King of Kings
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
What will separate us from the love of Christ
Rm 8:35.37-39.
What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thursday, July 31, 2014
The Bread of Life Discourse
"I am the bread of life. Your
ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that
comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living
bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The
Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his)
flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life
within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I
will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true
drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so
also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread
that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever
eats this bread will live forever." These things he said while teaching in
the synagogue in Capernaum. Then many of his disciples who were listening said,
"This saying is hard; who can accept it?" Since Jesus knew that his
disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, "Does this shock
you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I
have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not
believe." Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and
the one who would betray him. And he said, "For this reason I have told
you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father." As
a result of this, many (of) his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also
want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we
go? You have the words of eternal life."
The Eucharist is much more than a
memorial service using grape juice and crackers. It is a sacrifice and a meal.
The sacrifice comes in two forms: 1) us giving our whole selves to Christ and
2) the continuation of the sacrifice made by Christ of His flesh and
blood. The meal is accepting the gift of holy food in the form of the body
and blood of Christ.
Many Protestant Churches
misinterpret John 6 and believe it is symbolic. The passage "It is the
spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken
to you are spirit and life." often confuse people that do not understand
that the terms "flesh" and "blood" are used two different
ways in the passage. Initially, Jesus is speaking literally of His flesh and
blood. This is what we now call the Eucharist. His use of flesh and blood in
the last portion is moving to the familiar analogy between flesh (earthly
things) and spirit (heavenly things). He is simply stating that His (literal)
flesh and blood are of spirit (of heaven) while flesh (all earthly things) are
of no use. He is simply telling us that His flesh and blood are spiritual food.
Real food!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)