The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 25, 2024

John 6:51-69

The Bread of Life —

The Only Food We Really Need!

51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”

66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

When I was at the Seminary my all-time favorite professor was Dr. Becker. Dr. Becker was an extremely intelligent person. Dr. Becker was an extremely humble person. And, Dr. Becker was an extremely dedicated Christian. Sitting in Dr. Becker’s class helped me to understand— at least a little bit— what it must have been like for Jesus’ disciples to sit at His feet and learn from Him the Truth contained in God’s holy Word.

As I sat in Dr. Becker’s class I tried to take in as much as I possibly could. I was consistently amazed at how well and how clearly he could both proclaim and explain God’s Truth. There was only one time that Dr. Becker said something that I found hard to wrap my mind around. He said to us, “Men, always hold God to His word!” “Always hold God to His word”? I wasn’t sure what that meant. I wasn’t sure if I could do that. Now I understand what Dr. Becker was saying to us! Now I regularly hold God to His word! What Dr. Becker was impressing on us is very simply this: When God tells us something on the pages of His holy Word we can hold Him to it— because our God does not change and our God does not lie!

For three weeks in a row our Gospel lesson has been a portion of John chapter six. For two weeks in a row our sermon text has been the Gospel lesson for the day. Today as we conclude our sermon series entitled The Bread of Life let’s see how this portion of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse focuses our attention on this truth: As the Bread of Life Jesus is the Only Food We Really Need!

The opening verse of our text for today overlaps with the closing verse of last Sunday’s text. It then continues by revealing to us how the people reacted to what Jesus was saying to them. John writes, “’I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’ Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’”

Have you noticed the shift in the attitude that this large crowd of people had toward Jesus? At first they were amazed at Jesus’ ability to feed all of them with just a small amount of food. Then they were determined to make Jesus their king— even if they had to do this by force. That led them to challenge Jesus to at least match if not outdo Moses and provide them with “bread from heaven” each and every day for as long as they wanted. And now? Now some of them turned on each other, “Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’”

Did they actually think that Jesus— the powerful miracle working Rabbi from Nazareth— was promoting cannibalism? Some of them may have had that possibility go through their minds. Some of them may have argued that possibility simply because they found Jesus’ claim to be the “bread of life” too much to swallow.

Because the people were “arguing sharply among themselves” and because they complete missed the point Jesus was trying to make, the Lord gets even more specific. Look at verses 53-57 of our text. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”

There are those who say that this portion of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse is talking about the Sacrament of Holy Communion. After all, in the celebration of Holy Communion we do hear Jesus say to us, “Take and eat this is My Body…Take and drink this is My Blood.” Is that really what Jesus is talking about here? No it is not. While these words easily remind us of the Lord’s Supper there are two truths that reveal to us that here in John six Jesus is not talking about the Sacrament of Holy Communion. First, Jesus had not yet instituted His Holy Supper. As Martin Luther once asked, “Why should Christ here have in mind that Sacrament when it was not yet instituted?” (St. Lous XI:143)

Secondly and perhaps even more importantly, Jesus very clearly emphasizes that unless someone “eats” His “flesh” and “drinks” His “blood” they do not have “life” in them. No where does Jesus say that participating in His holy Supper is necessary for eternal salvation. No where does Jesus guarantee that everyone who receives Holy Communion will be raised on the Last Day to live with God forever. In fact, Scripture warns us that if we receive the Lord’s Supper “in an unworthy manner”— that is, with an unrepentant or unbelieving heart— we are “drinking judgment” on ourselves. (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

What Jesus is emphasizing here is faith— the faith that unites us to Jesus and Jesus to us. The faith that is necessary for eternal salvation. The faith that does guarantee that we will be raised from the dead on the Last Day to live with God— forever! Now please do not misunderstand me. This faith certainly does not make Holy Communion unnecessary. In fact, the more we receive Jesus’ true Body and Jesus’ true Blood in Jesus’ Holy Supper the stronger our faith in Jesus becomes!

That brings us to what I think are some of the most critical verses of this text. Look at verses 60-62. John continues, “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?’”

There are a few points that need to be highlighted here. Among the large crowd of people there were three smaller groups of people. First, there were “the Jews.” These were the people who “began to argue sharply among themselves.” Second, there were many people who considered themselves to be “disciples” of Jesus. They followed Jesus from town to town and city to city. They observed Jesus as He performed many amazing miracles. They listened to Jesus as He taught God’s Word with authority. They committed themselves to learning from Jesus. It was this group of people that John is describing with the words, “On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’” What Jesus was saying to them was not hard to understand. Jesus’ words were quite plain. At the same time, however, what Jesus was saying to them was hard to “accept.” Very literally they said it was “hard” for them to “hear” Jesus saying these things.

What was “hard” for these disciples to “hear”? Was it “hard” for them to “hear” Jesus say that it was impossible for anyone to “do the works God required”? (6:28) Was it “hard” for them to “hear” Jesus say, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him”? (6:44) Was it “hard” for them to “hear” Jesus say, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven” (6:15) Was it “hard” for them to “hear” Jesus say that the only way to eternal life is through a close personal faith in Him— a faith that is so close, a faith that is so personal that it can be described as “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood”? (6:53-58)

If any or all of this was “hard” for these disciples to “hear” John tells us, “Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? (More literally Jesus asked them, ‘Does this scandalize you?’) What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?” In effect, Jesus was saying to this group of His disciples, “Do my words drive you to unbelief? They should— if I am only a man, the son of Joseph and Mary. They should— if I am not the Bread of Life. They should— if I cannot give you eternal life. But, if I am the Messiah, if I am the Son of God, if I am the “living bread that came down from heaven,” My words should not “scandalize” you. My words should not be “hard” for you to “hear.” What will you do if you see Me ascend to where I was before? Would that prove to you that I am the Bread of life— the only Bread you need to live eternally? Would you still be “scandalized,” or would you be converted?”

This portion of our text leads us to ask ourselves: Are there any words of Jesus that are “hard” for you to “hear”? Is it “hard” for you to “hear” what Jesus says about marriage and divorce? (Matthew 19:1-12) It is “hard” for you to “hear” what Jesus says when He makes it very clear that being His disciple requires you to take up your cross and follow Him? (Matthew 16:24ff) Is it “hard” for you to “hear” Jesus say that you must remain faithful to Him even if it leads to divisions within your family and rejection by your friends? (Matthew 10:32ff) It is “hard” for you to “hear” Jesus say that the only way to eternal life is through faith in Who He is and what He has done for this world? (John 14:6) What is “hard” for you to “hear” Jesus say? Whatever it might be do not allow it to “scandalize” you! Do not allow it to have the negative impact on you that it had upon some of the disciples here in our text. Look at what John tells us in verse sixty-six, “From that time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

Thankfully, our text closes on an extremely positive note! John now shines the spotlight on the third group of people. It is not the Jews who were “arguing sharply among themselves.” It is not the people who claimed to be disciples and yet said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” John tells us that Jesus now turned to the Twelve, to the men whom Jesus had specially designated as His “apostles,” He turned to them and asked, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Peter answered Jesus’ question with words that ring out loud and clear in our hearts as well, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

As I said last week, we live in a world where there is a whole smorgasbord of spiritual food that is being offered to us by various churches and various religious leaders. But there is only one spiritual food we need. There is only one Person who can feed and nourish our soul with “the words of eternal life.” By the grace and power of God alone we too “believe and know” that that one Person is Jesus—“the Holy One of God.”

How does this impact our lives? “Believing and knowing” that Jesus is “the Holy One of God” enables us to “hear” and “accept” what Jesus says to us— even if what He says goes against what our old sinful nature wants to believe, even if what He says is the complete opposite of what this world wants us to accept. “Believing and knowing” that Jesus is “the Holy One of God” leads us to prioritize our lives so that Jesus is always our #1 priority. “Believing and knowing” that Jesus is “the Holy One of God” empowers us to love the One who blesses us more than the earthly blessings He gives to us. “Believing and knowing” that Jesus is “the Holy One of God” gives us the confidence of knowing that even if we had nothing but Him (Pointing to the cross) we would have everything that we really need!

Over the course of the years I have become very comfortable with Dr. Becker’s encouragement to “hold God to His Word.” When Jesus makes a promise to us we can hold Him to His Word! When Jesus tells us that as the Bread of Life He is the only One who can give us “everlasting life,” He is the only one who can and will “raise us up on the last day” we can hold Him to His Word! When Jesus tells us that He is the only spiritual food we really need we can hold Him to His Word!

To God be the glory!

Amen