Out Of The Lines Sermonizing
This is the outline from which I worked to deliver my August 16th Sermon. Please excuse the partial sentances and phrases, but this was my script for the day. The Gospel was John 6.51-58.
I enjoy watching TV, especially High Definition TV, because you can see so much more. I also enjoy detective shows and mysteries.
When I started at LTSG, went for 2 weeks of Summer Greek.
Learn about the original language the New Testament was written in.
Also learn to look at the little details
Realize each version of the Bible has “translator choices”
Make the Bible easily read or try and include all of the nuances of original language
Discover some subtle differences
It’s like seeing TV in high def for the first time and playing CSI detective
Today’s Gospel lesson continues what is known as Jesus’ “Bread discourse”
Entire chapter goes from the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water through Jesus saying he is the bread from heaven, the bread of eternal life into today’s lesson where Jesus tells the disciples and the crowd following him that in order to have eternal life they will have to eat his flesh and drink his blood
Proves to be a “deal breaker” for several following Jesus, and was a point of contention for the Apostles,
But that’s next week lesson
Much of the scholarship on this passage focuses on it’s Eucharistic overtones
This is as close to describing communion as John comes
There is no Last Supper in John’s Gospel /Before he is arrested Jesus washes the feet of the disciples
There is a connection between this text and communion
Post-Reformation, some churches use this lesson (all of John 6) as the Gospel when they have Communion
But there is a detachment, while Jesus equates his flesh (never using the word “body”) to bread, there is no connection between his blood and wine (wine is never mentioned)
We make the connection because of the other 3 Gospels
Also, bread is a metaphor for all of the things that sustain us
In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for our daily bread
But I want to share some what I have discovered in reviewing this lesson & several commentaries on the lesson
First, there is a shift in how Jesus refers to himself through these 8 verses
Living bread (bread that is alive) my flesh bread that brings life
This is where he loses the crowd “eat my flesh”
Whenever a crowd doubts/ disbelieves Jesus, John refers to them as Jews
Jesus then goes a step further “drink my blood”
We get the connection to communion because we have heard this reference in church
Also read it in Matthew, Mark and John
But what if we only had John’s Gospel?
We would have nothing to connect blood to wine
Each Gospel is unique in its own way and should be looked at on its own, not reading in what happens in others
Let John interpret John
For John, it is not enough for you to see a sign (not a miracle/John doesn’t have miracles)
Must also understand the reason behind the sign
This discourse explains the two signs (feeding & walking on water)
How would we understand what Jesus is saying?
Harkens back to the beginning of John’s Gospel (1.14) where “the Word became flesh, and lived among us.”
John’s readers/listeners would pick this up, but the crowd (Jews) would not understand
What does flesh & blood mean to John and his audience?
In Jewish culture of the time, flesh & blood emphasize the entire person, their lives and their character
Jesus also raises the stakes by saying if you do not eat his flesh and drink his blood you have no life in you (6.53)
Earlier in today’s lesson (6.51) Jesus said, “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.”
Earlier in this chapter (v40 & 47) eternal life comes to those who believe
What does “have no life in you” mean?
Is it eternal life? Or life itself?
Does Jesus mean that our belief equates, or must lead to, our eating his flesh?
Remember back to John 1 “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,* and the life was the light of all people.”
But Jesus says eating his flesh/drinking his blood will provide eternal life and resurrection on the last day because he is the TRUE food and drink (V 54 &55)
This equates eating his flesh with believing which leads to life eternal
To further complicate things, there is a word change in the Greek in v54
The word translated as “eat” there is not the same word used elsewhere, (trogo) it is better translated as “Gnaw”
How would it change your perception if Jesus said to have eternal life you must gnaw on my flesh?
Jesus explains what happens when someone eats and drinks of him
“They abide in me and I in them” (v 56)
This is a special intermingling of the divine with the human
Just as when we eat something, it becomes a part of us/ You are what you eat
More than that, we abide in Christ
When we ingest Jesus into us, when we accept Jesus into our lives
Not only is he in us, be more so (because it is listed first in the position of emphasis) we abide in Jesus.
This occurs because Jesus is the true food and drink, the source of all life
What does all of this mean?
We find ourselves drawn to the central act of Christian worship, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
To eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus is an intentional act by which you partake in the life of Jesus Christ.
You invite Jesus into you, make Him a part of you and your life
You have Jesus abide in you
To eat his flesh and drink his blood you accept Jesus Christ into you and your life
And you do not just snack on his life and message
You gnaw on it, like a dog gnaws on a bone
Trying to suck every last bit of marrow from inside
Working to drain it of the last bit of taste and flavor
Growling & bearing your teeth at anyone would try to take it from you
Eating and drink the body and blood of Jesus is a metaphor for believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
That He has come down from heaven to be the salvation for humanity
It is in communion with God through Christ that we attain to the full stature of our humanity.
Not just Holy Communion, but the communion of relationship
For John, the Eucharist is a participating in the life of Christ and not a remembrance of his suffering and death
It is a celebration of life
The gift of life through Christ, the Word made flesh
The gift of life eternal through Christ, whose flesh is living bread
It is not a remembrance, but a union
Christ feeds us. Christ dwells in us, and we dwell in him
We are made in the image of God. Christ is the image of the invisible God. In Jesus we see both God as he is, and us as we are meant to be.
We find God revealed in the person of Jesus and find Jesus revealed to be the source of life and salvation
Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross we are drawn into that right relationship which we should enjoy with God.
We are made one with Christ through our part in the Church, his body.
Later in John’s Gospel, Christ says “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
We bear fruit in response to God drawing us to Him, and Christ abiding in us.
In Communion (both the Sacrament and relationship) we live in him and he lives in us.
Because of that, we will live forever in the presence and in communion with God.
I enjoy watching TV, especially High Definition TV, because you can see so much more. I also enjoy detective shows and mysteries.
When I started at LTSG, went for 2 weeks of Summer Greek.
Learn about the original language the New Testament was written in.
Also learn to look at the little details
Realize each version of the Bible has “translator choices”
Make the Bible easily read or try and include all of the nuances of original language
Discover some subtle differences
It’s like seeing TV in high def for the first time and playing CSI detective
Today’s Gospel lesson continues what is known as Jesus’ “Bread discourse”
Entire chapter goes from the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on water through Jesus saying he is the bread from heaven, the bread of eternal life into today’s lesson where Jesus tells the disciples and the crowd following him that in order to have eternal life they will have to eat his flesh and drink his blood
Proves to be a “deal breaker” for several following Jesus, and was a point of contention for the Apostles,
But that’s next week lesson
Much of the scholarship on this passage focuses on it’s Eucharistic overtones
This is as close to describing communion as John comes
There is no Last Supper in John’s Gospel /Before he is arrested Jesus washes the feet of the disciples
There is a connection between this text and communion
Post-Reformation, some churches use this lesson (all of John 6) as the Gospel when they have Communion
But there is a detachment, while Jesus equates his flesh (never using the word “body”) to bread, there is no connection between his blood and wine (wine is never mentioned)
We make the connection because of the other 3 Gospels
Also, bread is a metaphor for all of the things that sustain us
In the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for our daily bread
But I want to share some what I have discovered in reviewing this lesson & several commentaries on the lesson
First, there is a shift in how Jesus refers to himself through these 8 verses
Living bread (bread that is alive) my flesh bread that brings life
This is where he loses the crowd “eat my flesh”
Whenever a crowd doubts/ disbelieves Jesus, John refers to them as Jews
Jesus then goes a step further “drink my blood”
We get the connection to communion because we have heard this reference in church
Also read it in Matthew, Mark and John
But what if we only had John’s Gospel?
We would have nothing to connect blood to wine
Each Gospel is unique in its own way and should be looked at on its own, not reading in what happens in others
Let John interpret John
For John, it is not enough for you to see a sign (not a miracle/John doesn’t have miracles)
Must also understand the reason behind the sign
This discourse explains the two signs (feeding & walking on water)
How would we understand what Jesus is saying?
Harkens back to the beginning of John’s Gospel (1.14) where “the Word became flesh, and lived among us.”
John’s readers/listeners would pick this up, but the crowd (Jews) would not understand
What does flesh & blood mean to John and his audience?
In Jewish culture of the time, flesh & blood emphasize the entire person, their lives and their character
Jesus also raises the stakes by saying if you do not eat his flesh and drink his blood you have no life in you (6.53)
Earlier in today’s lesson (6.51) Jesus said, “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.”
Earlier in this chapter (v40 & 47) eternal life comes to those who believe
What does “have no life in you” mean?
Is it eternal life? Or life itself?
Does Jesus mean that our belief equates, or must lead to, our eating his flesh?
Remember back to John 1 “All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life,* and the life was the light of all people.”
But Jesus says eating his flesh/drinking his blood will provide eternal life and resurrection on the last day because he is the TRUE food and drink (V 54 &55)
This equates eating his flesh with believing which leads to life eternal
To further complicate things, there is a word change in the Greek in v54
The word translated as “eat” there is not the same word used elsewhere, (trogo) it is better translated as “Gnaw”
How would it change your perception if Jesus said to have eternal life you must gnaw on my flesh?
Jesus explains what happens when someone eats and drinks of him
“They abide in me and I in them” (v 56)
This is a special intermingling of the divine with the human
Just as when we eat something, it becomes a part of us/ You are what you eat
More than that, we abide in Christ
When we ingest Jesus into us, when we accept Jesus into our lives
Not only is he in us, be more so (because it is listed first in the position of emphasis) we abide in Jesus.
This occurs because Jesus is the true food and drink, the source of all life
What does all of this mean?
We find ourselves drawn to the central act of Christian worship, the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
To eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus is an intentional act by which you partake in the life of Jesus Christ.
You invite Jesus into you, make Him a part of you and your life
You have Jesus abide in you
To eat his flesh and drink his blood you accept Jesus Christ into you and your life
And you do not just snack on his life and message
You gnaw on it, like a dog gnaws on a bone
Trying to suck every last bit of marrow from inside
Working to drain it of the last bit of taste and flavor
Growling & bearing your teeth at anyone would try to take it from you
Eating and drink the body and blood of Jesus is a metaphor for believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
That He has come down from heaven to be the salvation for humanity
It is in communion with God through Christ that we attain to the full stature of our humanity.
Not just Holy Communion, but the communion of relationship
For John, the Eucharist is a participating in the life of Christ and not a remembrance of his suffering and death
It is a celebration of life
The gift of life through Christ, the Word made flesh
The gift of life eternal through Christ, whose flesh is living bread
It is not a remembrance, but a union
Christ feeds us. Christ dwells in us, and we dwell in him
We are made in the image of God. Christ is the image of the invisible God. In Jesus we see both God as he is, and us as we are meant to be.
We find God revealed in the person of Jesus and find Jesus revealed to be the source of life and salvation
Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross we are drawn into that right relationship which we should enjoy with God.
We are made one with Christ through our part in the Church, his body.
Later in John’s Gospel, Christ says “Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
We bear fruit in response to God drawing us to Him, and Christ abiding in us.
In Communion (both the Sacrament and relationship) we live in him and he lives in us.
Because of that, we will live forever in the presence and in communion with God.
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