Sermon for Pentecost 12 John 6:41-51 Jesus: Bread of Life from Heaven "At this the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said, 'I am the Bread that came down from heaven.' They said, 'Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say: I came down from heaven?' Grumbling. Complaining. Murmuring. That's what the crowd starts out doing in our text today as we continue our Lord's Bread of Life discourse in Capernaum. Never mind, now, that they wanted the bread of God Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world... pleading to Christ: "Sir, from now on give us this bread." Our Savior would, of course, forever give Himself to them so that they might live. "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." What a wonderful promise. And it is a true and certain promise. But, wait. How can this be? Isn't this just plain ol' Jesus... that Guy who used to live in Nazareth... that carpenter's Son? Haven't His mom and dad moved here to Capernaum with Him? We know them. So how can He now be babbling on about having come down from heaven. He's no heavenly being, any more than you or I am. He's either lying to us, or He's massively confused. So think the multitudes who went chasing after our Lord. And they become offended at Him. They grumble. They murmur. They complain. Just like the Israel of old used to... even after God showed them His might and mercy in so many ways... providing them with deliverance and then manna in the wilderness. And why is that... do you think? In a way we see the same thing happening to Elijah in our Old Testament Lesson. After God has given Elijah a monumental victory over the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah...all who ate at queen Jezebel's table [1Kgs 18] and Elijah has them put to death... the prophet hears of Jezebel's threat to take his life, and he becomes afraid, and runs for his life. In fact, from Mt. Carmel Elijah heads straight south about 90 miles (presumably on foot) to Beersheba in Judah. Leaving his servant there... he goes another day's journey into the desert
and collapses under a tree. Exhausted and discouraged, he simply gives up: "Lord, take my life." What do you think happened to Elijah in such a short time? The answer to both questions: Why did the children of Israel murmur against God and Christ? and Why did Elijah give up? is one and the same. They let their human reason take the upper hand over faith. When faced with deciding between trusting in God to be faithful to His promises on the one hand and analyzing the situation based on their human reason on the other hand... they faltered and let their human reason win out. Now in the things of this world... our human reason is a good gift from God...and is to be used as such. It is on the basis of this good gift that we decide whether to buy or sell... what is good for our bodies and our physical well-being... who seems to be the person best-suited as our next president... what laws are most beneficial for the whole of society, etc. On the basis of our God-given human reason we can decide which is the best career to embark upon... what the best course of action to take in a given situation. But in the things of the Spirit... in the things of God... the things that God has demanded on the one hand or promised on the other... human reason is not to be trusted, but rather "every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God." [Mat 4.4] Here we must heed the Word of God in Proverbs 3.5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." For fallen human reason asks: How can we survive out in this wilderness God led us to with no real food and water? Human reason asks: How can I survive when that wicked queen Jezebel has a bounty on my head? Human reason asks: How can Someone Who appears so common... Who has been among us and Whose parents are also in our midst... say that He has come down from heaven? Human reason asks: How is it, if we cannot see it, that the Church claims that God is actually present here in this place that is built with wood and block and mortar. How is it that the Church claims that God speaks His very Own words of forgiveness through the mouth of the Pastor. How is it that the Holy Spirit
creates faith through mere water or the Son gives His very Body and Blood in, with, and under the mere elements of bread and wine? But in our Scripture Lessons today our Lord would teach us to muzzle the ox of our human reason and simply trust in Him and His promises. Were not the children of Israel fed by the morning meal of manna and the evening meal of quails throughout their 40 years in the wilderness? Was not Elijah sustained by the Lord on just two meals so that he was able to travel through the desert 40 days from Beersheba to Mt. Horeb... a distance of nearly 250 miles? Were not the multitudes fed with just 5 loaves and 2 fish by the hand our Savior? And was not this a sign infinitely greater than the sign the crowd wrongly attributed to Moses... since it was indeed produced by the very God of Creation come down from heaven in human flesh as He stood before them? Yet our human reason only doubts... then murmurs and complains... and then asks for more signs. Yes, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to muzzle the ox of our human reason. For that beast continually refuses to eat of the heavenly manna that our Lord sets before us, and would rather trample it under foot. "No one can come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me draws him." Thus says the Lord. But our human reason complains: Wait a minute, I found Him. I decided to follow Christ. Or so it would like to think. Yet in our ears and hearts must ring our Savior's voice: "No one can come to Me unless the Father... draws him... or her. " Unless God first draws us to Christ... we shall in no wise eat from the Bread of Life... we shall not believe... nor shall we truly follow. Bringing us to the Savior is God's work... as Jesus taught us last week. Believing in the One God the Father sent down from heaven to be our eternal-life-giving Bread is the work of God. As we are taught and confess in the Small Catechism regarding the Third Article of the Creed: I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. It is God's work to draw us to Jesus Christ.
And how does God do it? Our Catechism says that we are called by the Gospel... i.e., the Holy Spirit calls us via the message that says we have forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life in Jesus Christ alone. But is this Biblical? Jesus sights the prophet Isaiah: "They shall all be taught by God." [Isa 54:13] And He goes on to say: "Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me." God through Paul says: "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ." [Rom 10.17] And again: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel; for it is the Power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." [Rom 1.16] Through the message of the Gospel... written, spoken, taught, preached, applied through Baptism, received in the Holy Supper... God the Father both initially and forever after draws us to Christ. No one can come to Me unless the Father... draws him. In the original language, this is quite a strong statement... which would normally be expressed in this word order: "Unless the Father draw him, no one is able to come to Me." The meaning is this: If ever, on any occasion, the Father does not draw him... no one is ever able to come to Me. And this not only applies to unbelievers... but even to us Christians. That we come to Christ and believe in Him is solely the work of the Father. When we first believe, that is the Father drawing us by means of the Gospel. When we continue to believe... that is the Father drawing us to Christ through the Gospel. When we die in the saving faith... that is the work of the Father in drawing us to the Person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. To add emphasis to this reality... Jesus uses the word draw. It is a verb that denotes the drawing of a dead weight, like skidding logs with horses. In the New Testament it is used of landing a net bursting with fish, or dragging someone before the authorities or an angry mob. And our Savior uses it of Himself when He says in chapter 12[.32] of John's Gospel: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself." When we are still dead in our trespasses and sins, our God graciously draws us to Christ so that we might come to Him, believe in Him, eat of Him, and live forever. And even after God creates such a living, breathing, Christ-grasping faith in us... He continues to draw us to His Son through Word and Sacrament, so that we might keep on having that salvation. And as if the Lord has not made His point strongly enough... He switches around the word order and places the 'No one' at the very beginning to draw
our attention to the fact: No one... without any exceptions... is ever capable of coming to Me, unless the Father Who sent Me draws him. But the Father does draw us, because He wants all of us to receive His wonderful gifts. He does draw us to Christ, the Bread of Life, by teaching us through the Gospel. And just as surely as He draws us because of His great love... so surely do we already have eternal life [47], so surely will the Son raise us up on the last day [44], so surely will we live forever [51]. For the God Who sustained Elijah 40 days in the desert on just two meals, the God Who sustained Israel in the wilderness for 40 years with the manna, the God Who fed the multitudes with a few loaves of bread and some fish, He Who came down from heaven and took on our human flesh is certainly able also to work and sustain faith in us through His life-giving Word... whether He speaks It in Absolution, attaches It to the waters of Holy Baptism... unites It to the bread and wine of Holy Communion... or proclaims It through the preaching of the Gospel. For Christ is the Bread that comes down from heaven... and gives His flesh for the life of the world... that anyone may eat of It and as a result... live eternally. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. [Amen] Pentecost 12B,2009 Rev. Eric M. Christiansen St. John Lutheran Church Libby, MT