"To Whom Shall We Go?”

In Jesus Holy Name Pentecost XII August 15, 2211

Text: John 6:68

“To Whom Shall We Go?”

Many shopping malls have within their walls a store called Things Remembered, which offers items that can be engraved to commemorate special occasions. If you have received such a gift, you know what a treasure it can become. People like to remember happy times and significant events.

Memories are precious; they keep us connected to people, places, and events that have shaped us and influenced our lives. Colleen and I have a habit of taking some of our favorite photos of our adventures with our children and grandchildren then making place mates and laminating them. At every family gathering everyone enjoys talking about the memories on their placemat.

John chapter 6 is about memories. Jesus refers to Himself as the Bread of Life. We are to remember Him and His sacrifice for us. Each celebrations of Holy Communion is to both experiences the presence of Jesus and remember His sacrificial death that purchased our forgiveness before a Holy and righteous God.

Chapter 6 began with Jesus physically providing bread for the crowd of 5000 who gathered to hear him teach. His prayer multiplied five small loaves and two fish that a young boy brought for his lunch. When the crowd followed him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus challenged their obsession with His miracles. They were looking for a healing whenever they became ill. Free lunch whenever they got hungry. He was not the political king they were seeking.

Jesus began to explain that He was the “manna” sent from heaven. He was the true bread of life. He was offering Himself as the answer to the spiritual hunger people desire as the seek peace with their Creator. Whenever Jesus used the phrase: “I Am the Bread of Life”: I Am the light of the world”; I Am the Good Shepherd” His message was clear. “I Am the God of the Burning Bush”.

Every Jewish listener knew that the name for God that was given to Moses: “Yahweh”, “I Am I Am” this is the name of the God of Creation; “I Am” is the God who delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt; “I Am” is the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. The religious Jewish leaders also considered the 1st Testament to be the Manna from heaven, the bread of life. When Jesus said, “I am the true Manna from Heaven” He meant: “I am the God of the burning bush standing in your presence.

The Apostle John does not record in his Gospel, Jesus instituting the sacrament of Holy Communion on the night he was betrayed. Instead John records the theology of the Lord’s Supper. Jesus said: “Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness”, (v 49) this gift of God, sent from heaven, provided food that sustained their lives for 40 years in the wilderness.

“I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. The bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. (v 51,52) Jesus went on to say: “I tell you the truth unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and will raise him up at the last day.”

The historical background for the establishment of the Lord's Supper is the Passover. You know the story. Through Moses God visited various plagues on the land of Egypt and Pharaoh. It was a demonstration that the God of Israel was more powerful than the gods of Egypt. In the final plague Pharaoh and the Israelites were warned that the angel of death would pass over every household. family had to put blood from a sacrificed lamb on the doorframe of their house and eat the Passover meal if the first born child and first born animal was to be saved from death. The eating of the lamb and the meal of unleavened bread became the abiding symbol of Israel's deliverance from slavery and death.

These words of Jesus, “ this bread is my body, this cup is my blood shed for the forgiveness of sins” have become so familiar we may miss the radical power they hold. We speak them over the bread and wine each and every time the “church” celebrates Holy Communion. In John 6 Jesus was already speaking future when He said: “I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. The bread is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world.” (v 51,52)