This was very offensive to the Jews who were not allowed to eat pork let alone a human's flesh! To think of eating a man's flesh is bad enough, but to drink his blood is even worse, it is a very offensive thing. The thought is awful - to think of tasting the blood let alone drinking and swallowing it... we are naturally repelled! But Jesus used the illustration of drinking His blood to show us how difficult and awful it is for us to drink His Cup. The disciples said "This is a hard and difficult saying, an offensive and unbearable message. Who can stand to hear it?” John 6:60 Many were offended and deserted Him because of what He said about drinking His blood and eating His flesh; and many will still react in the same way. Jesus spoke several times about drinking the cup His Father had given Him, and He was referring to His suffering and death.

Drinking His blood is about accepting suffering and dying to self, taking up my cross daily. It is about accepting His will in place of my own will, accepting and drinking from the cup my Father gives me. We are called to share His sufferings and drink from His cup. Our flesh never likes suffering or giving up on ourselves.We don’t WANT to do it, we don’t WANT to suffer or die, it is a very hard thing for us to agree to. If we react or are offended it just proves that self and our flesh are still very much alive, because what is already dead cannot be offended or react. Jesus said: "If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." (Luke 9:23).

In the same way that Christ is our Passover Lamb and we eat His flesh as our Meat and Bread, so His Blood must also be brought to our lips which are like the doors of our dwellings and must be marked with His blood. Death, sacrifice and blood are practically synonymous in Hebrew writing. We are called to be living sacrifices, totally surrendered and submitted to our God. When our mouths and words are marked by the blood of the Lamb, when we are dead to the things which WE want to say and instead speak His words, it is a sign that we are taking up our cross daily - it is a testimony. "And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death." (Revelation 12:11).

Even Christ said that if His testimony was from Himself instead of from His Father, it was useless! "I am able to do nothing from Myself. Even as I hear, I judge and My judgement is right, because I do not seek or consult My own will, I have no desire to do what is pleasing to Myself, but only the will and pleasure of the Father Who sent Me. If I alone testify in My behalf, My testimony is not valid and cannot be worth anything." (John 5:30,31).

"If the adversary can draw us out of the hidden place 'with Christ in God' into the strife of tongues, he will do it. Prayer warriors, let us take heed that we abide in the place where we can 'lift up holy hands without wrath and doubting'. We must 'stumble not in word' if we are to be truly abiding within the veil. And why? The Apostle James shows clearly the reason: "Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter?" (James 3: 11 ). Can we speak words - bitter words - one moment, and be a channel for the sweet, pure stream of the "river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lamb" the next? Let us therefore take heed at this time, and ask for the light of God upon the words of our mouth, lest we lose unwittingly our power within the veil. Let us "take forth the precious from the vile" i.e., distinguish in the light of God what words are from Him, or are of our own mind, so that we may be as His mouth (Jeremiah 15: 19) in this day of crisis." - Jessie Penn-Lewis, The Centrality of the Cross.

Christ was a man of sorrows and grief (Isaiah 53). In the garden of Gethsemane He asked our Father three times to remove the cup that was before Him. The word "Gethsemane" means “oil press”. An oil press was used for extracting oil from olives. The fruit was placed between a Rock and a stone roller and crushed to a pulp until all the oil was extracted. Oil was a very important element in the temple for both light and anointing oil. Oil was also a necessity in the home for light, cooking, making bread and for medicinal purposes. Suffering is like an oil press and we too need to submit to the will of God and drink the cup of death to self. For in accepting and drinking that cup, we will find Life; Life is in the Blood! We need to surrender completely to our Father’s will as Jesus did so that His Life will come forth.

Jesus asked His friends simply to be there and to wait for Him in the garden while He suffered, but they fell asleep. “He began to show grief and distress of mind and was deeply depressed. Then He said to them, My soul is very sad and deeply grieved, so that I am almost dying of sorrow. Stay here and keep awake and keep watch with Me. And going a little farther, He threw Himself upon the ground on His face and prayed saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, not what I desire but as You will and desire. And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and He said to Peter, What! Are you so utterly unable to stay awake and keep watch with Me for one hour? All of you must keep awake, be cautious and active and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:37-41).

He is still looking for those who will stay awake and watch with Him to simply be with Him; communing and identifying with His heart. Blood comes from the heart. He is still looking for those who will agree to drink the cup of His blood and suffering with Him. It is a “hard and difficult saying”, the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak... Mark records Christ’s words in the garden as being “Father, everything is possible for You. Take away this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” Christ knew that anything was possible for God and yet it was still God’s will for Him to go through the suffering and agony; it was not what Jesus wanted, but what His Father wanted. His desire for His Father’s will to be done on earth was stronger than His own human desires.

To die to the things we want or desire is a hard thing. Even God-given desires and hopes must be kept in submission to Him; often we are tempted to lay our hands upon them and make things happen ourselves. This is not about being dead to sin or being cleansed by the blood (which are essential) but about being willing to drink from the cup of death and die to OURSELVES! It is the laying aside of even the good parts of our nature so that ALL will be in submission to Him and His will "It is harder to die to our virtues than to our vices; but the one is just as necessary as the other for perfect union. Our attachments are the stronger as they are more spiritual" - Pere La Combe. Often we think we have laid it all down and surrendered all only to discover that we yet hold onto something, even 'godly' things like serving, ministering, helping others and doing things for God but from which WE may secretly delight in by taking to ourselves glory and honour. He must be the sole Reason, Source and Instigator of ALL our doing and saying.

"The man who has God for his treasure has all things in One. Many ordinary treasures may be denied him, or if he is allowed to have them, the enjoyment of them will be so tempered that they will never be necessary to his happiness. Or if he must see them go, one after one, he will scarcely feel a sense of loss, for having the Source of all things he has in One all satisfaction, all pleasure, all delight. Whatever he may lose, he has actually lost nothing, for he now has it all in One, and he has it purely, legitimately and forever." - A W Tozer, The Pursuit of God

To drink of His cup is to share in His suffering and grief. Paul said “the cup of blessing upon which we ask blessing, does it not mean we participate in and share a fellowship (communion) in the blood of Christ?” (1 Cor 10:16) The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia and in this verse is usually translated as “communion”. It means a common union, a partnership, a joint participation in the blood of Christ. When you are united and in participation or koinonia with Christ in His suffering, it is something you participate in - not just something you know about in your head but something you feel and experience in your heart. The Biblical context of communion was that of eating a meal. Eating together in their culture was viewed as something intimate and almost sacred. Many countries do not even have bread and wine, rice and water may be their staple diet. Of course the fact they do not have access to bread or wine does not exclude them from partaking of Christ's flesh and blood! Communion with Christ is not about an external ritual performed ocassionally with symbolic emblems in a church, it is about an internal reality that is your very Life. We have to eat and drink every day.

We daily need to be in communion with Him, eating and drinking His flesh and blood. The Body cannot survive without it; but eating and drinking is something personal, something which nobody else can do for us... In the temple in the Old Testament the table of show bread is representative of this. On this table was the bread of His presence, as well as various bowls and eating utensils; it was about eating together, sharing and communing one with the other. Many are weak and sick and even asleep and so have no hunger or thirst for Christ as their food and drink. "So then whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is unworthy will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord... for anyone who eats and drinks without discriminating and recognizing with due appreciation that it is Christ's body, eats and drinks a sentence upon himself. That is the reason many of you are weak and sickly, and quite enough of you have fallen into the sleep of death." (1 Cor 11:27,29).

Centuries of religion have robbed the Cross of its offence and its power. The Cross of Calvary was not something sacred or ornate, it was a symbol of agony, torment, torture, humiliation, embarrassment, unbelievable pain and finally death. In the same way centuries of religion have also robbed our communion with Christ of its offence and power. Eating a piece of bread and a cup of red juice in a religious ceremony doesn't convey to us the offence of eating human flesh and drinking human blood from a Life given up for us. Death on a cross and eating human flesh and blood were extremely offensive to the Jews, Jesus was a Stumbling Block as Isaiah said He would be. Of course I'm not suggesting anyone try to crucify themselves or become cannibals! External things have no ability to subdue or deal death blows to self. We can only grasp the reality, truth and appropriation of these things by the Holy Spirit opening the eyes of our hearts to see and receive them internally instead of externally, enabling them to become reality instead of religion.

The first followers of Christ broke bread and shared food daily in one another's homes and they also expected to suffer. Paul went so far as to say that all who delight in Christ will meet with persecution (2 Tim 3:12). They knew the reality of suffering as a result of being Christ’s ones. “Even now I rejoice in the midst of my sufferings on your behalf. And in my own person I am making up whatever is still lacking and remains to be completed of Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the ekklesia.” (Col 1:24 ).

We are called to drink the cup of His blood but there is a very dear price to be paid - embracing the Cross and laying down our lives, loves, wants, hopes and desires. “For even to this were you called. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you His personal example, so that you should follow in His footsteps. Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange and alien to you and your position were befalling you. But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, so that when His glory is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph” (1 Peter 2:21 4:12,13).

In the western world today we don’t usually have to suffer physically for our beliefs. Our suffering is more likely to be internal; hidden and unseen in the heart and mind, but still very real nonetheless. Rejection, slander, accusation, betrayal and misunderstanding are just a few things we may suffer - and follow Christ's example by enduring it all in silence without defending ourselves. "It is good that one should hope in and wait quietly for the salvation, the safety and ease of the Lord. It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke of divine disciplinary dealings in his youth. Let him sit alone uncomplaining and keeping silent, because God has laid the yoke upon Him for his benefit. Let him put his mouth in the dust in abject recognition of his unworthiness - there may yet be hope. Let him give his cheek to the One Who smites him even through His human agents; let him be filled full with men’s reproach in meekness. For the Lord will not cast off forever!" (Lamentations 3:26-31).

There is also a very real grief associated with God revealing His heart to us and seeing what He sees. He grieves over many things which ‘ought not to be so’ and to share a small portion of that suffering and grief with Him is a privilege indeed: “For you have been granted the privilege for Christ’s sake not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer in His behalf.” (Philippians 1:29).

In explaining to His disciples what He must go through in dying on the Cross, Jesus gave us a powerful picture: "I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just one grain; it never becomes more but lives by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it, but anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." (John 12:24). The picture of the grain of wheat is rich in meaning. Initially the grain is together with many other grains in the ear of wheat on the plant. Its life source is from the plant which it shares with many others. Then comes the day of separation and harvest when it is either taken to the threshing floor to have the chaff removed so it can be ground into flour, or it is set aside and reserved for the planting season.

When the time is right the grain is placed into the earth. It is on its own and covered with dirt. While the life is inherent in the grain of wheat, it cannot and will not come forth until the conditions which surround it are right. It must be planted on its own and hidden. It now no longer sees the sun or feels the rain or has the companionship it had known in the ear of wheat with other grains, but is in a dark, hidden place, all alone. In that dark place of isolation transformation takes place.

In the earth, the hard outer shell of the wheat is softened by the moisture in the soil and the grain as we have known it, disintegrates and disappears as it is transformed into new life (2 Cor 5:17). The new life makes its way upward towards the sun, and downward towards more moisture. Previously it had survived by relying on the plant which had roots; now it has roots of its own which are firmly and deeply planted (Col 2:7). It had previously been only one grain of wheat, but now because of its death it bears and brings forth much life by bringing forth MANY grains of wheat which will need to go through this process for themselves so that the Sower receives a great harvest.

One grain of wheat on its own will produce only a tiny, miniscule amount of flour for food.

One grain of wheat which has been planted and has yielded its life to be changed and transformed will be fruitful and bear many grains of wheat which will produce a lot of flour and bread for generations after it!

There can be no resurrection life without death. Only in dying to ourselves and our will, desires and hopes, can Christ transform us through resurrection Life. “We are hedged in (pressed) on every side, but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; we are pursued (persecuted), but not deserted; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out or destroyed; always carrying about in the body the liability and exposure to the same putting to death that the Lord Jesus suffered, so that the life of Jesus also may be shown forth by and in our bodies. For we who live are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake that the life of Jesus also may be evidenced through our flesh which is liable to death. Thus death is actively at work in us, but it is in order that life may be actively at work in you.” (2 Cor 4:8-12).

In the Lord's prayer Jesus said "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". We can only embrace His will when we have first given up our own will. His kingdom cannot come in our lives while we are still on the throne deciding what we will do and say. "He who speaks on his own authority (as being lord and king of his own life) seeks to win honor for himself. But He Who seeks the glory and the honor of Him Who sent Him, He is true; and there is no unrighteousness or deception in Him." (John 7:18). When we are truly seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness then our decisions and actions will be based on what HE desires, we will want Him to get all the glory and honour and not ever want any for ourselves for that would in effect be robbing Him of what is rightfully His and His alone.

For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed to His death, that if possible I may attain to the resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead even while in the body. Philippians 3:10,11

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