John 6:51-58 (Sermon for the week of August 20th)

Gospel
Jn 6:51-58

Jesus said to the crowds:
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world.
”The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said to them,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food,and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

SERMON:

This Gospel message needs to first have a written act of Thanksgiving before I begin this sermon. "Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice in order to cover my unrighteousness, Lord thank you for suffering an unbelievably painful torture and crucifixion by this world in order to save those who would have the courage and faith to learn what You did and why You did it. Lord thank you. Lord thank you for the right of communion."

In these verses, Jesus is announcing to the CROWD OF PEOPLE (plenty of witnesses here) the same instruction that he gave to us at the Last Supper which is an event that HAS NOT taken place yet. This is another instruction of communion given by the Messiah, Jesus Christ. It is an instruction to make those realize who dare to hear and see that Jesus is the one who gave the Jews in the desert the manna to eat AND it is Jesus who was the One who gave the Jews the instructions of the Passover. Jesus in the verse we just read is foreshadowing the event that will grant believers eternal life, the event Jesus is foreshadowing will come soon...His crucifixion.

There is a lot to talk about in this one chapter of John, so I want to talk about just two important points in this one short reading: the significance of the blood and flesh and the right of taking communion.

First, why is Jesus speaking about blood and bread as flesh? The Jews in this verse who are listening to Jesus hear Him give an order to eat His flesh and blood and are put off by His words. These people are thinking "Who is this man...Jesus"? They fail to remember that Jesus just fed 5,000 people with 2 loaves and 5 fish the day before and thousands witnessed this miracle with the Twelve Apostles.
BUT remember that the Twelve Apostles have not yet sat and had the Last Supper with our Lord. The Jews listening to Jesus fail to recognize Jesus as the One who gave the instructions of the Passover.
In the book of Exodus, Passover was an instruction to the Jews that if followed, prevented the Angel of Death from killing the firstborn by "passing" over their house and not killing the firstborn inside that house. The blood on the doorway was the mark that the Angel of Death saw, recognized, and promptly passed over. The flesh of the sacrificial lamb was feasted on in order to give them strength for their upcoming ordeal.

I wonder how many of the Jews present which we read about in John 6 realized who Jesus was when they listened to Him that day. Would we know to recognize Him today if we heard these same words?

THE BLOOD
Christ's blood symbolizes the blood covering of Jesus's sacrifice which was shed at the crucifixion. Jesus is the Son of God who is the first manifestation of the Father. Jesus who is the Creator of all things seen and unseen, saw that all men and women could not follow the 10 Commandments PERFECTLY and thus could not enter heaven because of their unrighteousness. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious righteous of their day and they weren't getting into heaven because they were not worthy. Our Lord poured his Own blood out on this earth so that His blood could serve as the ultimate and final blood sacrifice in order to cover all of our past, present and future sins as long as we "believeth" or act in faith"ing" in Jesus. Our works are nothing without Him, we are nothing without Him, and we surely are not getting into heaven without Him!
The blood of Jesus covers your sin so that the Father can see you...the Father cannot see unrighteousness and without the covering of your sin by the Blood of the Son of God whose name is Jesus...you are unseen and unrighteous. TAKE NOTE AGAIN that the Gospel message we just read in John chapter 6 is before the crucifixion and BEFORE the Last Supper...the Jews don't know that the wine would be the chosen symbol of which we drink the blood of Jesus as an act of faith in which we remember how Jesus died, why Jesus died, and most importantly, what that means to us! The wine is symbolic of the blood Jesus spilled through suffering and torture in order for the men and women who come to Him may have eternal life!

THE FLESH
Christ's flesh was sacrificed on the cross in order for us to have eternal life. It is to be remembered that Jesus the Son of God (who IS ALSO the anticipated Son of Man to the Jews but not recognized as such by these Jews)... gave His life for us. His body was sacrificed as the perfect sacrifice. No more Passover feasts will be necessary after His sacrifice because these feasts mean nothing. The One who instructed the Jews in the original Passover in the Book of Exodus is here in front of them preparing to become the ultimate and final sacrifice. His flesh is the perfect sacrificial flesh as the flesh of the sacrificial lamb is no longer worthy. He is replacing the Passover, the crowd assembled around Him right now don't realize it.

Again, this is BEFORE the Last Supper, but Jesus tells us at this time what the chosen symbol will be for his bodily sacrifice on the cross, it will be bread. The bread will be a remembrance that the Son of God Jesus, had to come down here to give His life for you in order to grant you the opportunity for eternal life.

The bread will serve to remind those who partake that he died and suffered greatly...one in ten survived a Roman scourging...one in ten survived a Roman lashing...He endured that and more in order to become the only worthy sacrifice for YOU TO HAVE THE ETERNAL LIFE.


THE RIGHT OF COMMUNION
Those who take communion need to know one thing...they need to understand that Jesus is the Messiah and is the only BRIDGE to heaven. They need to understand why it was necessary for Jesus to die for us. They need to understand that blood is the only worthy covering for sin, and Jesus covered our sin with His blood. They need to understand that Jesus sacrificed His body in replacement of the sacrificial lamb and the wine and bread symbolize this Truth.

HOWEVER, Communion should not be refused to anyone who wants to take it...for we all are growing in faith"ing", and no one is worthy in God's eyes but Jesus is worthy! The act of communion is between you and God. It is personal and a worthy act of faith. There is absolutely no reason to go to a church, a priest, or any human in order to take communion unless you want a fancy chalice and "blessed" wafers. Communion is a personal act of faith that should be done within the home just as the Jews practiced Passover in their own homes. I understand that the fellowship of church allows those who belong to a church to celebrate communion together BUT this belief that communion should only be performed in a church is erroneous.

Some can't take communion unless they are members of the church, or get only bread during the communion and not wine, or are hospitalized and can't receive communion without the permission of the governing board of the church! Satan knows how to interfere with acts of faith and communion is obviously one of his stomping grounds!


Jesus said: "This is my body"
Jesus said: "This is my blood"
Jesus said: "Do this in remembrance of Me"

Take a cup of wine and some kind of bread. If you want to follow instructions, take unleavened, broken bread and red wine. But, you are not going to be saved because you drank wine or grape juice or even orange juice. If that's the case, ask for a gallon of wine at the next communion in your local church and drink it all! This will allow you to figure out if red wine saves you or not. What you use is not important as much as consciously knowing why you are taking communion and what communion means to you.
Your focus on Jesus Christ is what is important. Jesus is your Savior...

READING 2:
1 Corinthians 11:24-29

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

How does someone eat the bread or drink the wine in an unworthy manner? You are already a sinner...you must know that you are a perpetual sinner...but not knowing why you are taking communion makes this act of faith unworthy...and it is not a ritual to be repeated mindlessly.
DO THIS IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE ONLY LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

God bless you and your families this week.
(Sermon by John H.)

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