The Word Became Flesh and the Flesh Became a Sign

The Word Became Flesh and the Flesh Became a Sign
John 1:14; 6:48-69

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). For the last couple of weeks we have been focusing on the ethereal otherworldly, non tangible nature of Jesus Christ in his pre-incarnation.

As Christmas time draws near, it is appropriate for us to look at the tangible meaning of Jesus’ incarnation- the Word in flesh. You remember how the angel Gabriel explained to Mary how it would happen:
…The Holy [Spirit] shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. (Luke 1:30-35).

And so the virgin was miraculously with child, but not just any child, the only Begotten of God the Father.

This morning, I want us to unpack John 1:14 (“the Word became flesh…”) with an eye to Christmas but also to address the matter of Communion, or the Lord’s Table- as it relates the philosophy and practice of Gateway Baptist Church. In particular, I want to look at what the flesh… the body of Jesus has to do with signifying the Lord’s death until he comes.

So if you have your Bibles, please open to John ch. 6.

Jesus, now a grown man of about thirty to thirty three years old, had just performed the miracle of multiplying bread to feed the five thousand followed by the miracle of walking on water, which John conjoins here to underling the Lord’s teaching on the sacrament of communion: (Read 6: 48-51).

Jesus’ multiplication of the bread that was used to feed the five thousand appealed to the collective memory of the Jews who would have immediately drawn the parallel between this miracle and the manna which sustained Israel during their desert wanderings.

The people tried to incite Jesus by saying, “prove yourself to be equal to Moses, give us a sign,”

Jesus responded by telling them that Moses never gave bread to Israel- God did (v. 32). And He offers them a superior manna then that old Miracle bread they ate in the desert: “Your fathers ate that Old Manna and now they’re dead, but if you eat this new bread you will never die” (V. 49).

“For the Law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Yes the Law was truth, but without the gospel it contained no grace and so it produced only condemnation and death. Only the truly hypocritical could have ever professed to be able to fulfill the Law. Only Jesus could do that!

The things contained in the Law- the sacrifices, the ceremonies, the religious calendar, the entire Levitical priesthood- they were shadows; they were incomplete; their glory faded and the people died. Even Moses never entered the Promised Land. That old manna symbolizes the old covenant’s failure to secure genuine salvation.

But Jesus says that whoever partakes of this new Manna, which would come to symbolize of the new and lasting covenant, they will have eternal life. “I am the living bread…. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever… and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world” referring to his crucifixion (V. 51).

What did he mean? Are we supposed to become cannibals… or in this case, eaters of God? Yes! But not in the way that the world thinks because they only think about their stomachs.

Look at how offensive this was to some of his disciples (Read 6:59-66).

Actually, Jesus was looking forward to Easter, the Passover- the feast that was instituted by God when Israel was in captivity in Egypt. He commanded each Jewish home to slaughter a lamb and to stay in their homes and eat every ounce of flesh before the morning. He also commanded them to put the blood of the lamb on their door posts because that night the Angel of death was going to Passover Egypt and slay the first born son of every person in Egypt. The lamb was a substitute for the first born sons of Israel.

But the Lamb was only provisional until the perfect lamb could come: Jesus, the first born Son of God. He is our Passover lamb- that’s why he tells us to eat his flesh. His disciples didn’t get it.

Turn to Mark 14 (read 22-26).

Jesus was initiating a New Covenant, one that could only be ratified by the slaughter of a lamb, but not any Lamb. Jesus would be the Passover Lamb. The Bread and the cup remind us of that- they’re a sign. They signify failure of the Law; they signify the Word made flesh; they signify grace and the truth of God; they signify the crushed body of Christ- his substitutionary atonement; that he died in our place just as the Passover lamb in Egypt died in the place of the first born sons of Israel.

But the sign is not the thing. The communion elements are no more the literal body of Jesus then is the water used in baptism the element of our spiritual regeneration, which can come only through the infilling of the Holy Spirit at conversion, when we are born again. The Bread and the wine, just like the water, are only a sign. But the sign is not the thing.

So what is greater? Is the water greater then the Holy Spirit who does the real cleansing that is signified by baptism?

Is the little square piece of bread that I used a dull knife to cut up before the service greater then or even equal to the real body of Jesus? Does the Juice, with all its sugar and preservatives added even come close to the majesty and the glory and the splendor of Jesus Christ?

That would be gross idolatry! The most pernicious hypocrisy- the very thing that God hates the most: attributing His glory to a created thing; reducing Him to something created and corruptible.

Let’s back up a few chapters to Mark 10 (Read vv. 13-16):

What were the disciples presuming to do? Prevent children from coming to Jesus? And it’s not the only time people tried to keep people away from Jesus. Skip down to verse 46 (read vv. 46-52). That blind man could see what the seeing people could not. Yet they presumed to silence him because he was a blind beggar- even his voice was unworthy to fill the ears of the master. But they were the blind ones because God looks at the heart.

“28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Remember Jesus is greater then the thing that signifies him. If his yoke is easy, should the yoke of the lesser symbol be any heavier?

If all who labour and are heavy laden may come unto him should his lesser sign be more exclusive? If the eternal, holy, all-powerful God says “come unto me” then should the finite, created, muted sign have a higher standard?

If you want to come to Jesus, here is your example- Luke chapter 7 (Read vv. 36-50).

Jesus had many hard things to say and it offended countless people. But his most offensive sayings were more often then not, sayings about his grace.

“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him…. All that the Father gives [to Jesus] will come to [him], and the one who comes to [him he] will by no means cast out…. This is the will of the Father who sent [Jesus], that of all He has given [Jesus he] should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.” (John 6:27, 37, 39).

Let’s not create surplus and unnecessary stumbling blocks to that grace.