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Sermon - Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (B) - 9th August 2009
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping
Readings: John 6:35, 41-51
We have this morning one of the most complex teachings of Jesus and yet one of the most important statements he has to make. Yet this passage ha been controversial and the cause of much debate in the church for the last 2000 years. Even as I was reading several books about this passage in preparation for this sermon, I found a wide variety of views. But with that there also comes a sense of frustration. We know the passage is saying something important. Its discussing issues relating to eternal life, so we might hope the passage was clearer, that Jesus teaching was plainer. Its like when you are at a large railway station or the airport when important announcements are made over the public address system. But the sound is distorted, or there’s an echo and you can’t quite make out the announcement and you fear you’ll miss your train or your flight.
So what do we do with this passage. Its probably best to pick out the main themes and consider what Jesus is teaching, and to remember that he doesn’t use language like we do in 21 st century. Our tendency is to write like a car maintenance manual – step 1, followed by step 2 – in logical progression until the job is done. Jesus approach is more poetic, where idea is heaped on idea to create a profusion of images. So lets just tease out a few of those ideas.
First Jesus tells us he is the bread of life. He is the giver of life. Somehow through him the reign of death will end. Repeatedly through John’s gospel we are reminded of Jesus teaching that he brings life, or he is the giver of eternal life. This, of course, is why we consider Jesus teaching so important. Since Genesis 3 we have seen the entry of death in our world. We have seen the tragedy of death in the lives of so many people. We have seen tyrants use the weapon of death against their subjects. But Jesus teaches the beginning of a new day with the gift of life.
The Jews believed that some day God would overturn the power of death. They looked forward to an event they called “the last day”. This was at the end of the age. This would be a time when God put the world to rights. It would be a time of justice and it was expected to be a time of resurrection. Martha believed that her brother Lazarus would be raised on the last day, that is, the end of the age. But now we are told it is Jesus who is the agent of resurrection. He is the bread of life. He is the giver of new life. He is the one who will give new life to his people at the end of the age.
But he is playing with this idea like a poet. He keeps referring back to the feeding of the 5000 and comparing that to the work of Moses. Moses’ exodus is the story of the rescue of Israel from Egypt. In the wilderness, Moses gave them the bread literally from heaven, which fell from the sky each night and sustained the people. This bread meant life. It was both the bread of life and the bread from heaven. So Jesus compared himself to Moses claiming a greater ministry. He claims to have the authority to give this teaching because he himself is from heaven.
The Jews immediately objected to this for two reasons. They couldn’t see why he should be superior to Moses. But as well, they said they knew Joseph, they knew Jesus parents, they could tell by his accent where he had come from, and he certainly had not come from heaven. But this was Jesus argument. He could proclaim the resurrection from the dead, he could teach this new teaching because he had the authority of heaven behind him because he had come from heaven.
Now this is not one of those arguments that you can prove. Jesus could not prove he had come from heaven and the Jews probably didn’t expect him to prove it. Rather, its Jesus’ explanation of why he believed he had the authority to teach this message. It is why he called on people to believe his message, to trust him that it was true.
But then Jesus explained why his mission will succeed and he does that by using the imagery of Moses again, this time at Mt Sinai. There the people gathered before the Mountain, and before the presence of God. It was there that they received the law. In that sense they were taught by God. However, later prophets such as Jeremiah complained that Israel would not listen and would not learn. They refused to be taught the law of God. But Jeremiah looked forward to a new age when people would listen to God, when they would receive his teaching.
So the prophet wrote, “In those days, declares the Lord, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people.”
And Jesus is the fulfilment of this prophecy. Only Jesus has come from heaven. Only Jesus has seen the Father. So only Jesus can pass on the teachings of his father. The people will be taught by God and that work of teaching is fulfilled in Jesus. And just as Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them before God at Mt Sinai, so the Father will draw out his people and bring them to Jesus.
This is God’s new rescue plan. Just as he delivered his people from Egypt, so God will rescue his people from all that is evil in this world, but with an important distinction. Moses ministry was limited in effect. Even though Israel survived Egypt, even though they survived the wilderness, they still died. This is the major contrast with Jesus’ ministry. Jesus said, “Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. Anyone who eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh.”
Now what does Jesus mean here? Is this a reference to the Eucharist? Or is Jesus looking forward to the institution of the Eucharist? This has been another hot topic of debate. Most people take on exclusivist approach, separating off each if the images in Jesus’ teaching. but Jesus method is just the opposite. He heaps idea upon idea. He bring together believed and eating. He brings together bread and body and flesh. And we are doing the same thing at the Eucharist, the believing and the taking and eating go together. The bread and the body go together. The wine and the blood are taken together. It’s a gathering together of doctrinal truths to express the reality of what Christ has achieved.
Notice how the Jews try to pull these ideas apart. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Take one element out on its own and it makes no sense. Rationality is not enough. What we are describing here is something relational, something based on love. And Jesus uses ancient themes to remind us of God’s faithfulness in the past, and his plan to do something even greater in Jesus lifetime, where God’s people are drawn into a deeper, more intimate relationship than ever before.
God’s words of love are written on our hearts. We are fed by Christ in the most intimate of ways, sharing his own body and blood - physically representing the truth of Christ in us, Christ sustaining us, Christ enabling us to grow, and Christ passing on his resurrection life, giving us new life – eternal life. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.