Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: John 6:1-14; 32-60

Theme: One of the hard sayings of Jesus is the command to eat my flesh and drink my blood.

By it Jesus means that his life is to be the source of our life.

Anyone who has ever read through the four gospels knows that Jesus said some hard things.

Some are hard because they are difficult to understand.

Some are hard because they are difficult to do.

F.F. Bruce, in his book on the topic, lists seventy hard sayings of Jesus.

Now the good news is that we’re not going to spend eighteen months on Sunday night looking at these hard sayings.

I have chosen one-dozen to look at that’ll probably take us through the end of February or early March.

Tonight, we begin with the hardest of the hard sayings of Jesus.

In this chapter Jesus tells his disciples “I am the bread of life.

49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

51 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)

What are we supposed to do with this.

It’s an astonishing statement that Jesus doubles down on in vs. 53-56.

“So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”

(John 6:53–56, ESV)

When Jesus said, eat my body and drink my blood he set off a firestorm of controversy that has not abated to this day.

Even then it was the cause for many of his disciples abandoning him (John 6:66).

Two thousand years after he said it, the Body of Christ remains divided over weather-or-not we are to take these words literally or figuratively.

Catholics and Orthodox groups take it literally and believe that when the priest blesses the Communion host, the essence of the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus Christ though they retain the outward form of bread and wine.

Most Protestant groups take the view that Jesus was speaking metaphorically.

Eating his flesh and drinking his blood means that his physical life, given up on the cross, becomes the source of our spiritual life.

Like many of the hard sayings of Jesus it’s difficult to understand their meaning before the events of his passion week.

It was after his death and resurrection that many of the things he said make sense.

That is true of our text this evening.

The Reasonable Question

The Revelation of Truth

The Reluctant Crowd

The Repulsive Statement

I. THE REASONABLE QUESTION vs. 25-28

“When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”” (John 6:25–28, ESV)

1. Jesus’ discourse on the consumption of his flesh and blood comes on the heals of one of the most astounding miracles of his ministry — the feeding of the 5,000

ILLUS.

Feeding 5,000 with a few fish and a few loaves of bread is indeed miraculous.

But if you carefully read the text, Jesus probably fed way more than 5,000.

The text tells us that it was 5,000 men, meaning that the gospel writers are only counting heads of families.

Were many of the men there by themselves?

Probably.

But it’s extremely possible that Jesus actually fed anywhere between 15-20 thousand people.

Now that little tidbit will set your heart to racing.

a. it made such an impression on the disciples that it is one of the few miracles recounted by all four evangelists of the four gospels

b. it’s an extraordinary display of supernatural power, but also an extraordinary display of God’s abundant grace and loving benevolence

1) God wants the empty to be full ... and as we will discover not full with merely physical bread

2. the early part of chapter six sets the scene for us

Large crowds are following Jesus because they saw the miracles he was doing on the sick (6:2)

Jesus went up a hillside and began to teach the disciple, and as he is doing to a large crowd is ascending to where they are ... the disciple Philip wonders out loud “How are going to feed all these people?”

They find a boy whose brought a box lunch which Jesus blesses, and every time Jesus reaches into the box (OK, probably a bag) he pulls out copious amounts of bread and fish — and everyone ate as much as they wanted to the point were the are absolutely full.

The people see the miracles and begin to say among themselves, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

Perceiving that the crowd is about to take him by force, march on Jerusalem and enthrone him as king, Jesus slips away from the crowd.

That evening he tells his disciples to row across the lake to Capernaum and he will meet them there.

The disciples launch out, but before long a storm whips the sea into a frenzy, the disciples are afraid — until, that is, they see Jesus walking on the water toward them.

The next morning, when the crowd can’t find Jesus or the disciples they assume they’ve gone across the lake and follow.

They find him right where the thought he would be.

This sets up the discourse where Jesus is going to say one of the most controversial things he ever said.

A. SEEKING JESUS FOR THE WRONG REASON

1. when the crowds find him, Jesus is blunt ...

“Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”

(John 6:26, ESV)

a. if you follow Christ for any other reason than a pure love for him and his redemptive work in your life, you’re following Jesus for the wrong reason

2. the crowds following Jesus see him as a means to an end ... full stomachs and healed bodies

a. even today, many folks see Jesus as a means to an end

1) he can help you in life ... improve your broken marriage ... inject some much needed morality ... provide a new set of friends ... give hope ... make you feel better ... and perhaps even give you a purpose statement to enjoy your best life now

ILLUS.

This is why the Prosperity Gospel is so dangerous.

Jesus becomes a means to bring about a thoroughly selfish, and dare I say, idolatrous end.

3. Jesus is not a vehicle to anything other than the enjoyment of his own perfection

a. we don’t come to Jesus as a connecting flight to our own exaltation but rather the final destination in the unmitigated divine exaltation

ILLUS.

The Westminster Confession of 1646 is the great, great grandfather of our own Baptist Faith and message.

The Westminster Catechism is a way of teaching the confession to Christians.

The first question of the catechism is ...

Question 1.

What is the chief end of man?

Answer.

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

b. for the Christian life really is that simple

1) which means loving Jesus, and serving Jesus, and following Jesus for any other reason than to glorify him and adore him and enjoy his fellowship is to use him as a means to an end

4. Jesus is not a vehicle to anything other than the enjoyment of his own perfection

B. SEEKING JESUS FOR THE RIGHT REASON

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him God the Father has set his seal.””

(John 6:27, ESV)

1. the stuff the crowd is seeking for is stuff that will perish

a. let’s be honest the vast majority of the stuff we own will perish

1) according to Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount it’ll wear out or rust out or be taken away

b. that doesn’t mean that those things are unimportant

1) Jesus says that the Father knows we have need for stuff, we just need to keep the stuff in perspective

2) Jesus and his coming Kingdom must be the ultimate focus of the believer’s life