August 13th, John 6:35-51, Jesus is Wonder Bread, part 2
Let’s Pray-
Have you ever been invited to dinner somewhere- and when the meal comes out, you really want to ask “what is that?” but you are too polite to do so. Funny egg dish story-
John 6:35-51, Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 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."
We don’t get the bread of life teaching if....
1. We miss how radical it is. for Jesus to say He is from Heaven and has seen the Father
Very threatening to Jewish understanding of monotheism.
He probably appeared to be blatantly blasphemous.
2. Jesus is not the nicest guy to walk the earth- that wasn’t his role. Niceness is not a virtue- nice is smiling at someone when you should be telling them the truth.
3.Jesus is the ultimate truth teller- and telling the truth surprises people.
Jesus could have said, “I don’t want to upset them- I will just live life as a clever rabbi and teach them how to have a swell life.” But Jesus knew it is essential for people then and now to know the truth about life. He knew that it was essential for Him to tell people that He was the Son of God- even if it disrupted the nice tradition and theology that had built up- He was here to change history- he was the Living Bread of Life- far better than the manna in the desert and he wasn’t afraid to upset their nice images regarding their heritage and manna.
4. Jesus is committed to doing His Father’s will. V.40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Jesus knows that telling the truth will one day lead to his execution- though Peter and the disciples don’t even get that- and sometimes we struggle with the truth of the Son of God dying on the cross- the reality is if we look to the Son of God on the cross and believe that His death can make a way for us to begin eternal life now- if we look at the empty tomb- and believe that He was raised from the dead- so that we too can rise out of death- out of troubles addictions, sin and death- then we will live.
The straight up truth is that for true life and everlasting life- we need to trust in Jesus Christ.
I want to talk a bit about listening to Jesus- I think sometimes with Jesus, if we’re honest when we read the New Testament, he gets to spicy for some of us and contradicts long held personal opinions, political ideas or beliefs- and so we find ourselves saying- “What/Who is this?” What am I eating here? And we slab a bunch of gravy or if you prefer- creme sauce- and we cover up Jesus’ radical voice in our life.
When we hear the voice of Jesus calling to us from the scripture- or maybe through prayer- there are 3 usual options
1. We ignore Him- we fake spiritual deafness- practically this means we stop reading the Gospels, or the convicting parts because we don’t want to be reminded of the thing we are ignoring- which might be, “Love you neighbor” or “Pray for your enemy” of “Forgive one another” or “be more generous”- whatever it is one option is ignoring Jesus- and staying away from church, the Bible-
2. We flat out contradict Him- we fake spiritual superiority- practically this means we don’t like what Jesus is saying in the Gospels- like turn the other cheek, or sell all that you have and give it to the poor- or Blessed are the peacemakers- when you serve the least of these you are serving me- you know all humbling- Jesus stuff.- We say Jesus you are wrong. So we don’t close our Bibles- no instead we search out something in the Old Testament and say, “Well yeah Jesus- that’s your opinion- but I am going with the old eye for an eye interpretation.”
3. Of course option three is- we give in- we listen to Jesus’ voice and we make choices and changes in our life to effect His calling to us. We eat His meal- we don’t ignore it and let it grow cold- we don’t dispute it and say we can cook a better dish- we say “alright Jesus, I’m buying in- buy you better help me with unbelief.” We start giving to the poor. We start being more forgiving. We gossip less. We strive to increase peace in our world. We listen to His voice calling from the Gospels- we eat his Words- and we change accordingly.
Funny thing is all three of these options are dangerous. Ignore Jesus or contradicting His call- is spiritually dangerous- It means you are opting for your own works and goodness over and above the grace and calling of Christ. Do you want to stand before God on judgement day and be in a rationalization argument, “Well you see God what I was thinking at the time was that Jesus was mistaken- and that I would experiment with not forgiving my enemies- and see how that worked out.” We don’t want to be there.
But option 3 is dangerous as well. It has dangerous worldly consequences. When you make peace with someone in town that all your friends despise. When you give up an unhealthy habit and your friend or spouse- who shared the habit- just doesn’t understand you anymore. When you start budgeting to give to the poor or to community organizations- and you just don’t have money anymore for those gifts that promoted false peace with your family and friends.
Our choices have consequences. All of our choices are spiritual. Because God inhabits this world- all things can be spiritual. What we watch on TV- or choose not to watch. How we work. How we behave in school. How we treat friends. How we treat our family. How we treat school mates or co-workers.
My challenge for all us- myself included- is to ask ourselves. Am I letting Jesus be who he really is- in my life? Or is he getting cold- Am I pretending to be at His table- but I never really swallow his words. Have I gotten lazy and just started eating any old thing laying around- you know the inquirer, fox news- and forgotten to take Jesus seriously.
Many people who had followed Jesus walked away after he finished the bread of life teaching. After he offered them a spicy radical meal- that if they wanted real life- and eternal life- they would need to eat his very flesh and blood. They said, “shoot, its not worth sticking around to see what you mean. I’ll go find a rabbi that more suits my own ideas.”
How sad. Friends I believe each one of us is here today- because in some way God wants to speak to us. Words we may not understand completely at first- challenging words- that may change our life. Maybe God is calling you to baptism- Maybe God is calling you to watch less TV. Maybe God is calling you to give more. Friends don’t walk away because the words feel harsh at first- Jesus is too loving to be nice to us all the time. He loves us so much He tell us the truth.
So friends may we each hear the truth of Jesus in our lives. May we take it in and digest it and let His words become true life for us. Amen.
Have you ever been invited to dinner somewhere- and when the meal comes out, you really want to ask “what is that?” but you are too polite to do so. Funny egg dish story-
John 6:35-51, Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 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."
We don’t get the bread of life teaching if....
1. We miss how radical it is. for Jesus to say He is from Heaven and has seen the Father
Very threatening to Jewish understanding of monotheism.
He probably appeared to be blatantly blasphemous.
2. Jesus is not the nicest guy to walk the earth- that wasn’t his role. Niceness is not a virtue- nice is smiling at someone when you should be telling them the truth.
3.Jesus is the ultimate truth teller- and telling the truth surprises people.
Jesus could have said, “I don’t want to upset them- I will just live life as a clever rabbi and teach them how to have a swell life.” But Jesus knew it is essential for people then and now to know the truth about life. He knew that it was essential for Him to tell people that He was the Son of God- even if it disrupted the nice tradition and theology that had built up- He was here to change history- he was the Living Bread of Life- far better than the manna in the desert and he wasn’t afraid to upset their nice images regarding their heritage and manna.
4. Jesus is committed to doing His Father’s will. V.40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Jesus knows that telling the truth will one day lead to his execution- though Peter and the disciples don’t even get that- and sometimes we struggle with the truth of the Son of God dying on the cross- the reality is if we look to the Son of God on the cross and believe that His death can make a way for us to begin eternal life now- if we look at the empty tomb- and believe that He was raised from the dead- so that we too can rise out of death- out of troubles addictions, sin and death- then we will live.
The straight up truth is that for true life and everlasting life- we need to trust in Jesus Christ.
I want to talk a bit about listening to Jesus- I think sometimes with Jesus, if we’re honest when we read the New Testament, he gets to spicy for some of us and contradicts long held personal opinions, political ideas or beliefs- and so we find ourselves saying- “What/Who is this?” What am I eating here? And we slab a bunch of gravy or if you prefer- creme sauce- and we cover up Jesus’ radical voice in our life.
When we hear the voice of Jesus calling to us from the scripture- or maybe through prayer- there are 3 usual options
1. We ignore Him- we fake spiritual deafness- practically this means we stop reading the Gospels, or the convicting parts because we don’t want to be reminded of the thing we are ignoring- which might be, “Love you neighbor” or “Pray for your enemy” of “Forgive one another” or “be more generous”- whatever it is one option is ignoring Jesus- and staying away from church, the Bible-
2. We flat out contradict Him- we fake spiritual superiority- practically this means we don’t like what Jesus is saying in the Gospels- like turn the other cheek, or sell all that you have and give it to the poor- or Blessed are the peacemakers- when you serve the least of these you are serving me- you know all humbling- Jesus stuff.- We say Jesus you are wrong. So we don’t close our Bibles- no instead we search out something in the Old Testament and say, “Well yeah Jesus- that’s your opinion- but I am going with the old eye for an eye interpretation.”
3. Of course option three is- we give in- we listen to Jesus’ voice and we make choices and changes in our life to effect His calling to us. We eat His meal- we don’t ignore it and let it grow cold- we don’t dispute it and say we can cook a better dish- we say “alright Jesus, I’m buying in- buy you better help me with unbelief.” We start giving to the poor. We start being more forgiving. We gossip less. We strive to increase peace in our world. We listen to His voice calling from the Gospels- we eat his Words- and we change accordingly.
Funny thing is all three of these options are dangerous. Ignore Jesus or contradicting His call- is spiritually dangerous- It means you are opting for your own works and goodness over and above the grace and calling of Christ. Do you want to stand before God on judgement day and be in a rationalization argument, “Well you see God what I was thinking at the time was that Jesus was mistaken- and that I would experiment with not forgiving my enemies- and see how that worked out.” We don’t want to be there.
But option 3 is dangerous as well. It has dangerous worldly consequences. When you make peace with someone in town that all your friends despise. When you give up an unhealthy habit and your friend or spouse- who shared the habit- just doesn’t understand you anymore. When you start budgeting to give to the poor or to community organizations- and you just don’t have money anymore for those gifts that promoted false peace with your family and friends.
Our choices have consequences. All of our choices are spiritual. Because God inhabits this world- all things can be spiritual. What we watch on TV- or choose not to watch. How we work. How we behave in school. How we treat friends. How we treat our family. How we treat school mates or co-workers.
My challenge for all us- myself included- is to ask ourselves. Am I letting Jesus be who he really is- in my life? Or is he getting cold- Am I pretending to be at His table- but I never really swallow his words. Have I gotten lazy and just started eating any old thing laying around- you know the inquirer, fox news- and forgotten to take Jesus seriously.
Many people who had followed Jesus walked away after he finished the bread of life teaching. After he offered them a spicy radical meal- that if they wanted real life- and eternal life- they would need to eat his very flesh and blood. They said, “shoot, its not worth sticking around to see what you mean. I’ll go find a rabbi that more suits my own ideas.”
How sad. Friends I believe each one of us is here today- because in some way God wants to speak to us. Words we may not understand completely at first- challenging words- that may change our life. Maybe God is calling you to baptism- Maybe God is calling you to watch less TV. Maybe God is calling you to give more. Friends don’t walk away because the words feel harsh at first- Jesus is too loving to be nice to us all the time. He loves us so much He tell us the truth.
So friends may we each hear the truth of Jesus in our lives. May we take it in and digest it and let His words become true life for us. Amen.
posted by Palouse Fed. Church at 10:10 AM
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