In the Name of the Father, and of the Son,+ and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
‘“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”’ (Vv. 48-50)
Jesus, as He states for us quite plainly here, is the bread of life. As He will finish, Jesus’ flesh is given for the life of the world. This is quite different from the breads of our world given for this body to consume. After all, if you eat a slice of bread, whether plain or with something on it; you will eventually become hungry again.
During the siege of Leningrad, during the Second World War, the situation became so dire, the populace made due with bread from whatever they could come up with. When the grains ran out or became rancid from age, they instead made bread from anything. They even made and ate bread made from wallpaper paste and sawdust. As you all understand, there is no nutritional value to such bread. Thus, thousands starved to death for lack of true bread.
This meager diet afforded the people trapped in the city nothing from which to sustain their body and life.[1]
Similar things occur in our own day and even right now. Many of the people on the island of Haiti are so poor they eat mud pies so that their bellies are not always empty. In this case it is a bit better, the mud is mixed with a bit of water, butter and salt, but it is still only a meager thing to be consuming.
It is still a meager diet afforded these many people. They are trapped on that island with little to sustain this body and life.[2]
Jesus does not simply fulfill the events of the Exodus by being the One Moses pointed forward to by recording the flight out of Egypt. Christ also came in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy to nourish us to a spiritual strength that will never know death. ‘And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at the time He will be great to the ends of the earth.’ (Micah 5:2-4) Christ, the Good Shepherd, feeds His flock in the very strength of God Himself. Jesus gives us living bread from heaven (cf. V. 50).
Contrast the people of Leningrad and the people of the island nation of Haiti with the prophet from today’s Old Testament lesson. Elijah, in this passage, is depressed. He is thinking, “Oh, woe is me! I am the only one left. I am the only foolhardy nut willing to follow the true God. Look where it has landed me. I am hunted by the king and the queen and they wish my death. I am wandering in the desert and it would be better if I were dead.” So what does he do? Elijah asks God to take his life! This is the great prophet Elijah? The prophet par excellence? This is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets with Moses? This is one of the two who appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (St. Mk. 9:2-9)?
Yes! It is the same prophet! There is only one Elijah in the Bible. This is the same one considered in that light and given such honor.
We should look again at that passage from 1 Kings. What does God do for Elijah? Does God kill him, or does something else happen? Our gracious God knew that Elijah was truly depressed and in need of healing. God also knew that this was not really Elijah’s wish. In other words, God knew the man better than he knew himself. So, God grants what Elijah needs, not what wishes for. This does not mean the same will happen for all of us who are depressed. It does not even mean that Elijah never again experienced such a thing. All that is meant by God’s response of sending an angel to Elijah with a baked cake and a jar of water is that ‘the Lord will provide’ (Gen. 22:8).
So, what happens after Elijah is fed in this manner? He went in the strength of that food for forty days, until Elijah reached the mountain of God, Horeb. What we must realize is that the journey to Horeb does not normally take as long as forty days. Rather, it took Elijah forty days because he was alternately wandering and hiding due to his despondent condition.
Christ, the Good Shepherd, feeds His flock in the very strength of God Himself. Jesus gives us living bread from heaven (cf. V. 50).
All this is to point out to us what is going on here at this point in St. John’s sixth chapter. The people have grumbled among themselves, thinking, ‘“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”’ (V. 42)
Jesus can be the bread from heaven because He is the One who has come down from heaven. This is the kicker. Jesus does not tone down His sermon when the people start to grumble. He does not tell them in regard to the previous verses when He was talking about people gaining life from eating His flesh and His blood (Vv. 31-40), “Well, I did not really mean it that way”. No, in fact, as we hear in this lesson, Jesus gets more and more blunt the more His listeners’ grumble about what He is saying.
We all know this Gospel well enough to remember what happens next. So many leave that the only ones who appear to still be hanging around Jesus are the Twelve. Jesus then behaves a bit like Elijah. After all, at that point, Jesus asks the Twelve, ‘ “You do not want to go away also, do you?”’ (V. 67).
Jesus begins this intensification of His sermon by telling these people something else they would not have wanted to hear. Jesus after all states, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him on the last day.”’ (Vv. 43-44) All of these people had been taught that they could do something to merit salvation. They understood the ancient faith to be such that they did their part, God did His part, and the people were rescued from their sin. We know this to be the case. We know and trust that it is God alone who is doing the work. We cannot help (St. Jn. 15:16; Eph. 2:8,9; SC II: 3rd pt.). This is how you and I are taught. These Jews had not been taught this. They had been taught that they could help God.
It is an easy trap for us sinful humans to fall into. It is a trap that both you and I can easily fall into. It is so easy of a trap for the devil to lay because it plays on our own sinful pride and desire to be like God. This is exactly the sort of thing you and I want to believe. We want to think that with my reason and strength I can believe in God and come to Him. Dr. Luther makes it plain what Scripture thinks of that line of reasoning. ‘ “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”’ (St. Mk. 1:15) This is what Jesus tells each of us. Even us Christians who still walk through this veil of tears (Ps. 23:4).
‘From the Father forth He came
And returneth to the same,
Captive leading death and hell—
High the son of triumph swell!’
‘“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”’ (Vv. 48-50)
Jesus, as He states for us quite plainly here, is the bread of life. As He will finish, Jesus’ flesh is given for the life of the world. This is quite different from the breads of our world given for this body to consume. After all, if you eat a slice of bread, whether plain or with something on it; you will eventually become hungry again.
During the siege of Leningrad, during the Second World War, the situation became so dire, the populace made due with bread from whatever they could come up with. When the grains ran out or became rancid from age, they instead made bread from anything. They even made and ate bread made from wallpaper paste and sawdust. As you all understand, there is no nutritional value to such bread. Thus, thousands starved to death for lack of true bread.
This meager diet afforded the people trapped in the city nothing from which to sustain their body and life.[1]
Similar things occur in our own day and even right now. Many of the people on the island of Haiti are so poor they eat mud pies so that their bellies are not always empty. In this case it is a bit better, the mud is mixed with a bit of water, butter and salt, but it is still only a meager thing to be consuming.
It is still a meager diet afforded these many people. They are trapped on that island with little to sustain this body and life.[2]
Jesus does not simply fulfill the events of the Exodus by being the One Moses pointed forward to by recording the flight out of Egypt. Christ also came in fulfillment of Micah’s prophecy to nourish us to a spiritual strength that will never know death. ‘And He will arise and shepherd His flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD His God. And they will remain, because at the time He will be great to the ends of the earth.’ (Micah 5:2-4) Christ, the Good Shepherd, feeds His flock in the very strength of God Himself. Jesus gives us living bread from heaven (cf. V. 50).
Contrast the people of Leningrad and the people of the island nation of Haiti with the prophet from today’s Old Testament lesson. Elijah, in this passage, is depressed. He is thinking, “Oh, woe is me! I am the only one left. I am the only foolhardy nut willing to follow the true God. Look where it has landed me. I am hunted by the king and the queen and they wish my death. I am wandering in the desert and it would be better if I were dead.” So what does he do? Elijah asks God to take his life! This is the great prophet Elijah? The prophet par excellence? This is the greatest of the Old Testament prophets with Moses? This is one of the two who appear with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (St. Mk. 9:2-9)?
Yes! It is the same prophet! There is only one Elijah in the Bible. This is the same one considered in that light and given such honor.
We should look again at that passage from 1 Kings. What does God do for Elijah? Does God kill him, or does something else happen? Our gracious God knew that Elijah was truly depressed and in need of healing. God also knew that this was not really Elijah’s wish. In other words, God knew the man better than he knew himself. So, God grants what Elijah needs, not what wishes for. This does not mean the same will happen for all of us who are depressed. It does not even mean that Elijah never again experienced such a thing. All that is meant by God’s response of sending an angel to Elijah with a baked cake and a jar of water is that ‘the Lord will provide’ (Gen. 22:8).
So, what happens after Elijah is fed in this manner? He went in the strength of that food for forty days, until Elijah reached the mountain of God, Horeb. What we must realize is that the journey to Horeb does not normally take as long as forty days. Rather, it took Elijah forty days because he was alternately wandering and hiding due to his despondent condition.
Christ, the Good Shepherd, feeds His flock in the very strength of God Himself. Jesus gives us living bread from heaven (cf. V. 50).
All this is to point out to us what is going on here at this point in St. John’s sixth chapter. The people have grumbled among themselves, thinking, ‘“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”’ (V. 42)
Jesus can be the bread from heaven because He is the One who has come down from heaven. This is the kicker. Jesus does not tone down His sermon when the people start to grumble. He does not tell them in regard to the previous verses when He was talking about people gaining life from eating His flesh and His blood (Vv. 31-40), “Well, I did not really mean it that way”. No, in fact, as we hear in this lesson, Jesus gets more and more blunt the more His listeners’ grumble about what He is saying.
We all know this Gospel well enough to remember what happens next. So many leave that the only ones who appear to still be hanging around Jesus are the Twelve. Jesus then behaves a bit like Elijah. After all, at that point, Jesus asks the Twelve, ‘ “You do not want to go away also, do you?”’ (V. 67).
Jesus begins this intensification of His sermon by telling these people something else they would not have wanted to hear. Jesus after all states, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him on the last day.”’ (Vv. 43-44) All of these people had been taught that they could do something to merit salvation. They understood the ancient faith to be such that they did their part, God did His part, and the people were rescued from their sin. We know this to be the case. We know and trust that it is God alone who is doing the work. We cannot help (St. Jn. 15:16; Eph. 2:8,9; SC II: 3rd pt.). This is how you and I are taught. These Jews had not been taught this. They had been taught that they could help God.
It is an easy trap for us sinful humans to fall into. It is a trap that both you and I can easily fall into. It is so easy of a trap for the devil to lay because it plays on our own sinful pride and desire to be like God. This is exactly the sort of thing you and I want to believe. We want to think that with my reason and strength I can believe in God and come to Him. Dr. Luther makes it plain what Scripture thinks of that line of reasoning. ‘ “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”’ (St. Mk. 1:15) This is what Jesus tells each of us. Even us Christians who still walk through this veil of tears (Ps. 23:4).
‘From the Father forth He came
And returneth to the same,
Captive leading death and hell—
High the son of triumph swell!’
(The Lutheran Hymnal 95:4)
‘“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”’ (V. 51)
This portion of Jesus’ sermon in this chapter ends with this statement. These words of Jesus lead the people into confusion. They betray their infantile faith by what they say in response. Their response is to wonder how this cannibalism could be. As you and I know, Jesus is not referring to cannibalism but to a spiritual eating and drinking in the Sacrament. When the people respond in this way, Jesus’ answer is to state the same thing we have heard this morning again. He is just as blunt that time as this.
If the people had had a mature faith capable of understanding what Jesus was telling them, they would have shouted the message from the rooftops. They would not have stopped unless forced. Unless they were bound and gagged, so wonderful is this message for sinners like you and me.
Yet, these people do not have eyes and ears of faith. They could not and would not hear what Jesus sought to teach them. Jesus tries again and again to get through to their stubborn hearts of stone. May we never be found with such hard hearts.
The rejection that this sermon brings to Jesus is a foretaste of the spiteful rejection by the High Priest Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders later at Jesus’ trial.
Praise be to God that the Holy Spirit has caused true saving faith to grow and flourish in your hearts and my heart. What eternal benefits each of us enjoy because of Jesus! Jesus gave His flesh, His life as the payment for all the sins of all people of all time. ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses [sins]’ (Eph. 1:7). Oh, praise the bread of life, our Savior Jesus Christ![3]
In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.
‘“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”’ (V. 51)
This portion of Jesus’ sermon in this chapter ends with this statement. These words of Jesus lead the people into confusion. They betray their infantile faith by what they say in response. Their response is to wonder how this cannibalism could be. As you and I know, Jesus is not referring to cannibalism but to a spiritual eating and drinking in the Sacrament. When the people respond in this way, Jesus’ answer is to state the same thing we have heard this morning again. He is just as blunt that time as this.
If the people had had a mature faith capable of understanding what Jesus was telling them, they would have shouted the message from the rooftops. They would not have stopped unless forced. Unless they were bound and gagged, so wonderful is this message for sinners like you and me.
Yet, these people do not have eyes and ears of faith. They could not and would not hear what Jesus sought to teach them. Jesus tries again and again to get through to their stubborn hearts of stone. May we never be found with such hard hearts.
The rejection that this sermon brings to Jesus is a foretaste of the spiteful rejection by the High Priest Caiaphas and the other Jewish leaders later at Jesus’ trial.
Praise be to God that the Holy Spirit has caused true saving faith to grow and flourish in your hearts and my heart. What eternal benefits each of us enjoy because of Jesus! Jesus gave His flesh, His life as the payment for all the sins of all people of all time. ‘In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses [sins]’ (Eph. 1:7). Oh, praise the bread of life, our Savior Jesus Christ![3]
In Jesus’+ Name. Amen.
[1] Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations, pp. 65-66, section #270, CPH.
[2] http://kstp.com/article/stories/S438329.shtml?cat=1&v=1
[3] Sermon Studies on the Gospels: Series B, Northwestern, p. 290.
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