PENTECOST 12 – August 15, 2021 – John 6:51-69
“ONE WAY TO LIVE – JESUS!”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from John 6. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- This is one of the most fascinating accounts in the Gospels They tell of the ministry of Jesus, the “holy One of God.” They especially emphasize His role as the Savior of the world, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
- So if these events related in our text had not been recorded in Scripture we never would have dreamed that such a thing could happen to our Savior – that people would be so upset with His teaching that they deserted Him. And yet the same things happen within the church to this day, very sadly.
- And while we note with sorrow this disturbing incident, we dare not overlook the critical thing – the confession of faith by Peter, and the other ten disciples who remained faithful to Jesus by following Him and being with Him.
- Likewise, we should note with joy that it is the Spirit Who gives life – by bringing people to faith in Jesus. Likewise, none of this takes place apart from the Father’s good and gracious will for us. If we have faith in Jesus, and by faith “feed on His flesh and drink His blood,” then we too have received these precious blessings from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Jesus uses the rich history of the people of Israel in the wilderness, their experience of “Manna,” bread from heaven to teach realities about Himself. The children of Israel in the wilderness received this Manna from God. Jesus has come from God. Their lives were given and sustained by this bread from God. New spiritual life and eternal life are given and sustained by the real “living bread come down from heaven,” Jesus Himself.
- This is for us to know and to contemplate as well, for the reality is no different today. We begin with Jesus’ statement that:
I. Jesus Is The Living Bread
Text: “I am the living bread.”
A. He Came Down From Heaven, He Is A Human Being But Is Not A Mere Human Being. He Is The Incarnate And Eternal Son Of God
Text: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.”
B. He Gives Eternal Life To All Who Believe In Him, Who Receive Him As Savior
Text: “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. . . . Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life; he that does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
C. And This Bread, Which Jesus Also Gives Is His Flesh – The Crucifixion
Text: “The bread that I will give . . . is My flesh.”
D. And This Flesh Is Given For The Life Of The World
Text: “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
Statement: These realities set the context of everything else that Jesus taught using the symbolism of the wilderness manna, and teaching people to believe in Him. He holds out new spiritual life and eternal life to all who know and accept Him for Who He is, and to all who truly understand the “giving, loving, gracious, and merciful” Nature of the Father and the Holy Spirit!
Application: Instead of humbly pondering and understanding, the people instead “disputed” and “took offense.” But Jesus did not retract, or offer some other kind of explanation. He doubled down on what He began with, with the result that “many of His disciples turned back and no loner walked with Him.”
Some people today confuse this teaching of Jesus with what He says about Holy Communion. But this is not what Jesus is talking about – He is talking about faith. Just receiving communion – which truly is His body and blood, as His Word’s of Institution make clear – without faith and trust in Jesus, does not give life. So, let us not get confused as some of Jesus’ hearers were and end up losing the Gospel itself.
We should contemplate all of this very carefully. Did Jesus know what the effect of His teaching, and doubling down on His teaching, was going to be? Of course He did. Our text makes this clear: “Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray Him.” Still, He went ahead with this analogy, and intensified it. Common sense would say that He was wrong in this, that He should have switched to something different, and made a greater effort to “establish communication.” He did not.
We at times think that we might have a better approach or protocol to accomplishing God’s will than what Jesus instructs in Holy Scripture. We think we could be more effective in establishing relationships, or restoring mutual understanding, by using our own methods. But Jesus would have us do otherwise, even when it appears to us that His protocol is not going to be the most effective. Does He already know what the effect is going to be if we follow His Word? Yes, of course He does. But still He instructs us as to how to do things – and does not expect us to “tweak” them but to do them. This is often difficult for us.
But the bottom line is this:
II. Apart From Faith In Jesus There Is No Life
A. This Teaching Creates Offense And Grumbling
Text: “When many of His disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying: who can listen to it? . . . Jesus, knowing in Himself that his disciples were grumbling about this.”
John 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
B. But This Gospel Is Spirit And Life
Text: “It is the Spirit Who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The Words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. . . . But there are some of you who do not believe.”
Statement: It is hard to believe that so many who were following Jesus still did not believe in Him, still did not submit to Him, still did not receive His teaching and His Word. But this is the way of fallen, and spiritually dead and blind human nature.
Application: And we have this same sinful fallen flesh within us. And there are many today, some even within the visible church, who likewise appear to be following Jesus until some difficult teaching or experience comes along, and then they desert Him. They don’t think that they are – they think they still have God – but without His Word, without submission to His Word, by grumbling at His Word, they are actually refusing to follow Him. And He will leave them behind, just as Jesus did on this occasion.
And each of us has this same predilection, to figure out an easier way to understand, or to supposedly “honor” God, but without simply following His Word. This is one of the dynamics of our sinful flesh that we should be watching at all times, and one aspect of our sinful flesh that definitely needs to be put to death. It is dangerous and spiritually deadly.
But this is not the Father’s will, nor the Spirit’s will, nor the will of Jesus. But:
III. Only God Can Grant Us Faith And Life
Text: “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
1 Cor. 12:3 “No one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”
John 6:29 “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.”
A. There Are Many, However, Who Leave Christ
Text: “After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.”
B. But The Few, Eleven, Had Faith In Jesus And Would Not Leave
1. They knew that He was the Holy One of God, The Messiah
Text: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’
2. They knew that His Words Are Eternal Life
Text: “You have the Words of eternal life.”
3. This example in our text, is a perfect illustration of what Jesus once said:
Matt. 7:13,14 “Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who go in through it. But narrow is the gate and constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Statement: It is interesting that Jesus valued the eleven disciples who were faithful and followed His Word and believed His teaching more than the multitudes that would not submit to and commit to faith and trust in Jesus’ Word. This is the distinction between the “visible church,” the institution, and the invisible church, the people of faith, who belong to the kingdom of God. This is something for us to take in and ponder as well – and to make sure that we are on the narrow way that leads to life.
Application: The other way is wide and easy, because there are so many upon it. And it is always easier for us to go with the flow, to join the majority, and to also balk at the Word of Jesus, especially when it is “offending” us. But pray God that we do not begin grumbling, and especially that we never determine to “no longer walk with Jesus.” Again we must keep our sinful nature in check.
Conclusion: Salvation is gracious and free. It is the blessed gift of God, Who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of God.
However, His salvation is what it is, what He has made it to be. Jesus is in charge of it, including the Words of eternal life. May He grant that we always submit to His Word, remain close to Him, and allow Him, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, to determine how things will work out.
This will bring the greatest blessings to the church, the true church. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.