What's the Point of Jesus?

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who loved you with his very life. Amen.

There is a problem with Christianity in America, in the United States. And it has to do with the misunderstanding of the terms Law and Gospel. We, as Lutherans, as Missouri Synod Lutherans, spend a great deal of time talking about Law and Gospel, why they are important, and why we shouldn’t confuse the two. Law and Gospel is why the reformation began with Martin Luther some 500 years ago.

If you remember back to confirmation class you recall that the word “Law” isn’t just the 10 commandments, but rather it describes the works of people. Or the things that people do. And the word “Gospel” describes the works of Jesus and what Jesus does. So we are saved not by the Law, not by what we do, but by the Gospel, by what Jesus does.

Christians all over, but especially here, in the United States confuse Law and Gospel and it causes all kinds of problems. A recent survey was conducted of American Christians and it found that most self identified Christians are confused about what this means. And these problems all boil down to the purpose of Jesus Christ. There are too many Christians in the United States who can’t answer these questions: Why did God send his son into the world? Why did Jesus come? Why did he die on the cross? Why did he rise again from the dead? Why did Jesus do all the things that Jesus did? If you don’t know the difference between Law and Gospel, these really important questions become very difficult to answer, or, as is often the case, they are answered vaguely with nice sounding generic Christian-y words.

So, I’ll put it to you. Why did Jesus come? Why did Jesus take on flesh, become a person, and come to earth? Take a moment. How would you answer the question? Why does Jesus matter?

You’re probably thinking something along the lines of John chapter 3, where Jesus himself tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” That’s a perfect answer. And it’s not just us as confessional Lutherans who would give this answer. I would like to think that most, if not all, Christians around the globe and throughout time would answer this way, or something similar. Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins. To forgive us, to make us righteous before God, to take away our inquiry, to open the door to paradise.

This is the problem, and the problem facing Christianity in America. Does the way you live your life reflect what you believe about Jesus and his purpose, about John chapter 3 verse 16? This is a question of the Law, about what you do. It’s a question that gets to where the rubber meets the road of understanding Law and Gospel, of knowing how to live as a Christian in the real world.

Let’s unpack this today. Today we have before us a passage taken from John chapter 6. The lectionary is taking a 3 week break from the Gospel of Mark to throw in a little of John, focusing more on what happened after the feeding of the 5 thousand. So last week, in Mark, we saw that after the feeding of the 5000, Jesus walked on water, met his disciples on a boat, and landed along the shore of Galilee where he was greeted by crowds. John zooms in on that landing and tells us more of what happened and flushes out the details a bit. As we talked about earlier, all 4 gospels talk about the feeding of the 5000, so it is super important, and John helps us understand why.

So we have this scene, where these crowds come to see Jesus. Mark tells us they bring their sick, their injured, even on cots that Jesus would heal them even if they just touched the hem of his robe (like the woman with the flow of blood) and Jesus does just that. John gives us a spiritual lesson, a lesson in law and gospel and a very practical down to earth example of how we, as Christians in America, misunderstand Jesus.

The crowds find Jesus and Jesus basically says to them, “Why are you here? You’ve come for more bread, to see another miracle, to not have to cook for a day. Your’re only thinking about the here and now, about bread that doesn’t satisfy. You eat bread, you will be hungry again. I have come to give something so much better. I have food that will sustain you to everlasting life.”

Jesus is saying here, “you don’t understand what I have come to do, you don’t understand my purpose, my role as God, as the messiah.” And the people argue with him about it, “What sign do you give us.”

This always makes me laugh. They are literally there because the day before he gave them a sign. Like, just as God sent bread down in manna, Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves. They are there because of the sign. It gets me every time.

And this is where we run into the problem with Christianity in America. Too many Christians see Jesus like the crowd does. Too many see Jesus as a way to get bread, to make it so they don’t have to cook when they get home. Whether it’s the “name it claim it” or “word faith” or “sowing the seed” scams. This type of Christianity sees Jesus as a means to an earthly end, of wealth and prosperity on earth, and only earth. That Jesus exists, that God exists to grant selfish whims.

And then right along next to, this kind of Christianity seeks salvation by it’s own hand. It says, “I am a righteous person so God will answer my prayers and give me what I want. Scripture says the prayers of a righteous person will not go unanswered. I do good things, I am a good person, God will let me into heaven and he will give me what I want now, if only I can say the right words or do the right actions, or believe hard enough. God will do this for me.”

The danger of confusing Law and Gospel, the danger we see in this text, is misunderstanding the purpose of Jesus.Here’s what I mean.

God has not, has not, promised us a good life on earth. In fact he has promised the opposite. So if you have a good life, praise God for it with all your heart. If things are going well. Praise God for the blessings he has given, Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

No where in the Bible does any apostle, or disciple, say that they are a good person. It’s not the language of the Bible. Peter doesn’t say it. James doesn’t say it. John doesn’t say it, nor does Matthew, Mark, or Luke. It’s not there. Paul says that he thought he was a good person, until he met Jesus and Jesus changed his life.

For us to say that God is going to reward us with physical blessings because we are a good person, is not a biblical thing. Because to be a good person, you have to look at the Law. And the Law does not save. To be a good person you have to look at the commandments. For today we will stick to the commandments Jesus gave. things like, “be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect.” or “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” or, “love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

For us to say that we are a good person, we have to look at these words, hold them up as a mirror, and say, “Yup! I did that! I love God with my whole of my person, and I love everyone, even my enemy, as my very self.” And we can’t do that. We can’t. Or as Jesus says, “there is no one good but God alone.” The Christian who says, “I am a good person” is the person in the crowd from today text, who comes looking for bread. They don’t understand why Jesus came. They don’t understand Law and Gospel. Because if you are a good person, if you can hold up the mirror of the law and see no sin, no need for salvation, then Jesus did not have to come, and you make yourself to be your own savior.

The Law of God is perfect. And it shows us that we are, in fact, not good people. We are sinners. We aren’t good people who occasionally do bad things. We are bad people, who solely by the grace of God, are able to do good things. This is the Law.

The Law asks the question of verse 28, “What must we do? What must we do to be doing the works of God?” Or to say it a different way, “What are good works? what can I do to be saved?”

And Jesus takes this and gives an amazing answer where he in just a few words shifts the focus from law to Gospel. All you can do to save yourself is trust me. Or in his words “Believe in the one God has sent”

This is tre Gospel. This is true Christianity. This is what the crowd needed to hear, this id what I need to hear, what you need to hear. You can’t do the works of God good enough to earn fabor from God. All you can do is trust in Jesus. Believe that Jesus came to save you. And That’s Gospel. That God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

This is one of my favorite things that Jesus says because it gets right to the heart of us. JEsus says, “I am the way of salvation. Only I can save you. I have what you need to be saved, the bread of life. And I give it to you freely.”

This is such a comforting thing that in the moments of dark despair, I can look to Christ and see that I still have salvation. Why did Jesus come? To do what I cannot. He knows my sins, he took them from me and he gives to me salvation. He makes me holy, he makes me his. I don’t save myself. Jesus saves me. You don’t save yourself. Jesus saves you too. Christianity isn’t about what I can do for God, it’s about what Jesus has done for me.

So today, let’s give thanks to God for Christ Jesus! Let’s give thanks for the bread of life come down to us. Let’s give thanks to God for the Gospel. Amen.