“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
John 6:35
A healthy appetite is usually a good indicator of physical wellness. When a person is feeling “under the weather” they often don’t feel like eating. Conversely, a person who is healthy, strong, and active usually has no problem cleaning his plate. When the Lord Jesus miraculously raised Jairus’ daughter to life, He commanded that she be given something to eat (Mark 5:42-43). This was the sure sign that her restoration was complete. When the Lord Himself was raised from the dead, His astonished apostles could hardly believe their eyes. Luke records that, “they still did not believe for joy” (Luke 24:41a). The idea here is that they considered the Lord’s complete victory over death too good to be true. As rock-solid evidence of His resurrection, the Lord asked, “‘Have you any food here?’” Luke explains, “So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence” (Luke 24:41b-43). This was sufficient for them; now they knew the Lord was risen indeed. The Bible teaches that before we knew Christ in a saving way, we were dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). Paul observed, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6). Perhaps we will never know what exactly was accomplished at the cross for our sake. What we do know is that somehow, mysteriously, the Lord’s redemptive work made it possible for us to become new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we partake of the elements at the communion table, we are not only honoring the Lord the way He commanded us to, we are openly declaring ourselves risen from spiritual death and walking in newness of life (Romans 6:4). The elements are symbols reflecting the fact that we have come to Jesus, the bread of life, and that we believe in Him, the fountain of living waters, to the saving of our souls. When we eat together at the Communion Table, we are showing that we are spiritually alive and well. As we approach our next communion service, may God apprehend our thoughts and prepare our hearts, to love and appreciate the Savior even more. May we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8) as we eat and drink together, displaying the unmistakable signs of life!
God bless, Pastor John
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