John 6,47-51. Latare

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John 6,47-51   1713

Lätare (4. Sonntag der Passionszeit)  027 „Rejoice“ 

Caius and Alexander, Martyrs at Apamea in Phrygia, Turkey 279 

10. March 2013

1. Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (The Book of Common Prayer).  Amen. 

2. Jesus said to the Jews: „I tell you the absolute truth: Whoever believes has eternal life. 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 who came down from heaven; if anyone shall eat of this Bread, that person will live forever, and the Bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.“ 

3. In His Beatitudes, Jesus taught His disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer, including this petition: »Give us this day our daily bread« (Matthew 6,11). Food is necessary for physical life. Yahweh gives us food each day. Yahweh provided manna, bread from heaven, to Israel every day of their 40 year wilderness journey. The Jews didn’t know at first what this bread was, so they called it „manna“, which is Hebrew for „what is it?“ 

4. The old testament bread from heaven was manna, and it gave physical life. The new testament Bread from heaven is Jesus. Just as their ancestors asked in the Sinai: what is it?,  so the Jews asked Jesus: who are you? Jesus boldly answered them: »I am the Bread of Life.« The old testament manna  was a type of the new testament Bread, which is Jesus in the flesh. 

5. This bold answer shocked the Jews. Now when John uses the term „the Jews“ in his Gospel he is referring particularly to the scribes and Pharisees. These stalwart keepers of the law and the traditions of the elders argued amongst themselves: »How can this man give us his flesh to eat?« (6,52) This argument is not like we would perceive it in the 21. century. Rather, their argument was an intense debate on what Jesus had said; they were comparing His words to the law and the traditions. 

6. Jesus then took His teaching to the next, higher level, saying: »So Jesus said to them: „I tell you the absolute truth, unless you shall eat the flesh of the Son of Man and shall drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I abide in him. Just as the Living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me will also live because of Me. This is the Bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died; whoever eats this Bread will live forever.“« (6,53-58). 

7. Jesus said these things in the synagogue while teaching in Capernaum (6,59). Now Jesus has included the beloved patriarchs of Israel! Their Jewish ancestors had eaten the manna in the wilderness, but they grew old, sick and eventually died. Whoever eats this new Bread, which is Jesus, will live forever! Jesus has thrown down the gauntlet in the house of worship: I, Jesus, am the Bread of life and I give you eternal life. There is only one way to interpret Jesus’ words here: He is claiming to be Yahweh Himself, yes the Almighty God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who feed Israel in the wilderness those forty years and who will now give all people eternal life. 

8. There are only two ways to respond to this declaration: You either believe Jesus is a blasphemer or that He is the True God. If He is a blasphemer, then He must be shunned and exposed as a deceitful man who dares make Himself equal to God the Father. He would, quite simply, be the devil. If Jesus is the True God, then He must be received and worshipped as Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

9. Most of the scribes and Pharisees in Capernaum, took the first view: Jesus is a blasphemer, and He must be exposed and killed for such blasphemy. 

10. Many of Jesus’ disciples found this declaration difficult to digest (6,60). Their understanding of Jesus was tested, and their faith challenged (6,61). As a result, many of His disciples sided with the view of the scribes and Pharisees; they could not accept His words, they could not believe He is God, therefore, they simply walked away. Jesus was not simply a rabbi, He was not simply a prophet and moral teacher, He had delusions of Godhood, and such a claim many of His own disciples could not accept (6,66). 

11. At least the Twelve remained, difficult as it must have been (6,67). These apostles had left everything to follow Jesus, be taught by Him and blessed by Him. Even the apostles debated amongst themselves. What shall we do? Jesus is claiming to be our God: do we walk away and pick up our old lives again, or do we go all in, worship Him as Yahweh and follow Him to the very end? Peter, as he is want to do, speaks for all the apostles: »Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.« (6,68-69). 

12. What beautiful words! What a bold confession! It brings tears to our eyes and tugs at our hearts. This confession, however, marked the apostles as blasphemers and idolaters in the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees. They were serious about this charge, for after this discussion in Capernaum, the scribes and Pharisees were seeking to kill Jesus (7,1). This is the punishment meted out in the Mosaic law for blasphemy. They would also seek to round up and kill Jesus’ apostles too and rid Judea of this blasphemer and his followers once and for all. 

13. Jesus would grant the scribes and Pharisees their desire. Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve Apostles, procured a band of solders and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they went with lanterns, torches and weapons to arrest Jesus (18,3). They led Him to Annas and Caiaphas the high priests, and they judged Jesus guilty of blasphemy and sentenced Him to death. They then led Jesus to Pilate the Roman governor, for only he could authorize capital punishment and order a criminal crucified. Pilate found no guilt in Jesus, seeing that it was out of jealousy that the priests and Pharisees had condemned Jesus, but Pilate nevertheless acquiesced and ordered Jesus crucified as a common criminal. 

14. In all this Jesus was exercising His Divine authority. The Jews and the Romans did nothing to Jesus that He did not allow by His own will. In being arrested, condemned and crucified Jesus became the True Bread of everlasting life. The crucified Jesus gave to the world His true flesh and blood to eat and drink unto eternal life. Those who receive Jesus through faith believe that He is their savior from sin and death. Those who believe in Jesus as their savior eat and drink His flesh and blood in a spiritual way, and it is a meal that gives eternal salvation. 

15. Jesus teaches His disciples to pray in the Lord’s Prayer: »Give us each day our daily bread« (Luke 11,3). In this petition we do not only ask our Heavenly Father to give us food to nourish our bodies, but we also ask Him to give us food to nourish our souls, and this soul-food is Jesus. 

16. The Apostle Paul says of this Living Bread from heaven: »Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread« (1. Corinthians 10,17). The holy apostle is speaking about the Holy Communion of the Lord’s Supper. The Church, he says, receives and eats the one bread that is offered to all at the communion table. Jesus’ discourse in John 6, while not specifically saying that it is the Lord’s Supper, certainly causes the Christian hearer to think about the eating and drinking of the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. Jesus and His apostles are clear that the bread and wine in the Holy Sacrament are indeed also His true body and blood given to and received by the communicant. The Lord’s Supper gives us Jesus, the Living Bread from heaven, and when we are given Jesus we are given eternal life. 

17. Luke the Evangelist describes the worship life of the Christians, writing: »And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.« (Acts 2,42). Luke is describing the worship life of the Church. We gather to hear the words of the apostles in the Epistle and Gospel Readings, we devote ourselves to the Christian fellowship of our brothers and sisters in the faith by worshiping together each Sunday, we break bread together in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper and we offer up prayers and petitions to our Heavenly Father.  There is a great continuity from the apostolic Church and the 21. century Church. We worship the same Jesus, we receive and partake of the same Bread of life and we are absolved of all our sin in the Name of Jesus. I tell you the absolute truth: Whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life, for Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus gives Himself to you this day, receive Him and believe upon Him and you will life forever and ever in His Divine presence.  Amen. 

18. Let us pray. O Jesus Christ, the Grain of wheat who fell into the earth and died, send us God the Holy Spirit so that we always believe upon You as our Savior and be the fruit born from Your death and resurrection.  Amen.

To God alone be the Glory 

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

Voelz, James. „The discourse on the Bread of Life in John 6: Is it Eucharistic?“ Concordia Journal 1989, 29-37.