JESUS: THE LIVING BREAD

George Butterfield
August 17, 1997

A. One of the ways that this church serves our community is through giving food to a lot of hungry people. Singing Oaks is to be commended for it's outreach to the poor. But we are to a point where this ministry is being hindered because we have a great need to stock our pantry. Old Mother Hubbard tells me that the cupboard is just about bare. If we do not restock soon, we will not be able to distribute food. This morning we celebrate Jesus, the living bread. Let me encourage each of you when you leave to gather a few items and bring them for our pantry. If you are not sure what would be best to bring, please call the office for more information.

B. John 6:51-58. This morning I want to make a few comments from this text and then talk some about what we do here at the Lord's Table. This will be part sermon, part classroom teaching, and part communion meditation.

1. The narrative here is part of the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. After feeding them Jons withdrew to the mountains to pray. After this we have this conversation between Jesus and some of those who were fed.

2. This text is part of a larger discussion about faith in Jesus. After this conversation many of the people were so scandalized that they no longer followed Jesus. The words in this text are radical. Non-believers have used them against the Church. And they have been a source of argument among Christians.

3. What is Jesus talking about here when he refers to "eating his flesh and drinking his blood"? Christians have been and are still divided on this.

a. Some believe that Jesus could not have been talking about the eucharist, communion, the Lord's Supper. They point to the historical setting as well as the strong language. If this is a reference to communion, then some views of communion will have to change. They believe that this is a Jewish way of talking about receiving Jesus and trusting in him.

b. Others point to the fact that this was written to a Church that had communion every Sunday. They wonder how any Christian could hear these words read in the Church and not immediately think of communion. In other words, John records a story about Jesus but he does so to teach the Church about communion.

c. Others believe that John has a couple of messages in mind here. Jesus may have originally been speaking of receiving and trusting him but that this is also a statement about the meaning of communion. I tend to fall in this category so this morning I thought it might be good to use this text and some comments on it as a bridge between the sermon and the communion.

I. Some Thoughts On John 6:51-58.

A. V. 51-

1. "living bread"-

a. John 1:4- "in him was life." This is one of the main themes in this Gospel.

b. Jesus is the bread that, if eaten, causes one to live forever.

(1) Without food, we die. We hunger and thirst. And if those needs aren't satisfied, eventually we die.

(2) Jesus point us to a deeper spiritual reality.

(a) Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You, O God."

(b) Within each of us is a hungering and thirsting for spiritual food and drink.

(c) Jesus claims to be "living bread," bread that will nourish and sustain the human spirit. And the one who eats it, Jesus says, "will live forever."

2. "came down from heaven"- a reference to the incarnation.

3. "that I will give"- a reference to his death, his offering of himself for the world.

B. V. 52- this statement creates controversy.

C. V. 53-

1. This continues his emphasis on a person "having life" within them.

2. And notice the radical language. This would have been offensive to his initial audience. Jews were forbidden to drink the blood of animals. And here Jesus is speaking of his own flesh and blood! This is certainly politically incorrect language by Jesus.

3. The eating and drinking here denotes once-for-all action. It appears to be a graphic way of saying that a person must take Christ into their innermost being. To "eat" and to "drink" is to take to oneself by a voluntary act that which is external to oneself, and then to assimilate it and make it part of oneself.

D. V. 54-

1. The language for "eating and drinking" here is a little different.

a. It does not denote a once-for-all eating but an ongoing action.

b. And the word for "eating" applies to a somewhat noisy feeding. Some would translate this "munch" or "crunch." The idea seems to be one of eating with enjoyment. Some of us are loud eaters to begin with. My grandmother always thought you should be quiet at the dinner table. But the boys in our family were noisy eaters even when we were quiet. But when we got with a group of friends and started to celebrate, the eating got even louder. The picture here is of a joyous celebration.

2. "have/I will"- Notice the blending of the two types of eschatology (realized and final).

E. V. 55- True food and drink for a person's deepest needs are to be found in Christ and, by implication, in him alone.

F. V. 57-

1. "living Father"- cf. v. 51, "living bread."

2. "sent me"- Jesus comes back to his sense of mission.

3. "I live because of the Father"-

a. Jesus comes from a living Father. He brings life. He is life. He is the bread of life.

b. We who "abide" in him (v. 56) share in the life of God.

G. V. 58- Jesus claims that a greater than Moses is here. He identifies himself not with Moses but with God, the real giver of bread.

H. Notice the emphases in this text:

1. Jesus is our life.

2. Unless we receive Jesus into ourselves, we will not have life. Our spiritual hunger will not be satisfied.

3. Those who receive Jesus and abide in him have a pledge from Jesus that he will raise them up in the last day.

II. What Do We Celebrate at the Lord's Table?

A. The Offering.

1. 2 Cor. 8:9- "For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."

2. Notice the parallels to the Gospel text: Jesus "came down from heaven" and "gave" his flesh "for the life of the world." This is the language of making an offering, bringing a sacrifice.

3. For most of us, the offering has not had much theological significance. The Church needs money to run. We need a time to teach our children to give. So the offering is as good a time as any for this.

a. But in the offering we are celebrating the incarnation and sacrificial death of Jesus. Could you connect more important ideas to an event?

b. Last week we heard Paul's admonition to the Ephesians. He said, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Eph. 5:1-2).

c. In the offering we are participating in something that has to do with the heart and soul of our faith. We demonstrate in this act our belief that Jesus Christ came down from heaven and gave his flesh for the life of the world.

d. For some reason we have liked the language, "And now, separate and apart from the Lord's Supper, we take up this offering." Is that really true?

(1) Perhaps this was of our way years ago of saying, "Now this is a separate act of worship than the Lord's Supper." But folks, in the offering we celebrate the incarnation and sacrificial death of Christ. Pray tell, what do we celebrate when we eat the bread and drink the cup? Is it not, the incarnation, sacrificial death and resurrection of Christ?

(2) Historically these things went together because they celebrated the same events in the history of salvation. And the offering usually went first.

(a) Perhaps we have put it after communion for practical reasons (eat the bread before handling the money).

(b) But historically it came just before. This made sense for several reasons but the main one was that people brought as their offerings things other than money. And usually this included the bread and the wine that was used in the communion. So, it made sense to have it first.

(c) I'm not as concerned about where we put it in the service as I am that we know what we're doing when we do it. We are celebrating the incarnation and death of Christ, he who is the living bread that came down from heaven and gave his flesh for the life of the world, he who is a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

4. And this is an important community event. It's interesting how we like to use the word communion or fellowship for the Lord's Supper and potlucks. But the word for communion, fellowship, participation is frequently used in the New Testament for our financial giving as well as the giving of our lives sacrificially to God. In this event we are participating in the sacrificial life of Christ.

B. The Communion.

1. The New Testament has several ways of describing what we are doing when we eat this bread and drink this cup.

2. The language I want to consider this morning is where Jesus said that this bread is his "body" and this wine is his "blood."

a. I have no doubt that the original conversation recorded in John 6 was about conversion, acceptance of Jesus, receiving him into you life until he became part of you and you became part of him even as he lives in the Father. Through conversion, we receive the great blessing of sharing in the very life of God, the living Father. And this is through our commitment to the one who is the living bread.

b. But I also find it incredible to think that the church's that first read John 6 in church wouldn't have thought of Jesus' words, "Take, eat: this is my body. Drink of it: this is my blood." In fact, some scholars believe that, since John doesn't record those words as the Synoptic Gospels do, that this text is his equivalent.

c. And some have argued that "body" is different than "flesh." It's more radical language, sure. But how it's different conceptually I do not know. Besides, there is no Aramaic word for body so Jesus probably said something at the Passover much closer to our English, "Take, eat: this is my flesh."

3. My point this morning is not to get into any theological hair-splitting. What I'm saying is simple, In this eating of the bread and drinking of the cup we are, as Paul says to the Corinthians, participating in the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

a. We are participating in his incarnation, that he came in the flesh.

b. We are praising God for his sacrificial death.

c. We are celebrating his glorious resurrection.

d. We are proclaiming to the world that Jesus is coming again, setting forth his death until he comes. Jesus said in John 6 that eternal life is the pledge that we will be raised up in the last day. This communion is the pledge that we will all sit at the Messianic banquet table in the kingdom of God.

Conclusion

A. Would the servers please gather now and prepare to take up the offering?

B. Prayer for the offering.

C. Prayers for the bread and wine.