Midweek Lenten Service,
7 PM Central Standard Time
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
The Psalmody
The Lection The Passion History
The Sermon Hymn # 657 Beautiful Savior
The Lection The Passion History
The Sermon Hymn # 657 Beautiful Savior
I AM That Bread of Life
The Prayers
The Lord’s Prayer
The Collect for Grace p. 45
The Hymn #558 All Praise To Thee
The Hymn #558 All Praise To Thee
John 6
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
I AM That Bread of Life
John:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
The normal way of considering these justly famous sermons in John is to number them as seven, but there are many more examples if we look closely. People look at the passages as if we are dealing with English texts, but the Gospel of John is really a commentary on Exodus, that is, giving us those foreshadowing passages meaning by fulfilling all that was promised.
Simply put, I AM is the Name of God, and Jesus is I AM. He said so in John 8 when the religious opponents said, "We are children of Abraham." Jesus responded, "Before Abraham was, I AM. So clearly he was not using those words to say "I am that person."
Moses asked, Exodus 3, Who is sending me? When they ask Your Name, what shall I say? The Angel of the Lord said, "Tell them - I AM sent me." The Angel of the Lord is the Son of God, before His incarnation. His Name is I AM, so the Jewish opponents knew Jesus was identifying Himself as God and accused Him of calling Himself the Son of God.
Although "I am" can be understood in our normal sense, the predominant sense is I AM - the Name of God.
So here we have two divine declarations connected with God. He who comes to the Savior will never hunger and never thirst. Sceptics have trouble meshing Matthew-Mark-Luke with John, but we can see the connection here. Matthew 6:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
And what is the pointed accusation made by Jesus? You believe not. His purpose is to teach forgiveness through faith in Him (Justification by Faith). Righteousness can only come through trust in Him. Therefore, the worst sin, the foundational sin, is not believing in Jesus. Nor should anyone be indifferent about that foundational issue.
The connection with bread shows what a universal truth faith in Him is. Bread is that basic and satisfying food which all mankind manufactures from various foods, from gluten free rice, to whole grains.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
This is one of the most beautiful passages in John, connected to many others. Connecting this with God the Father in the Old Testament - He sent Jesus as the incarnation of His will, His Word, His grace and mercy. Believing in Jesus is believing in the One Who Sent Him. Every person who sees the Son (the eyes of faith) and believes in Him has everlasting life. But the Jewish opponents murmured because He connected Himself with the manna coming down from heaven.
That is a powerful comparison for people brought up on the Exodus and the miracles that took place on that journey. Were they not all prefiguring of Christ? In fact, He followed them on that journey.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
As Luther commented, the Gospel of John repeats the same word or phrase and takes us higher and higher with its meaning. That makes it basic to all Christian knowledge, but also an ideal book for studying any given language. We have given at least six Spanish copies of John away in this area, to medical people who want to learn Spanish. Several asked for the English version.
Simply by looking at this chapter we see that believing in Jesus not only means forgiveness of sin but also eternal life. Some like to argue as Luther did, that this is not a discourse on Holy Communion. That claim came from the debate with Zwingli, who wanted to make the Lord's Supper as merely spiritual, using John 6. So Luther set aside that chapter as support for Zwingli.
I have always read this as a sermon about faith and about connecting the manna from heaven with Holy Communion in the future.
This passage from John really begins with the Old Testament, which we might take for granted in reading this as Christians of the last days. Some try to re-create that Old Testament experience, as Christian Jews and so forth. But what we need is not to become Jews again but to see how powerful these words were for people brought up on the Passover Meal, the spotless lamb sacrificed for that meal, and the miracles of that Exodus.
Luther called the Books of Moses "the goldmine" from which the divinity of Christ is fashioned in the New Testament.
Greek Lesson - I AM the Bread of Life - John 6
635 ειπεν δε αυτοις ο ιησους εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης ο ερχομενος
προς με ου μη πειναση και ο πιστευων εις εμε ου μη διψηση πωποτε
36 αλλ ειπον
υμιν οτι και εωρακατε με και ου πιστευετε
37 παν ο
διδωσιν μοι ο πατηρ προς εμε ηξει και τον ερχομενον προς με ου μη εκβαλω εξω
38 οτι
καταβεβηκα εκ του ουρανου ουχ ινα ποιω το θελημα το εμον αλλα το θελημα του
πεμψαντος με
39 τουτο δε
εστιν το θελημα του πεμψαντος με πατρος ινα παν ο δεδωκεν μοι μη απολεσω εξ
αυτου αλλα αναστησω αυτο εν τη εσχατη ημερα
40 τουτο δε
εστιν το θελημα του πεμψαντος με ινα πας ο θεωρων τον υιον και πιστευων εις
αυτον εχη ζωην αιωνιον και αναστησω αυτον εγω τη εσχατη ημερα
41 εγογγυζον ουν οι ιουδαιοι περι αυτου οτι
ειπεν εγω ειμι ο αρτος ο καταβας εκ του ουρανου
42 και
ελεγον ουχ ουτος εστιν ιησους ο υιος ιωσηφ ου ημεις οιδαμεν τον πατερα και την
μητερα πως ουν λεγει ουτος οτι εκ του ουρανου καταβεβηκα
43 απεκριθη
ουν ο ιησους και ειπεν αυτοις μη γογγυζετε μετ αλληλων
44 ουδεις
δυναται ελθειν προς με εαν μη ο πατηρ ο πεμψας με ελκυση αυτον και εγω αναστησω
αυτον τη εσχατη ημερα
45 εστιν
γεγραμμενον εν τοις προφηταις και εσονται παντες διδακτοι του θεου πας ουν ο
ακουσας παρα του πατρος και μαθων ερχεται προς με
46 ουχ οτι
τον πατερα τις εωρακεν ει μη ο ων παρα του θεου ουτος εωρακεν τον πατερα
47 αμην αμην
λεγω υμιν ο πιστευων εις εμε εχει ζωην αιωνιον
48 εγω ειμι ο αρτος της ζωης
49 οι
πατερες υμων εφαγον το μαννα εν τη ερημω και απεθανον
50 ουτος
εστιν ο αρτος ο εκ του ουρανου καταβαινων ινα τις εξ αυτου φαγη και μη αποθανη
51 εγω ειμι ο αρτος ο ζων ο εκ του ουρανου
καταβας εαν τις φαγη εκ τουτου του αρτου ζησεται εις τον αιωνα και ο αρτος δε
ον εγω δωσω η σαρξ μου εστιν ην εγω δωσω υπερ της του κοσμου ζωης
52 εμαχοντο
ουν προς αλληλους οι ιουδαιοι λεγοντες πως δυναται ουτος ημιν δουναι την σαρκα
φαγειν
