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Crisis in Galilee
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But God is drawing all hearts unto Him, and only those who resist
His drawing will refuse to come to Christ. Those who had learned
of God had been listening to His Son, and in Jesus of Nazareth they
would recognize Him who had declared the Father.
When Heaven Begins
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath
everlasting life.” And Jesus said, “I will raise him up at the last
day.” Christ became one flesh with us, that we might become one
spirit with Him. By virtue of this union we are to come forth from
the grave, because through faith His life has become ours. Those
who see Christ and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting
life. Through the Spirit, Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God,
received by faith, is the beginning of life eternal.
The manna which the fathers ate in the wilderness did not prevent
death nor insure immortality, but the bread of heaven would nourish
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the soul unto everlasting life. The Saviour said, “This is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and
not die.” Only through dying could Christ impart life to men, and
He points to His death as the means of salvation: “The bread that I
will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
In the symbol of the Passover lamb the Jews did not discern the
Lord’s body. The same truth was taught in the words of Christ, but
it was still undiscerned.
Now the rabbis exclaimed angrily, “How can this Man give us
His flesh to eat?” To some extent they comprehended the meaning
of Jesus, but by misconstruing His words, hoped to prejudice the
people against Him.
Christ reiterated the truth in yet stronger language: “Verily, ver-
ily, 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. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me,
and I in him.”
What food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot
benefit us unless it becomes a part of our being. So a theoretical