John 6:51-58
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 19 August 2018
Rev. John Derme
What food do you eat to stay healthy? Every so often, we're told that there is a new food that we're supposed to eat to live a long life. For a while, we were told that we should eat kale. Some people loved it. Some people thought it was terrible. Lately, I've heard that we're supposed to eat dried crickets. They're high in protein, but low in fat. Yet for most people, this latest health food fad sounds strange and disgusting. You might rather not live a long life, if it means that you have to eat certain foods.
Last week we looked at the meal Jesus offers us. We saw how nourishing and how enjoyable it is! This week Jesus tells us how necessary it is for us to eat the meal that he offers. The way he describes this food sounds strange and even disgusting to some people. But we need to eat this meal to have eternal life. Eat and live!
This week's Gospel picks up with the words that Jesus spoke at the end of last week's Gospel, "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."
The crowd to whom Jesus first spoke these words did not like what he was saying. They got upset: Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
But Jesus didn't back down. He intensified his words: Jesus 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. 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. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." Jesus' choice of words was offensive to them, and he knew it!
Honestly, I find it hard to blame those people for the way they reacted to his words. If a guy walked up to me and told me to eat his flesh and drink his blood, I would probably start backing away slowly. It makes you wonder whether Jesus was thinking clearly. Maybe he was tired and hungry. His words sound so foolish!
Yet if Jesus sounds foolish to us, then like his first audience, we've missed his point. He stated so clearly that he was going to give his flesh to die to bring life to the world. He stated so clearly that everyone who believes in him has eternal life. To eat his flesh and drink his blood is a vivid way of saying that he wants us to take him in and receive him through faith and be connected to him, so that we can have eternal life. The thought of drinking blood was hard for the Jews to understand, because God did not allow the drinking of blood in the Old Testament. That's because, God says, the life of an animal is in the blood. But that is exactly Jesus's point. We need to take in Christ's blood, so that we can receive his life!
If it sounds strange and disgusting to us that he offers his flesh and blood for us to eat and drink, then that means we're thinking about was physical food that gives physical life. But Jesus offers spiritual food that brings spiritual blessings.
If we think the food that Jesus offers sounds strange, it could be because we haven't listened carefully to what he said. But it is also possible that we might understand exactly what he means, and still be disgusted. That is because we might take offense at the idea that we cannot have eternal life if we do not believe in Jesus. We don't want to believe him when he says that, because we know other people who don't believe in him! We know people who don't want him to be their Savior! But if we don't believe his words, then we do not trust in him. If we do not trust what he says, then we have no life in us, and we will be dead in hell forever.
It is sad that people get upset when Jesus tries to give us good things. He wants to save us. His words should not anger us. They are a kind and gracious invitation. He gave his flesh into death on the cross for you. Trust him. Receive his blessings. Live forever. It shouldn't sound strange to us that Jesus calls himself our food. Christ is our true sustenence, who keeps us alive forever in body and soul. His flesh and blood are the only thing that can do that.
Sometimes we are ashamed of the things Jesus says and wish that he hadn't said them, like how faith in him is the only way to eternal life. But the fact that Jesus offers us a way to heaven is not something to get upset about. It's something to be thankful for! Or it might sound strange when we have to tell people that we receive Jesus' true body and blood in Holy Communion. But the fact that that Jesus offers us his flesh and blood to us in his gospel is not something to feel strange about, but it is something to enjoy!
Eating his flesh and drinking his blood doesn't only happen in Communion. We receive Jesus into ourselves and he becomes a part of us whenever we receive his gospel in faith. This includes when you were baptized. It also includes when you hear the Word of God proclaimed. In these ways he makes the very flesh and blood that he sacrificed on the cross for us our very own. He wants us to be certain that he has saved us from death and given us life. He wants us to remain in him and he wants to remain in us. He wants to raise us up at the last day. He wants us to live forever. He gives us a meal where he does all these things for us!
So come to Communion, listen to his Word, and return to your Baptism. Trust that Jesus has given his flesh on the cross for you. Because his flesh is perfect, he really did earn heaven for you. Because he sacrificed his flesh for you, he really did pay for all of your sins. Believe that he is your Savior!
I do pray that you will live a long and healthy life here on earth. But I'll leave to you what foods you eat to achieve that goal. Jesus is the only meal you ever really need. He is the only one who can keep you healthy forever. Through faith in Jesus, you will feast forever in heaven. Eat and live!