PENTECOST 12

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: PENTECOST 12
PROPER: 14 B
ST. JOHN’S CHURCH
DATE: AUG. 10, 1997

TEXT: John 6:37-51 - “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for thi life of the world is my flesh.”

ISSUE: Jesus addresses a complaining and resistant people. They resist him as being close to God and from above. They resent that he refers to himself as the Bread of Heaven. The passage reveals the resistance of human beings to remember and accept the wonderful blessing of God revealed in Christ. The good news resides in Jesus’ coming to his people to feed them with spiritual food and to raise them up.

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The theme of Jesus being present to the early Christian community as the bread of life was in important one. That theme was part of last Sunday’s gospel reading. It is part of the gospel reading for today and will continue again next week. In the reading for today, Jesus is addressing a crowd of Palestinians who are resisting him. He presents himself as one who has come down from heaven. He says, “I am the bread of life.”
Remember that in Jesus’ time it was not appropriate to get ahead. Your place in the society was fixed by your family’s place in the community. A man followed in his father’s footsteps, doing what he was assigned and maintained the status and position. A carpenter’s son was expected to be a carpenter. Thus, for Jesus to say that he had come down from heaven and for him to say “I am the bread of life.” were outrageous statements. The community resists him. They complain about him. How can he say that he came down from heaven. He is no more than the son of Joseph and Mary who held a very simple place with very limited honor in the society. Yet Jesus tells them to stop ‘complaining’ or stop ‘murmuing’ against him. This retort that they should stop complaining or murmuring was reminiscent of the Jews wandering in the desert during the Exodus event. They complained that they were hungry and thirsty and longed for the old days back in Egypt. They may have been slaves but at least there was food to eat. Yet inspite of their complaining God provided both manna from heave, quail, and water from the rock. What Jesus is implying when he tells them to stop complaining is that once again God is with them and they are too dumb or dim witted to see it.
For Jesus to say that he came down from heaven was certainly an audacious thing to say. However, for him to say “Iam the bread of life.” was even more outrageous. Jews did not utter the name of God. The name was considered to be much too holy to be used in any casual way. The name of God in the Hebrew language was Yahweh. It’s translation was “I AM.” Thus people avoided saying “I am.” However, Jesus dares to say it. “I AM the bread of life.” In John’s gospel, Jesus is reported to also use this godly formula in other I AM statements: I AM the good shepherd. I AM the authentic vine. I AM the resurrection and the life. I AM way , the truth, and the life. I AM the light of the world. Jesus dares to use the name of God associated with himself. What’s more, he makes the claim that he has come down from heaven in order to raise up all that has fallen and to redeem everything that God has given to him. It was indeed hard for the people hearing him speak such things with such audacity and with such authority.
Think, however, what this audacity of Christ meant to the early church. It was liberating. Jesus was teaching you could move beyond tradition and your limited place in society. You could speak the name of God and be associated with God. Furthermore God’s love revealed in him sought to redeem and raise up all that had fallen. God had come among his people and having faith in Jesus Christ was your renewal and hope. John’s gospel is revealing Jesus as truly the Son of God who had come down from heaven.
Jesus seen as the bread of life and as the one come down from heaven was not something merely made up by the early church. It was rather seen as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures. The word ‘bread’ was also a metaphor for the Torah. The torah as the law, the word of God, regulated the religious, moral, and social life of the community. It was the message of God. When the people of Israel wandered in the desert God’s word his bread that manna from heaven was given to them when Moses came down with the Law from the mountain.
In the book of Proverbs (9:5) it is written: God’s Wisdom says . . . “Come eat my bread and drink the wine that I have mixed. Leave the company of ignorant people and live.”
The prophet Amos (8:11) writes: “The time is coming when I will send a famine on the land. People will be hungry but not for bread; they well be thirsty but not for water. They will hunger and thirst for a message from the Lord.” i.e. the word from the lord.
Isaiah 55:10-11 writes: “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprouit, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth . . . . .”
And Hosea 11:4 says: “I drew them to me with affection and love. I picked them up and held them to my cheek. I bend down to them and fed them.
As is often the case in John’s gospel account, the people are dense and misinterpret, taking the words of Jesus literally. They cannot appeciate the fulfilling presence of God in their lives. But for those with insight aand longing for God comes the truth. Jesus is the liberator. Jesus is the bread or word of God that has come down to raise up a fallen world. While in the garden of Eden there was a forbidden fruit, with Christ there is no forbidden fruit but to eat of him is to consume the word of God’s truth and love, new life and new being.
For the world today the scripture provides us with the Bread of Life revealed in Christ. He is the message of God’s redeeming and forgiving love. He is the way, the truth and the life for the world. In the church as we worship together, it is interesting to observe that the first part of our worship is dealing with the Bread, That is, The Word from the Scriptures. God comes and speaks to us. In the latter part of the service of worship, we consume or eat the Bread of Life, the living bread of Christ to be that sacramental spiritual presence of the Word of God come among us.
In the world today, and among ourselves, there is still the resistance and the murmuring. Is Jesus Christ really what we need? Is it really true that God has come among us? Is it possible that the fallen world can really and truly be raised up? The doubts and the skepticism persists. People are quick to forget the loving hopeful redeeming story of our faith. While people long for a difference in their lives much confidence is place in the lottery, and in the astrology columns and late night astrologers. What a business that has become. Even dear Nancy Reagan reportedly sought guidance from astrologers. Even in some circles there is a belief that hidden in the Bible there is some magic hidden formula that only computers can find.
Yet all the while people vainly search and resist what has already been given, the simple and prevailing truth persists: Stop your complaining and murmuring. . . . . Come to me all of you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest. I am the Bread of Life. I am the Light for the world. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the one who came down from heaven and Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. . . . . People search for the bread of life when it is in our very midst.