Bible Study

On Wednesday's I go to an international English Bible study at the Budapest Christian Library. The pastor that regularly leads it has been out of town the past few weeks so various people have been filling in. Today the pastor from the International Baptist Church of Budapest was there. I'm very very glad he was just a substitute. Rather than the typical discussion (lead by the pastor) it was a lecture... and then at the end he asked if we had comments. Riiight... because I'm going to comment after you "told us how it is" -- at least according to your interpretation of the Bible. One lady commented about some things in Revelations being examples rather than exact things because they were the words of John rather than the words of Jesus. The pastor didn't like that at all. "All of the Bible is the word of Jesus" he said.


I had to restrain myself. Somehow, I don't think Mr. I'm-a-Baptist-so-I-take-the-Bible-literally would have liked my asking his views on John 6! Especially since these are the words of Jesus... not "just" the words Jesus inspired John to write in Revelations.


John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

John 6:51-58
I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."