This past weekend, on April 12, 2025, Jehovah’s Witnesses around the world gathered for their annual observance of the Lord’s Supper. But it’s a most unusual meal—because although millions attend, hardly anyone eats or drinks. In fact, they’re told that attending is required, but partaking would be a sin.
Yet according to their own Bible translation, the opposite seems to be true. At John 6:53, we find Jesus saying:
“Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.” (John 6:53)
So why are Jehovah’s Witnesses rejecting Jesus’ offer of eternal life?
In this video and the one to follow, we’ll explore what the Lord’s Supper is all about. We’ll take a close look at what Jesus taught and what it means for those who want to follow him.
Jesus and his apostles were born into a world shaped by ancient traditions and governed by hundreds of religious rules and customs. But Christians are not under the Mosaic Law. We are not bound to observe its rituals. In fact, there’s only one ritual Jesus instituted for his followers: the Lord’s Supper. At Matthew 11:30, Jesus assures us that his “yoke is kindly and my load is light.” So. he removed the burden of the Mosaic law from us and only gave on thing to observe. One simple thing that no mainstream Christian religion, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, seems able to get right.
It might surprise you to learn that the first Bible writer to describe the Lord’s Supper wasn’t one of the four Gospel authors. It was the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians. His account gives us our earliest written record of what Jesus said and did that night:
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23–26)
What do we learn from this? First and foremost, that this is a direct command from our Lord. He said, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Do what? Sit and watch while others partake? No—it’s clear we’re being told to eat the bread and drink from the cup.
But the leadership of Jehovah’s Witnesses says that the command to partake only applies to a “little flock” of 144,000 anointed ones. But what if they are wrong about that? This is no trivial matter. Get it wrong and you die. No, I’m not being melodramatic. Here’s the full text of what Jesus had to say about what these emblems represent:
““Most truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has everlasting life, and I will resurrect him on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood remains in union with me, and I in union with him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not as when your forefathers ate and yet died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”” (John 6:52-58 NWT)
To drive the point home to his Jewish listeners, Jesus reminded them of the manna—the bread from heaven that sustained their ancestors for forty years in the wilderness. But that bread only preserved their lives temporarily. Now, God was offering true bread from heaven in the form of Jesus’ own flesh. And if they wanted to live forever, they had to eat his flesh.
Of course, Jesus wasn’t promoting cannibalism—he was speaking spiritually. Just a few verses later, he clarifies this by saying:
“The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63, NLT)
By partaking of the bread and wine that symbolize his flesh and blood, his disciples are eating his flesh and drinking his blood in a spiritual sense.
So, is there anything in the Bible that tells millions of Jesus’ followers to refuse the bread and wine? Is there some alternative path to eternal life besides his flesh and blood?
We’ve just read that Jesus commanded us to do this in remembrance of him. That’s clear, isn’t it? And he plainly said that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have no life in us. Two clear statements.
So how did the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses convince millions of followers to disobey the command of our Lord, Jesus Christ?
It began in 1934, when J. F. Rutherford interpreted Revelation 7:4 literally. He claimed that the number of anointed children of God was limited to a literal 144,000.
But we now know that Scripture provides solid evidence that Rutherford was wrong. That number is symbolic. I’ll include a link to that Bible-based explanation in the description of this video.
Why do the men of the Governing Body ignore the evidence of Scripture? Why do they continue to support Rutherford’s wild type and antitype speculations? And just how to they manage to convince millions of followers to disobey Jesus’ clear command to “keep doing this in remembrance of me”? They do this with a subtle play on words—a linguistic sleight of hand that makes it seem as though Jehovah’s Witnesses are obeying Jesus, when in fact, they are not.
Here’s an example from a recent issue of the Watchtower magazine:
“The other sheep attend the Memorial, not as partakers, but as observers.” (January 2022 Watchtower, page 21 paragraph 6)
The word observe can carry two very different meanings. In a religious context, “to observe” often means to comply with or carry out a ritual or command. That’s how the Pharisees used it when they said of Jesus:
“This man is not from God, for he does not OBSERVE the Sabbath.” (John 9:16)
But observe can also mean something entirely different: simply to watch. Like when the blind man healed by Jesus said:
“I see men, because I OBSERVE what seem to be trees, but they are walking about.” (Mark 8:24)
So what has the Governing Body done? They’ve told Jehovah’s Witnesses that they’re “observing” the Lord’s Supper—by watching the bread and wine pass by. They are observing the supper… by observing the supper.
Can you imagine early Christians saying to their neighbors, “You’re all invited to a meal—but don’t eat or drink. Just come and watch us eat and drink”?
Of course not. The Lord’s Supper wasn’t a public spectacle. It was an intimate gathering—a meal shared among spiritual family, not the general public. And it wasn’t a recruitment tool. And if someone had been removed from the congregation for ongoing sin, they certainly weren’t encouraged to attend the Lord’s Supper. Being removed from the congregation meant no longer sharing in meals with the body of Christ.
How ironic, then, that with all the justified criticism Jehovah’s Witnesses receive for their extreme shunning policies, the one thing that Christians were specifically told not to allow a practicing sinner to do—attend the Lord’s Supper—is the very thing the Governing Body encourages them to do.
But that’s not all.
Even with a clever word trick, it’s hard to get around the plain command of Jesus unless you add something more. And that’s exactly what the Governing Body has done. They’ve resorted to the very thing they accuse Trinitarians of doing: cherry-picking verses while ignoring the context.
Their go-to verse? Romans 8:16:
“The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.” (Romans 8:16)
“Aha!” they say. “You didn’t have that special, mystical experience where the spirit tells you to partake—so clearly, you’re not one of the chosen.”
But we don’t base our faith on a single verse taken out of context—especially not when it concerns a life-or-death matter.
So, let’s read the full context. And again, since I’m appealing to my former brothers, sisters, and friends, I’ll read from the Bible Jehovah’s Witnesses most respect: We’ll start from Romans 8, verse 5:
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, on the things of the spirit. For setting the mind on the flesh means death, but setting the mind on the spirit means life and peace; because setting the mind on the flesh means enmity with God, for it is not in subjection to the law of God, nor, in fact, can it be. So those who are in harmony with the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8 NWT)
How many options do we see here? Just two, right? Either your mind is set on the flesh, which leads to death—or your mind is set on the spirit, which leads to life and peace with God.
Let’s continue reading from verse 9:
“However, you are in harmony, not with the flesh, but with the spirit, if God’s spirit truly dwells in you. But if anyone does not have Christ’s spirit, this person does not belong to him. But if Christ is in union with you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. If, now, the spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his spirit that resides in you.” (Romans 8:9-11 NWT)
The Spirit of God is the holy spirit. We don’t receive that spirit unless we acknowledge Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, and the life. If we do, then we belong to Christ. If we don’t, we remain in the flesh—bound to sin and death. But if his spirit lives in us, then we are alive in him.
Again, we see only two options: If God’s spirit is in us, then Christ’s spirit is in us. And if Christ’s spirit is in us, then we belong to Christ. The only alternative is death.
Now, before we continue in Romans, let’s take a moment to understand what it means to belong to Christ. To do that, we’ll turn to another one of Paul’s letters—the one he wrote to the Corinthians.
“And again: “Jehovah knows that the reasonings of the wise men are futile.” So let no one boast in men; for all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things now here or things to come, all things belong to you; in turn you belong to Christ; Christ, in turn, belongs to God.” (1 Corinthians 3:20-23 NWT)
That’s referring to the anointed, isn’t it? The children of God—the ones who inherit the Kingdom of God together with Jesus. That’s what it means to belong to Christ. It means that all things belong to you, to the spirit-anointed children of God.
But the Governing Body teaches something very different. According to them, if you’re one of the “other sheep,” you’re merely a friend of God, not a child of God. As a result, they claim you don’t belong to Christ—you belong to them, because they’ve declared themselves to be God’s chosen.
But our reading from Romans exposes that as a lie. Let’s continue now with Romans 8:12.
“So, then, brothers, we are under obligation, not to the flesh to live according to the flesh; for if you live according to the flesh, you are sure to die; but if you put the practices of the body to death by the spirit, you will live. For all who are led by God’s spirit are indeed God’s sons.” (Romans 8:12-14 NWT)
And there is it! Paul continues to show us only two options. Living according to the flesh leads to death. Living according to the spirit, leads to life. And here’s the kicker, the verse that neutralizes the Organization’s false teaching that only some are anointed with holy spirit. I’ll reread verse 14.
“For all who are led by God’s spirit are indeed God’s sons.” (Romans 8:14 NWT)
Here is how the New International Version renders it:
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14 NIV)
Do you see anything in Paul’s words that supports the idea that you can be saved as just a friend of God? Is there any indication that a person can have the holy spirit and not be a child of God?
If such a teaching exists, where is that verse?
In their effort to support the claim that the “other sheep” are merely friends of God, the Governing Body reaches for what James says about Abraham.
“and the scripture was fulfilled that says: “Abraham put faith in Jehovah, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” and he came to be called Jehovah’s friend.” (James 2:23)
What the Governing Body ignores is that when James wrote about Abraham being called a friend of God, Jesus had not yet come to open the way for adoption as God’s children. That’s all.
But once Jesus came, what’s recorded in John 1:12–13 became possible:
“However, to all who did receive him, he gave authority to become God’s children, because they were exercising faith in his name. And they were born, not from blood or from a fleshly will or from man’s will, but from God.” (John 1:12, 13)
The authority to become one of God’s children is granted to anyone who exercises faith in the name of Jesus Christ. That time has now come.
We’ll return to that in a moment, but first, let’s go back to the very verse the Governing Body continues to use to guilt Jehovah’s Witnesses into abstaining from partaking at the Lord’s Supper.
Let’s continue reading from Romans 8:14–17:
“14 For all who are led by God’s spirit are indeed God’s sons.”
Are you led by God’s spirit? Then you’re a child of God.
“15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery causing fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: “Abba, Father!””
If you are not led by God’s spirit, then you are led by a spirit of slavery, causing fear again. Fear of what? Fear of what men will do to you if you do not obey them. But if you are led by the spirit, you cry out to your Father, to Papa, to dear Dad, because he is the most powerful and most loving being in existence and nothing can harm you with Him by your side.
“16 The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.”
This is the verse the Organization uses to make you doubt yourself. They want you to believe that you can only be adopted as a spirit-anointed, born-again child of God if you’ve experienced some special internal sign from heaven.
A typical example of this reasoning comes from the March 1, 1980 Watchtower, page 12:
Is it left to the individual to choose as to which hope he will entertain, whether heavenly or earthly? No. … God causes His will to be done by the operation of his holy spirit. How that spirit operates with those chosen by God as prospective members of the “little flock,” quickening within them a heavenly hope, is explained at Romans 8:14-17. Those Christians had evidence within themselves that they had been called to the heavenly kingdom. (w80 3/1 p. 12)
This is very loaded language. According to the Watchtower, God’s spirit operates by “quickening within them a heavenly hope”, which produces “unmistakable evidence within themselves.”
But is that really what bearing witness means?
If you're called to court to bear witness, it means you give a public testimony. You don’t just feel something inside—you declare something before others. Bearing witness is about making something known.
Ask yourself—when did Jesus become the Christ, the Anointed One? It happened at his baptism by John. And how do we know? Because the holy spirit descended visibly in the form of a dove, and God himself spoke from heaven.
There was sight. There was sound. A public witness was given.
The next time worshipers were anointed with holy spirit was at Pentecost. And again—how did the spirit bear witness that they were chosen? Through tongues of fire. Once again, a visible, public display.
Now, of course, those were special occasions. But the point remains: when the spirit bore witness, it did so publicly—not by an internal “quickening,” but by something that could be seen and heard.
So, when Romans 8:16 says that the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children, it doesn’t mean a private, mystical experience. That would make the idea of bearing witness meaningless—because bearing witness, by definition, is meant to be public.
And what exactly is the spirit bearing witness to? It is bearing witness to our adoption as God’s children. Romans 8:15 specifically refers to it as “the spirit of adoption.”
So what does that imply?
Think of a typical adoption. You have an orphan, and someone wants to bring that child into their family. They don’t just walk up and take the child home. There are legalities involved—paperwork, official documentation. A legal process makes the adoption valid and binding. And once adopted, the child receives proof of that new status—along with all the rights of inheritance that come with being part of the family.
So the question is: What is the proof that we have been adopted by Yehovah God?
Let me explain it this way.
I grew up in the Niagara Peninsula, between Hamilton, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York—a region filled with orchards growing apples, pears, cherries, and peaches. Even now, if you stood me in front of one of those trees in April, before the leaves have come out, I probably couldn’t tell them apart. But show me one that’s heavy with fruit, and I’ll know right away whether it’s an apple tree, a pear tree, or something else.
In the same way, what fruit does God’s spirit produce in cooperation with our spirit that bears public witness that we are one of his adopted children?
Paul answers that question directly in his letter to the Galatians.
“On the other hand, the fruitage of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, mildness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22, 23)
You might ask, “How do I know if I have God’s spirit?”
Well, there it is—the evidence is in the fruit.
If you are truly a child of God, then his spirit will be at work within you, empowering your spirit to produce those nine qualities. If you don’t have God’s spirit, you simply can’t produce that kind of fruit.
Now, I’m not saying every apple that falls from the tree is flawless. We’re still sinners, after all. But a blemished apple is still an apple.
What matters is that we are striving toward perfection, allowing God’s spirit to shape us, so that our lives bear witness to the world that we are his children.
This was prophesied by Malachi when he wrote:
“And they will be Mine,” says Yehovah of armies, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will have compassion for them just as a man has compassion for his own son who serves him.” So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. (Malachi 3:17, 18)
Of all the fruits of the spirit, it is love that Jesus said would mark his true followers—setting them apart from everyone else. He was speaking of self-sacrificing love—the kind he had shown for his disciples.
But not all fruit points to the Holy Spirit. There is another spirit at work in the world—one that produces a very different kind of child.
Paul wrote to the Ephesians about these other children:
“In which you previously walked according to the worldly course of this world, and according to the will of the supreme ruler of the air, the spirit which is active in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2 Lamsa Bible)
The spirit active in these children of disobedience also produces a recognizable fruit.
Jesus warned us about such individuals when he said, “By their fruits you will know them.” He spoke those words—recorded in Matthew 7:15–20—while warning about ravenous wolves who come disguised as sheep.
I want you to take Jesus’ words seriously. Really reflect on what he said about such men—and ask yourself: Do I see any parallels today?
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:14, 15 World English Bible)
Now ask yourself: Who today boasts about preaching in all the inhabited earth—yet ends up making converts who are denied access to the very Kingdom they were promised?
Who benefits when millions of men and women are tricked into rejecting the adoption as God’s children that is being freely offered to them?
I don’t think I need to answer that. The answer is obvious.
Do not let men—who lie by claiming to be Jehovah’s channel of communication—shut the doors of the Kingdom in your face.
They claim there are two hopes: one earthly, one heavenly. But what does the Bible actually say?
Scripture does speak of a heavenly hope—just look at Colossians 1:3–5.
“We thank God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ always when we pray for YOU, since we heard of YOUR faith in connection with Christ Jesus and the love YOU have for all the holy ones because of the hope that is being reserved for YOU in the heavens.” (Colossians 1:3-5)
However, nowhere does the Bible speak of an earthly hope.
Now, that doesn’t mean there’s no reason to hope for the future salvation of humankind on earth. That may sound like a contradiction, so let me explain.
When Paul was on trial, he spoke of the one hope he held. And take note—he spoke of it as a single hope.
“And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15)
Paul spoke of two resurrections—but they were encompassed within a single hope. His hope was to be among the righteous who would rule with Christ in the Kingdom of God.
But ask yourself: over whom did he hope to rule?
Over the unrighteous—those who would be resurrected under that kingdom rule. And here’s the thing: the unrighteous aren’t hoping for a resurrection of the unrighteous to judgment. Jesus didn’t come to encourage people to remain unrighteous. He didn’t say, “Pursue unrighteousness and hope for a resurrection to judgment.”
But that’s the only version of hope the Organization can offer.
Yes, billions will be resurrected to judgment—the resurrection of the unrighteous. But if everyone gets resurrected anyway, what’s the incentive to become a Jehovah’s Witness? Why work hard for the Organization, obey the Governing Body, and hand over your money and resources, if in the end you get the same resurrection as everybody else, no matter how they lived their life?
So they have to create a distinction. They invent two hopes. Their “earthly hope” is based on the idea that Yehovah declares you righteous as one of his friends—but only if you obey the Governing Body and remain inside the Organization.
It’s a scam—designed to keep you slaving for them.
But isn’t that exactly what Romans tells us? You’re either free, or you’re a slave.
“For you did not receive a spirit of slavery causing fear again, but you received a spirit of adoption as sons, by which spirit we cry out: “Abba, Father!”” (Romans 8:15)
So, partake—and accept your freedom in the Christ by becoming an adopted child of God.
Or refuse to partake—and remain a slave.
I don’t know about you, but to me, the choice seems pretty obvious.
By partaking, we are accepting our place within the body of Christ, which is the congregation of anointed ones. But speaking of body, the question comes up: What kind of body will we have? Let’s get to that in our next video.