John 6:41-51
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They 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’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It 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— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers 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. 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.”
Jesus is patient. In His teaching ministry he met great opposition. The opposition wasn’t because He was hard to understand. In fact, the people often understood Him quite well. In the reading for today this is very clear. They understood that Jesus was teaching that He Himself was the bread that came down from heaven. He is God’s gift of salvation.
They understood that God gave His people manna in the wilderness to sustain them in their journey to the promised land. Jesus was teaching that He was the gift of God that would sustain them and bring them to the promised land, eternal life. They got the point. But, they didn’t like the point. To push back, they just 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’?”
Jesus is patient. As He taught people long ago to save them, He still sends His Holy Spirit to teach and save all people. And the Word that Jesus teaches isn’t impossible to understand. God uses human language and communicates clearly. God teaches that Jesus, true God and true man, came into the world to save the world. He died on the cross and rose again. Those who believe in Jesus are forgiven all their sins and will rise to eternal life on the last day.
But, as in the past, so also today, there is push back. The message is clear. Jesus is the Savior of the World, but people reject the gift of God. So God, through His church, gives Himself in His Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper (Jesus true body and blood) so that no one can say that they never heard. And those who believe in Jesus, and receive Him as God’s gift, will have eternal life.
Let us pray,
I thank you Lord Jesus for your patient instruction in your word. I thank you for overcoming all my opposition to your kindness and allowing me repentance, forgiveness, and eternal life. Help all who preach your Word so that they will be sustained by your power. Allow all who listen the gift of faith so that they may be saved. In your name I pray, AMEN.
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.