Series: “Jesus the Bread of Life” Part 1

Sunday Sermon Aug 12, 2012

John 6: 35, 41-51

Prayer:

Hold the loaf of bread: Doesn’t this loaf of bread smell great? Mmmmmmm… it looks yummy!!! There’s something inviting about a freshly baked loaf of bread. It’s irresistible…. Slather on some real butter and…. Well a guy could eat the whole loaf… In all likelihood… want even more… maybe even demanding more.

The context of our story is similar to Exodus wondering and of wanting more bread. Jesus has finished feeding 5000+ people of which they were astonished. Even Jesus’ friends were amazed because they were wondering how it was all going to happen in the first place. Jesus then takes a short detour to get away from the crowds, then, as John writes, casually walks on water. But, the people find Jesus on the other side of the lake and they come wanting more bread… in many ways demanding it. You can understand…. Fresh baked bread…

You see… they are remembering the Exodus story of their ancestors when God thru Moses gave them Manna… bread from heaven. They wanted more just as the people Jesus is confronting want more.
Jesus tells them…

Vs 32…”My father is the one who gives the true bread from heaven. And the bread that God gives is the one who comes down from heaven to give life to the world.”

Vs 34… The people say YES!!!! This is the bread we want, “Give us this bread and don’t stop.” What this Vs is saying is; give us all we want… we demand it!!

Then Jesus says something that totally baffles them… in fact, it becomes a big problem for Jesus.

             Vs 35… Jesus says, “I AM” the bread of life.”

Think about that for a moment… You know what it’s like to speak before you understand. Jesus says something that is very disturbing to the Jews because the Jews start grumbling in Vs 41… it is reminiscent of what happened with Moses. What Jesus is describing is not the bread they had in mind… (Hold Bread) think about it… BREAD... nourishment for the body or  the body of JESUS… a person…

The people begin to remember where Jesus comes from… They remember Jesus’ parents; Joseph & Mary… his family… can anything good come from Nazareth? Jesus become a bit agitated or at the very least frustrated with everyone then says,

Vs 43… “Stop you’re complaining”, “No one can come to me, unless the father    
                who sent me makes them come.”

This presents a problem for us.

Let’s look at these 2 problems in our story.
The 1^st problem for Jesus is; “I AM” the bread that gives life.

Jesus says, “I AM”… that is the problem. In Exodus 3 God comes to Moses to tell him that he is to go to Egypt and lead God’s people out. Moses is terrified and wants to know what God’s name is. Moses asks, “Who should I say is telling me?” God tells Moses, “Tell them “I AM” sent you.” “I AM” is one of the names the Hebrew people had for God and the people Jesus is speaking to know that one of the names God uses is “I AM”… thus the problem for Jesus. When Jesus says, “I AM” the bread of life it is a direct insult/blasphemy if you will against God. For the people… Jesus is not God’s son. They know where Jesus has come from… and from their perspective Jesus is no Messiah.

The people Jesus is addressing including his closest friends have difficulties seeing beyond what they know to be true. We have the same difficulties.

Theologian Brian Peterson states, “We suffer from the same difficulty of seeing beyond what we “know” to be true, about the poor, about ourselves, about the line separating the “saved” from everyone else, so that we might see the divine truth among us.”

In fact, it’s much easier to profess knowledge of Jesus than to have faith in a divine Jesus as a connection to God. Knowledge can be proven or backed up. Divineness is invisible and takes faith to believe in.

Which prompts the other problem in this story for us?

“Ultimately It’s Up to God”

Vs 44… Jesus says, “No one can come to me, unless the father makes them come.”

Think about this… perhaps this statement is a bit disturbing… What Jesus is saying is… you have no part in having faith in Jesus.

Luther… Small Cat… Explanation of the Apostles Creed:

I believe that by my own reason or strength I cannot believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and preserved me in true faith.

Jesus is saying, faith is not simply a human choice. This is a Lutheran distinction over against other faith traditions, namely from the Evangelical/Baptist traditions for example.

While… I’ve always had a believing knowledge of Jesus and God… Faith in God and Jesus has not been an easy trip. In many ways I’ve been dragged into faith sort-or-speak. If you recall our previous understanding of the word “Faith”… to that of being “Trust”. Do we trust? Often times we need proof to trust. Dragged… that might be another matter! The same language used in Vs 44 is the same language used to describe fishing nets being hauled into a boat.

“We must be “Dragged” into faith, there is no other way to come to Jesus,” according to Peterson.

This idea does pose some questions… of which there are no easy answers.

What does this say about the grumblers in our story, or about those among us?

What does this say about those around us, who by all appearances, have not been drawn to Jesus?

What does this say about us?

There is only paradoxical tension… Luther’s colleague Melancthen, may have been right on this… he advocated for a both/and to coming to faith. That both God and us play a part in having faith in Jesus.

Closing:

These two problems… the one that Jesus has and the one we have don’t seem to have many answers. Or lat least answers that we can understand. But… here’s where I see the promise and hope of our reflection.

           Vs 28… the people ask Jesus what God wants.

Jesus says, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”

The promise of God is for us to attempt faith, and the Hope is, to let Him do the untangling.  

I’d like to close with a short story from Muhammed Ali… who was talking to a young man who was contemplating dropping out of college. Ali said to the young man, “Stay in College, get the knowledge, and stay there until you're through. If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can surely make something out of you.

See You Out on the Road