From the Ridiculous to the Sublime
Our sermon text this morning takes us back into the book of John chapter 6. This began with the feeding of the 5000 and the Jews wanting to make Jesus their king, Later it continued with Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee to meet his disciples as they attempted to cross over to the other side of the stormy sea, and finally when we left this series a couple of weeks ago the Jews were arguing with Jesus about his teachings especially what he was teaching about himself.
When I read today’s scripture I wonder if this record is an example of a way that God might harden the hearts of those that do not want to believe in Jesus’ teachings. I think that Jesus’ statement to the Jews about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, does two things. It shows that Jesus is teaching about spiritual things and that the Jews were thinking about worldly things.
When Jesus tells the Jews that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood if they want to live forever, that would seem to go very much against Jewish law that was handed down by God. Even from a clean or kosher animal the Jews would not consume blood. The blood of an animal could be offered as part of a sacrifice to God, for instance as part of a burnt offering, but to drink it, that would be, well sacrilegious.
In Leviticus 17:10-11 it reads “If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.”
Eating the flesh of a person and drinking his blood would then be a very sinful thing to do, something abhorrent to God under the old laws of the Old Testament covenant between God and his chosen people. We understand that when Jesus says this he is talking in spiritual terms that those that believe in him and accept him as their savior from sin and the devil will be taking into them his body and blood for the salvation of their eternal souls. Later Jesus would institute the sacrament of communion for his disciples and his church to use to share in his body and blood spiritually.
This emphasizes that Jesus was talking about spiritual things, spiritual life through the sharing in his blood that would be shed for the atonement of all sins, and sharing in Jesus’ body which would be the Christian church universal, the body of believers.
The Jews that were debating with Jesus had their minds on earthly physical things. They wanted a king that could fill their physical bodies and sustain their physical lives. They wanted an earthly king and an earthly kingdom. But Jesus tried to teach them that those that have only earthly bread to eat may be filled for today and yet die tomorrow. For the believers in Christ that shared spiritually in the body and blood of Jesus, they would never die, but they would live forever with Jesus in heaven.
Jesus refers to himself as the Bread of Life six times in the sixth chapter of the book of John. In John 6:33 he says, “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” And still the Jews would not believe, in John 6:41 it says, “Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that cam down from heaven.’ They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say that, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Their hearts were hardened against Jesus’ words. Jesus tries again to teach them about his true nature in John 6:47-51 “Very truly, I tell you whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors are the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
This lesson is very fitting for a communion Sunday. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary summarizes Jesus’ message from John 6 verses 51-58 well: “The Eucharistic food and drink are physically bread and wine, spiritually the Flesh and Blood of the Son of man: the true food and drink because they effect the sacred union of the Son of God with those who believe on him, and thus communicate eternal life and guarantee immortality. The union of the Father and the Son is thereby extended to embrace the believers also. As the Father communicates life to the Son, so the Son communicates life to those who feed on Him, and will bestow on them immortality.”
The promises that we hear and see in the media everyday from commercial advertisers are at worst false and at best just examples of fleeting gratification. The Jews that Jesus was teaching by the Sea of Galilee were grasping for fleeting gratification from Jesus and by association they were asking for that from God. “Give us bread to eat” they were saying because God had sent their ancestors manna from heaven when they were traveling through the desert. However that bread from heaven did not save the souls of those ancestors, and although Jesus could have provided the Jews of his day with all of the bread and fish that they could eat everyday for the rest of their lives, that also would not have saved their souls. The only true hope of salvation that the Israelites in the desert had was the same promise that Jesus was making to the Jews that were standing in front of him at that village by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it is the same promise that God makes to us today. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, and spiritually partake of his blood shed in atonement for our sins and share in the fellowship of the body of Christ, then we will have eternal life. Our spirits will never be separated from God and we will never be hungry or thirsty again. Amen.
When I read today’s scripture I wonder if this record is an example of a way that God might harden the hearts of those that do not want to believe in Jesus’ teachings. I think that Jesus’ statement to the Jews about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, does two things. It shows that Jesus is teaching about spiritual things and that the Jews were thinking about worldly things.
When Jesus tells the Jews that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood if they want to live forever, that would seem to go very much against Jewish law that was handed down by God. Even from a clean or kosher animal the Jews would not consume blood. The blood of an animal could be offered as part of a sacrifice to God, for instance as part of a burnt offering, but to drink it, that would be, well sacrilegious.
In Leviticus 17:10-11 it reads “If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.”
Eating the flesh of a person and drinking his blood would then be a very sinful thing to do, something abhorrent to God under the old laws of the Old Testament covenant between God and his chosen people. We understand that when Jesus says this he is talking in spiritual terms that those that believe in him and accept him as their savior from sin and the devil will be taking into them his body and blood for the salvation of their eternal souls. Later Jesus would institute the sacrament of communion for his disciples and his church to use to share in his body and blood spiritually.
This emphasizes that Jesus was talking about spiritual things, spiritual life through the sharing in his blood that would be shed for the atonement of all sins, and sharing in Jesus’ body which would be the Christian church universal, the body of believers.
The Jews that were debating with Jesus had their minds on earthly physical things. They wanted a king that could fill their physical bodies and sustain their physical lives. They wanted an earthly king and an earthly kingdom. But Jesus tried to teach them that those that have only earthly bread to eat may be filled for today and yet die tomorrow. For the believers in Christ that shared spiritually in the body and blood of Jesus, they would never die, but they would live forever with Jesus in heaven.
Jesus refers to himself as the Bread of Life six times in the sixth chapter of the book of John. In John 6:33 he says, “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” And still the Jews would not believe, in John 6:41 it says, “Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that cam down from heaven.’ They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say that, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Their hearts were hardened against Jesus’ words. Jesus tries again to teach them about his true nature in John 6:47-51 “Very truly, I tell you whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors are the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
This lesson is very fitting for a communion Sunday. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary summarizes Jesus’ message from John 6 verses 51-58 well: “The Eucharistic food and drink are physically bread and wine, spiritually the Flesh and Blood of the Son of man: the true food and drink because they effect the sacred union of the Son of God with those who believe on him, and thus communicate eternal life and guarantee immortality. The union of the Father and the Son is thereby extended to embrace the believers also. As the Father communicates life to the Son, so the Son communicates life to those who feed on Him, and will bestow on them immortality.”
The promises that we hear and see in the media everyday from commercial advertisers are at worst false and at best just examples of fleeting gratification. The Jews that Jesus was teaching by the Sea of Galilee were grasping for fleeting gratification from Jesus and by association they were asking for that from God. “Give us bread to eat” they were saying because God had sent their ancestors manna from heaven when they were traveling through the desert. However that bread from heaven did not save the souls of those ancestors, and although Jesus could have provided the Jews of his day with all of the bread and fish that they could eat everyday for the rest of their lives, that also would not have saved their souls. The only true hope of salvation that the Israelites in the desert had was the same promise that Jesus was making to the Jews that were standing in front of him at that village by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and it is the same promise that God makes to us today. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, and spiritually partake of his blood shed in atonement for our sins and share in the fellowship of the body of Christ, then we will have eternal life. Our spirits will never be separated from God and we will never be hungry or thirsty again. Amen.
Labels: John 6:51-58
posted by Robert C. Howell at
8:48 PM
