There is a word which I do not like to use, but for lack of a better one I will use it. That is, a hybrid. Jesus is a hybrid. A hybrid, we know, is two things grown into one. When a branch of an apple tree is grafted into a peach tree, the fruit produced from that branch will be a hybrid. It looks like an apple, and it also looks somewhat like a peach. Which is it, an apple or a peach? We have to say that it is an apple-peach or a peach-apple. It is both! It is the same with Jesus. Is He God or is He man? He is both. He is the God-man, and the man-God. We should never use our limited, mental capability to try to analyze Jesus. This is the problem with so-called theology today.
How could Jesus be the root and also the branch? To our thinking it is illogical. If you are the root, you are the root. If you are the branch, you are the branch. How can someone be both the root and the branch simultaneously? Yet we must remember that Jesus is everything. He is not only the seed, but also the root. He is also the branch and the fruit. In the same principle, He is not only the Father, but also the Son. And He is not only the Son, but also the Spirit. He is everything! If you have Jesus, you have the seed, the root, the branch, and the fruit. And this is not all! If you have Jesus, you have the Father, you have the Son, and you have the Spirit! Jesus is all in all! He is truly wonderful.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. And this Word became flesh. Now, as the Word become flesh, He is not only the Son, but also the Father. And He is also the Spirit. Such a One comes and presents Himself to us as bread. He said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life.” We can realize now that this bread is not so simple. He is full of ingredients. All kinds of divine and human elements are in this bread. And this bread is fully processed and cooked. It is ready for eating.
When I was a child, I was taught much concerning Jesus coming and dying on the cross for us. This is right, but if you stop here, it is very superficial. Jesus passed through death and resurrection not only to redeem us, but also to put Himself into us. So again I say that Jesus must be so subjective to us. He said that He was our bread of life. Could any food be our nourishment if that food remains objective to us? As long as it remains on the shelf or in the refrigerator, however much we love it, it has nothing to do with us. But though we hate it, as long as we eat it, we have it, and it is being wrought into our being.
It is for this reason that Jesus presented Himself to us as food. Nothing is so subjective to us as food. Eventually the food becomes so subjective to us that it becomes one with us. We all know the saying that says we are what we eat. Everything we eat becomes us. The chicken, oranges, apples, and meat that we eat become us. We are the composition of all that we eat. Our weight at birth was about seven pounds. But now we may weigh one hundred and seventy pounds. All the varieties of food that we ate added the weight, not in an objective way, but in a very subjective way. The food was swallowed, digested, and assimilated. It became our cells and our tissues. Hence, we are simply a composition of what we eat.
Now we can understand why Jesus said, “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” (John 6:57). It is only by eating Jesus that we can live by Jesus. He is the all-inclusive bread. When this all-inclusive bread enters into us, it becomes so subjective to us and even becomes us. This is absolutely not a religion. Religion merely teaches others to serve God in an outward objective way. This is not God’s economy, and this is not God’s divine purpose. God’s economy is that this Jesus should enter into us to become our very being. He will come into us and grow in us and transform us into something different. Then we will be shining with Jesus! This is the branching out of Jesus!
Teachings, doctrines, instructions, degrees will not help us. We can talk about a chicken, study it, and know everything about it, but unless we take the chicken into us, it does us absolutely no good. The Bible does not reveal to us merely an objective Christ. There is the objective aspect, but the Bible reveals more of the subjective aspect. This is why Jesus said that He is our food. Nothing could be so subjective to us as food, for it becomes us. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He that eats me shall live by me.”
If I did not eat breakfast this morning, it would be difficult for me to speak here. But since I ate that breakfast, I am now living by what I ate. This is why I am so energetic. Likewise, if we eat Jesus, we will live by Jesus. Jesus is the all-inclusive meal. He is whatever we need. He is full of the finest ingredients. This is why He is the all-inclusive food. He is not simple bread; He is all-inclusive bread. In this bread are all the attributes of divinity and all the virtues of humanity. What a bread He is to us!
No words can tell what Jesus is in a full way. We can never exhaust telling what He is. He is truly marvelous! He is both God and man. He is the One that prays, and He is also the One that answers. He is the One that sows the seed, and He is also the One that grows. He is the small root, and He is also the branch. He is the root that came out of the dry ground, and He is also a tender plant. He is the seed, the root, the branch, and the fruit. Now He presents Himself to us as the bread of life. If we eat Him, we will live by Him. All the divine, spiritual ingredients are in Him. Hallelujah for such a Jesus!