7 Times Jesus Claimed to Be Godنموونە

In the Last Supper, Jesus breaks bread and gives it to His disciples to eat, explaining to them that He would give His life for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus and His disciples were celebrating the Passover, remembering how the sacrifice of a lamb led to Israel passing through death, slavery, and the Sea. Jesus is presenting Himself as the lamb who will die to bring His followers through death, out of slavery to sin, and into eternal life. So why doesn’t He pick up a piece of lamb and tear it, and say ‘This is my body’? Wouldn’t that have been a better visual metaphor?

There is a reason Jesus used bread. There is another special meal that Jesus draws on to make the Lord’s Supper meaningful – the meal on Sinai. Moses and 70 elders, representing all of Israel, ascended the mountain, saw God, and did not die. Instead, they ate and drank. This meal was commemorated every Sabbath with the Bread of the Presence; the priests representing Israel would eat bread and offer incense to God as a celebration of their covenant. Eating with God means you are at peace with Him; He has made you His family. The bread was a demonstration of God’s love for his covenant people.

Jesus uses bread instead of lamb because He is not only claiming to be the sacrifice that thwarts the power of death, He is also claiming to be the means by which you can enjoy the presence of God. The Passover lamb is replaced by Jesus, but so is the bread that represented God’s presence with his people. Jesus’ body is the new experience of God’s presence with his people. Jesus is equating having a meal with Him in the upper room with seeing God and having a meal with Him on Sinai.

Is the Lord’s Supper a special experience of intimacy with God for you, or is it a confusing tradition that underwhelms you? Are you feasting on God as you worship?

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