The Forgotten Ministry of Repentance

When many people think of the gospel, they relate it to Jesus' death on the cross and his sacrifice for our sin. But it's interesting that the gospel was preached by Jesus and his disciples even while he was alive. What were they preaching exactly if the Lamb of God had not died yet?

So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. (Mark 6:12)

Jesus and his disciples were preaching the gospel of repentance not much unlike that of John the Baptist, telling the Jews to turn from their sin because the kingdom of God was near or even in their midst. The Messiah's disciples baptized people unto repentance in much the same way John's disciples did (John 4:1-2). Similarly the Messiah himself warned "Unless you repent you will all likewise perish." in Luke 13:3

The Greek word translated into repentance is metanoia which means a change of mind, or a conviction to live another way. Some churches stress that we only need to confess our sins and then we will be forgiven. However the bible is clear that confession without a commitment to repent by forsaking sin does not result in forgiveness. Hebrews 10:26-29 unequivocally states that Jesus' sacrifice will no longer cover our iniquity if we continue in sin after having received the gospel. If we don't repent we will still face the wrath of God, whether or not we call ourselves believers. Many Christians focus on the Lord's sacrifice and finished work on the cross without realizing that their own obedience unto repentance is required. Churches who ignore repentance contradict themselves by claiming to be ministers of the higher truths of the New Covenant when they've skipped over the basics of John's ministry of repentance. In straining a gnat, they swallow whole Camels.

In 1 Samuel 15:22, God states a theme that is repeated throughout the bible. "I desire obedience, not sacrifice." Many Christians are eager to focus on sacrifice because it's easy and does not involve our hearts, but forget the most important part which is obedience.

There is a teaching popular among Christians from dispensational background that we are all just sinners and we are saved by his grace. Christ died for sinners, however no where in the New Testament does it say we are supposed to stay sinners. Apostle Paul never addresses his letters to sinners but to saints! Jesus didn't die just to forgive our sins but to take sin away from us. Romans 6 states that we've been united with Jesus in his death, so we too can die to sin just as he died. Only after we die to sin, will we be saved by the resurrection life of Jesus who will come and make his home in our heart.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10)

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23)

“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. (Acts 26:19-20)

"Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him." (John 3:36)

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

Note that we are not advocating a sinless perfection doctrine which is a heresy per 1 John 1:8. Like any runner, those of us running the Christian race will stumble in various ways (James 3:2), but we will get back up and keep running until we finish the race. So we're just saying don't run backwards towards the door that leads to hell which you do when your flesh control the way you live (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Instead Jesus teaches us to take the cross which we can do by crucifying the desires of our flesh on the cross. If you don't then according to Galatians 5:24 and Matthew 10:38 you don't belong to Jesus!

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24) 

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. (Luke 17:33) 

And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:38)

If you grew up with free grace theology, a teaching that says we're forgiven regardless of practicing sin, please read http://eternityinourheart.com/salvation/ for what we believe is a more biblical view of salvation and grace.

Our Flesh is a Monster

The flesh always opposes the spirit and vice versa. The more we feed our flesh, the more it will grow like a monster and hunger for carnal things. When you stop feeding it, it will bother you because it's hungry. Resist long enough and eventually the monster will starve to death. Many who struggle addiction and sin may just need to hold out longer and not cave in to temptation (James 4:7) and feed their spirit instead.

Our spirit works the same way, the more we feed it, the more it will grow and we will hunger for spiritual things. Furthermore when we sow according to the spirit we will reap spiritual blessings, most important of which is eternal life (Galatians 6:8). Jesus said my food is to do the will of my Father for good reason (John 4:34).

This is important because many believers who are still living according to their flesh are putting their eternities at stake. Romans 8:1 (KJV) says:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We have to become a people that live according to the Spirit in order to escape condemnation. John 3:36 as well as many other scripture echoes this:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

If Jesus says few are saved - How do you make sure you're saved?

The disciples once asked Jesus: 

"Lord, are only a few are saved?"

Perhaps they were hoping Jesus would respond:

 "Relax, it's not that few" 

instead he answered:

"Make every effort to enter in through the narrow gate for many I tell you will strive to enter but not be able to." 

Is it really that hard to be saved? The gospels are filled with hard words from Jesus such as these. Perhaps the saddest chapter in all of the bible is Matthew 7 when Jesus talks about heaven.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Here, Jesus is refusing entrance into heaven those who performed the very works that he commanded his disciples to do (Mark 16:17) -- how can this be?

Two billion people on earth today identify themselves as christian. Of those two billion, not even half attend church regularly. The people Jesus are describing here are not even these nominal or lukewarm Christians. They're the people you think would be saved, those that are actively involved in ministry and they would probably self-identify as Spirit filled christians. Instead of sitting at home on their computers (such as myself as I'm writing this blog post haha), they're out there on the streets doing many mighty works using Jesus' name. These are the ones who are striving to enter through the narrow door, but they fail to enter!

If these people aren't saved what makes us so sure we're saved?

No one did more for Christianity outside of Jesus than the Apostle Paul, yet he wasn't sure he was okay until the moment before his death in second Timothy. Outside of that Paul mentioned that he was working out his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12).

How can this be? How can so few be saved? How can we stay on the narrow path that leads to life? This is a question I've been asking the Lord over and over again recently and I think He finally gave me the answer by pointing me to Proverbs 4:23:

Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.

Many in church have used this verse to warn youth against dating relationships. The inevitable breakup from dating always results in a broken heart. This verse does apply well here, but the Lord made me realize it's much, much broader than that!

God is the source of all life and it's our heart that connects us to him. When you take away God who is source of everything good  (all good things come from God, Psalms 127, James 1:17), you are left with hell which is the result of being separated from God.

Who does our heart belong to? The bible says we have been bought with a price, we are not our own (1 Cor 6:19-20). So our heart belongs to God. Yet God doesn't force himself on us, but he gives us a choice. 

If we choose to give our heart to things other than God we will ultimately serve whatever we give our heart to. Why is this so serious?

Jesus taught that a servant cannot serve two masters (Matt 6:24), so we only have one master we serve in this life-- and that's determined by who has our heart!

In describing the relationship between servant and master Jesus said 'A servant is not greater than his master, as they persecuted me they will also persecute you' (John 15:20) . So we are never greater than the master whom we serve. 

Many people today don't believe in God, but they ultimately serve a god whether they like it or not. These can be gods of money, entertainment, lust, fame, knowledge etc. What is the end of people who serve the things of the world?

Jesus said "heaven and earth will pass away but my words never will" (Luke 21:33). So if the fate of everything in this world is destruction and if we choose to be mastered by the things of this world, how can we expect to deserve a better fate than destruction? Because a servant is not greater than his master, the fallen angels who served Satan deserve no less of a punishment than Satan himself who is thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 20.

In the same way, would you like to share in the same fate as Jesus by making him your master? Jesus died, but he overcame death! Not only that but he ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven and he will rule and reign for eternity. How's that for a destiny compared to eternal destruction? Of course because a servant is not greater than his master, we can't expect to sit at the right hand of the Father, but the bible does say we will rule and reign with him for eternity.

So how do we make sure Jesus is our master? It's by guarding our heart and making sure it belongs to Jesus so that he can live in our heart and restore it. Looked at in another way, Jesus said a corrupt tree produces bad fruit but a good tree always produces good fruit (Luke 6:43). In John 15 Jesus likens believers to branches, and only the branches that bear fruit are kept alive, the rest are thrown into the fire. So if we want to live for eternity we have to produce good fruit and we do that by taking care of our tree, which is our heart.

1st Peter likens Satan to a roaring lion that is seeking people to devour. So Jesus tells us to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves (Matt 10:16). The Apostle Paul also writes that we should be aware of Satan's schemes. Because Satan wants to take as many souls with him to hell, he knows the best way to do so is by corrupting the human heart, or stealing it away for things other than God. Our heart is the prize that both Satan and God are after!

After I understood this, I had the answer to another question to God. If the door is so narrow that leads to life, how can Jesus say his yoke is easy and his burden is light? The answer is all of us has control over who we give our heart to. Jesus says if we give our heart to him he'll come and live inside of us-- we're not the ones working out our salvation, but Jesus is, through us!

Nowadays many people in church including parents try to discipline youth by restricting sinful behavior when they really should be focusing on their heart-- but it's hard to blame them! Galatians 5:19-21 says

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul gives a list of things that if practiced will deny you entrance to heaven. Just to make it clear to the Galatians, he says "I warn you, as I did before" as if to drive home a message to ones who thought they could be saved while involved in sin. Pretty much everyone on earth fails the test that Paul gives in these verses, as he does also in Ephesians 5. And this is why the road is so narrow! If you give this list of things not to do to the average person, it will seem like a *huge* burden? Who can follow it?

Perhaps over 95% of adult males with internet access look at pornography-- boom! you could have just stopped at 'sexual immorality' and most of all men would already end up in hell. Or take envy or self ambition -- aren't many guilty of this even in church?

But if we realize all we have to do is change our heart and give it to Jesus and guard it from idols, that demand seems like it's within everyone's reach, and we can accept that ultimately we do have control and it's not a big burden to follow Jesus. Unfortunately, this is also why everyone will be without excuse on judgement day, keeping in mind that the Holy Spirit is there to help us repent, so we are not alone.

The blood of Jesus has freed us from obeying sin (Romans 6) and serving the elementary lust of this world, and all we have to do is guard our heart from idols and give it to Jesus and he'll do everything for us! If our heart is right, we won't be living in sin and obeying its desires but we'll be producing the good fruits of the Holy Spirit.

This is why Jesus could tell the thief next to him "Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise" but damn the Pharisees who had tried to serve God all their life in vain, because one had the right heart, but the others had filthy ones.

This is also why Apostle Paul encourages the whole church to pursue the gift of prophecy. Prophecy is the best gift because it allows us to see into people's hearts so we can minister to them.

In summary, the answer to how can we make sure we're saved is: take care of your heart!

This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. - Jeremiah 31:33

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. - Matt 5:8 

Do We Live in a Digital Simulation?

People once believed the world was infinitely divisible.

If you were to take a string and cut in half:

And cut those halves down again:

And again and again..

You would think you could do this indefinitely... but you can't!

At some point you will reach a length known as the Planck length:

1.61619926 × 10-35 meters

It's impossible to measure anything smaller than this length. Below this level objects stop becoming objects and lose their dimensions. Objects at this scale also behave in strange ways far beyond human intuition. 

There's also something known as Planck time:

5.39106(32) × 10−44 s

This is the time it takes for light to travel one Planck length, and it's the smallest unit of time.

The universe we live in, rather than being infinitely divisible is granular - or you could even say digital! Some scientists even suspect that the universe is a hologram.

Could it be that the world that we live in is a digital simulation? Could it be that there is another reality hiding behind the virtual reality we live in?

The bible actually alludes to this in many places! Here's one verse:

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

According to God's word the world we see is not real and passing away, but there is a reality underlying the world we live in that is *real* and eternal!

In the movie, The Matrix (1999), the inhabitants of earth are stuck in a virtual reality simulation but very few of them realize it. While the world they live in is fake, the humans behind the people living in the matrix are real. The real life people and their digital avatars are also connected in the sense that if you were to die in the 'matrix', you would die in real life.

Did you know that the bible describes something like this! Every human on this earth has a body. But connected to the flesh we inhabit is a living soul which lives in a spiritual dimension. This unseen spiritual dimension could include the second heavens, the dwelling place of fallen angels and demons as well as the third heavens where God is.

Jesus once said:

Matthew 16:26
What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?

According to God's value system, one soul is worth more than a whole world without souls! Did you know God cares more about preserving your one soul than the entire universe? Could it be because the things of this world are not actually real and are passing away?

Many people who have had near death experiences report that after they left their bodies the reality they experienced was more real than the life they previously lived in. One person even said that the life we live in is a dream compared to when you leave your body.

In Luke 12:15 Jesus warns his disciples

Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."

Are any of us still holding on our digital goods and dreams at the expense of what is actually real and eternal-- our souls? In Matthew 16:25 Jesus says

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

If our worldview is not transformed then this is one of the hardest verses to take in the bible. However if we put on the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and take on God's view and value system of the world then it becomes much easier.

Jesus seems to set such a high standard for us as he does on the sermon on the mount, but he also says in Matthew 11:28 that his yoke is easy and his burden is light:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Today many souls around us are enslaved by the matrix we live in which heaps a continuous avalanche of worries, anxieties and lusts at its people. Some are blinded to the reality that lies behind this world. Others know the reality exists but choose to ignore it and live their lives comfortably.

Are we willing to wake up like Neo did and take the red pill? Are we willing to give up our lives to Jesus so that he can give it back to us again in eternity?

2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

The price of our own lives may seem high, but the reward will be immeasurably higher.

1 Corinthians 2:9
However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him--

The Sin of Sodom

Many think of sexual immorality and fornication when Sodom is mentioned, however few realize that it was manifested because of God's judgement of a city that lived selfishly and arrogantly and served idols rather than God.

1. Importance of having love and concern for the poor and needy

Ezekiel 16:49
"Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy."

2. God gave them up...

Romans 1:26
because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

3. The cup of mercy runs out and God's final judgement comes

Genesis 19:24-26
Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Let us examine our own lives therefore to see if we are serving God or money and having compassion and love for our neighbors.

OSAS vs The Spirit of Grace

Because the children of Israel were rebellious and stiff-necked while God led them through the wilderness, Moses longed for the day that the same Spirit of God that rested on him could also rest on the people (Numbers 11:29). Without the Holy Spirit, the people were doomed to rebellion and as a result many of the Israelites perished in their iniquity and lack of faith to the extent that only the next generation could enter the promised land. However, Hallelujah that the day that Moses longed for was fulfilled! God in his grace and love sent us the Holy Spirit, without which we would have no hope.

John the Baptist said I baptize you in water for repentance but one who is coming after me will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. In John 16:7 Jesus said "that unless I go", the Comforter, the Holy Spirit cannot come to you. In Acts 19, Paul was concerned about the believers in Ephesus. Although they were baptized in water and believed in Jesus, they did not yet receive the Holy Spirit. Why was the Holy Spirit so important?

The receiving of the Holy Spirit was the beginning of God's reconciliation with man! Before God had no choice but to withhold his Spirit due to iniquity. Sin is an abomination to God and he can't even bear to look at it (Prov 6:16). But Jesus' death was the perfect sacrifice and his shed blood allows God to passover our former lives in sin. So after Jesus went up, the Holy Spirit could come down.

Whenever we have sin in our lives, the Holy Spirit convicts us of it and leads us to repentance. Repentance is more than saying "I'm sorry", the greek word metanoia means a change of heart or mind. With this in mind if our heart is not turned to the Lord and our mind is not changed then we will perish just like the Israelites who rebelled and complained against God in the wilderness.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

While the Holy Spirit is faithful to us, God is a gentleman and he will never violate our free will. We can reject the Holy Spirit either knowingly or unknowingly based on our choices. In Hebrews 10:26-30 Paul shows how believers can outrage the Spirit of grace:

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth,there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay"

How then do we overcome sin and cooperate with the Holy Spirit? It's by following the desires of our spirit and not our flesh.

Romans 8:1 (KJV) says

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

That last phrase is dangerously left out in the NIV and the Recovery Version. However the original manuscripts have that phrase!

Paul goes on to say in verse 14:

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God."

Now the remaining verses concerning the spirit versus flesh make so much more sense:

"For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law." Galatians 5:16-18

If we walk according to the flesh, we will sin to gratify the desires of the flesh. The Apostle John relates those those who practice sin as children of the devil:

"Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8

It's sober warning because if we become of the devil through practice of sin, then we will meet the same fate as him.

John continues:

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God."

There's so many other warnings throughout the whole bible that echo this. One of the more prominent ones is when Paul warns the believers in Ephesians 5 and again in Galatians 5 that those who practice sin will not inherit God's kingdom. 

This is what it means to me to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. It is in all things to be led by the spirit of grace that God gave to us freely (hence grace) and to put to death our flesh so we will never gratify its desires, knowing full well how close we still are to hell. This is why Jesus said you cannot be my disciple unless you pick up your cross and follow me. Taking the cross daily is required and not optional.

We receive the Holy Spirit because we have been reconciled to God through Jesus. With his Spirit, we also get God's life and that life will transform us and save us so that we become like Jesus-- so that we can stand with confidence on the day of judgement.

1 John 4:17
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.

That said, we still have free will choice whether or not to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Have you ever wondered why in the Lord's prayer, Jesus said "lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13)? If eternal security is a true doctrine, then that prayer wouldn't make any sense because once you're saved you're always saved. But because Jesus loved us, He gave us this way to pray so that our souls could be preserved.

We see this again when Jesus tells Peter that Satan has requested to sift his soul (Luke 22:31). Jesus goes on to say that He prayed that his faith would be strong-- implying that God didn't spare Peter but granted Satan his wish, just like He did with Job! But Hallelujah we have nothing to fear because greater is He that is in us than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). And we are thankful to Jesus because He is our heavenly high priest that is interceding and praying for our faith to be made strong, just like he did with Peter. Peter though he failed horribly earlier, was eventually able to overcome Satan's testing, becoming one of the pillars of the church as an apostle, and persevere in his faith in Christ until the day of his martyrdom.

Matthew 24:13
"But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

Where the body is, there also the vultures will be gathered

If you had to pick the most enigmatic statement Jesus ever made, it wouldn't be a stretch to say it was Luke 17:37. It's the last verse in this passage:

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. (Luke 17:34-37, KJV)

I read many commentaries on this verse, but none of the answers seemed to make sense. Many have remarked that the body or the corpses are in reference to antichrist's armies being destroyed at Armageddon (side note: NIV and many other translations say vultures instead of eagles, however the Greek word aetos used here can also refer to eagles or other large birds of prey). In the context of the preceding verses in Luke 17 this explanation seems really out of place since Jesus was talking about people being taken and others being left behind while working or sleeping-- something that's really hard to relate to the aftermath of a serious battle.

For a month, I asked the Holy Spirit for understanding concerning Luke 17:37 and a similar verse in Matthew 24:28. Finally, just this morning around 5am, I believed I have finally received an answer while praying in bed and would like to share it here! Since these verses may have implications on the timing of the rapture -- whether it's post or pre tribulation, I don't want to get into that controversy right now. However I must be faithful to what I have received, so I ask those who believe that the rapture is post-tribulation to keep an open mind since the implication of my interpretation may imply that there will be a pre-trib or pre-wrath rapture. As a disclaimer: I am currently leaning towards the belief that there will be both-- a partial pre-trib rapture of overcoming saints signified by the barley harvest preceding the Feast of First Fruits in the OT, followed by a post-trib rapture of the remaining majority of Christians signified by the wheat harvest in the OT leading up to the Feast of Tabernacles, or sukkot. 

Some bible commentators have remarked that the eagles refer to the saints, or those who 'wait' upon the Lord in reference to Isaiah 40:31

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

If the eagles are referring to the saints, what are they doing around a body or carcass? (side note: Matthew 24:28 substitutes the word body for carcass which is ptoma in Greek). It seems like a pretty gruesome picture and it's what I asked the Lord this morning that led me to the following and the picture is so clear once you see it!

In Luke 17:37 the word used for body in Greek is soma (Strong's Greek word 5393). soma means living body and it is the same word used for body in Luke 22:19 when Jesus says

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

What does Jesus mean by his body being given to us? In John 6:54-56, Jesus makes a statement that caused many of his followers to be stumbled and leave him:

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

Now imagine if we were to literally carry out what Jesus is asking of us here. Picture in your head a scene where many are gathered around the body of Jesus and are eating his flesh and drinking his blood. You could almost relate it to a gathering of vultures around a carcass-- the same picture Jesus gives in Luke 17:37 and Matthew 24:28!

What does it mean to eat Jesus' flesh?  In John 1:14, the "word [of God] became flesh". We know from John 1:1 before Jesus became a man, He was the word of God. In Matthew 4, Jesus likens God's word to food by telling Satan, "Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God". The link between Jesus as food and God's word deepens even more in John 15:6-7 when Jesus relates abiding in His word as the key to eternal life:

If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

This goes on to show how important it is for us to 'abide' or live on God's word. God's word is our true food and without it we will truly starve to death. However, since Jesus, who was the word of God, became man, we can not only eat God's word, but we can also eat Jesus! This is why in John 15:7, Jesus says "if you abide in me AND my words abide in you" and in John 6:35, Jesus declares:

I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

I feel that a big burden of Jesus' ministry was trying to reveal this mystery, that He alone is our true life source. So in order for us to truly live, we have to follow Jesus wherever he goes, because He is our only food supply and without him we cannot live. This is exactly what is described by Revelation 14:4 regarding saints who follow the Lamb wherever he goes!

These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among mankind and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.

Furthermore, the Lamb can be a likened to a body in Revelation 13:8 as "the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world." Just as the saints follow the Lamb wherever it goes, so do the vultures or eagles flock to the carcass to feed on it in Matthew 24:28 and Luke 17:37.  Jesus is the way the truth and the life (John 14:6), without Him we cannot live!

Bringing things back to Luke 17:37, the disciples ask "Where Lord?" because they wanted to know where the men and women who were 'taken' in the preceding verses are. So Jesus in answering this question responded "Where the body is there the eagles will also be gathered." We have clearly shown that the body/carcass refers to the Lord Jesus, or the Lamb of God who was slain. So we now have the answer to the disciples' question. Where are the men and women taken to? We know that the Lamb of God is in heaven from Revelation 14. Thereby the eagles, or the saints, are taken to heaven!

So what Jesus is describing in Luke 17:34-36 is the taking up of the first fruits of God (Revelation 14:4) who by waiting on the Lord, mount up on eagle's wings into heaven (Isaiah 40:31) and follow the  carcass which is the "Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world" wherever it goes.  Jesus is giving us a promise that by waiting on Him as a faithful bride, he will leave an open door for us as he describes in Revelation 3 and Isaiah 26 to be with him in heaven until the indignation  passes (Isaiah 26:20). This is one of those times when we just have to take a moment to marvel at the beauty of God's word and say Hallelujah!