John 6: 51-58
Holy Trinity, WB
15.08.21
Today we’re going to carry on with our sermon series looking at John Chapter 6. We’ve been getting deeper into this wonderful meditation by John on the image of Jesus as the living bread. In particular how Jesus Himself is sustenance for our journey through life.
So today we’re going to continue looking at John 6 and Jesus being the living bread for us. Our reading today takes us into some of the difficulties with what Jesus seems to be saying about himself as the living bread: vv 51 and 52
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?”`
Sometimes the things that Jesus says seem very hard to understand, don’t they? Does anyone here find this? Why on earth does Jesus seem to insist that we have to eat his real flesh?
Can anyone think of any other hard sayings of Jesus? Things that are really hard to understand or really demanding? …….. (ask for suggestions)
Well, here are some suggestions from me. “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than someone who is rich enter the Kingdom of God”. Well, I live in 2021 in the 6th richest country in the world and I have a decent job. Hmm tricky for me that.
Or how about “forgive seventy times seven”. How many of us can bring to mind someone that we’re cross with for something they’ve done or said? Can we forgive them, really forgive them? Tough, I think.
Or what about “Love your enemy”. Don’t just be nice to them, don’t just treat them fairly but love them. Loving our enemies. Do we really do that or do we store up grudges and grievances over the years?
So Jesus has form for saying difficult things and John’s description of Jesus speech doesn’t shy away from that. “What do you mean” ask his listeners, “eat your flesh? Do you want us to be cannibals?”
Sometimes, what we read in the Bible is difficult but what I want to suggest is that if we spend time working away at the difficult stuff: praying with it, using commentaries and study aids; chewing it over with our church friends perhaps, then we will find much deeper and more profound understandings being revealed. The hard work does pay off and today I want to commend that hard work to you.
We encounter Jesus in many different ways, of course. Studying the bible and entering into the story of Jesus through communion are two of the main one’s and they both come together in our reading today so let’s spend some time on this passage and see where it takes us.
Well, Jesus’ listeners outrage at the thought of cannibalism isn’t surprising is it? Jesus seems to be being really contentious here. And drinking blood was absolutely forbidden to Jews. These comments would on the face of it have been disgusting for His listeners. It’s no wonder they were outraged. Many of the Kosher food purity laws were designed to make sure than blood was drained from animals before consumption. And Jesus knew this of course.
So how can we get underneath this, to what’s really going on? Well, the first thing, I think, is to remember that John’s Gospel is certainly not a straightforward factual biography of what Jesus said and did. Instead, it’s a profoundly deep meditation on the meaning of Jesus’ life and death and we have to approach what is written with that in mind. We have to look for the deeper meanings which lie beneath the surface.
The context of this passage of course is that we, the reader, know that Jesus will die; be killed, in the brutality of the crucifixion. Jesus is going to give his life for the salvation of the world and this is the context in which these words are said. We know this and John knew it to, of course as he wrote this passage.
And we need to remember that Jesus has already told us that he is the living bread which has come down from heaven in v. 51. This isn’t a simple invitation to eat his flesh. The whole context of John’s Gospel is that Jesus is, literally, God incarnate. That’s his opening salvo
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God … And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”
It’s that word flesh again. John is very clear about this. It’s flesh, meat. Real human. He is God and he is human.
Jesus, as described by John, is using this metaphor of eating flesh to invite us into a way of entering into communion with God Himself: we enter into a relationship with Jesus which corresponds with Jesus’ own relationship with the Father. Just as Jesus depends on his father for His very life, so the person who metaphorically ‘eats’ Jesus, depends on Him for his or her life. We are entering into the heart of communion, and we can think of the parallels in the other Gospels, for example Mark Ch. 14 v22 “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.”
We can put ourselves back into that upper room in our imagination. A group of frightened men and women are huddled round a table. They know that everything is falling apart and in Roman times that means arrest, torture and a horrible death. It’s not a good place. Then Jesus does something extraordinary. It’s a gesture and yet it gives hope against hope. In a simple act he encapsulates everything that he taught and did. He takes a piece of bread and tears it into pieces saying this is what will happen to my body, now take and eat. This is all the sustenance you will ever need. And, like the disciples 2000 years ago, we do the same and in doing so, somehow, enter into the most profound relationship with God. It doesn’t matter how we feel or what we believe. It happens because it’s God’s grace and gift that it happens.
And as it happens we enter into, become part of Jesus’ story and we have to remember that this story has sharp edges. It isn’t some cosy, spiritualised comfort blanket. This language of flesh and blood directs us, the listener, not just to accept the reality of Jesus’ death for the life of the world but to follow him in the way of the cross. The other Gospels direct us to “take up our cross and follow Him” and here in John, and in the taking of Communion, we do the same thing. We enter with Jesus into his death and rising again. For our predecessors in the early Church this often-meant martyrdom. That may not be likely for us here today but one of the sharp edges which flow out of this meditation from John is that if a person is faithful then martyrdom may indeed be a possibility. And let’s not forget that across the world this is the reality for many people in the persecuted church.
So, sharp edges in what seemed to be, at first, simply a difficult passage. The reading today ends, though on a positive note: v. 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”. John is, of course, a complete theologian. Crucifixion is present but it’s the gateway to resurrection and this is, indeed, the Christian hope. Following Jesus may lead to the way of the cross but it always, also, leads to resurrection hope.
So, this morning we’ve spent some time with this short reading and entered into some of the depths it offers. In particular, the offer of relationship, of communion, with Jesus. We need to give that time and space and attention. To take communion, read our Bibles, to spend time in prayer, to let Jesus encounter us. And who knows what might then happen? We can’t be certain, but we have history to give us examples from the past: The Celtic Saints who brought Christianity to the north of England converting a wild, pagan nation. The early monasteries, first providing care for the poor and sick in their neighbourhoods, Luther kicking off the Reformation and the Wesley’s refreshing a moribund church. William Booth founding the Salvation Army to help the poorest of the poor and the Rev Chad Varah founding the Samaritans. And every Christian in this church who serves their community and acts to love the people here. All of them sustained by Jesus.
Sustained by Jesus we can change the world. We can love our enemies, forgive 70 x 7, use our wealth to serve the least the lost and the broken. In the eucharist, the taking of the bread and wine, we can be broken open like Jesus was on the cross. We can be reshaped and remoulded to become the person God wants us to be. In this simplest of acts – eating and drinking – we can take part of the death and resurrection of Jesus himself and that can remake us. No matter how tired and broken we ourselves are. The service today is morning worship but next week the invitation will be to take, break, bless and share the bread. To take communion, not because we are whole and healthy and saved, but because we are not. The invitation will be to all of us and it will be from our Lord.
Amen.