Q4. Discourse and the Words of Institution

[Pastor Ralph]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

[pickledilly]

Our faith is nourished by the intake of the Living Word of God, which is the essence of Christ, the Bread of Life. Our faith is nourished in remembering all that God has done for us out of His mercy through the sacrificed body and blood of Christ, as we do in observing the Lord's Supper. Our faith is challenged to grow in remembering the call of His Word to join Christ in death to self and sacrifice of service.

The main point of the Bread of Life discourse in John 6 is Christ's Word that whoever believes and eats of this Bread (which I am thinking is the Word) will have eternal, spiritual life. The Lord' Supper was instituted for us as a memorial reminder of this truth and what it cost for God to provide it. As we eat of the loaf of bread, we are called to remember the physical body of Christ given for us and to feed our faith on the assured hope of never-ending life in and through and with Him.

[Helenmm]

Jesus' words are the bread of life. They are the nourishment for our spiritual growth. We need to feed on them daily, just like we feed our bodies daily.

Partaking of the Lord's supper reminds us of the great vow we exhibited in baptism, to die to ourselves and live for Christ, exactly as He has done for us. It reminds us that our constancy is for Jesus. What food and drink are to our bodies, Jesus is to our spirit, because His words are spirit.

There is huge power in words, because with words God spoke the world into being, and we create our own world with our words, because we are made in God's image. Jesus is the living, fleshclad Word of God, who compared Himself with bread so that we would understand and partake of the word daily, and together as a body in communion of his "flesh and blood," because He, Himself, the Word of God, is to our spirit what bread and wine are to our bodies. Flesh and blood were designed to serve spirit, not the other way around. Communion was instituted so that we could never forget this but would constantly remind each other of Jesus, the very Word of God to humankind.

[jabarke]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

Too often I find myself looking for Jesus or "eating the Bread of Life" because I want only what I can get out of it for myself much like the crowd that followed Him around until they found out He was talking about another kind of nourishment. I only want the nourishment of my physical needs & desires but God wants to go so much deeper in nourishing me. I don't fully understand what that means but I believe that if I continue to follow after Him & seek Him He will reveal Himself to me & give me that nourishment that satisfies my soul & spirit. I've heard it said that what we sometimes think are hunger pangs are really thirst pangs. I think we have a deep longing in each of our hearts that we think are physical longings for material things or things we think will make us happy but are really longings for a close relationship with Jesus & intimate contact with His Spirit & ours. He is truly the "Bread of Life" in that His Spirit brings our spirit alive & fulfilled & healthy.

[Blessed Me]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith?

By eating of the Bread of Life we are showing our "faith" is in Him who is the true bread from heaven. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. 2 Tim. 1:12 --- I can eat of this bread, for I received it through "faith" in the Bread of Life.

How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith?

Our physical body needs to have food, it must be nourished or it will die. Our spiritual soul must be nourished, for "faith" to continue to grow with-in us. I believe Christ's last commandment, "do this in remembrance of Me" Christ is saying - our souls MUST receive that nourishment, that is why He said " do it often." I see great importance and necessity of the Eucharist. I believe there is great "power" received at the Lord's Supper. I do not believe that the elements are literally the Lord's body and blood, but I believe they are more than just "symbols." When we partake of the Supper, how have we prepared ourselves? Just another tradition, or is it to receive nourishment for our whole being, so we can go forth and be a testimony of His saving grace?

What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

I love the verse found in Isaiah 55:2 "Let your soul delight itself in fatness!" This is one time I want to be fat. ------ When we eat together, how can we not just rejoice, and celebrate the perfect work He did? So we may have eternal life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Remembering - remember who saved us, remember who brings nourishment to us, remember who loves us so.

Jesus came to do the will of the Father, Jesus reminds me of the great love the Father has for us, for He let His Son come to mankind, giving us true manna from heaven, who is "Jesus our savior." Remembering, it brings a heart full of thankfullness, a heart so full of love. His table isn't just a table of symbols, it is far more, for it is there I am receiving the true manna from heaven.

[heavenlymann]

I think eating the Bread of Life metaphor has to do with us abiding in Him(JN. 15)as we abide in Him He nourishes our spirit and we have fellowship with Him. He is the Bread of Life if we don't remember Him how do we have fellowship? Our spirit must be fed by Him. Our public remberance of Him(recognition of Him) is a public acknowledgement of our commitment to Him. Our spirit is fed by Him by means of reading, and ingesting,scripture;prayer(spiritual fellowship); and meditating on all sorts of things concerning the Almighty God through Christ Jesus(things such as this bible study cause us to meditate on). Taken altogether we abide in Him, we are "eating"(spiritually feeding on and from) the Bread of Life.

[charity]

My

[charisbarak]

Eating the Bread of Life nourishes our faith when we constantly remember that He died for us and how very blessed we are because He loves us so much. We are also reminded of the cost of our faith.

Partaking of the Lord's Supper nourishes and grows our faith as we bring to mind what He did for us.

The two passages remind us to often remember, with thanksgiving, the sacrifice made for us by Jesus. He gave His body for us. We need to give our all for Him.

[Jezemeg]

Eating the Bread of Life, as per Jesus' metaphor, feeds the Spirit of man, just as consuming normal food feeds our bodies. To keep our spirit life healthy we must keep the Word alive in us, by regular meditation on the Bible, by regular fellowship with other believers and by participating in the Lord's Supper as a memorial to what Christ did for us when He died on the Cross.

[JustJeff]

All of the parts to Q.4 are synymous in that they all point to the same response. The Lord has used extreme declarations to cause us to make a committment. The committment is one of choice, the gift of a free will that He has given to each of us. We can come freely to Him and abide in Him and He and the Father through the Word and the Holy Spirit, in us. We can choose to be followers of Him, meaning to stay in His word and walk as He walked. We can choose to be Christians, Christ like. And, we can remember this committment each time we take His Supper or, we can walk away. The choice is ours.

[steve.c]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

The Lord's Supper directs us to consider the position of Jesus in our lives. We take the bread, His body; we drink the wine, His blood. The bread is the sustenance His teaching gives us, the nourishment to our faith and spitritual lives. The Lord's Supper brings us very close to Jesus and His presence, which is why it is such a vital part of Christian life. Not only His teaching and our discipleship which directs our lives but also His sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind and to conquer death by His ressurrection. God's Spirit which was powerful enough to overcome death and the devil is within us too. It gives us power and reassurance. Jesus's discourse on the Bread of Life and the Words of Institution are both about what is central to our faith, even though the discourse on the Bread of Life does not necessarily anticipate the death of Christ on the cross. The way to salvation is through Jesus and only through Him; there is no other way. His teaching is that way. By following it, by being His disciple, we are promised salvation and an eternity with Him. The achievement of that promise was through the body and blood of our Saviour who died for us. That is what we recall at the Lord's Supper: the sacrifice. But the remembrance also strengthens our faith and nurtures our love of Jesus so that our discipleship is more resolute and committed. The Lord's Supper is such a powerful event, notwithstanding how many times one has received it. It is so profound and so essential. It is clear to me that this is a God-given institution. This is not the invention of a man. That is why I am so certain of the truth of the Scriptures and Jesus is who He says He is. That is why I am His disciple. Thank you, Lord Jesus.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

The "Eating the Bread of Life" nourishes our faith by enriching our spirits. By studying the Word we are feeding our spirit. We live by the examples that Jesus has left us with in the Word. This is pleasing to God for us to walk with Christ. By taking the Lord's Supper we acknowledge that Jesus has died on the cross and has suffered a termendous price to save us from sin. We are to remember his last supper and to do that in rememeberance of him, where he fellowship with his disciples and gave them there final instructions. He reminded them that none of this was done in vain and that they should continue the work he has taught them to do. His love for his disciples would demonstrate the love they have for each other. And in remembering that love we should love one another as he has loved them.

[haar]

By "eating the Bread of Life" Jesus meant that we should have a continous faith in Him. Just like eating physical bread nourishes our mortal bodies, having continous faith nourishes our souls.

Partaking of the Lord's Supper nourishes our faith as we:

- Remember Jesus' death for our sins.

- Turn our minds to the Spirit of God that raised Jesus from death. This same Spirit gives life and will eventually raise our dead bodies on the Last Day.

In short, act of remembering, reflecting, believing, trusting continously renews anf strengthen our faith.

I must however add here that most of us (including me) partake of the Lord's Supper without really pausing to remember, reflect, believe and trust, the Lord Jesus. I will henceforth do so with the help of the Holy Spirit so that my faith will be strengthened and my soul nourished.

What is common in the two passages is the message that there is need to continue to 'eat the Bread o f Life' that is to continue to remember, believe and trust in the Lord for eternal life.

[Eudora]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith?

When we feed upon His Word, we stay focused in our walk because it is by His Spirit that we believe. Everyone is given a measure of faith and it is by faith that we believe in His Word. This faith, actually begins with the measure that God first gave to every man.

Romans 12:3

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith?

The Spirit of Truth which gives life, spiritual life, is our teacher. It is the Spirit that we listen to when our hearts are true because we have submitted our lives to Jesus and the Spirit, the Comforter as Jesus called Him, is our guide who reveals truth to us and enables us to respond to truth.

Before we partake of the Lords Supper, the bread and the wine, we ask God to search our hearts. The spirit testifies of our Father and to our Father and before we can partake with a cleansed heart, the Spirit causes us to come to repentance for anything that is corruptible in our lives. It is not our flesh that keeps us clean or can even cleanse us or save us. It is the spirit of God that causes us to see and to know that we have a need to live a clean life, holy unto God. This is done to promote growth and to sustain us, which is the nourishment to our faith.

1 John 5:6

This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth

Romans 8:15-17 (KJV)

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

That we cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger, the One who brings Life from Heaven that will give life eternal, one day to raise us from death unto life everlasting. Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, we are representing and signifying and proclaiming the fact of the Lord's death until He comes. This is our hope, believed by faith, given to us by a measure from God, who gives life unto us by The Spirit of Truth, who has revealed Himself to us. We remember this in unity, as the body of Christ Jesus, by His Spirit, which we have received as a comfort in our lives here on earth, both in the natural and in spirit.

Father, so often my devotional life seems dry. Sometimes I partake of the Lord's Supper without really thinking too much about what I am doing. Forgive me. Teach me to truly feed on Jesus in my heart by faith, with thanksgiving. Help me to become less dependent upon my own ways, but wholly dependent upon Him, wholly trusting, wholly walking by faith. In Jesus' name, I pray. O Father God, I so agree in this prayer with Pastor Ralph. Amen.

[masika]

Eating Bread of Live to me means to Believe Jesus' words and trust in Him as the source of our Life.

[carroll]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

Eating the

[PCHRIS]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

Just as physical bread nourishes our physical bodies, the Bread of Life nourishes our spiritual bodies.

This builds up our faith in the One who gave His life for you and me and partaking in the Lord's Table together with Christ is uplifting and honorable that He has done exactly that for me. That's love, totally unconditional.

[Lion of Grace]

I'm reading all of John 6 and it is impressed upon me that when Jesus fed the five thousand, He fed them with real bread just as in the old testament the Israelites were fed with manna. This was only temporal not a feeding that would last forever. The crowd saw signs and miracles and were satisfied with food for that moment, but many lost the entire spiritual significance that Jesus was trying to teach them. They wanted to hail Him as a Prophet and crown Him as a King, but Jesus would have none of it. He withdrew and went up to a mountain by himself. That was never His intention. It was about the Spiritual Kingdom He was going to usher in. The new covenant of eternal life. The feeding that would sustain forever. The people sought food and power, not faith so they would continue to be hungry and never satisfied. When we take in the real bread of life, Jesus, we actually are living our faith and strengthening our faith through partaking of the Last Supper.

Jesus said," I tell you the truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give you. On Him, God the Father has placed His seal of approval."

The disciples asked Him then. " What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, " The work of God is this: TO BELIEVE in the one he has sent."

The disciples then continue to ask about what miraculous sign they will receive like their ancestors did when they received the manna in the desert. Jesus replies in a spiritual context. " I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from Heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the TRUE bread from Heaven. For the bread from God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives LIFE to the world."

Now the disciples see that there is more....much more than they understand and they say " Sir! From now on, give us this bread!"

Jesus then reveals himself and says, " I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who BELIEVES in me will never go thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me and WHOEVER comes to me I will not drive away. For I have come down from Heaven not to do my will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose none of all He has given me, but raise them up on the last day. For my Fathers will is that everyone who looks to the son and BELIEVES in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day." That is our faith and what what we remember during communion and how that came to be fullfilled in the greatest sacrifice and demonstration of sacrificial love of all time!

[Don W]

When we

[godsanointed523]

How does eatng the bread of life nourish our faith?Hoe does partaking of the Lord's Supper nourish and build our faith?What does the main point of the bread of life discourse have in common with "Do this in remebrance of me",in Jesus words of Institution?

THe bread of life is a reminder that Jesus had died for our sins and he wanted the disciples to be united with Him in faith.THe Word of God is filled with passages that can give us the courage to move foward and to live like Christ.When we do eat of the Lord's Supper it is because we want to share God's love and feel Him within us as His children.When we do have of the Supper it is because we are remebering what Jesus had done with His disciples before he was going to die

[linda bass]

How does "eating the Bread of Life" nourish our faith?

We nourish our faith by spending time in reading the bible and in prayer.

How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith?

When we partake of the bread and wine, we remember Christ's sacriface on the cross.

Reflecting,believing,trusting, our faith is energized.

The main point the Bread of Life discourse has in common with "Do this in remembrance of me" is, to believe Jesus' words and trust Him as the source of our life.

It is to be utterly dependant upon Jesus and the truths He teaches for sustenance and life itself.

[kas]

To eat is to read His Word and faith comes by hearing so our faith increases as we read and meditate on His words. We're visual creatures that's why Jesus painted so many pictures to illustrate His parables. By partaking in a symbolic act we are being caused to remember His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness of what He did for us. To believe in Christ is to always remember Him.

[care2hope2]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

Jesus's metaphore " eating the bread of Life " is a metaphore meaning ( acquiring eternal life )

Our faith is nourished in the fact of knowing that partaking the bread of life is an action we can

do along with other christians to practice together and shows our belief in his promise of Eternal

Life for those who continue in that practice. Partaking in the Lords supper builds and nourishes our

faith because together we and the others who partake with us are demonstrating to each other that

this practice and repetition of it is our way of uniting together to do what he said obey him and thus

building up each others faith in the result eternal life will come to us. The main point of the bread of

Life discorse is the fact that we will have eternal life if we break bread together in rememberance of

him. and the words Do this in rememberance of me spoken reinforce the main point of eternal life

that he says the bread of life stands for. So that breaking bread and doing the breaking of bread

in remembering Jesus's death and resurrection are common elements of both and they are a sign

for us that eternal life is not only offered to us for continuing in this practice that thgether we can

build each other's faith us in doing it together.

[unclebob]

Q4. How does "eating the Bread of Life" (to use Jesus' metaphor in John 6) nourish our faith? How does partaking of the Lord's Supper build and nourish our faith? What does the main point of the Bread of Life discourse (John 6:25-69) have in common with "Do this in remembrance of me," in Jesus' Words of Institution (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)?

Eating the Bread of Life" nourishes our faith because as we believe and follow in the teachings of Jesus Christ, our faith flourishes. As in a tree, that starts out as a seed and as it ages and learns grows in to a great tree. This is in common with the Words of Institution because of meaning the same thing as we feed on God in our hearts our faith grows, flourishes, and spreads.

[Debra]

Every living creature needs food to eat to nourish and sustain it, likewise every christian needs the body and blood of Christ to be nourished and sustained; in order that we may be filled with His holy presence and remember His death and resurrection and ''go out to the whole world and proclaim the good news''. Further more Jesus commanded that ''Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day'' [John 6:53-54]

Both John 6:25-69 and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 clearly state this!