The Test Of The Bread Of Life

THE TEST OF THE BREAD OF LIFE

John 6:56-69

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. A new chaplain was hired for a prison unit. He was excited to preach his first Sunday service in the prison, but he was also very nervous. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

2. On Sunday morning he arrived at the prison. A large group of prisoners had gathered to hear him. As he walked up and stood behind the pulpit, he said, “Good morning! I’m so glad that all of you are here!”

B. TEXT

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:56-69

C. THESIS

1. Today we’re looking at one of the “hard sayings of Jesus,” something Jesus taught that people, even today, find difficult to understand. But Jesus meant this as a test of loyalty: do we really love Him and trust Him?

2. We also look at seven things about the Manna that parallel our consumption of Jesus, the Bread of Life. The title of this message is “The Test of the Bread of Life.”

I. MISUNDERSTANDING JESUS’ WORDS vss. 56-63

The words of Jesus about ‘eating His flesh and drinking His blood’ have caused a lot of misunderstandings and divisions. In Jesus’ own day these words caused many of His followers to be offended and leave. In the intervening centuries different interpretations have spawned different denominations. Most of these differences revolve around the Lord’s Supper. So I list three of the main views:

A. TRANSUBSTANTIATION

1. This is the view of the Roman Catholic Church, that during the ceremony called the Mass, the bread and wine are miraculously changed into the literal flesh and blood of Christ, even though the elements appear to remain the same. This is their interpretation of John 6:24, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life....”

2. Of course, to eat human flesh or blood is forbidden in the Bible (Gen. 9:4-6). In addition, Jesus was still in His physical body when He instituted the Lord’s Supper (His body was on the chair, not on the plate). Also, Jesus referred to the contents of the cup as “the fruit of the vine” AFTER they all drank of it (Mt. 26:26-29), not as “My blood.”

3. Jesus told us plainly in verse 63, “The words that I have spoken to you are spiritual. They are life.” God’s Word Trans. So Jesus was speaking in a spiritual sense, about our need to spiritually absorb His words and His presence.

4. [Lutherans believe the elements don’t change, but the PHYSICAL presence of Christ is in or under the elements – “consubstantial.”]

B. MEMORIALISM

This is a wholly natural view of the Lord’s Supper, that there is NO real presence of Christ at the Lord's Table (spiritual or material) but the Meal is only a memorial, remembering Christ’s atonement (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).

C. REFORMED VIEW

1. The view favored by most Protestants is that the Lord's Supper is both a remembrance (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) meal and that the spiritual presence of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16-17) is partaken of (or special grace received) during the Lord's Supper.

2. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them,” Mt. 18:20. So Christ’s spiritual presence would surely be there. God also rewards those who OBEY Him (Acts 5:32) and HONOR (1 Sam. 2:30) Him with His special presence. How much more at the remembrance service recounting Christ’s sufferings?