Bread from heaven

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

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real 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 live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever" (John 6:51-58).

When I was growing up, I was taught that there are four basic food groups that one needs to eat from in order to have a balanced diet. Years later, when I was teaching students how to do meal planning, the USDA came out with the food pyramid which added a fifth food group. And just a couple of years ago, while I was waiting in a hospital, I noticed a chart that now lists six food groups that are recommended for a healthy diet.

Isn’t it interesting that nutritionists want us to eat such a large variety of food, when so many people in the world actually have very limited menus. In Asia, for instance, most poor people rarely have more than rice and a few vegetables for every meal. When the great potato famine hit Ireland over a century ago, many people starved or had to migrate to America because potatoes were the bulk of their diet. And in America, where the food selection is very diverse, many deliberately avoid meat, an entire block of the food pyramid.

For many people in many places, bread has served as the major portion of their regular diet. In fact, bread has been so important in feeding people throughout the years that we have taken to calling it "the staff of life." Bread is basic nourishment; bread is inexpensive, easily made, and serves to keep body and soul together even when times are tough. Bread is the food of Everyman.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus identifies Himself as the bread come down from heaven that gives eternal life. This puzzled the Jews who were listening to Jesus’ teachings—they could not understand how Jesus could give them His flesh to eat. What would not be clear until the night that Jesus was betrayed is that Jesus comes to us with His body both spiritually and physically.

Human beings need to eat to stay alive. Food keeps us healthy and gives us the energy to carry out our work. Deprive a person of food and he begins to starve. In fact, as a person sinks deeply into starvation, he loses interest in eating as his body starts to shut down. As starvation worsens, the victim loses awareness that he is slowly dying—he just loses more and more energy and lets time pass by without the strength or desire to do anything that requires effort. If this situation is not reversed, eventually life comes to an end.

As with the body, so with the soul. The soul is the everlasting part of us, the part that hopes and dreams and loves and plans. But God does not consider a soul to be alive unless it trusts in Jesus as the source of life. In Ephesians chapter 2 Paul writes, "you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world." Paul teaches us that even though we are alive, our souls are at the same time dead if they are controlled by the sin of rebellion against God. Our souls do not become alive until Jesus brings faith into our hearts, a faith that is horrified by the truth of our dead condition and looks to Jesus in trust for mercy and the gift of spiritual life. Paul writes, "because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4).

But a living soul must be fed to keep it healthy, or like any other living thing it will begin to starve and eventually die. To remain alive, the soul must be fed—and it is for this reason that Jesus said, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Jesus is that Word of God—Jesus declared Himself "the Bread of Life." For our souls to remain healthy, we must eat the bread of life—we must take the words of God, the Good News about Jesus, into ourselves on a regular schedule. We do this by exposing ourselves to God’s word. We feed on the bread of life by worshipping in church, by participating in Bible study, by reading the Bible at home and by making devotions a part of our daily routine. When we don’t do these things, when we absent ourselves from the Word of God, our souls begin to starve. When our souls starve, we lose the energy and strength to do things for God and for our neighbor; we become listless and weak. If we stay away from God’s Word long enough, we will stop experiencing spiritual hunger altogether and our souls will die without our noticing, just as a starving man dies without hunger pangs. This is why the writer to the Hebrews urges us, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another" (Hebrews 10:25).

Jesus is our source of life. Jesus was born in Bethlehem; the name Bethlehem means "House of Bread." God chose Jesus’ birthplace to communicate an important truth about His Son to us; Jesus is the one essential thing we need to live. Jesus is bread for our souls. He is not an optional side-dish to give extra flavor to our lives. Jesus is not an expensive entrée that only wealthy people can afford. Jesus is bread, the staff of life, easily available to everyone regardless of their background. Jesus was born in a stable so that everyone, even lowly shepherds, could feel welcome in His presence. Jesus did His ministry walking from town to town, so that people could hear His welcoming voice regardless of where they lived. Most significantly, Jesus ate with sinners and died on a cross between two criminals to show that His love and His sacrifice for sins was for everybody, regardless of the mistakes tainting their lives. Jesus is the one essential source of life available to Everyman—He is the Bread of Life.

Jesus goes on to say these remarkable words: "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real 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 live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me." These words take on a whole new dimension on Maundy Thursday, when Luke tells us he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:19-20). In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus takes His teachings on the bread of life a step further—our Lord provides a way for us to receive His body and blood not only through listening to Him, but by actually touching Him as well.

There are many who have trouble believing that Christians actually receive Jesus’ body and blood through the bread and wine of Holy Communion. But Scripture is clear—Paul writes in 1st Corinthians chapter 10, "I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf." Paul makes it very clear that as we eat the bread and drink the wine, we are being connected with the body and blood of our Lord Jesus, a body that was put to death for our sins, blood that was poured out to offer us forgiveness. Paul adds, "whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself" (1st Corinthians 11:27-30). The body and blood of Jesus are holy and sacred; taking communion thoughtlessly or ignorantly is an insult to the Son of God who died to save us. If Jesus’ body and blood were not truly offered to us in Holy Communion, why would Paul warn us so strongly about proper reception of this great gift?

Jesus said, "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him." When Jesus later introduced the Holy Sacrament, He provided us with a wonderful way to be assured that we do indeed receive His body and blood, and thus have Christ within us. And when Jesus lives in us, we are promised eternal life—souls that never lapse back into death, and bodies made new and restored to us on the last day. By giving us bread and wine as the means by which we receive His body and blood, Jesus vividly makes the point that we need Him to remain healthy in the fullest sense of the word.

We need Christ’s nourishment for quality of life. When Jesus feeds us through Word and Sacrament, we are made healthier, more resistant to the disease of sinning. When we are nourished by our Savior, we are strengthened and energized for going out and working for our God. At times, Jesus compares His followers to farmers who work in the field to bring in the harvest; we do this work by telling people about Jesus and by showing His love to them by our willingness to help them survive the problems of life and grow into mature Christians. Farmers can work up quite an appetite—perhaps eating as many as six meals a day. If we are to work for God in His field, planting and nurturing new Christians, we too must be well fed or we will quickly tire from the work; we must be fed large amounts of God’s Word on a regular basis. How wonderful it is that Jesus has made Bibles so common that every home can have one. How wonderful it is that our Lord has planted congregations everywhere in this country for our convenience. How wonderful it is that our Savior comes to us in His body and blood through the elements of Holy Communion, so that we can be certain of His loving presence in our lives. How wonderful it is that our Lord Jesus gives us Himself, the Bread that came down from heaven.