Bread of Heaven John 6:51-58

Year B Trinity 11 John 6:51-58

John 6:51-58 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread[a] the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

Chapter 6 of St. John's gospel is probably most famous for his account of the feeding of the 5000. John's gospel takes this miracle as the beginning of Jesus declaring who he really is and what he has come to do. In chapter 6 we read that Jesus miraculously feeds those who have gathered to listen to him by mysteriously sharing the lunch that a young boy had brought with him. The people respond by declaring him to be a prophet and rush to make him king. Rather than allowing himself to be dragged into the political affairs of men Jesus withdraws to a quiet place. We know that this is Jesus' pattern-  often withdrawing to be alone with the Father. In his absence, the disciples find themselves in trouble. Jesus walks out onto the water to calm the lake and their nerves. The crowd follow Jesus across the lake, seeking his leadership and wisdom. What he says to them there causes them to reject him. It's a difficult teaching then and one which we should be careful to understand as people who call ourselves Christians.

Our reading summarises neatly what Jesus taught and the jews rejected. I am the living bread. I am the bread of life. My flesh is true food. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and me in him.  Those four statements from this morning's gospel reading  give us a clear picture of what Jesus came to do and be. He is not simply a prophet. He is not simply an earthly king. He is God's ultimate gift to creation, willing to sacrifice himself so that no one need go spiritually hungry again.

Abide in me and I will abide in you. Eat my flesh, drink my blood and live forever. We cannot  fix our relationship with God and find true peace and happiness by ourselves. Jesus must abide in us.

and we take him in by eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

Forgive the phrasing, but this is really difficult for many of us to stomach. The Jews certainly didn't like it. Many of those who followed him left after this teaching. And to be fair many religious leaders today talk about how Jesus is being figurative here- he doesn't really mean drink my blood. He doesn't really mean eat my flesh. He's really talking about something else. This morning I am going to say that Jesus meant every word of what he says.

This is difficult for us because we may have been brought up to believe that communion is just a remembrance. A meal we share in fellowship to remember the sacrifice of Christ. Eating a meal like the manna that the Jews shared in the desert did not deal with the real problem- their sinful and disobedient hearts. It  only fed their physical hunger. And what happened? forty years they wandered because of their unbelief! Only Jesus, the sacrifice from heaven, is able to point the world back to God. Like the Jews, we were lost, but Jesus doesn't just feed our stomachs to die in isolation from our God. Jesus rescues us. He does so by becoming the perfect sacrifice. Literally his flesh and blood are the means by which we can be one with our maker in the promised land. This food doesn't just stop us being hungry as we search for a better life. This food brings the better life right into our hearts.

You will have often heard that Jesus is the full and sufficient sacrifice for sin. This is an important teaching that we should try to understand more clearly. In the 1st-century, animal sacrifice was widespread. They were used as a means of gaining forgiveness for wrongs or simply seeking the blessing of a god. These animals would then be sold for food. So it was quite natural language for a sacrifice to be eaten.

We take in the sacrifice of Jesus in two forms, which depend on each other.

In one sense, we share in the sacrifice of Christ by faith. In faith, we receive his sacrifice for us and by faith we accept him into our bodies are accepted into his body, the church. It is absolutely clear in scripture that the means by which we receive the forgiveness of God is

Grace, love freely given, chiefly so on the cross

through faith, our acceptance of the father, son and Holy Spirit and the resurrection.

The second expression of this receiving of Christ's sacrifice is holy communion. In many of our traditions, we have a low view of communion. It is a remembrance. It's something the Holy Joes do. Sometimes even worse we believe it has magical powers to wash us clean, no matter what we hold dearest in our hearts. Without faith, one cannot truly receive the communion that Jesus promises us. Yet we must completely ignore what John writes here to have anything but the deepest reverence for what we receive. Indeed in faith, we actually do receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ. His flesh is true food. His blood is true drink. This is my body. This is my blood. We do not worship bread and wine. We worship the one who gave these gifts to us... His body and his blood. The one who gives us himself so that we might fully be alive.

Alive with hope.

Alive trusting that when is life does end our God will gather us to him.

Alive in Christ and he in us.

In the desert the Jews received food which filled the stomach even as their hearts wandered.  In Jesus they had food which would sustain eternally yet they refused to sit at his table. When you receive Christ's gifts,  in whatever way or sense is your custom, do so gladly accepting all that he died for you to receive.  Verse 58 "This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."

In the lord's supper, Eucharist or holy communion there is a wonderful feast that we can all share together. A meal that we share which is the promise of eternal life. Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour gave everything he had for us and we must only receive him. Jesus gave himself that you might never be spiritually hungry again. Today would you be freed from your hunger and thirst to live a life of fulfilment and plenty? You might say, Peter I don’t feel hungry my life is filled. But we read in  1Cor 5-8.ESV Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Your life may be full, but what with? Gossip and division or peace and joy? Peace and joy are the food that Jesus offers. We are all very aware of our diet in this day and age, but it’s not easy to do something about it- to leave those food alone which we enjoy but are bad for us. Do you feel in need of a change in spiritual food? Is your heart blocked up with bitterness and guilt? Would you fill yourself with the love of the cross and the hope of the resurrection?. Join me in this prayer:

Dear Lord,

Lord Jesus abide in me. Lord I gratefully receive all that you promise. Fill me anew with your Holy Spirit. Be alive to me in all of your creation, most especially in your sacraments. When this earthly life ends, raise me up to be you in your kingdom. You are the bread of heaven. Feed me now and ever more. Amen.