082706 Pentecost 12
Pentecost 12, August 27, 2006
Why Does Jesus Call His Flesh Bread?
Text: John 6:41–51
Other Lessons: Psalm 34:1–8; 1 Kings 19:4–8; Ephesians 4:30–5:2
Theme: Jesus enlightens and enlivens us with the metaphor of bread to describe the salvation he has provided us.
Goal: That the hearers understand why Jesus uses the metaphor of bread to describe the salvation he has provided us.
Introduction: Throughout our text this morning, Jesus calls the salvation he has provided us “bread.” In fact, he uses the word bread six times. Obviously, human flesh is not bread. So, why does Jesus use this metaphor? What is it supposed to signify? What is it supposed to tell us? How does it help us to have this metaphorical figure of speech? Well, it is hard to imagine that Jesus has no purpose in saying it. And, in fact, His purpose is divine in this sense …
Jesus Enlightens and Enlivens Us with the Metaphor of Bread
to Describe the Salvation He Has Provided Us.
I. The bread metaphor clarifies god’s intention for us to enjoy two kinds of life.
A. The first kind of life we are all fully aware of is our bodily life—the life we live here on Earth and here in time. This is tangible, touchable, physical life that is a current reality.
1. This bodily life God gave us through our parents and their parents that reach all the way back to Adam and Eve, through whom sin came to us, and we were born.
2. This bodily life is characterized by such mundane things as breathing, and thinking, and muscular movement—and if you’re a kid on vacation, muscular movement seems to have no end.
3. So, to sustain this bodily life we need the nourishment of daily bread—food (v 49). When we give thanks before eating we are thanking God for the nourishment it brings.
4. But regardless of all the tangible nourishment we receive, eventually, this bodily life will end (v 49). This past week we were saddened to hear that another of my first cousins has passed away—bodily nourishment by itself cannot sustain life forever.
B. But, the Scriptures inform us of another kind of life that God also gives—spiritual life (see Mt 4:4; Jn 3:3–8). Listen to Deuteronomy 8:3
"And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
That Word of which Moses speaks becomes incarnate, enfleshed, in the person of Jesus Christ. This is an important connection to see in order to understand correctly why Jesus calls His flesh bread. He is not speaking of the natural and unspiritual, but of the supernatural and spiritual, when He calls His flesh bread.
1. God gives us spiritual life through the spiritual bread of Christ’s body, the Eternal Word. This is precisely why Jesus tells Nicodemus, and us: "…“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”" (John 3:3, ESV) Here, the Kingdom of God is standing in the presence of a man who cannot see. Without the bread (nourishment) brought to us by the flesh of Jesus there is no spiritual life.
2. This spiritual life is characterized by a desire in us to want to know God better and to do that which is pleasing in His sight. Such desire is what spurs a person to gather together with fellow believers, worship with fellow believers, and study the bible with other believers.
3. And, very typical of God’s wisdom and grace, the Word is precisely how we receive “the bread that came down from heaven” (v 41) and are nourished for eternal life in glory.
4. Listen very carefully one more time to the words Jesus speaks: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:44, ESV) "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life." (John 6:47, ESV) "This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die." (John 6:50, ESV). The point is this: the spiritual life that comes from the “bread of heaven” endures forever.
I. The bread metaphor clarifies god’s intention for us to enjoy two kinds of life. Moving on …
II. The bread metaphor clarifies the nature of the means of grace.
A. The means of grace do more than inform—they actually feed us.
1. The written word of God and the Sacraments, provide us with ideas, concepts, principles, advice, precepts, and more for our earthly instruction in spiritual matters. But they do so much more. Jesus says: "It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—" (John 6:45, ESV)
2. And, it is that connection with Jesus made through the means of grace, the Word and Sacraments, which impart life to the spiritually lifeless.
"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 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.”" (John 6:48-51, ESV)
B. Note well the nourishing qualities the Word and Sacraments bring.
1. In Baptism we are “born again” only because God uses it to connect us to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And, according to St. Paul, "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:13, ESV) That’s Baptism.
2. In the Lord’s Supper we receive not only the mundane earthbound elements of bread and wine, but the very body and blood of Jesus Christ. Consider again the wisdom of God in using the activities of eating and drinking. These, we naturally associate with the procurement and sustenance of life. And life is in this “bread from heaven.”
3. Now consider how the spoken Word is often described in images of food and/or life:
"Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts." (Jeremiah 15:16, ESV)
"“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land— not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord." (Amos 8:11, ESV)
"But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”" (Matthew 4:4, ESV)
"Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. " (James 1:18, ESV)
"Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation—" (1 Peter 2:2, ESV)
"And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter." (Revelation 10:10, ESV)
Summary: The point of all of this is that the words in our text accent the nourishing character of what we Lutherans call the means of grace—Word and Sacraments.
II. The bread metaphor clarifies the nature of the means of grace. Finally …
III. The bread metaphor clarifies the nature of faith.
A. To be sure, Christian faith involves teaching and learning (v 45), information and knowledge, understanding and agreement.
B. But Christian faith is more: it is a life (vv 47–51), a throbbing, pulsating life. It is alive, dynamic, intimate, involving us emotionally as well as intellectually, permeating not just our head but also our whole being.
1. Note in our text that “believing” and “eating” are treated synonymously. V 47 says, “He who believes has everlasting life,” and v 51 says, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.”
2. Note how Jesus describes faith in Jn 6:53 (only two verses beyond our text): “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”
Conclusion: Enlightened by the Holy Spirit through Jesus’ use of the bread metaphor in today’s text, we are enlivened by that same Spirit to say in the words of Is 55:2–3, “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.”
How very different this word is from the word of a nationally famous television celebrity and preacher who spoke in a sermon only of the dietary benefits of eating natural foods—instead of processed food. Even so, thousands upon thousands of people sit as if in hypnotic trance to feed on it. I suggest we stick with the true bread from heaven, the flesh of Jesus Christ. Amen.