For many years, Jesus' statement "This is my body" has sparked controversy. Roman Catholic transsubstantiationists interpret this to mean that the bread and wine during communion literally becomes the body and blood of Jesus. On the other extreme are those that see this statement as a symbolic reality, without any reality behind it. Instead of focusing on this controversy, I would like to refocus us on a profound statement that Jesus makes in relation to those words.

    Jesus further states that you must eat his body and drink his blood so you may have life. Implied in this statement of Jesus is the assertion that he gives life to human beings. It is bold statement that should make us stop and think of what Jesus claims about himself. He definitely is not presenting himself in the position of another prophet or teacher who shows people the way to eternal life. He is sayng that he is the life itself.  

     In Genesis and Revelation, there was the idea of the tree of life. Being banished from its presence means death and having accesss to this tree means eternal life. I wonder if this tree of life points to the one who is truly the source of life, a title which Jesus seems to claim for himself. Scriptures are clear that man owes his life to God- God breath on the dust he has shaped and man came to be a living being. Man is not intrinsically immortal but owes his life to God, who by his grace sustains his life. Man chooses what to do with the life that God gives him and God has the power to withdraw that life.

    In a couple of days is good Friday. Christians all over the world will remember the image of the body that was broken and the blood that was shed. I hope that we see something more profound in that image. 

     Christians usually relate that body and blood to the forgiveness of sins and rightly so. The death of the sacrifice, which a man presents to God, represents his death and restores him to God. Jesus stepped forward to represent man, he died to restore man to God. A profound spiritual principle gleaned from the sacrificial system is that the ultimate solution for sin is death. This might seem to make God sadistic and unforgiving. However, sin affects other parts of the creation he loves, like pollution that needs to be eliminated to allow creation to flourish. One man's sin affects others and himself in a way that could be likened to pollution destroying the environment. By the way, the ultmate pollution is the evil in man's hearts- selfishness and greed. Also, the source of sin is the sinful self alientaed from God and his reality, and that sinful self needs a new beginning. In the resurrection, Jesus also stands for the new self, which is the self that is fit to live in a world ruled by God. Jesus destroyed the sinful self by his death and by his resurrection, brought about the new self. For now, that new self is struggling to become fit for the kingdom of heaven, and God's spirit leads the self in that struggle until the sons of God are revealed. 

     Along with the forgiveness of sins, may we see in that body and blood our source of life, the life of God incarnate.