Loving God, you are the source of all life and salvation.  Strengthen us today with bread for the journey, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            “I am the bread of life,” says Jesus.  “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn. 6:35).  What an extraordinary statement – especially for those who hunger and thirst for the living God!  Just before this verse, the people had said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.”  And some might hear echoes of the woman at the well, who said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty” (Jn. 4:15).

         These are the people who hunger and thirst for God – who are open to believing in Jesus.  However, there were others in the crowd as well – the ones who start to complain as soon as Jesus makes this extraordinary statement.  John refers to these people as “the Jews,” but that’s not necessarily the best translation.  We might be more accurate if we say “the religious leaders,” as all of the people in the crowd are Jewish, including Jesus.

         These religious leaders, who complain, think that they know all about Jesus.  They know his father and mother, and they know where he grew up.  They look at Jesus and see an ordinary human being who isn’t even educated like they are.  He is merely a carpenter, and now he is claiming to have come down from heaven?  No.  As these religious leaders know full well, it is the Torah that is the bread of life and the water of life – the Law that was given through Moses, God’s servant.  And the bread from heaven was the manna in the wilderness (Jn. 6:31).

         Jesus, however, knows that not everyone will believe in him.  It is God who will draw people to Jesus, and will grant them the eyes to see and the ears to hear, and will lead them into life-giving faith.  And once again we are reminded that forcibly “converting” people to Christianity, or even threatening people with hell if they don’t believe, is a huge deviation from the way in which God works.  Those who hunger and thirst for the living God will be drawn to Jesus, and will find in him eternal life.

         Many of us might think of eternal life as a future thing, but in the gospel of John, it is always used with verbs in the present tense.  It is the resurrection that is in the future.  Eternal life is more about living in a life-giving relationship with God, and in John 6, eternal life comes to us through seeing and believing in Jesus (vv. 40, 47), through eating and drinking Jesus’ flesh and blood (v. 54), and through listening to Jesus’ words (v. 68) (Brian Stoffregen – crossmarks.com).

         Today we are celebrating Holy Communion, which has been more of a challenge during this pandemic.  At the end of today’s gospel, we hear Jesus say, “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (Jn. 6:51).  Just as some of the religious leaders might have looked at Jesus and said, “you don’t look like bread to me – or like you came down from heaven,” so, many might look at the bread and wine for communion and say, “I don’t see any flesh and blood.”  In both cases, we are invited to look deeper.

         One of the verses that is part of the gospel for next Sunday says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day” (Jn. 6:54).  Taken literally, we can understand why some of the early Christians were accused of being cannibals.  This, too, is why we need to look deeper.

         In these days of livestreaming and worshipping wherever you are, communion is, quite obviously, not the same as it has been.  Some of you might not even have bread and wine – or even juice.  But, whatever it is that you are eating and drinking today as we celebrate the sacrament – look deeper.  Look deeper, and see Jesus.  Look deeper, and see forgiveness and eternal life.  Look deeper, and see the living bread who came down from heaven in order to give life to the world.  Look, and see, and take Jesus into yourself in order that you may abide in him, and he in you (Jn. 6:56).

         Martin Luther was of the opinion that there are only two things that are essential in the Sacrament of the Altar.  The most important is our attitude – believing the words given and shed for you.  The second thing that is essential is eating and drinking (Luther’s Small Catechism).  Everything else is subject to change in order to adapt to new circumstances.

         Today, all those who hunger and thirst for the living God are invited to receive Jesus.  Receive Jesus, and know how much God loves you, for we are given in Christ forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lectionary 19B                                 John 6:35, 41-51

August 8, 2021

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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