Versions of this sermon were preached at Upton and Ripple Churches, and online on 22/8/21
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 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. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live for ever.’ 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you – they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.’
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’
John 6:56-69 (NIV)
On Tuesday evening, I found myself listening to the BBC’s coverage of that Taliban Press Conference from Kabul. I don’t know if you heard it, but it was genuinely surprising.
For years all we’ve heard about the Taliban is that they’re nasty, murderous, women-oppressing brutes who will kill anyone who gets in the way of their vision of Islam. And yet the Taliban leader speaking to the world’s press on Tuesday was anything but that. He sounded tolerant, patient, inclusive, promising to protect women, and not take revenge on those who had helped the old regime and its western allies. In other words, he said exactly what a concerned world wanted to hear.
Whether he’s telling the truth is of course, another matter, as our Prime Minster noted on Wednesday, actions speak louder than words. But as an exercise in crowd-pleasing, it wasn’t a bad start. In fact arguably the Taliban minister did a better job in his speech, than Jesus did in our reading from the end of John chapter 6 today.
You see, Jesus starts John chapter six with a crowd of 5000 people, but by the end of his sermon, so many have walked away angry that only a dozen are left. And one of them was Judas. So what’s going on? Does Jesus need to take a PR lesson from the Taliban? What was so upsetting about what he said?
Well it all starts with a miracle, the feeding the 5,000. And the crowd are so impressed they hail Jesus as a new Moses and want to declare him king. But that’s not Jesus’ plan, so he has to make a sharp exit – retreating at dusk into the mountains, before re-joining the 12 disciples on Lake Galilee to travel to Capernaum.
However, the crowds catch up with him again, and he asks them why are you following me? Is it just to get more free food, or are you genuine about growing in faith? And they assure him, “It’s all about God. What works must we do to impress God?”
So Jesus tells them,
Believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29)
And then they reveal their hearts by asking him to do the bread miracle again. And not surprisingly, Jesus refuses, and turns their request on its head, saying,
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).
Now of course, Jesus is speaking metaphorically here. He’s not literally a load of bread. Which is why he goes on to say that strange thing from the start of our reading today,
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me”. (John 6:56)
If he hadn’t already said, “I am the bread of life” you might think Jesus is encouraging us to be cannibals or vampires or some weird combination of the two, perfect subject matter for a Channel 4 miniseries, but Jesus isn’t speaking literally, he’s speaking metaphorically about our spiritual nourishment. He’s saying that ultimately, the only place we’ll find true hope, true joy, true satisfaction in life, is from him. He is the bread of life, the one who satisfies our spiritual hunger.
But that wasn’t how the crowd took his words. Instead, they start grumbling and complaining,
This is hard teaching, who can accept it?” (John 6:60)
Now we don’t know exactly why they thought it hard teaching. With the benefit of hindsight we read these words and think “Ah, Jesus is anticipating his death on the cross here, he’s pointing us on to Holy Communion”, But these Jews didn’t know that, and for them, the idea of “drinking blood”, even as a metaphor, was horrific. The law of Moses forbade consuming blood, and their whole Kosher animal slaughter system was designed to ensure that no blood was left in the meat. So perhaps what Jesus says here is simply too shocking for them.
But for some of the others, perhaps it wasn’t the shocking imagery, but the meaning behind the metaphor and how big a change it meant for them. They’d spent their whole lives thinking one way about religion and spirituality, with everything centred on Moses, and then along comes Jesus and tells them that they need something more, they need him. And that’s an awfully big change, and we all know, that embracing change isn’t easy So they walk away,
muttering this is hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60)
And by the time they’ve gone, the 5000 has been reduced to just 12. John doesn’t tell us how Jesus felt about that, but I know how I’d feel, and I’m not surprised when Jesus turns to the 12 and says,
You do not want to leave too, do you?” (John 6:67)
But Peter’s made of sterner stuff…
Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68)
So what are we meant to learn from all this?
1) Jesus calls us to be faithful, not successful.
By any worldly standard, Jesus’ mission here is a failure. His words turn a crowd that would fill a football stadium, into one that would fill a minibus. And it can feel a bit like that as Christians in Britain today. As if somehow we’ve said the wrong thing and emptied our churches of people.
And there are so many people queueing up to tell us what we should be saying. We should be greener. Kinder. Humbler. And a lot of that is true.
And yet there are other voices, some from pressure groups, others from government and the media, telling us to water down our ideas, match our morals to the spirit of the age, and get on the right side of history on any number of progressive social issues. And apparently that will bring the crowds back. Except it doesn’t work. The Episcopal church in the USA is a great example. Over the last twenty years they’ve embraced just about every progressive cause possible, and halved in size. If that rate of decline continues the denomination will be gone in less than 30 years.
Our mission as Christians isn’t to court popularity. We’re not after bums on pews, But souls in Heaven. Jesus never calls us to be successful in the world’s eyes, he calls us to be faithful in his eyes. And an inevitable consequence of us being faithful to the historic Christian faith, is that some people will walk away. Just like they did from Jesus. And we shouldn’t let that discourage us, instead it should drive us to our knees in prayer, because it’s God who changes hearts. Jesus said,
No one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”( John 6:65).
And God had enabled some to believe. The disciples who stuck with Jesus, went on to change the world forever. Because they learned from Jesus that being faithful matters more than being successful.
Here’s the 2nd thing we can learn
2) You don’t have to understand everything to be a good Christian
We’ve already seen that Jesus has said some pretty complicated things in this passage. And by the time he’s says them all, he’s left with just a dozen followers. So you might imagine that the twelve he’s left with, are the super-bright ones who understood. But that’s not the case. One of the big themes of the gospels is that despite studying at Jesus’ feet for three years, the disciples kept misunderstanding. And that should be an encouragement to us. Because being a good Christian isn’t about knowing absolutely everything about God, it’s about trusting in what he says.
In a way it’s like driving a car. My daughter got a new car recently and I’ve been driving it while she’s on holiday, and her car has got more bells and whistles on it than any car I’ve ever driven. It recognises speed limit signs in the street, and can do hill starts for you. I’ve no idea how any of that works. But I don’t need to know, to be a driver. And it’s the same when it comes to being a good Christian. It’s not about knowledge of the Bible or of church law or history. Though those things are useful. Especially the Bible. Instead, it’s about trusting in what Jesus says, and putting it into action.
So don’t ever let anyone make you feel a second-class Christian just because you don’t understand everything or don’t have a theology degree or a diocesan certificate. Hell will be full of those the world thought intelligent! What matters most of all to God is not what we know, it’s who we know. Do we know Jesus, the bread of life for ourselves? And if we don’t, we’re missing out on the most important news ever, because…
3)Jesus is the only one with the words of eternal life
He’s the only one who can save us. Which begs the question how we can we trust in Jesus for ourselves? Now some people think that simply the act of having Holy communion saves you. After all, didn’t Jesus say,
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them” (John 6:56)
Well he did, but he also kept telling people all through this passage to believe in him. And the truth is, it’s the two together that matter. Holy communion is helpful, if we receive it with faith. That’s why the Church of England’s official teaching Which you’ll find in the prayer book, the 28th article of religion says that communion is only a blessing to those who receive it
rightly, worthily, and with faith.” (Article XXVIII)
So faith comes first.
Other people think that doing good works saves you. The Jews in Jesus’ audience ask him,
What must we do to do the works God requires?’” (John 6:28)
But rather than saying, “be kind to people, give to charity, do pilgrimages, and recycle” Jesus tells them to believe in the one God has sent.
And again the church’s official teaching on this is very clear, Article 11 says,
We are counted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works…” (Article XI)
Our good works can’t save us. We can never do enough. But Jesus already has. And it’s by trusting in his death and resurrection that we can be saved. And that will lead to us doing good works, and it will lead to us receiving holy communion, but it is our faith in him and his words, which will ultimately make the difference.
So Jesus is the one with the words of eternal life. Which means, you don’t have to understand everything to be a good Christian Instead, pursue faithfulness, and don’t worry too much about success. And if you’d like to know more about trusting in Jesus for yourself, do get in touch.