Aug. 20th, Jesus is Wonder Bread, part 3
John 6:51-66 [show video instead of reading]
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
What is Jesus Doing?
Teaching a Difficult Lesson to prepare His disciples for His eventual execution- he is not being divisive for the
sake of being divisive- he’s speaking the truth.
Why does he teach a divisive truth?
1. Jesus wants people to live the zoe- life
John 14:6- “I am the way, the truth and the Life- no one comes to the Father except through me.”
There is one holy God- and one way to God- through His son. This does not mean God is exclusive- or cliquey - Our God has opened His arms wide and died for the sins of the world- rejecting the death of Jesus on the cross- means closing the door that God opens to eternity.
2. Jesus is preparing His disciples- to be leaders of the Church
The disciples- this rag-tag bunch of religious nobodies- that stuck around Jesus, decided hey, let’s see what he means about his flesh and blood- he gave us a chance lets give Him a chance
The teaching had offended the majority, Jesus says, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!”- In that one sentence we can see clearly that as He has been preparing His disciples to understand that they will need to believe in His death- He knows that they will miss out on resurrection- on true spiritual eternity-
The disciples who stuck with Jesus- many of them- eventually believed in this flesh and blood. They proclaimed it- they believed the reality of Jesus’ death- deepened the reality of His resurrection- and they spread the good news- They led a movement that celebrated the death of the Son of God- Why?. Why? Because- it a.showed How much he loved us-God is willing to put Himself on the line for us. b. God defeated death and they celebrated His death, because they believed that His death- ended death- He took away the sting of death. Many of the disciples ended up putting their own flesh on the line- rather than deny Jesus as Lord.
Did you know that the early church talked so much about eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood- that one claim noted by Roman historians was that this movement was rumored to be cannibalistic- and that developed into a rumor, because they stressed that God was born into the world as a baby- Jesus- that outsiders eventually said Christians ate the babies and drank their blood. Strange- but this was some of the misunderstanding and propaganda against the church in its first 100 years or so. And the church has never spread so fast.
Personal Challenge:
Have you put Jesus Christ Above All Else?
Illustration- Pete’s Pizza and the use/value of words- the importance of vows
One way to measure this-
What words are most Important in your life?
Boss, Spouse, Friend, a celebrity, or Jesus Christ’s
May we all find life in the words of Jesus Christ- May we all find our identity in being loved deeply by God- May we all see that God put Himself- his own flesh on the line for us. May we live as people who need his flesh and blood as real food- May we never turn away from hearing the truth, and may we walk through the open door to life eternal.
On the cross Jesus placed His love for us Above all other concerns- May we place Him Above All in our life.
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
What is Jesus Doing?
Teaching a Difficult Lesson to prepare His disciples for His eventual execution- he is not being divisive for the
sake of being divisive- he’s speaking the truth.
Why does he teach a divisive truth?
1. Jesus wants people to live the zoe- life
John 14:6- “I am the way, the truth and the Life- no one comes to the Father except through me.”
There is one holy God- and one way to God- through His son. This does not mean God is exclusive- or cliquey - Our God has opened His arms wide and died for the sins of the world- rejecting the death of Jesus on the cross- means closing the door that God opens to eternity.
2. Jesus is preparing His disciples- to be leaders of the Church
The disciples- this rag-tag bunch of religious nobodies- that stuck around Jesus, decided hey, let’s see what he means about his flesh and blood- he gave us a chance lets give Him a chance
The teaching had offended the majority, Jesus says, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!”- In that one sentence we can see clearly that as He has been preparing His disciples to understand that they will need to believe in His death- He knows that they will miss out on resurrection- on true spiritual eternity-
The disciples who stuck with Jesus- many of them- eventually believed in this flesh and blood. They proclaimed it- they believed the reality of Jesus’ death- deepened the reality of His resurrection- and they spread the good news- They led a movement that celebrated the death of the Son of God- Why?. Why? Because- it a.showed How much he loved us-God is willing to put Himself on the line for us. b. God defeated death and they celebrated His death, because they believed that His death- ended death- He took away the sting of death. Many of the disciples ended up putting their own flesh on the line- rather than deny Jesus as Lord.
Did you know that the early church talked so much about eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood- that one claim noted by Roman historians was that this movement was rumored to be cannibalistic- and that developed into a rumor, because they stressed that God was born into the world as a baby- Jesus- that outsiders eventually said Christians ate the babies and drank their blood. Strange- but this was some of the misunderstanding and propaganda against the church in its first 100 years or so. And the church has never spread so fast.
Personal Challenge:
Have you put Jesus Christ Above All Else?
Illustration- Pete’s Pizza and the use/value of words- the importance of vows
One way to measure this-
What words are most Important in your life?
Boss, Spouse, Friend, a celebrity, or Jesus Christ’s
May we all find life in the words of Jesus Christ- May we all find our identity in being loved deeply by God- May we all see that God put Himself- his own flesh on the line for us. May we live as people who need his flesh and blood as real food- May we never turn away from hearing the truth, and may we walk through the open door to life eternal.
On the cross Jesus placed His love for us Above all other concerns- May we place Him Above All in our life.
posted by Palouse Fed. Church at 4:48 PM
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