Sermon Index
August 5, 2012
|
John 6:22-35 22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. |
The Gospel reading for today and the next two weeks have the same theme, namely that Jesus says, “I Am the Bread of Life.” Today I want to look at each of those words and seriously look at what Jesus is saying.
The first word is “I.” Jesus is not sharing this honor of giving bread with anyone else. It was not really Moses who gave the manna in the wilderness; it was the heavenly Father. And now the Father in Heaven is giving us the true bread from heaven, which is Jesus Christ Himself. The bread is not the 5 loaves next to the lake that Jesus broke and fed 5000 people. Jesus is himself the bread. Do not look for things other than Jesus. Do not look at other teachers or prophets. Do not look to the Law of Moses for nourishment. Do not even look at food to sustain your life. Look to Jesus who said, “I Am the Bread of Life.”
The second word is “Am.” This is present tense. Salvation is right now. We do not have to wait for the future. Life with God is now. Sometimes Christians live with their head off in the future. They forget that they have a calling from God to live for God right now. But Jesus comes to us right now. He IS the bread of life. He IS working in our lives right now. And so we work with God right now too.
The combination of the first and second words is “I AM.” “I AM” is the name of the Lord God, Yahweh. At the burning bush, God revealed his name to Moses. He said “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex.3:14). Jesus is the bread of life; the Lord God Yahweh is the bread of life. This morning I do not want to go into the details of the mystery of the Holy Trinity. But the clear teaching in the New Testament is that Jesus is God. It is God that gives the bread of life. At the same time it is God who is the bread of life. In Jesus Christ God gives himself to us that we might have life.
The third word is “the.” This little word is important. It means that there is only one bread. Jesus is not just one of many breads, a bread among others, but the one and only bread that will give life. There may be other things, but Jesus is the one and only true bread.
“I am the bread.” Bread is made of wheat flour. There is something about the characteristic of wheat flour that when mixed with yeast it will rise. That does not work with rice or oats or corn or potatoes or other grains. At the time of Jesus, bread was the main food, just like rice is the main food in Japan. So Jesus says that he is the food of life. We sinners look to other things when we are hungry. When we are emotionally hungry or bored, we look at other things that we think will give us a better life: love, education, friends, drugs, food, drink, sports, fun, and entertainment. But do they satisfy or do they leave us hungry in our hearts? Because these things are gifts of God, and because they are in the list when we pray in the Lord’s Prayer “give us this day our daily bread,” we receive them with thanksgiving, of course. And when we give thanks for our sandwich or rice ball, we thank God for giving us Jesus Christ, the True Bread from heaven.
Finally: “life.” Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” What is life? Ask the philosophers, theologians, career councilors, your school teacher, your peers, scientists, biologists and zoologists, and adventurers and people who want to have fun. Today I want to try this definition. Life is being with God, or life is the love of God. Because God loves this world there is life. There is life for plants, animals and humans. And in Jesus Christ there is eternal life. It is eternal because he is eternal and he gives himself to us. He died on the cross, but on the third day he rose again. He died so that we too can live. He is the bread that gives us eternal life, life with God, life with the love of God.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church