I am the Bread (John 6:51-58)
When our kids were small, Tammy worked at the public library. On Tuesday evenings, she worked until 9:00, so I made sure the boys got homework, baths, and dinner. I found an online recipe for meatloaf—it was completely different from Tammy’s meatloaf, but it sounded really delicious. So one Tuesday night, I carefully followed that recipe and made a meatloaf and all the trimmings.
The boys and I sat down, gave thanks, and served the meatloaf. I took one bite, and that was one bite too many—I have never tasted anything so nasty in all my life. The boys both took a bite, spat it out, and said they weren’t eating it. I ordered a pizza, but I took the meatloaf out to the dog—I didn’t want it to go to waste. The dog sniffed it and turned around and walked away.
I guess most of you have made a horrible meal or two, but eating can be very enjoyable. You probably look forward to Thanksgiving dinner when you can eat without guilt and be with your loved ones. Perhaps you enjoy a good picnic with family and friends or you might like having guests over for a cookout or a fish fry. You may already be anticipating Sunday dinner.
The people to whom Jesus spoke in this morning’s text liked to eat. The Lord fed the 5,000, and that evening he crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The next day, the crowds went looking for Jesus, and, when they found him, Jesus told them they were looking for him only because they ate their fill of the loaves. Jesus then began to teach them about true bread, not bread that will mold and decay, but bread that lives forever. And Jesus said that he is that bread.
Jesus taught the people this simple truth: “Feeding on Jesus brings eternal life.”
Scripture (John 6:51-58)
verse 51:
Jesus had just spoken about the manna the Israelites ate in the wilderness. That bread sustained their physical lives, but the Israelites still died. Jesus isn’t like that manna, for he is the living bread, and the one who eats of that bread “will live forever.”
The bread Jesus would give would be his flesh. When he instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you” (Lk 22:19).
verse 52:
The Jews disputed among themselves and said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” These Jews were thinking about cannibalism. The Jews, of course, had foods they were forbidden to eat. In the Greco-Roman world, people would eat anything; however, cannibalism was a line they would not cross.
verse 53:
The Lord then went one step further: “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” The Jews ate the flesh of the Passover lamb, but they were forbidden to drink any blood. Those who ate blood were excluded from the community (cf. Lev 7:27), but drinking Jesus’s blood gives life.
verse 54:
The one who eats Jesus’s flesh and drinks his blood “has eternal life.” Eternal life comes from feasting on Jesus because he is the living bread.
The word “feeds” is in the present tense in Greek; therefore, the verb refers to continual action. Jesus spoke about someone who made the feast a priority, not someone who took the Supper every now and then.
verse 55:
Jesus’s flesh and blood are true food and true drink. His flesh and blood aren’t like other foods which rot, nor are they foods which simply sustain the body; his flesh and blood give eternal life.
verse 56:
The one feasting on Jesus abides in Jesus and Jesus abides in him. Jesus has fellowship—a deep relationship—with the one who feasts on him.
verses 57-58:
The Father lives; therefore, the one who feeds on Jesus will live through him. Those who ate manna died; those who feasts on Jesus live forever.
Application
“Feeding on Jesus brings eternal life.” Do you know what you need to do, therefore? You need to feed on Jesus and make the Lord’s Supper a priority in your life.
You cannot go to heaven unless you take the Lord’s Supper regularly. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 6:53-54). We often talk about the necessity of repentance and baptism and faithfulness in order to go to heaven (and rightfully so); however, habitual, continual participation in the Lord’s Supper is also necessary to go to heaven.
Don’t miss the Supper! The Lord’s Supper is the reason we come together on the first day of the week: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread. . . .” (Acts 20:7). Do you want to understand how important the Supper was to Paul? “We sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days” (Acts 20:6). Paul apparently delayed his travels a whole week so that he could gather with the church and not miss the Supper!
How often do you show up for the Supper? I don’t really mean how often do you assemble on the first day of the week and take the elements—but that is a valid question. It’s outside our scope this morning to examine the necessity of the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, but if you examine 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Corinthians 16, the early Christians took the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week.
However, do you really show up at the Supper?
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor 11:24). How often do you honestly remember Jesus when you take his Supper? Where is your mind? Do you stand at the foot of the cross and see the Son of God writhing in agony because of your sins, or do you think about your afternoon plans? Let me urge you to spend some time reading about the crucifixion of Jesus this week from the Gospels so that next week the Lord’s agony is fresh on your mind as you eat his flesh in his memory
In Corinth, the congregation refused to eat the Supper in unity: “When you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you” (1 Cor 11:18). The rich came in and ate before the poor could arrive and the rich refused to share with the poor; they thought they were so much better than those poor folks. Instead, the Lord’s Supper is a community event; it is communion: “When you come together to eat, wait for one another” (1 Cor 11:33).
You see, at the Supper, all your differences are set aside, and you’re family eating together. It doesn’t matter for whom you’ll vote in November, or how much money you make or don’t make, or how fat or thin you are, or what degree you earned or didn’t earn, or what college sports team you love. You put all those differences aside and you eat as family, and you do your part to love one another as family. That’s the context in which Paul wrote, “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor 11:28).
How in tune are you with your brothers and sisters? Do you take the Lord’s Supper in communion with your family? Do you need to be a part of that family?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.