"From the Pulpit" - reflections on the weekly texts, from Pastor Greg at Living Lord Lutheran Church, Vero Beach, FL
Jesus said to [the crowd,] “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” from our gospel for Sunday, August 11th, 2024.
"But the Guy's from Nazareth!"
You can just imagine the looks and tongue wags that Jesus received in his hometown and elsewhere when he makes one of his many "I am" statements, like in our gospel for this Sunday. "I am the bread that came down from heaven." And later, "I am the living bread..." His friends knew him as Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary. So to make these claims (and others, like "I am the good shepherd", or "I am the gatekeeper", and more), would surely have raised some eyebrows and brought suspicion. It certainly did with the temple leadership, who, as we know, was continually trying to trick him into doing work on the Sabbath, and more. And what's more infuriating to his Jewish community is that he made this claim of being bread from heaven, in light of the story of Moses and Israel in the desert, being fed by God with manna daily. Jesus' divinity just didn't square with his earthly roots, did it?
What to do with this. We bring this same suspicion to our world today. Those in Jesus' community weren't unique. We doubt unless we have proof of something, and even then, we can still doubt. In tomorrow's message, I'll talk about beliefs that seem as though they're ingrained in our DNA almost. For example, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, you likely have a favorite candidate. For your local community, for Congress, for President. And do you think that there is anything, any opinion, any new bit of evidence or information out there that would make you change your mind about who you're likely to vote for? I seriously doubt it. Some beliefs are so ingrained in us that little to nothing can change them. Nothing. And so it is now, as it was in the time of Jesus. You either believed these claims of his, or you dismissed them as ridiculous, or in the case of the temple leadership, blasphemous. Worthy of a trial and execution!
And yet, when we gather each Sunday around the altar, and you wait for that bread and wine to come to you - the body and blood of Jesus, we know without a doubt, that in this meal, Jesus is truly present. And we ARE fed with that bread of life that only he can offer the world. I can see it in the way you hold out your hands to receive the bread. I can see it in the tears you shed as you hear those words ("the body of Christ given for you..." and "the blood of Christ, shed for you".) Tears of joy, of gratitude, of thankfulness. I can see it in your nodding, saying under your breath, "thank you, Jesus." I can hear it in the amen's you offer as you receive the Sacrament.
So, yes, Jesus was that boy from Nazareth. And yes, he was a member of a local community, just like you and me. But, yes, he was and is, and will be forever, the savior of the world to me and to all believers. The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The Holy One of Israel. You can use your own descriptors here. But I say, "thanks be to God" for Jesus' humanity, because he has known our suffering. He has known our hurt and our pain. He has known our joys. He has even known our death.
So tomorrow, come and see that the LORD is good. In Word, in Water, in Wheat, and in Wine as we get a foretaste of that great feast to come. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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