Our Sermons

Bible Passage: John 6:51-58
Pastor: Pastor Nathan Berg
Sermon Date:  August 22, 2021

We are not a society that likes to deal in absolutes. Our post modern society likes to think that absolutes don’t exist. There is no such thing as absolute truth. What’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me. And that makes what Jesus says to us today very hard to stomach for many, many people. Basically, Jesus says, The Bread of Life is One of a Kind. What that means is that it’s the only spiritual food. It’s the only option and it’s absolutely necessary. “Come to me, eat of me if you want to live,” is Jesus’ offer. There’s no other way. Without him there is only death. 

But before we dig into that, perhaps it would be beneficial just to remember what we’ve already talked about the last few weeks here in John 6. Jesus’ goal has been to get the crowd to get past thinking about only the physical and start to think about the spiritual. If they thought the multiplied bread was great, now he offers them something eternally better. He offers them the Bread of Life. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” Just like the multiplied loaves were a gift from heaven, Jesus himself came as a gift from heaven. He offers them more than life in this world, but eternal life. “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever!” And how will he give them this eternal food? He offers himself. He himself is the Bread of Life. By giving up his own flesh and blood on the cross, he gives us life! And this life is there for the whole world. Jesus’ promises that he will give his flesh as the source of life for all who believe!

Today, Jesus adds one more truth about the Bread of Life. Not only does it never run out, not only does it never spoil, not only is it served in grace, but it is also one of a kind. It’s the only kind of food that saves. “So Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.” And this is where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Jesus is claiming that he is not just a source of life. He’s the only source of life. This is an absolute. There’s no other way. This statement of Jesus illustrates two very important truths. First, the Christian faith is very inclusive. “If anyone eats of this bread, they will live forever.” Jesus gives his flesh for the whole world, for anyone. That message, “Believe in Jesus,” is the most inclusive invitation there can be. It’s for everyone. However, at the same time, Christianity is a very exclusive faith. It doesn’t leave any room for people to choose. There’s no alternative path. There’s no door number 1 or door number 2 or door number 3 that leads to heaven. There aren’t multiple sources of spiritual food that can give eternal life. There’s one option, one path, one source. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.” 

This exclusive nature of the Christian faith brings us to a sad reality. “No bread, no life.” For all of those that reject Jesus as their source of spiritual food, they will miss out on life. They will not have peace with God now and they will never know peace without Jesus. The crowds near Capernaum were offered the bread of life. It was ready and prepared for them. It was freely and graciously given. But sadly, many of them preferred other food. Their work-righteous attitude shines through when they say, “What should we do to carry out the work of God?” They wanted to cook their own spiritual food, make their own spiritual nourishment. They wanted to provide for themselves what only God could give them. 

And this danger is real for us as well. We’re bombarded by our society to reject this idea of absolute truth. And we have a natural inclination to want to cook up our own spiritual food. But friends, it doesn’t matter how much spiritual food you try to cook up. No matter how well intentioned or sincere or spiritual someone might be, it all amounts to nothing without Jesus. No other spiritual food will do! No other message, no other book, no other sacraments can be found apart from the gospel of Jesus. The muslim, the work-righteous who is Christian only in name, the latter-day-saint, the Hindu, the new-age deist, the agnostic, the humanist, the Buddist, the person who says, “I’m spiritual, not religous,” they do not have life apart from Jesus. All other spiritual food is poison! Paul said it so strongly, “If anyone else thinks that he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; in regard to zeal, persecuting the church; in regard to the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. For his sake, I have lost all things and consider them rubbish, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him,”

Is that how we view the Bread of Life? Do we see it as one of a kind, as absolutely necessary? Do we see this as something that we can’t live without, something we can never have enough? Look at verse 57. Jesus says, “so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” The Greek word here used for feed has the idea of eagerly munching on, savoring. We don’t just eat the Bread of Life once and then say, “Well I don’t need anymore of that!” We need to see this as absolutely necessary to stay alive. We long for it like the deer who pants for streams of water. It sustains our faith. This isn’t something we learn once and then we move on from. We need to feed on Jesus regularly, savoring the truths of his Word, chewing on this sometimes difficult but ultimately comforting truths. “Amen, Amen I tell you…” we hear Jesus say again. This is no game. If we neglect the bread that Jesus offers we are going to die of spiritual starvation. We can lose that gift of faith. And believe me, the devil wants nothing less than that. He’s looking to devour us. “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.” 

But with Jesus and what he offers, we have a life that no one can take away! “The one who eats this bread will live forever.” This is the promise for everyone who believes, for everyone who feeds on him. “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” So how can we be certain? How can we be sure? Because Jesus did really give his life and shed his blood for us. He was promising what would happen when he said, “My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.” Peter wrote in his first letter, “because you know you were redeemed from your empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, not with things that pass away, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.” He is the real spiritual food because he did come down from heaven. He was sent by the Father. He took on human flesh. He kept the law perfectly. He offered that perfect life as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He really did suffer and die on the cross. He really was dead and buried. He really did rise. “So the one who feeds on my will live because of me,” he tells us. It’s because of what Jesus has done for us that we have life!

The first lesson we read this morning from Proverbs chapter 9 is an interesting connection. Wisdom personified. Wisdom is throwing a party. She’s made all the preparations. She sends out her servants with invitations. And who does she invite? The rich and famous? The wise and understanding? No. She invites the naive and the inexperienced and the gullible. She invites those who lack sense. In other words, she invites the lost and offers the food that gives wisdom. Jesus offers the same invitation to all sinners, to all who are lost, to all lack true spiritual food and he offers us the Bread of Life. And he says to us, “Here is food that you may eat and live. Here is the Bread of Life. It’s one of a kind.” Do you want to live? Come to Jesus. Feed on him. Stay hungry for him. For in him, we find these words fulfilled: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Amen.