The upper room is where it all starts. The New Testament begins here. Either you believe Jesus' simple, straightforward words this is my body, this is my blood of the covenant, or you believe the thousands of Gnostic voices spoken through the mouths of preachers and theologians saying, did God really say? If we are going to be faithful to Jesus' words, let us be faithful starting here in this most fundamental thing and from that faithfulness to the rest of His word. Denying Jesus' words, that earthly reality leads to a Gnostic spiritualization that runs rampant.
You believe Jesus' first miracle of turning water into wine; why not His last miracle of turning wine into His blood? You believe Jesus' miracle of taking five loaves of bread and feeding five thousand; why not the miracle of Jesus feeding millions at the communion tables the bread that's His flesh?
They are simple words, take and eat; this is my body; take and drink from it all of you; this is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. A real present tense forgiveness of sins that you taste with your mouth. A bite of bread and a sip of wine never tasted better because you are tasting the forgiveness of God.
These words you're either going to have to ignore these or explain them away, or you're going to have to believe them. My hope is you will believe them and discover the gift of this meal which is an objective assurance of the forgiveness of sins.
-Pr Jeremy Rhode
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