+ 13th Sunday after Pentecost – August 18th, 2024 +
Series B: Proverbs 9:1-10; Ephesians 5:6-21; John 6:51-69
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It seems to be a fact of life that new things don’t stay new for long. As you drive that new car off the lot, its value fades, along with that new car smell. The latest iPhone you just got is obsolete before you send your first selfie to your friends.
We know this, and yet we find ourselves longing for something new – something that’s always new. That would seem to be true mission impossible. A wild goose chase. A fool’s errand. And it would be, were it not for Jesus’ word and promises in John 6.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
When Jesus delivers his word to us here in John 6, we find what we are always longing for but never quite seem to grasp… something that lasts. That endures. That’s eternal. Something that is truly new. And which renews us.
In the first course of John 6, two Sundays ago, Jesus the Bread of Life gave us true satisfaction in his word. Last week, in the second course, Jesus the divine and gracious Chef gave himself as living bread. His flesh and blood are our food – in faith and in word and in the supper. Given on the cross and at his table. Today, in the third and final course Jesus the Bread of Life gives us what we long for, but are unable to find and incapable of doing on our own. Jesus the Bread of Life gives new life.
And Jesus does this abundantly. At least seven times in John 6 – a good Biblical number of completion and fullness – Jesus promises to give eternal life, that he will raise up those who believe in him on the last day, that he will give life forever, that whoever feeds on Jesus flesh and blood has life now and will have life eternally.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
If there is to be anything new in this world, broken by sin. If there we are to be made new, and made into a new creation, and renewed in heart and mind – where will this newness come from? Not from us. That would be like trying to tell a two-ton rock to grow legs and dance, or a dead man to get up and sprint the 100 yard dash, or a desert to suddenly to sprout and blossom into a forest of evergreens and wildflowers.
Jesus’ words sound too good to be true. Especially when we look around and we see our bodies broken by sin, plagued by sickness. And we long to be healed. When we see family and friends fractured by sin, we long for reconciliation. Where do we find healing? Where do we find hope? Where do we find reconciliation? Where do we find the promise of something that is forever new? Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We go to where God has come down to us: in his word that brings peace and fills us with hope. In his death that reconciles us to the Father, and one another. In his wounds that heal. And in his flesh and blood – given for you on the cross and given for you at his table.
For creation to be renewed, for us to be made new, help and rescue must come from outside. To make all things new, the Creator comes into his creation bearing the flesh of his creatures. To redeem man, God becomes man. To save us from sin and death, Jesus takes on our sin. Dies our death. To make all things new, he takes all things old upon himself – guilt, shame, death, the devil, the grave – and gives his life. A sacrifice that brings a new creation.
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
Jesus uses the verb “to feed.” Not eat in abstraction. Feeds. Chews. Rend with the teeth. It’s all so earthy, ordinary, food-like. And it’s just the way God does things. We’re flesh and blood creatures, and we need a flesh and blood Savior. Not someone who appears to be like us (but not really) but someone who really is like us in every way. Bone of our bones and flesh of our flesh. Who is like us in all ways, except without sinful flesh, so that in his flesh and blood – given on the cross, and given in the Supper – we are made new.
Jesus is doing what he promised he would do long ago. He is making a new covenant. He makes all things new. How? By giving his life for the life of the world: from this synagogue in Capernaum to the cross in Jerusalem. And from the sacrifice of the cross to a life-giving, life-renewing sacrament at his altar.
If you want to find something truly new -and that which renews you – you won’t find it in the siren’s songs of this world. You won’t find it in the serpent’s lies – though he fights like hell to get you to fall for the latest fad. And you won’t find it within – all we see there is greed and lust and grief and doubt and despair and death and sin and shame. It would seem that there’s nothing new under the sun.
There is, however, one place you will find it, or rather, where He finds you.
Jesus the Bread of Life, makes all things new by his word, by his cross, and by his flesh and blood poured out for you in the Supper. Here is something that endures. That’s eternal. Something that is truly new. And which renews us.
This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.
When Jesus gave his flesh and blood on the cross his Good Friday pardon: “It is finished” turns into an Easter Sunday promise, “Behold, I make all things new.” Jesus the Bread of Life gave his flesh and blood unto death, to save us by his sacrifice. To destroy death by dying. To make all things new by giving his flesh for the life of the world.
Jesus who gave his flesh and blood on the altar of the cross gives his flesh and blood on the altar for you. Today. “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
And Jesus doesn’t stop there. Jesus walked out of the grave in his glorified flesh and blood. And he did that so that one day, when we’re lying in our graves, he will come along and give the word. He will make all things new. For Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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