The Cross

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily verily I say unto you, Except you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eats My flesh and drinks My Blood , has Eternal Life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood drink indeed. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you Twelve, and one of you is a Devil? He spole of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was who should betray Him, being one of the Twelve(Jn. 6:53-55, 70-71)
The question is often asked, “Why did Judas do what he did?” How could he have been personally chosen by Christ, walk with Him for some three and a half years, witness the greatest array of miracles the world had ever known, and then betray the Master? The answer is found in the last half of this 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John.
Judas did not appreciate the Message of the Cross, for that’s what the Message here was. Judas in fact, totally rejected God’s Redemption Plan, which was the Cross of Calvary.
When Jesus spoke about “eating His flesh” and “drinking His Blood,” He was speaking of the Cross, i.e., the Sacrifice He would make there. He would offer up His Perfect Body as an Atonement for sin, thereby, in the giving of His Life, pour out His Precious Blood. This was the price that God demanded, and this was the price that Jesus would pay.
In this message, more particularly Verses 53 through 56, Jesus proclaims the fact that the believing sinner must so embrace the Cross of Christ, that is, what Jesus did there, that he, in essence, and by Faith, becomes a part of Christ and what Christ did. It could be explained no better than Jesus when He said, “He who eats My flesh, and drinks My Blood dwells in Me , and I in Him”(6:56).
Whether Judas that day totally understood what Jesus meant, we cannot know; however, he most definitely came to understand what Jesus meant, and he fully rejected it. That’s why Judas betrayed the Lord! He did not want the Cross, nor any part of the Cross, just as millions presently follow the same path.
Regrettably and sadly, the far greater majority in the modern Church have also rejected the Cross. As Cain of old, they see no need for a Sacrifice. They are willing to accept Jesus as a great Prophet, a great Statesman, even a great Miracle Worker, but the Cross? No!
However, the following should be noted:
1. The only way to God is through Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6).
2. The only way to Jesus Christ is through the Cross (Lk. 9:23)
3. The only way to the Cross is by and through a denial of self (Lk. 9:23)
4. The only way to deny self is by looking to Christ and the Cross
(Rom. 6:3-5)

–Taken from “The Expositor’s Word for Everyday” by Jimmy Swaggart