"...And the Word was made flesh,..." John 1: 1-[14]

Because a spirit cannot die without a body, the Word of God humbly and obediently took on flesh from the Blessed Virgin Mary as Jesus, Son of God, to be the perfect sacrifice meriting our redemption from the slavery of sin.

Amazingly, the Word of God who is the summation of the entire revelation of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20) offers us sacrificial, merciful love because of our sins so by cooperating, we can spend eternity with Him.

In the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to sacrifice and eat the unblemished lamb and to apply its blood to doorposts signaling the death plague to "pass over" them (Exodus 12:1-[5-8]-51) prefiguring the New Testament Eucharist...

... at Passover "...Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: 'Take ye, and eat. This is my body.' And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: 'Drink ye all of this. For this is my blood..., which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins'" (Matthew 26:26-28).

Not limited by time and space, Jesus invoked His imminent crucifixion and eminent resurrection instituting the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in the species of bread and wine at the Last Supper.

With love and obedience, Jesus submitted to His one-time sacrifice pouring out His life-giving blood now re-presented to us from eternity in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus left us physically as our divine and human Lord yet stays with us physically as our eucharistic Lord to fill us with His grace and to make His dwelling within us (Matthew 28:16-[20]).

"...Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you" (John 6:22-[53]-71; 2 Peter 1:3-[4]-11). Jesus is the 'Unblemished Lamb' whom we eat to avoid death due to sin when acquiring new hearts by uniting ourselves with Him (John 14:[23]-26; 1 Corinthians 6:[19]-20; Romans 5:1-[5]-21). "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him" (John 6:56).

The disciples knew Jesus spoke literally making His saying "hard" (John 6:60). However, they believed because they were drawn by the Father. By cooperating with God's grace through obedience to His commands, we unite with Him, the Source of Life.

"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," said Jesus (John 6:[63]-64; 3:1-[6]-21); without cooperating with God's grace, we, due to our sinful flesh, "can do nothing" (John 15:5); we cannot comprehend nor believe God's Word, nor avoid sin.

"Jesus said: 'Therefore...no man can come to me, unless it be given him by my Father.' After this many of his disciples...walked no more with him. Then Jesus said to the twelve [and to us]: 'Will you also go away?'...Simon Peter answered...: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed...'" (John 6:44-[65-69]-70).

Do we hold fast to the Word and follow Him, or do we foolishly go our own way?