear down of your body. What is evident in this case physically has similar spiritual connotations. What you consume spiritually greatly affects your spiritual condition. Consider the words of Jesus as He dined with His disciples:
“And when the hour came, He reclined at table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it [again] until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God’” (Luke 22:14-16). “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My Body’” (Matthew 26:26). “‘Do this in remembrance of Me’” (Luke 22:19b). “And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is My Blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom.” (Matthew 26:27-29).
As His earthy ministry was about to culminate, Jesus joined His disciples in celebrating Passover. During the meal, Jesus used what was before them—wine and bread—to illustrate the reason for His coming. Soon Jesus would allow His Body to be scourged and crucified. He would spill His Blood. He would die as He hung on the Cross. In the coming days, He would be buried, rise again, and ascend back to Heaven. All of it would be done to set free those who had been in captivity to sin and Satan.
The Food that Gives Eternal Life
Earlier in His ministry, after Jesus miraculously and abundantly satisfied over 5000 people with only five small loaves of bread and two little fish, many crowded around Him desiring another free meal. It was then that Jesus announced a greater spiritual provision.
“They said to Him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ … Jesus said to them, ‘I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst … and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out … For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day … Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life … I am the Living Bread that came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this Bread, he will live forever. And the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My Flesh … So, Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, 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 feeds on My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My Flesh is true food, and My Blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My Flesh and drinks My Blood abides in Me, and I in him … So, whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me … Whoever feeds on this Bread will live forever’” (John 6:34-35, 37b, 40, 47-48, 51, 53-56, 57b, 58b).2
Those who merely desired Jesus to provide for their physical needs were confused about what appeared to be a demand to participate in cannibalism. At this point, many of Jesus’ followers discontinued their association with Him (see John 6:66). But those who relied on Jesus to meet their spiritual needs realized Jesus spoke metaphorically. Though they likely did not fully understand what Jesus meant, they were willing to stick with Him. When the multitude left, Jesus turned to His closest followers.
“So, Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:67-69).
So, what did Jesus mean when He said:
“‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you’” (John 6:53)?
What do we gain by partaking of Jesus’ Living Food and Drink?
Choosing Spiritual Health Food
On the Cross, a divinely ordained exchange occurred. All the evil due us because of our sin and rebellion was put on Jesus so that all the good due to Jesus might be available for us. This was God’s idea. Through His grace, He arranged an ultimate exchange.3
Over and over, the prophets proclaimed the amazing truth of this transfer through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The main proclamation is recorded in Isaiah 53. Universally, it is agreed that this passage speaks of Jesus. The central verse of this passage is:
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Every human being has rebelled against God and His standards. All of us have selfishly demanded to rule our lives our way. This opposition to the Authority deserves the death punishment. But the LORD has graciously laid the guilt of all of us on Jesus. God, in His mercy toward us, visited the responsibility for our wrongdoing and all the evil consequences of our defiance on Christ.
Jesus was punished so that we might be forgiven.
“He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace” (Isaiah 53:5a)
Jesus was punished for our iniquities; therefore, the debt has been paid and we are forgiven. Without forgiveness, there can be no peace with God. Because Jesus took our punishment, we have spiritual healing. This verse continues:
“And with His wounds, we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5b).
Jesus was wounded so that we might be healed.
This refers to physical healing. Jesus’ scourging before His crucifixion bought our healing from all physical conditions that would interfere with His purposes for our lives here on Earth. We can be confident that this prophesy promises physical healing because of the way the Apostles referred to it in their Holy Spirit-inspired writings.
“That evening they brought to Him many who were oppressed by demons, and He cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our illnesses and bore our diseases’” (Matthew 8:16-17).
The Greek word used by Matthew and translated diseases in this verse is nosos. It is the word used for physical diseases and sickness.4
“He Himself bore our sins in His Body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds, you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
Here, Peter used the Greek word Iaomai meaning to cure, to heal, to make whole.5 Both emphasize physical healing. We are not healed from our physical infirmities so that we can serve ourselves but our Healer and bring others to Him.
Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness so that we might become righteous with His righteousness.
The Jewish sacrificial system required guilt offerings in which sins were transferred to animals who were killed in place of the sinful people. Isaiah explained that the Messiah’s soul would be made a guilt offering for humanity’s sins.
“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong His days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10).
Paul explained this transfer like this:
“For our sake, [The Father] made [Jesus] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus died our death so that we might share His life.
The consequence of sin is death (see Romans 6:23a). Jesus experienced death undeservedly. He endured that death, which rightly should have been ours, for us.
“But we see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).
Because He died, taking on the punishment for our sins, we can experience eternal life. Jesus taught:
“The [devil] comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that [humans] may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
The price for our sins has been paid. If we accept Jesus’ offering on our behalf, we get what He rightly deserves, eternal life.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Jesus became poor with our poverty so that we might become rich with His abundance.
Though Jesus was born into a poor family and during His Earthly ministry, He had “nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20), spiritually, He was wealthy; He had access to all of His Father’s abundance. While He was ministering on Earth, He had everything He needed including a very nice robe which was desirable and carefully preserved even as He was dying (see John 19:23-24). But on the Cross, Jesus experienced the curses of poverty that the LORD placed on His disobedient people:
“‘Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things; therefore, you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you’” (Deuteronomy 28:47-48).
On the Cross, Jesus experienced hunger, thirst, and nakedness; He needed all things. For us, He experienced all the aspects of poverty to exhaust the poverty curse.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake, He became poor so that you by His poverty, might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
This does not mean we will be endowed with much wealth so that we can spend it on our selfish pleasures. But it is God’s will that our needs are supplied and that we have enough left over to give to others. Jesus purchased that freedom for us when He crushed the curse of poverty on the cross.
Jesus bore our shame so that we might share His glory.
During His crucifixion, Jesus’ clothes were taken.
“And when they had crucified Him, they divided His garments among them by casting lots. Then they sat down and kept watch over Him there” (Matthew 27:35-36).
Jesus hung on the Cross exposed naked to all who passed by. Men, women, and children stared at His nakedness and mocked Him. Think of how shameful that would have been. Many of us have experienced deep shame in one way or another, but as Jesus was exposed, He took upon Himself all of our shame so that we could experience the shamelessness of His glory.
“For it was fitting that He, for Whom and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the Founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10).
God’s purpose in Christ’s suffering our shame was to bring many sons and daughters into His glory.
Jesus endured our rejection so that we might have His acceptance as children of God.
Many of us have suffered profoundly from rejection. We all crave a place to belong and people to love us. When we feel like we don’t fit in, we are unable to express love. It is then impossible for us to obey Jesus’ two rules—love God and love others (see Matthew 22:37-39). As Jesus hung on the Cross, all of the sin of all the world of all time was placed on Him. Then He experienced for the first and last time the rejection of His Father.
“Now from the sixth hour, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ … And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit” (Matthew 27:45-46, 51).
Because He was made sin with our sinfulness, Jesus died of a broken heart due to the rejection of His Father. When Jesus gave up His spirit, the veil in the Temple was torn. No longer is there a barrier between unholy men and a holy God. When Jesus experienced our rejection, we got the acceptance due to Him. We are now holy in Him.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in Heaven and things on Earth” (Ephesians 1:3-10).
In Christ and because He experienced our rejection, we are holy and without blame, and we are accepted by God.
Jesus became a curse so that we might become a blessing.
Jesus was condemned with the curse of Adam that the blessing of Abraham might come on all who believe in Christ as Savior and Lord.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14).
Both curses and blessings go on and on until they are cut off. Some common curses that persist from generation to generation are: mental and emotional breakdowns, repeated hereditary diseases and conditions, recurring miscarriages and related female problems, breakdown of marriages and family alienation, continued financial inadequacy, accident proneness, and suicides and unnatural deaths of multiple family members.
By becoming a curse for us, Jesus did everything necessary to break to bonds of such curses. If we acknowledge the freedom we have in Christ, we no longer have to live under the consequences of the afflictions visited upon us by the damning of those who came before us. We can thrive and become all God intends us to be.
Continuing a Spiritually Healthy Diet
Jesus sat around the table with the Twelve and asked them to drink of His Blood and eat of His Body. Apparently, they all partook. All Jesus asked in return was that they would continue to eat and drink in remembrance of Him.
Paul explained in greater depth what remembering Christ entailed:
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, ‘This is My Body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, also He took the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me’” (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
Literally, Communion means common union. When we take Communion, we are making a proclamation: Just as the Lord gave His Body and Blood for me, I give my body and blood for Him. Through joining Christ in self-sacrifice, we remember what He did for us.
Paul continued:
“For as often as you eat this Bread and drink the Cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
When Jesus offered the bread to His disciples, He said:
“‘For I tell you I will not eat it [again] until it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God’” (Luke 22:16).
Again, when He presented the wine, He proclaimed:
“‘I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s Kingdom’” (Matthew 26:29).
When we take Communion, we remember that it is only a shadow of the Feast we will someday eat in God’s presence. Ultimate Communion will take place at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when we will experience along with the entire Bride of Christ the firm establishment of God’s Kingdom.
Partaking Wisely
In his admonition on remembering, Paul gave a stern warning:
“Whoever, therefore, eats the Bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:27-31).
In Luke’s rendition of the establishment of Communion, immediately after all of the disciples partook of the bread and wine, Jesus said:
“But behold, the hand of him who betrays Me is with Me on the table. For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed’” (Luke 22:21-22)!
Luke made sure his readers knew that Judas was still in attendance at the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Judas ate in an unworthy manner and took judgment on himself. Paul wants us to remember what happened to Judas so that we don’t approach Communion in the same manner he did and suffer the consequences. Perhaps, the presence of illnesses in our lives is an indication we have not discerned ourselves correctly when partaking in Communion.
At Communion, we must remember to rightly examine ourselves. Is there anything in our lives that doesn’t accurately represent one claiming to follow Christ? Are we living lies? Is there any sin that we are justifying? Are we serving ourselves and, therefore, the enemy? Are we acting in unbelief? Are we taking what Christ has to offer and not giving anything in return?
Communion is an opportunity to get our hearts right. Jesus isn’t demanding perfection before we partake; all of us have sins in our lives that we don’t yet recognize. Examining ourselves is about correctly evaluating the condition of our hearts.
Remember how Peter denied Christ after the Lord’s Supper? But he was humbled and repented.6 He was restored and, at Pentecost, was empowered to serve Jesus. Judas, on the other hand, betrayed Jesus, merely felt bad about it, and went out and committed suicide.7 Peter was devoted to Jesus; when he fell, he fell back onto Jesus. Judas was devoted to himself; when he fell, he had no one to fall back upon other than himself. Those who manipulated him were not there to restore him. Peter, because he relied on Jesus, had Christ to restore him.
Judas allowed himself to be possessed by Satan (see Luke 22:3). Anyone of the disciples who were self-serving instead of Christ-serving could have been used by the evil one. Any of us who have not crucified our flesh could find ourselves partaking in Communion in an unworthy manner.
If we have trusted Christ with His provision for physical healing and freedom from curses, and we are still suffering from sickness, perhaps God is alerting us to the fact that something is not right between us and Him. He is giving us a chance to make things right before it is too late.
“But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:32).
May we prayerfully heed Paul’s exhortation and experience both physical and spiritual healing.
You are what you eat. That doesn’t mean when you eat broccoli, you become broccoli. Or when you eat chocolate cake, you become chocolate cake. But it does mean that what you take in physically affects the health of your body. Likewise, what you take in spiritually affects the state of your soul. When you rightly partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, you don’t become God. But you do get to experience everything He obtained for you through His sacrifice. May you eat freely of what He provides.
1 Scripture quotations marked with ESV are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All Scriptures are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted. To aid in understanding, I have capitalized references to God.
2 For more on this account, check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/fully-emancipated/
3 For more on this exchange and all it provides for us, check out: https://www.derekprince.com/sermons/101
4 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3554/kjv/tr/0-1/
5 https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2390/kjv/tr/0-1/
6 For more on this, check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/no-longer-following-at-a-distance/
7 For more on this, check out: https://blueturtletrails.com/what-will-you-give-me/