Biblical Cannibalism – John Chapter Six
By: Deji Yesufu
I am writing this commentary on John chapter six at a time when Abel Damina, a Charismatic/Pentecostal preacher in Nigeria, is in the middle of a theological storm. Damina had hit national limelight after he renounced the prosperity gospel, and became quite critical of some practices of his fellow Pentecostals. In the bid to be orthodox in his preaching, Damina then ventured into teaching biblical doctrines in a manner that is not historically accurate. The problem then is that Damina and his followers find that every Christian denomination is at their necks: the Pentecostal frown at his condemnation of the gospel of prosperity, while others frown at his eisegesis. In my estimation, Abel Damina is a typical example of the need for pastors to be trained in theology in a seminary and to be committed to historic confessions. The Christian message is 2,000 years old. After all these years, it is plain impossible for anyone to begin to teach something new today. If Damina is no longer Pentecosal/Word of Faith, the ideal thing will be for him to switch to a new theological camp. He can choose to become Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jehovah Witness, Mormorn, or a Reformed Christian. Damina venturing into the difficult world of theology, and forming his own theories, and then selling them to a gullible following – who are already tired of a failed charismatic church movement, will not augur well for him and his listeners. This is the reason why some call him a heretic. I do not think such extreme labels are necessary, but one cannot blame those who do it.
I introduce my commentary on John chapter six with Abel Damina because our study of this book at Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan has revealed more and more the depth of theology that John the writer packed into this book. To be a preacher of the gospel, you cannot avoid becoming theologically in-depth. John was unapologetic about the fact that Jesus Christ is God. In spite of a Jewish audience that will be incensed by such claims, John records Christ making those claims boldly. In chapter six, our Lord pursues to help his Jewish audience understand and accept his ministry and divinity. The chapter begins on a high note: Jesus multiplies loaves of bread for a famished crowd. Quite naturally, these people begin to look for Jesus and our Lord points out to them that the motive behind this was that they were looking for free food. The Jews, knowing what scripture said, pointed to Jesus that there was nothing wrong with their coming to him for food: Moses gave the people bread from heaven; if you claim to carry divine revelation like Moses did, you should also give us bread to eat (verse 31). Jesus then explained to them that it was not Moses that gave them bread to eat, but “my Father” in heaven. “… For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…” (verse 33). Jesus’s aim in multiplying five loaves and two fish was to bring the Jews to discuss the bread God has sent down from heaven. The Jews had entered into the Saviour’s heart of discussion. The only problem was that these people never in a million years imagine that Jesus will recommend cannibalism to them.
In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet saw God and the Lord instructed him in verse 9: “…Go and tell this people: keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive…” It was a similar word of judgment that Paul gave his Jewish audience at the close of the book of Acts. After he had presented the gospel to them, Paul told to them that the gospel message has a judgement tone in it: it will save and it will condemn at the same time. And it appears that God deliberately blinds the eyes of all to the core lessons of the gospel, so that those who will eventually hear and understand it, will be persons who have heard from the Holy Spirit himself. Jesus will calls this being taught by the Father (John 6:45). It is in the confidence that God was using his words to save some and at the same time damn others, that Jesus began to speak figuratively. Jesus calls himself bread; he says he is the new bread God has sent from heaven; he says that the Jews have no other choice but to eat his body and drink his flesh. In a strange way, Jesus Christ presents biblical cannibalism to his audience. He said it in a manner to deliberately offend his listeners because he knew that those who will hear by the spirit and those who the Father will teach his words, will not go away.
At the close of his discussion on cannibalism, a congregation of 5,000 men that our Lord had gathered through the eating of bread at the beginning of the chapter, had whittled down to just his twelve disciples. What was probably most disheartening was that there were three rings of listeners here: there were the Jews who followed Jesus for the hope of eating bread. There were also a group that John referred to as “his disciples” – these ones were already learning the gospel message. They were faithful members of his church – they may not have been part of the twelve but they were usually in his entourage. We do not have their number but they would quite naturally have been more than the twelve. In verse 61 and 61, Jesus realizes that this inner circle of disciples were offended by what he was saying. He asked them: does this offend you? In verses 66, scripture records that this group of people left the Saviour’s church. It was then Christ turned to the twelve and asked if they will go away too. And Peter said those indelible words: “…to whom shall we go? You have the words of life. We have come to believe and know that are the Christ….”
It is impossible to unpack the weight of lessons that one can glean from this chapter in a short article like this. Those who are interested can listen to the five part series I did on John chapter six alone at our local church via YouTube. Suffice to say, however, that it is time all of us who claim to be gospel ministers, servants of Christ, reassess the heart of our Saviour’s ministry in the light of how we do ministry today. Obviously, Christ is not the author of any church growth system practice today. Secondly, many church splits are orchestrated by the Saviours himself. Third: pursuing successful ministry is not a Christian pursuit. Many people will fail in ministry in this life and succeed in heaven. While many will succeed in this life and fail woefully in heaven. Fourth: Ministers who have committed themselves to preaching the truth and are not enjoying success in ministry, should take heart in the experience of the Saviour here. If you claim to be preaching the truth, and you have a seemingly “growing” church, you may want to access what you are preaching all over again. Finally, I suspect that after this incidence in John 6, Jesus never commanded a crowd again. He focused his attention on his disciples and at going to the cross.
Biblical cannibalism is not just the words of Jesus enjoining us to feast on his flesh and blood, it is also a reminder of the ordinance of communion. God has called us to partake in the body and blood of our Lord. Incidentally, the early church was accused of cannibalism too because they never hid that glorious expression which is that in gathering with all of God’s people, we partake of the body and blood of our Lord. However symbolic we do it, it is a reminder of the fact that we are one with him – spiritually and physically. The lessons of John chapter six is that Christ is not just God; he is not just the maker of the heaven and the earth. The lessons we glean from this chapter is that entering into union with Christ, is partaking of his body and blood is such a mystical manner that we may never understand until we are in heaven. We are in covenant with the God-man – it is a blood covenant. We are one with him. We are the people of God. And there is nowhere else we can go to: He alone has the words of life. Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. Amen.
The depth of the theological truth that Christ is passing to the Jews is something a natural man cannot comprehend. It is the reason he told them that the words that he speaks are spirit and they are life. It is these kinds of theological depths that are very much lacking in Nigerian charismatic circles. One must commend Abel Damina for trying to emerge from within a theological system that has no depth. But if Damina will teach the gospel as he ought to teach, he would have to relearn everything that he has ever known as far gospel preaching is concerned. When he ventures into teaching things he hitherto knew very little about, that is when he would begin to describe the trinity in modalistic language. That is just one example. The difference between the twelve and the disciples of Christ that left him was that the former were willing to learn. If Abel Damina does not come down from his high horse and relearn the gospel, he will end up teaching heretical doctrines and finish his life and ministry as a heretic.
Deji Yesufu is the Pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of the book HUMANITY.
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