LS-10-This is My Body Which is for You

This is My Body Which is for You 1 Corinthians 11:24.

What does this mean? What relation has the body of Jesus to our spiritual needs? We are accustomed to the phraseology which describes the washing away of sins in the blood of Jesus Christ. That is a figure which makes a ready appeal--sometimes, I fear, a too ready appeal, when it descends to a crude literalism in thought and expression. But what is the relation of the body of Christ, pierced by the nails and wounded by the spear, to our salvation?

We should remember that both forms of statement have to do with the fundamental fact which lies behind them. To those accustomed to the law and its numerous sacrifices, the idea of the remission of sins by the shedding of blood was very familiar. Even then, if the worshipper approached the altar in spirit and In truth, he realised that this was but a figurative way of saying that life was given for life: "It is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life" (Leviticus 17:11). It was natural that men accustomed to that concept should express themselves frequently in terms made familiar by their earlier forms of worship. We are redeemed, they tell us again and again, by the precious blood of Christ. The same fact of redemption was in our Lord’s mind when He said "This is My body which is for you." It is the giving of Himself, whether expressed in the words "My body broken," or "My blood shed," that is the ground of our acceptance with God.

You will recall that our Lord Jesus coupled the two ideas of His body and His blood on another occasion. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have not life in yourselves. He that 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 abideth in Me and I in him" (John 6:53-56). The words puzzled some of those who heard it. Perhaps they puzzle us. How can this Man give us His flesh to eat? Our Lord’s meaning is that we must receive in an inward and spiritual act of the heart, the blessings that come to us in our Redeemer’s sacrifice, and the spiritual influences that flow to us from His living presence. Believing, He said, was to "eat"; believing was to "drink."

Sometimes, we fear, there is a tendency to ascribe a magical idea to the power of blood, as such, in the work of redemption. We err, if we think thus. He laid down His life for us--that is the fact we should accept in faith. "This is My blood of the new covenant"--this is one way of expressing it. "This is My body, which is for you"--that is another way of teaching the same truth, that our acceptance with God is made possible by the atoning work of Christ. In a physical sense we feel benefit when we eat and drink--we are strengthened, nourished and refreshed. In like manner, if we come in faith today, conscious of the meaning of these symbols which we handle, we shall receive peace and joy and strength of soul.