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John 6:60-69
(Sermon for the week of August 27th)
Gospel
Jn 6:60-69
Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said,
“This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them,
“Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was
before? It is the spirit that gives life,while the flesh is of no
avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are
some of you who do not believe.”
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and
the one who would betray him. And he said,“For this reason I have
told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my
Father.” As a result of this,many of his disciples returned to
their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”
Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have
the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced
that you are the Holy One of God.”
SERMON:
In the passage just before this Jesus had just told the crowd
that he was the bread of life that has come down from heaven.
He told them that if anyone eats His flesh and drinks His blood
would never die. The majority of the crowd had a very hard time
accepting His words. For a Jew to drink human blood or eat human
flesh is something completely unthinkable. Jesus of course was not
speaking literally. Jesus was using this symbolism to root out
those who were not truly following him. Those who stumbled over
these words and could not follow Jesus were those who the Father
had not called.
Jesus had just told them that the words He spoke were spirit and
life. The manna that had come down from heaven to feed their
ancestors was meant to be a foreshadowing of Jesus who would come
down from heaven to bring us eternal life. The manna was a
foreshadowing of Jesus just as the blood sacrifice of a spotless
lamb once a year for the atonement of sins was a foreshadowing.
Neither of these, the manna nor the animal blood, were able to
permanently suffice. The manna was given to sustain life and the
blood was offered up to cover sins.
In John 6:44-51,
Jesus said,
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,
and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the
prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens
to my Father and learns from him comes to me
Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from
God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever
believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your
ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is
the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and
not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that
I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
And then....
"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true 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 have life
because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have
life because of me. This is the bread that came down from
heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever
eats this bread will live forever."
Jesus came to do two things:
1) Forgive sins
2) Give us eternal life
By the pouring out of Jesus blood on the cross our sins are
forgiven; our sins are removed from the eyes of God never to be
seen again. But forgiveness doesn’t bring life to the dead. Only
life can bring life to the dead. Just as Jesus was raised to life
on the 3rd day, the Spirit also can bring us back to life. Because
of sin, man dies (physically AND spiritually). In order to be
reborn of the spirit you must come to Jesus for His life and ask
that His spirit dwells inside of you. Without the cross, there
is no forgiveness of sins. Without the resurrection we cannot
have life. Because the sins of the entire world were taken away
at the cross, the life Jesus gives is eternal. Sin brings death
and with sin removed, you cannot die spiritually again after you
have received the Jesus’ life. You cannot lose your salvation!
This is the message symbolized in the statement Jesus had made.
Of course this could not be realized when Jesus spoke these words
but those who knew Jesus was the Son of God were drawn to Him
even though His words might have conflicted with their understanding.
Those who the Father was not drawing turned away at this teaching.
By coming to Jesus for His life and trusting in His death, burial,
and resurrection you have partaken of the blood and flesh of
Jesus by "feasting" on His eternal life.
The act of communion is simply a memorial and representation of
this true spiritual reality. By thinking one can be saved by
drinking red wine and eating wafers blessed by a priest, is silly
and a misunderstanding of what Jesus was really telling us. Jesus
often spoke in parables and He even said quote:
Matthew 13:13
"This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do
not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
Those who do not understand these spiritual truths have not come
to Him. Jesus had just finished telling the crowd that what He
was telling them is Spirit and Life. By "feasting" upon Him,
He was refering to a spiritual act, not a physical one.
And it is the Spirit that gives Life. You must receive His Spirit
and eternal life in order to “feast” upon Him. Those who “feast”
upon Jesus abide in Him, and abide in His Word and in turn,
Jesus abides in them.
How do you feast upon Jesus' blood and flesh?
Answer: By abiding in Jesus!
God Bless you and your families this week.
(Sermon by Adam W.)
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