Questions-Challenges-Decisions Through Love - John 6:51-69 - Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

 

John 6:51-69 NIV

⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread 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, “Very truly I tell you, 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 them 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 them. 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 ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever 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 Then 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—they are full of the Spirit and 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 them.”

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Questions-Challenges-Decisions Through Love

The WORD became flesh. For real! Look and listen to how Jesus speaks His message clearly and directly.

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 NIV

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ 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.” ²⁵ 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.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Mark 14:22-25 NIV

²² While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.

²⁴ “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. ²⁵ “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 26:26-29 NIV

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Luke 22:17-19 NIV

¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Jesus speaks, what to our ears may be, divisive words, grotesque, blunt, crude, repulsive, possibly pagan or just plain crazy talk. Is this a metaphor?

Jesus preached in honesty. Like it or not, Jesus preached both metaphor and literal, one or the other, and sometimes both; but Jesus’ teaching was to the point.

How about today? Do we hear sugar coated words to attract listeners into our church or congregation? Do we lean away from hard truth to avoid offending those sitting in the pews? Do we compromise the Gospel to fill the pew? Or maybe, we are afraid that we may empty the pew when we make obvious the sins of the people.

In the Gospel passage that this reflection began with, Jesus brings us to Questions-Challenges-Decisions Through Love.

Here, Jesus confronts us with His divine purpose. Jesus confronts us with His very own flesh and blood that will give way to our sin. Why? That we may live in and through Him. We live through Jesus and through His love for all God’s people. All people!

But to the ear of the people past and many present; Jesus words are offensive and disgusting. All this talk of Bread of Life has evolved into Body and Blood of Jesus.

How offensive! How disgusting!

It reminds me of an occasion when I took my blind grandson, Jake, to church one week. Jake had not been taught about Holy Communion. Jake sits in a wheelchair for the most part and is very immobile. When it was time for Holy Communion, the Pastor and Deacon came into the congregation to offer Jake the elements.

“This is the body of Christ, given for you.”

“This is the blood of Christ, shed for you.”

Jake didn’t understand. So, he called out, “I’m not a Vampire!”

Later in Jake’s life he would be taught in Catechism the meaning; but for now, this was a disgusting occasion to him.

But I must admit, that Jesus’ understanding and love far exceeds anything I can fathom.

In these words of Jesus, the Spirit gives life.

Physically, Jesus lays down His life that I and you, may be forgiven of sin and live in Him.

In these words of Jesus, He leads me and you to believe in Him. We believe, not from our own efforts, or knowledge, or willpower. No! We believe because God gives us the faith to believe. Faith is not something we can muster up on our own. It’s a gift from God. And through this gift of faith from God we are led to believe.

Our source of life is Jesus’ death. Jesus dies in the flesh and bleeds his blood, in body; out of God’s love for His creation.

But why?

As sinful, fallen humans; we have come to turn away from God. We have come to go out in our own direction, with the idea that we can pull up our bootstraps and save ourselves. We think, at best, we can make something out of ourselves and our world that will make all this stuff we see around us better. Well… we can’t…. we haven’t… and on our own power… we will never make all things better.

We need a Savior. And that’s what God the Father sent to this world. A Savior. God sent Himself in the flesh of Jesus, to be one of us, to teach us how to die to ourself and live in Him. God sent a Savior to give his Body and Blood as a sacrifice for all people that our selfish sinfulness may be forever forgiven. Our source of life is Jesus’ death.

We believers are tied to Jesus in His life for all the world.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to descend to this earth. And before Jesus ascended into heaven, he willingly ascended upon the cross, to bleed and die, for the forgiveness of our sin. Jesus became our sin on that cross. Jesus had no sin, himself. No! He became our sin and died for us.

This is all God’s work, not mine or your work. This is all what God has done for us. And through this work of God in Jesus, we come to believe in what He did in Christ.

Here in the words Jesus speaks of Bread of Life, eating his body and blood, we become One with Him in his death.

The thought would be repulsive to any Jew of the day. This is all unclean stuff! But, as we come to learn through Jesus’ teaching, it is union with Jesus. Jesus is in us and we are in Jesus by taking on the horror of what happened.

But, don’t forget, there is a contrast of the physical with the spiritual here.

Hear and read, once again, the words of Jesus in verse 57…

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. 

Yes, Jesus used harsh, offensive, repulsive words here. Many will choose to go back from these words of Jesus in unbelief, repulsed by the thought and wanting to turn back to themselves for the working out of their own salvation in their own way.

But Jesus’ words are plain here. Jesus IS God and God’s Son. And with Him IS eternal life.

Can you take the harsh reality of this message?

Will you turn and run?

Do you believe Jesus is God’s Son?

Do you see God in Jesus?

Questions-Challenges-Decisions --- Through love.

Don’t forget…

Jesus chose the twelve disciples…

Jesus chooses you as well…

Here the words of Peter…

⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Lord, may we live as children of The Light. I know you hear us when we pray. You have chosen us to be yours and to live with you in your Kingdom… today… tomorrow… and forever. Thanks be to God!

I leave you with this interesting  Gospel Song regarding our questions…

Jesus Is The Answer

Jesus Is The Answer

Enjoy!

I Will Raise You Up - John 6:35-51

 

John 6:35-51 NIV

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever 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 those 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 those 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 them up at the last day.”

⁴¹ At this the Jews there 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 them, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned 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 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

I Will Raise You Up

Look at that! Over and over, Jesus words tell us that He will raise us, you and me, up on the last day. Just look at that! Look back over this passage of scripture. See how many of these words are the words of Jesus?

Jesus words above, are to the point. Jesus words are the promise of God through Jesus. Believe this Jesus. Take this Jesus in, and consume Him. Jesus IS the only food needed for eternal life. This Jesus, IS the food that feeds us and nourishes us and sends us out, full of love for God and for those God gives to us each and every day as we live out our life in this place and in this time.

It's like this introduction to my reflective work of this week on this passage is a mini-major lesson all its own.

We must feed on Christ. And not just once a week, for maybe an hour or fifteen minutes of waking time during a sermon. No! We need to feed on Christ daily. Let’s take a look at the Third Commandment, with this feeding on Christ daily in mind.

Remember this Commandment? …

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Luther’s Explanation to What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not despise His Word and the preaching of it, but acknowledge it as holy, and gladly hear and learn it.

This Commandment wasn’t meant to be a one-shot deal for the week. This commandment wasn’t in place to identify a day of the week to remember the Sabbath day. No! I contend that this commandment was meant to be daily, hourly, and maybe minute by minute. We have a deep need to turn to God. As humans it may be a need to turn to Jesus.

In our call from God, we need the Word to feed and guide us. It’s never our own efforts that drive us to God. No! God draws us in to Himself. Rather the food of Jesus working through and out of us is what makes our life in Jesus’ tick, or work, or come to life. Jesus is the power to live out love into this world.

Never deny the meal of Christ. You need Jesus to live! Crave nothing else in life. You can’t satisfy your need, your life, with anything else. There will be no satisfaction in eternal life with power, money, drugs, education, alcohol, food, sex, prestige or anything else. All these earthly desires which we may work towards, to bring us our own personal satisfactions, will fail when it comes to eternal life.

Crave only Christ Jesus. We have been offered as seen, heard and read, from the above Gospel Scripture the “Bread of Life. “This “Bread of Life” which gives us life. This Jesus! So… Why starve?

Now, let’s go to the “Way Back Machine,” on this feeding, let’s take a look at the Word in Isaiah…

Isaiah 55:1-2 NIV

55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
    come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without cost.
² Why spend money on what is not bread,
    and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
    and you will delight in the richest of fare.

There is God’s Food and Drink in Jesus! The free Food of God!

Wow! That was just the introduction to this reflection on “Pointing to Jesus.” Talk about Pointing to Jesus! That’s ALL Jesus!

Jesus is the One we believe. When we read this account, these words of Jesus, we see through the eyes of faith. Faith is an important gift from God that let’s us see through the eyes of faith and believe in Jesus.

Lets’ take a closer look at verse 37, and contemplate its deep meaning:

³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 

These are Jesus’ own words here. Look at that! Jesus thinks of us, you and me, as a gift from God! In this one verse we see that Jesus loves to save us, His gift from God. Yes, Jesus loves to save us from sin and death. Look at these words in this paragraph of Jesus speaking.

God took the first move in giving us to Jesus. Think of that! We are in Jesus because God the Father gave us to Jesus. We were Jesus’ gift, not because we did anything to earn Jesus! It flips this gift thing of Baptism on its head. I’ve never thought of my life with God as being a gift TO Jesus. Wow!

And, on top of all this; Jesus is OUR Gift from God!

What a divine, wonderful, circle God has created in Gifts of Us and Jesus. Gifts One to the other and the other to the ONE.

So, yes, hunger for Jesus.
Jesus comes to us to bring us home to God. This IS God’s love. This IS God’s love for us and God’s grace to us. That leads us to this question; What is God’s will for you and for me?

Well, that sounds like a work question, it is and it isn’t. It’s more like a thankful response question and a gift question. God’s will for you and for me is to have eternal life through Him! That’s a GIFT!

The will of God the Father is that you and I may see Jesus, believe, AND have eternal life and resurrection. This all just blows my mind. It’s all a gift and my own efforts don’t apply towards receiving this gift. What Love is this?

Love, as in Jesus’ love or our love for neighbor, exhibits the power to attract. Look back once again…

Jeremiah 31:3 NIV

³ The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Hosea 11:4 NIV

⁴ I led them (God’s people) with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.

Well, this Gift from God the Father to God the Son to us, blew the minds of the people of that day as well as today.

Some people may only see Jesus as a son of Mary and Joseph. A guy from a small town that was taught the skills of a tradesman, a carpenter. Maybe a few, give Jesus the honor of calling Him a prophet. But many then and today see Jesus in an earthly, material, kind of way.

But… God calls us to see Jesus as the “Bread of Life.” God changes our focus as we have seen in the past few sessions of “Pointing to Jesus,” to move us from a material view to a spiritual view.

God the Father sent Jesus from Heaven to Earth and back to Heaven.

Accept Jesus at His Word. After all, Jesus has seen God. Believe what Jesus says!

We also live out our lives on this earth, in this place and in this time. But when we look to Jesus with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, and through the eyes of what Jesus did for us on this earth; we are led to see how eternal life with God is a gift, freely given to us.

How? We eat the “Bread” freely given to us. Through this “Bread” this Jesus, we are being taught.  And this teaching is a timeless teaching. Back to the “Way Back Machine” of Isaiah…

Isaiah 54:13 NIV

¹³ All your children will be taught by the Lord,
    and great will be their peace.

Jesus is the TRUE giver of life. Jesus IS, once again, as told several times in this passage of Gospel Scripture; I AM. I AM… that is God. The God of all time as witnessed by Moses and all the Fathers of the Old Testament and today.

As the Israelites escaped from the slavery in Egypt and wandered in the wilderness; God freely gave them the gift of manna, Bread from Heaven, to feed them and sustain them for a time, for a while, for a moment in history.

But now, in this passage, we see that God gives us sinful beings, people destined to death and hell due to our sinful nature; something we don’t deserve or could never earn from our own works.

What is this? What is this Bread from Heaven?

Jesus is this “Bread of Life that gives freely eternal life. Eternal life that passes straight through our physical need to spiritual life in Jesus. And through this eating of “Real” Bread, we receive Jesus.

As Jesus words in this Gospel passage make clear, Jesus IS the Bread of Life that gives eternal life.

So…

Eat the Bread of Life. Take Jesus in and live forever. Jesus gives His life for you, today… tomorrow… and forever.

Back to Luther’s Catechism on Holy Communion.

What is Holy Communion?

Communion is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and the wine, given to us Christians to eat and drink as instituted by Christ himself.

Where is this written?

Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul say:

In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread and gave thanks; broke it, and gave it to his disciples saying:

“Take and eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying:

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?

It is pointed out in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Through these words the forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation are given to us in the Sacrament, for where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation.

How can bodily eating and drinking produce such great benefits?

It is not the eating and drinking alone, but also the words that accompany it, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

These words, together with the eating and drinking are the chief thing in the Sacrament, and those who believe them have what they say and declare, namely, the forgiveness of sins.

Wow!

God gives us to Jesus for us to know Him in all eternity. The Grace of God IS forever! Believe it!

Lord, as we journey in this wilderness of life in which we now live, show us our sin and lead us to Mount Sinai to meet with You and turn to You. Deliver us from our fears that we may live in the love of forgiveness, freely given to us through your Son, Jesus. Teach us to imitate Jesus’ love for us and all people that we too may go, fed by the “Bread of Life” into our world, here and now, to love and serve all those you give to us… today… tomorrow… and forever. --- Amen

I leave you with this hymn that came to mind…

I AM the Bread of Life

Why Look to Jesus? - John 6:22-35

 

John 6:22-35 NIV

²² The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. ²³ Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁰ So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Why Look to Jesus?

This passage of Gospel is a transition of dependence on God. How’s that? Jesus has just fed the people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. Something that on the surface of all is impossible. Jesus didn’t just feed a few people. No, He fed thousands of people with more left over than what they had to begin with.

So, here we have God in Jesus feeding people, in what they believed was a physical feeding. It was a feeding that was needed to sustain physical life. But was it really? Jesus blessed and broke bread and people were satisfied. Many people were satisfied. But how many really looked beyond the physical?

It reminds me, once again, of my catechism teaching from the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. This is a prayer in which Jesus teaches his disciples, and all people how to pray.  Here it is:

The Fourth Petition

Give us this day our daily bread.

Luther’s explanation:

What does this mean?

God indeed gives daily bread to all, even unbelievers, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that he would help us to recognize this so that we would receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.

What is meant by daily bread?

Daily bread includes everything required to meet our earthly needs, such as food, drink, clothing, home, property, employment, necessities; devout parents, children, and communities; honest and faithful authorities, good government, seasonable weather, peace, health, an orderly society, a good reputation, true friends and neighbors, and the like. (End of Luther’s Explanation)

You see, how Jesus had just met the needs of the crowd of thousands with daily bread? But Jesus has met this need not only in a physical sense as we witness in Luther’s Explanation.

This passage of scripture leads us to see how Jesus feeds us in ways beyond our physical needs. Even in Jesus moving to another location, is difficult to understand physically. We witnessed just this past week how Jesus walked on water to get into the boat with His disciples to cross over and continue in ministry to the crowds of people in need.

In this Gospel lesson for this week, we witness not a physical feeding of bread, but also a spiritual feeding of the “Bread of Life.” What? Yes, this “Bread of Life,” IS Jesus. And this Jesus feeds us salvation.

Jesus real purpose was not just to fill our guts, and heal our illness, but to save souls. Jesus shows us in the Gospel passage that life is more important than physical needs. Jesus shows us the “Bread” that we need for new life.

In this Gospel passage we see how Jesus begins and how we respond in the end. What did Jesus do when he fed the thousands on the other side of the lake?

He gave thanks to God for the food freely given to feed the thousands? Jesus gave thanks! Giving thanks for a celebration of a supper freely given to us all at this Lord’s Supper in front of thousands. This giving thanks and this celebration is the very meaning of Eucharist. OK, big word for most of us. What? Well, that is the same feast we celebrate that Jesus celebrated with his disciples before his suffering, death and resurrection. This is what we today commonly call Communion.  Many churches commune with Jesus in bread and wine, which are also the body and blood of Christ, receiving Jesus’ nourishment into body and into soul as well.

And in this is the bridge of this Gospel reading between the physical and the spiritual needs we all have in God.

Look at the passage. At the beginning… Where did Jesus go? The crowds surely had to ponder this. Only one boat and Jesus didn’t get into that boat. Where did Jesus go and how did He get to the place that they found Him?

Well… Jesus had fed the bodies of the thousands… Now… Jesus feeds the souls.

There’s that transition again….  Body to Soul… Physical to Spiritual.

So, the people are looking for Jesus.

Why do we today look for Jesus?

Do we look for Jesus so that we can get all hyped up? If so, I don’t think that would impress Jesus. Jesus doesn’t need my over-the-top expressions of how great He is.

Do we look for Jesus to sustain us? Come on! Jesus doesn’t need that from me. He already has given me all that I need.

Do we look for Jesus to give us BIG numbers in the church in which we attend? Big deal! Jesus doesn’t care about our attendance, that’s peanuts!

I really think that we may hurt Jesus when we come to Him for material issues or comforts, or our own prosperity even. God didn’t send Jesus into this world for my comfort or your comfort. In my opinion, for what that is worth, I think, Jesus is disappointed by my coming to Him for my selfish material needs.

What difference does all this stuff in my life or your life make?

Why not come to Jesus for something different? Something more to the point. All this material stuff and selfish need ranks low compared to what we really need.

We are a pitiful lot as we press forward for more food, more money, more power, more influence, more this, that, or anything else that may satisfy us for the moment or a moment longer.

Look back at Luther’s Explanation to the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer… Give us this day our daily bread. --- God gives daily bread to ALL --- Even unbelievers!

So, the question is back. Why look to Jesus?

Look to Jesus for much more than daily bread. Look to Jesus for eternal food, eternal bread, and eternal water.

How?

Consider… What are we here for?

We are here to glorify God. To glorify God in Jesus.

How?

Look at what Jesus has done. Think about what God has done through Jesus. Believe that Jesus was the Bread sent by God to give all people everlasting life. Yea! That’s life beyond the physical needs and life in spirit with God in Jesus.

We use the faith God freely gives to us and believe in Jesus’ salvation for ALL people.

That’s why we look for Jesus. We need Jesus to live.

We move from food for the soul to doing God’s work. Receive this “Bread” from heaven, this Jesus, the gift of faith, AND believe!

Look beyond the needs of the body to the needs of the spirit. Manna from heaven fed the Israelites for a moment. Bread feeds us today for a time.

But here and now God gives Himself in flesh, in Jesus, to give us all we ever need, forever and ever.

All of this? Direct gifts from God for body and soul.

Look back at verse 35. Jesus makes it bluntly clear. This transition from God meeting our physical needs to our spiritual needs.

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Did you see that? Jesus said I AM! It’s Jesus that is the Bread, the Manna, sent to us from heaven. Jesus IS the “Bread of Life.” Jesus is the ONE that gives eternal life. You can count on Jesus. So, why not, turn and believe?

Why look to Jesus?

In Jesus we see God’s gift for all the world.

 In Jesus we see God’s grace for all the world.

 In Jesus we see God’s love for all the world.

In Jesus we see God’s salvation for all the world.

In Jesus we see God’s communion with all the world and with each one of us.

In Jesus we receive God’s Bread of Life.

In Jesus we see God’s I AM.

This is the Great Thanksgiving, the Eucharist, the Communion with God in which we take and eat and believe!

Yes, crave nothing else! After all, there’s nothing else to crave that matters anyway.

Lord, in the midst of my selfish grumbling, You feed me Your Bread. You open your hands and give me what I need, when I need it. You feed me Jesus. Jesus is enough for all my needs. Thank You God, that Christ descended to make me and all those who turn to you ONE with you and in communion with one another… today… tomorrow… and forever. --- Amen

As I pondered Communion, this YouTube music video, spoke to me.

Enjoy…

Bread of Life and Cup of Hope