The Wondrous Truths of What Happened When
Jesus Died & Rose
Tuesday,
May 21, 2013
Exodus 19:5 Now
therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,
then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all
the earth is mine
The keeping of Covenant brings blessing, and the breaking
of covenant brings judgment:
And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if
your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments,
but that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even
appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall
consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in
vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Leviticus…
it is true even when a person disavows the covenant later
and the effect is clearly seen in more mundane covenants such as marriage.
Even when two people get divorced, the effect of the first covenant bears
on the rest of their lives, and effects any future covenant of that nature that
they make. Those who have entered remarriages will tell you that even
when a divorce is amicable, or when the former spouse moves far away, the fact
of the marriage and the former spouse forever bear on the new marriage, on the
children and family life in general: even when the partner is no longer there,
their presence continues to be felt whether good or bad: covenants have
an effect even when they are not honored.
The Bible is sometimes referred to as the Old Testament and New Testament, but is also referred to in some renderings as the Old Covenant and New Covenant. In some ways, this is difficult language, but the use of the word 'Testament' is referring to covenant: it is the written seal of covenants made between God and Man. It is the contract in writing. A will and Testament is a written account of what a person who dies bequeaths to the next generation: upon the death of the 'testator' or one who writes and leaves the testament, the effects of the Testament are put into force. In the New and Old Covenant or Testament, it is a living and continuing contract and agreement between God and Man, with God being the one who writes the Covenant. Even when one does not care for what the Bible or the Commandments say, the effect is still there: for example, many scoff at dietary laws in the Old testament, but the effect of eating unclean foods carries a real consequence. The effect of the covenant abides even in unbelief, since man is dependent upon belief, but God is not.
The Old Testament word for covenant is ''B'rit', or
The Bible is sometimes referred to as the Old Testament and New Testament, but is also referred to in some renderings as the Old Covenant and New Covenant. In some ways, this is difficult language, but the use of the word 'Testament' is referring to covenant: it is the written seal of covenants made between God and Man. It is the contract in writing. A will and Testament is a written account of what a person who dies bequeaths to the next generation: upon the death of the 'testator' or one who writes and leaves the testament, the effects of the Testament are put into force. In the New and Old Covenant or Testament, it is a living and continuing contract and agreement between God and Man, with God being the one who writes the Covenant. Even when one does not care for what the Bible or the Commandments say, the effect is still there: for example, many scoff at dietary laws in the Old testament, but the effect of eating unclean foods carries a real consequence. The effect of the covenant abides even in unbelief, since man is dependent upon belief, but God is not.
The Old Testament word for covenant is ''B'rit', or
בְּרִית.
The word ‘B rit’ is translated as covenant 264 times
according to Gesenius [BLB] as covenant, with ‘league’ following at 17
and the only other seldom mentioned renderings of the word are . A
covenant, according to Gesenius, in the Oriental and Hebrew culture comes
from the root of the word meaning to ‘cut’ and so we speak about “cutting a
covenant” and the cutting comes from the idea of passing through two
sides of a victim, though the more usual manifestation of it was in
sharing a meal, which would have taken place at a dinner sharing
game, or in the instance of the mention of a covenant of ‘salt’,
which is evidence of the affirmation of a covenant. The
Abrahamic covenant for the seed and land, shows an example of this
‘cutting of the covenant’, as the sacrifice is laid on either side:
And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece oneagainst another: but the birds divided he not. Gen 15:10
As Jesus sits at dinner with his disciples, they are
sharing the Passover, the dinner is a Seder dinner which is shared in
commemoration of the flight from Egypt into the Wilderness, and both the
bitterness of the Journey and the great deliverance of
God. Jesus though is about to explain the last major
doctrine or teaching of his ministry to his disciples, which is the blood
covenant, manifested in the taking of the wine and bread, and his
startling and bold statement that they are to ‘take and eat’ or take and
drink’ is a truth too obscure at the moment, and previously,
has caused even some of his heartiest followers to turn away. The
first time the idea of ‘eating his body and drinking his blood comes up, is not
in the upper room but in the Synagogue! He explains the meaning of
the passage but the end is as follows:
From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Jn 6:66
Long before the Last Supper, though, what was Jesus’
explanation of this passage? For centuries, unbelievers have had
more trouble with this passage than any other in the New Testament, and it does
seem to separate “the men from the boys”. Before he had taught in
parables of the Kingdom of God, and of loving thy neighbor as
thyself, and God above all else: he had healed every sickness, and confronted
every foe, and though the best of ‘scholars’ and the Sanhedrin had
tried to trap him in his speech or doctrine, they could not: he was
from above, from heaven, and the Word clearly teaches that he was ‘with God,
and was God’ (John 1) Even when he spoke of the incarnation,
and the forthcoming resurrection, the most trouble they had was in a lack
of understanding, but here is a brash command, like no other in his
ministry, coming from the pulpit of the Synagogue at Capernaum:
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Jn 6:54
What then is the explanation, here as early as the sixth
chapter of John? Why would he present so remarkable a
statement? The eating and drinking of substance and fluids of the
human body, if this was the meaning, would have condemned to
hell, it was an unclean act so unclean, it was not worthy of mention
among the list of unclean foods: and yet here, he is telling them that
who would eat his flesh and drink his blood, has eternal life and will be
raised up. The beginning of the teaching starts here,
before the Last Seder. Jesus teaches that his body is ‘meat
indeed’ and his blood ‘drink indeed
(John 6 :55); but it is the next passage that shows for the
first time what he is speaking of: the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus Christ:
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him Jn 6:56
‘Eat’ is the Greek word, ‘phago’ and is a literal
rendering, but just as we use the word in more than one way, it can
also mean to consume or completely devour. Silly little sayings
such as “I could just eat you up” do not infer cannibalism, but the
intense desire to be a part of the person or at one with the
person. Jesus was teaching the Jews that he was to be taken
literally and seriously as their promised King and Messiah: they were to
immerse, devour, taken in and thoroughly consume his words, his
teachings, his parables, his gifts, to walk fully into eternal
life. The passage earlier, refers to who will be raised up,
who will be given eternal life. That is the main message of this
sermon in Capernaum. Jesus explains that as he is in the Father and
the Father in him [the teaching of the ‘oneness’ of the Father and the
Son] totally one, immersed, one in one, he is calling his followers
to do the same. The great Mediator, the one Mediator between man
and God, calls us to oneness, immersion, and indwelling:
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. Jn 6:57
Does this idea have any base in the Old Testament or
Torah? Many Jews would argue that this was a first, and they probably
find this saying of Jesus one of the more offensive: indeed many
Christians today readily go along with ‘communion’ but never really understand
it: surprising to many though, is the message that this
really is a Jewish, old testament-torah teaching, which foreshadows the
sacrifice which Yshua,Jeus was about to make. My daughter pointed
this passage out to me once, and I was surprised that it was
not more frequently taught:
And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it. Lev 6:16
The command is about the handling
of the Meat Offering, but the meat offering is not in this sense ‘beef’
but An offering of bread. The passage in John 6 is Jesus’ sermon on
the Bread of Life. The priests, and high priest Was required to
‘take in’ or eat the meat offering, properly anointed, and the
foreshadowing of the Bread Of Heaven in the Old Testament is clearly
seen, in the preparation of the Wheat harvest, the sacrifice of The
meat offering, and the Manna from Heaven which sustained Israel in the
Wilderness, keeping them alive when they would otherwise have
starved. The Manna, or ‘Bread from Heaven’ was provided by
God, And was life to Israel, and Jesus points this out in his sermon:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.I am that bread of Life. John 6:47-8
The bread of life is a bible study
unto itself which could be covered in volumes,
since it is represented in whole or part in every mention of ‘bread’ in
the Bible, including Wheat and harvest, grain,
manna, the showbread of the Temple and the countless examples within the
Messianic types and shadows which point to the ‘living bread’ which gives eternal life. When Jesus instructs ‘Take all of ye and
eat’ it is very clear that the act was
not unusual nor odd, though “many could
not receive it”. What evidence do we
have on the very face of the thing that Jesus was not speaking literally (and
yet at the same time he was for those who understood) about any unnatural act
such as imbibing in human flesh? The
thought was unspeakable, so the first
evidence is that the disciples clearly understood that He was speaking in the
Spirit. The second is, a mere point of logic that hardly needs to
be pointed out, that he in no way was
inviting them to cannibalism at the last Supper!!! Yet at the same time, this was the Lamb for
sacrifice that was to be taken and eaten!
The primary evidence is that he had still not gone to the Cross!! The Passover lamb was being dedicated, but the sacrifice had not yet occurred, so he
had to be speaking figuratively, in the Holy Spirit. There are some churches who for centuries
have argued that the literal body and blood of Jesus becomes ‘transfigured’ in
a wafer or host and is “taken in”. This
is simply a foolish approach and does not show wisdom in the Torah. The practice of taking in a food ‘imbued’
with a persona does not come Judaeo Christian practice but from cults such as
those who worshipped Ashtoreth, or a Sun God. The round circled bread, formed into tiny ‘suns’ were held up to the sun for light, then
ingested with the belief that one ‘took in the Sun’ and it power and light. Jesus though, is teaching a literal truth,
figuratively.
In
Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, Jesus
is teaching about himself being the ‘bread of heaven’ sent down from
above. Bread feeds and nourishes
people. The ‘meat’ offering (so call
because meals were referred to as ‘meat’ when the Bible was translated), was baked or fried bread with frankincense on
it: it was the nourishment and
sustaining life, with a kingly
scent, given from above by God. The ‘taking in’ refers to the total
immersion and assimilation of Christ thorugh the Holy Spirit or in short, all
things Christ. The commandment of
baptism reinforces this: we show
publicly that we go under water to show that we are immersed in Christ, in the
holy Spirit in God: when we eat food, we ‘take in’
what keeps us alive, but it does
not stay with us. Christ stays with us. We ‘eat his body’ and ‘drink his blood’ not in some odd ritualistic event, and yet not merely just some loose symbol, but in a command, to “do this in remembrance of me” . He is leaving the apostles with a prophetic
similitude that for all time, the followers
of Christ will carry on his name, his work, but more than that, his presence
and indwelling Holy Spirit, by ‘taking him in”. This is more than just some candle lighting
service of momentary remembrance. This
is a commanded act of love and obedience, and every time we participate in what
we call ‘communion’ we are drawing into
communion with him, and continuing the
fulfillment of the prophetic expression.
At the same time, because it is
the one thing he asks that we do every time we draw together in worship ‘as
often as you do this’, we are declaring
the Lord’s death and resurrection, his
life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit,
eternal life, and the ‘new man’.
We are not ‘ingesting God’ but we
are receiving communion with Him, in the way he asked to be remembered, and we
show to a dying world in that one act, the entirety of the Gospel. We are also saying “I believe”. Confirming his Word, professing his Word,
Remembering him, and obeying Him, we draw into obedience in worship. We consent to his truth, his way and his
life. The apostles were Jewish: they understood what he was saying: the Levitical priesthood had handled
sacrifices in this way for three
thousand years! They ate the bread of
the meat offering! It was commanded
that the living bread be ‘taken in’ by the priests. This issue of the ‘living bread’ was so
critical that it was one of the things put in the Ark of the Covenant :
...Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein [was] the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant. Hebrews 9:4
The living bread was inside the Ark of the Covenant, pointing to its internal location, 'dwelling in' the Ark, along with the budding rod of Aaron, 'life from death' indicating resurrection. Of course we 'take in' the living bread of heaven: He indwells us!. I have heard people say that the word 'indwelling' is not in the Bible. How about 'dwelling in' or 'abide'-in, with, etc, One also notes the well known passage:
To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the gloryof this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, thehope of glory: Colossians 1:27
This is the Cup of My Blood
We receive, we invite in, we immerse, walk in, walk with, we infuse our whole being in Christ, in the Messiah. Here is the message of the living bread, that we 'Take and Eat". The blood covenant as mentioned before is the taking in of Life: the Old Testament teaches that
Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood [is] thelife; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh. Deuteronomy 12:23 (See also: Gen 9:4-5; Leviticus 17:11,14 and many others)
Jesus is not speaking in the manner of 'blood cults': he is speaking of life. The body cannot live without blood or breath. The Messiah gives both. Blood is precious and life abides in it, so the taking in of wine, with the admonition that
Consider again what Yshua said in the passage in John 6
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.Mt 26:28Jesus, the rabbi named 'Salvation' or 'He Saves' is telling his disciples that the blood of the New Testament is for the remission of sins once offered! The Jews sitting at the Seder understood clearly he was referring to himself as the Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, and though they might not have understood in fullness the extent of the sacrifice for eternal forgiveness and remission of sins, there were none sitting at the table who considered for a moment that Jesus was suggesting the ingestion of human blood. This act was actual and prophetic, a similitude and fact, for the actual blood and body of the Savior had to be offered, and had to be received and 'taken in' by a nation of priests. We most certainly do this in remembrance of the Lord and Savior being real and present, and of the act he accomplished on the Cross which none other living could have ever accomplished. We were not of the right stuff. He was offering us a way to become of "the right stuff", or "partakers of the divine nature".
Consider again what Yshua said in the passage in John 6
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.Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:53-4 |
Did Judas understand? It is not clearly described in the Gospels, but it appears that he had a partial understanding, but not enough such that he did not betray his friend and that for money. He also seems though to have almost immediately after 'Satan entered into him' realized the enormity of his crime which drove him to insanity and suicide. He acknowledges that he has betrayed innocent blood, but he does not seem to offer true repentance.
What was understood pre-Pentecost and post-Pentecost is not neatly discussed in the scriptures but it is clear that Jesus in the apostles' pre-Pentecost state, trusted that they would understand him. No doubt some that heard the command to eat and drink, who did not have spiritual depth or understanding, in their own minds were justified when they said that they could not receive it. In John 6:41 the Jews 'murmur' because he says he is the Bread of Heaven, though he has miraculously from a few loaves fed thousands. He says "I am the bread of life" and the Jews say, "This is a hard saying, who can hear it". Manna, though, was also a miraculous supernatural event: 40 years of being fed from above in the wilderness of Sin, and by the end, their belief was so small, that the first generation from Egypt who had turned to idolatry, died in the desert, having seen so many miracles, the pillar of cloud and fire, water from the rock, the waters of Marah turned sweet, quail, and 70 elders had even seen the appearance of Messiah on the Sapphire stone, and the were still wishing to trust the natural rather than the Lord. Jesus rebukes them for their unbelief, but remarks that only those to whom it is given will believe, only those who have a heart after God and the truth, though 'whosover will' still holds. Many say they cannot hear this idea that by faith, the blood, the body, the bread of life, and eternal life are found all in one person(hood), the incarnate Messiah and in John 6:60 they say:
What was understood pre-Pentecost and post-Pentecost is not neatly discussed in the scriptures but it is clear that Jesus in the apostles' pre-Pentecost state, trusted that they would understand him. No doubt some that heard the command to eat and drink, who did not have spiritual depth or understanding, in their own minds were justified when they said that they could not receive it. In John 6:41 the Jews 'murmur' because he says he is the Bread of Heaven, though he has miraculously from a few loaves fed thousands. He says "I am the bread of life" and the Jews say, "This is a hard saying, who can hear it". Manna, though, was also a miraculous supernatural event: 40 years of being fed from above in the wilderness of Sin, and by the end, their belief was so small, that the first generation from Egypt who had turned to idolatry, died in the desert, having seen so many miracles, the pillar of cloud and fire, water from the rock, the waters of Marah turned sweet, quail, and 70 elders had even seen the appearance of Messiah on the Sapphire stone, and the were still wishing to trust the natural rather than the Lord. Jesus rebukes them for their unbelief, but remarks that only those to whom it is given will believe, only those who have a heart after God and the truth, though 'whosover will' still holds. Many say they cannot hear this idea that by faith, the blood, the body, the bread of life, and eternal life are found all in one person(hood), the incarnate Messiah and in John 6:60 they say:
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this], said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?and in 6:66
From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
When he turns to his own disciples and asks if they will turn away also, they reply that he has the words of eternal life.
Jesus was sent as an ensign of belief, not of carnal human reasoning. He asks us to believe supernatural things in a natural world and condition. The issue is faith, the leap of faith, away from human reason, but not away from divine reason. The disciples partake of the bread of life at this last Seder dinner, trying with their "little faiths" to understand the great issues of belief in order to see "the might works of God." John 6:28.
The Communion of the might works of God, of the Love of God, means suspending our ordinary understanding, and entering into to a 'mighty understanding' to all who believe, of the might works of God. We are warned never to take lightly this command:
ekbest
Jesus was sent as an ensign of belief, not of carnal human reasoning. He asks us to believe supernatural things in a natural world and condition. The issue is faith, the leap of faith, away from human reason, but not away from divine reason. The disciples partake of the bread of life at this last Seder dinner, trying with their "little faiths" to understand the great issues of belief in order to see "the might works of God." John 6:28.
The Communion of the might works of God, of the Love of God, means suspending our ordinary understanding, and entering into to a 'mighty understanding' to all who believe, of the might works of God. We are warned never to take lightly this command:
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.I Cor 11:29We are certainly to discern the very literal 'Lord's Body' but in the way that he explains in John 6 and at the Last Seder. How lightly we take that commandment today, and how quickly we decide we cannot receive these 'hard words'. We literally partake of the body and blood in the taking in of his presence and life giving,and eternal sacrifice, which figuratively refers to the 'taking in' of his very real presence in the 'parakletos' , comforter, Holy Spirit of God which is the indwelling of Christ, the Messiah of Israel. His testimony in the last pages of the Bible in Revelation is referred to as the spirit of prophecy, the testimony of Jesus Christ:. We immerse in Him, love him and in him, we walk in him, he abides in us, he indwells us in the Holy Spirit, we partake of the divine nature, and we are saved.
ekbest
Author & Owner
United States
" Psa 84:10 For a day in thy courts [is]
better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." ... Born Mineral Wells, TX
taught at UF, UNF, NEOU Coll of Medicine, and other colleges and one seminary.
Web Director of Shoaheducation.com, Shoahrose.com and www.warsofisrael.com.
Ministry site: www.judahsglory.com "Balladry" (balladsandpoems.blogspot.com)
and all materials included within unless otherwise noted is copyrighted by
Elizabeth Kirkley Best, PhD. (c) 2005 Elizabeth Kirkley Best, All Rights
Reserved
