Eating & Drinking the Life of Jesus

John 6.53-58
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."

This teaching by Jesus caused some real problems for the people around Him. It didn't matter if the person was a pharisee or a follower they struggled with the statement. Whenever we hear difficult statements or teachings from Jesus we should rejoice! Because most likely it is rubbing up against our sense of propriety or dethroning our ego. Difficult statements about Jesus separate the sheep from the goats. You find out pretty quick who believes and who doesn't. What Jesus discovers (which He already knew) is there are people on the Jesus train that didn't plan on riding all the way to calvary. But I am not so much interested in that part of the story. I want to talk about eating and drinking the life of Jesus.

Jesus is likening His own body to the manna that came out of heaven. We could stop there and just talk about the amazing symbolism of Jesus incarnation, but what does it mean that Jesus is manna. Nobody really knew what manna was back then, however the Israelites were to consume it daily for sustenance. The Israelites ate and were satisfied. They were commanded to only gather enough for each day, this was to build some discipline in their lives. They were to rely and trust each day on the sustenance brought by God.

I wonder if we have considered the idea of consuming Jesus daily for the sustenance of not only our bodies, but souls?

Experiment 010: Eating & Drinking the Life of Jesus

The experiment this week is to take the remaining days left in the week and consume Jesus each day. Just like the Israelites had to daily gather and consume manna; we should also daily consume Jesus. I offer a few examples of "consumption" to get you started this week.

Wednesday: Read the Sermon on the Mount in one sitting and journal your thoughts and questions. (Matthew 5-7)
Thursday: Take a friend to lunch and buy their meal. Offering hospitality and sacrificing some of your money is great way of taking up your cross.
Friday: Find a quiet place to meditate for 25 minutes on Mark 1:35,36a. Be still and quiet just like Jesus was. Enjoy His presence with you.
Saturday: Read psalm 23 and substitute all of the personal pronouns with Jesus. Why? Because you get this overwhelming sense that your entire life should be wrapped up into His.
Sunday: Find time to eat some bread and drink some wine in remembrance of His life. Thank Him for His sacrifice and for His life. Read Romans 5.10 before you eat and drink.

Seek the kingdom, Carry the Cross, Feast on Jesus,
Jon

Can We Be Dedicated to 5?

Can we be dedicated to prayer?

Can we be dedicated to eating and drinking the life of Jesus?

Can we be dedicated to drenching our minds in Scripture?

Can we be dedicated to serving the less fortunate?

Can we be dedicated to silence and solitude?

This fall LivingZugos.com will be enthusiastically committed to providing creative experiments in these 5 essential disciplines. I really believe if we practice these at least as much as we eat ice cream, play tennis and jog around the block we will, by the Spirit of Jesus be more and more transformed into His glorious image. The World is waiting for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. May we start to show up and make a difference in the name of Jesus.

Can we be dedicated to these disciplines? Is it too hard? Is it to crazy to ask that we put these disciplines into practice? Could a suburban group of people become disciples of Jesus and mean it? Would we be ashamed? Would we only talk about it with each other? Or could we share our lives with others who are desperately searching for something real and significant?

I wonder what would happen?

Walking with Jesus

Mark 1:35
"35 In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."

Can you picture this? Jesus wakes up after a long and taxing day of healing bodies and teaching minds. He is physically tired but gets up early ('still dark' early). I would not be surprised if this was a regular practice for Him. Anyway, He slips on an outer garment and sandals and tries to escape unnoticed. As He slips out the front, the door gives Him away with a squeak and a creak. Peter hears and knows that Jesus is out for another early morning stroll and prayer session. For a split second Peter thinks about joining Him, but his body wins out and the bed welcomes him back with open arms. It's dark. There is definitely a chill in the air. It's just Jesus and Abba now. Finally in the quietness and solitude of the journey He can fix His mind on things above.

I am sure I took some liberties with the story. There is really little evidence the story unfolded like I described, but I wanted to give a life-like scenario of Jesus and His disciplines. I really believe our disciplines are a lot like Jesus' disciplines. I am sure He encountered the same challenges and difficulties we do. It's important that we study Jesus in the gospels and mimic Him. If we are going to follow Him and be His disciples, the least we can do is practice what He did. Right?

So our experiment this week is to pull our bodies out of bed and take a walk with Jesus & Abba.

Experiment 004: Walking with Jesus

It is pretty simple this week. It usually is. Sometime this week while it is still dark drag your butt out of bed, throw on some clothes and flip-flops and go for walk. When your annoying alarm goes off and you cannot believe 'sleepy' time went by so fast, just remember, it is at that precise point you decide to crucify your body. That is when we put flesh and blood on the statement, "Take up your cross and follow me." As your walking, you may want to think about the scripture verse quoted above, meditate on portions of the Sermon on the Mount, or offer prayers for your family and friends. One of the most important things we can do in the morning is set our minds on Jesus. This is how we do it. I hope that you enjoy the walk this week. I hope that you will envision Jesus walking right there with you. Don't be a lazy bum like Peter and miss out on walking with Jesus. Wake up and do it! And always remember Jesus' words, "and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20)."

Seek the Kingdom,
Jon

PS. Perhaps the girls may not want to walk alone in the dark at night, so perhaps the husbands or friends could walk at the same time but separately. That way both parties could be comfortable as they walk. Just a thought. Don't let fear scare you though, Jesus will be with you!