John 6:35–51

³⁵Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

³⁶But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

³⁷All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.

³⁹And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

⁴⁰For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."

⁴¹So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

⁴²They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

⁴³Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.

⁴⁴No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-

⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father.

⁴⁷Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

⁴⁸I am the bread of life.

⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Elijah was scared, discouraged, and burned out. He prayed that God would allow him to die and then he went to sleep under a tree. But what a God we have! God himself sent an angel with food and drink to restore Elijah's spirits and strength. Elijah fell back to sleep and then God sent the angel a second time with more food and beverage. So refreshing and so nourishing was that food and drink from heaven that it sustained Elijah for 40 days and 40 nights on the same mountain that Moses was on for 40 days and nights. What a truly amazing God who has such a passionate love for his people that he takes care of them individually. One lonely man, frustrated and discouraged, and God sent him food from heaven to lift him up and restore his life. That is how God treats all his children.

So Jesus Christ, having compassion on the people fed them; over 5000 people he fed, showing the love, care and compassion of God. Not just his care for believers, but as we have now seen already, most of these 5000 did not even believe in Jesus. That is why in the Gospel reading for next Sunday, we will read about all of them turning away from Jesus, except for 12 disciples who remained faithful. God is such a God that he even cares for and provides food for and helps people who do not even want him around, who reject his love and who do not even believe in him.

So when the unbelieving crowds came to him the next day in Capernaum, Jesus didn't turn them away, but he invited them to eat a higher bread; the bread of life. For this bread gives not only life, but eternal life. Whoever eats of this bread shall not hunger. And whoever believes in Jesus shall never thirst. The bread Jesus gave was greater than the bread that Moses gave the Israelites in the wilderness. For even though they ate the manna for 40 years, they still all died. But Jesus is the living bread, that when anyone eats his flesh, he will not hunger again, and when anyone drinks his blood he will never thirst again, but Jesus will raise him up on the Last Day and give him eternal life. Even though up until now you have not believed, you have rejected him, you have denied him, he still invites you to turn to him, repent of your sin and believe in him and he will give you eternal life.

Jesus is greater than Moses, for Jesus gives the bread of life. Jesus is greater than the manna because Jesus is the bread that gives forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And this is the bread we pray for in the Lord's Prayer: Give us this day our daily bread. This is really a prayer for Jesus himself to come to us sacramentally, in Holy Communion, and give us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is the prayer for Emmanuel: God be with us!

But the crowds did not believe in Jesus. They grumbled against him. It was not living bread they were looking for. It was not forgiveness of sins they wanted. It was not resurrection to eternal life they were hungry for, but instead they wanted only material bread, physical blessings, the pleasures and excitement of this life. They did not believe.

And for that there is no forgiveness. Lack of faith is not just another sin, a bad deed that we do occasionally that deserves punishment but for which there is restitution; lack of faith is a total rejection of God's grace given to us in his Son Jesus Christ. For that there is no forgiveness. Lack of faith rejects forgiveness. Lack of faith rejects eternal life. Lack of faith kills, and it kills forever.

Who then can be saved? Only those whom the Father, through the Holy Spirit, draws to Jesus. "All that the Father gives me will come to me," says Jesus, "and whoever comes to me I will never cast out." Here we see the complete servant attitude of Jesus. "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me." It was the Father's will that Jesus be made man and absorb our sin into himself. It was the Father's will that Jesus suffer the punishment of hell in our place and pay for our sins. It was the Father's will that Jesus pour out his blood on the cross and die for us. For when Jesus prayed and asked the Father, "If there be any other way to save these people, please let it come to pass, however, not my will, but your will be done." It was the Father's will that Jesus give his life as the ransom payment for you and me to free us from our sins and release us from the punishment of hell.

And so that is what Jesus told those people that day. Look at what was going on. Jesus was before a crowd of non-believers, inviting them to believe in him, promising them that if anyone turned away from his unbelief and believed in him he would forgive his sins and raise him on the last day. This is an evangelistic rally. A whole stadium full of people turned out that day to hear Jesus preach. His message was simple: you will die eternally unless you repent of your sin and believe in me. Come to me and I will forgive your sins and give you eternal life. That was his sermon in a nutshell.

He told them that the Bible says they would be taught by God and everyone who heard and learned from God would come to him. "Truly, truly, I say unto you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. I am greater than Moses and the manna in the wilderness, because they ate the manna and died, but whoever eats the bread that comes down from heaven will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Jesus is inviting us to believe in him. He is saying that he gives his own body, sacrifices himself on the cross so that all who believe in him, who eat of his flesh, shall not perish but have everlasting life. "Repent and believe in me!" he says, "and I will raise you up on the last day."

This then becomes our message too. For as believers in Christ, joined to his life and death in our baptism, our life takes on the appearance of his life. We become more and more like Jesus and our message to the world becomes his message. Our love begins to be like his love. Our lives as believers in Jesus become like his life. We too proclaim the message of eternal life and carry the message of Jesus to all the world. We too begin to serve our neighbor in need as Jesus did. We to start forgiving those who sin against us as Jesus did. We too love our enemies as Jesus loved his enemies. We too turn the other cheek and sacrifice our lives to serve our neighbor as Jesus turned his other cheek and gave up his life on the cross. We, like Jesus, do not do our own will, but the will of the one who sent us. The will of Jesus who sends us into the world to make disciples of all nations by baptizing and teaching his word.

And so, as we continue to become more and more like Jesus, this sermon of Jesus to this crowd of unbelievers continues today in our words and in our lives. He sends us to do his will; to proclaim this very same Gospel; telling the world that all who believe in Jesus will be raised on the last day to eternal life. It is a simple message. We don't need fancy words. We need not make it more complicated than it is, trying to woo people by offering the bread of this world which does not give life. We don't have to get all busy and burn ourselves out with projects and programs that are just busywork. Our message is simple, "Repent and believe in Jesus and you will have eternal life." Our job is simple, proclaim that message. We don't need millions of dollars. We don't need high priced business consultants to tell us what to do. We don't need to sit and scratch our heads for years trying to figure out what to do. We just need to go out and tell the message of Jesus to those who don't believe. "Repent of your sin and believe in Jesus and you will have eternal life." This is our mission; this is our message.

God bless us as we do it!

Amen.