JN 6: 51-58 

Jottings on John…Pentecost + 13…Revised 2018     

In the very first verse Jesus tells us He’s life-giving Bread; that He’s come (down) from Heaven; that those who ‘eat’ Him will live for ever; & that He’ll give His humanity for the sake of the world! Pretty Deep Stuff! This verse may be a key to opening up the passage. Help us bring all this out of the 1st C. & into ours.

Themes we might build on: 

What does it mean in practice for us to become life-giving bread for the world around us? How many things happening round us are masquerading as ‘life-giving’? Is anyone for whom we have a personal concern caught up in any of these falsehoods? Can we become life-bringing for them? 

How far does Jesus expect us to go / how far are we prepared to go, in giving our humanity for those round us? What might doing so involve? Can we go that far? Do we need better equipping to take that as far as we may need to? Can we identify what any of that equipping may be?

We can’t ‘come down from Heaven’, but do we need to come down from some of our more ingrained theological ‘high horses’ & live & preach at ground level? How down to earth /earthy Jesus is! Can we learn from the approaches He takes to people, to help us help others find heaven on earth? Now, rather than at some ‘last day’? 

What might it mean in today’s language & today’s situations - for people to be able to ‘feed on us’ so they find eternal life? Can we discern any ‘entry points’ for ‘them’ or us? Entry points are really important to discern.

By God’s Grace, preach what Jesus says here as intensely practical! Jesus is no theorist. ’Living Grace-fully’ may well be the key to understanding (& preaching) all this.

Peter Gomes¹ puts it simply: ‘we may need food for our body, & have food for our body; but that in itself won’t satisfy us with life.’ That’s where Jesus being Life-giving Bread comes in. Sharing bread together in our homes, our congregation, & the wider community, is one way we could play our part in bringing this passage to life. Sharing in being raised to new life in the here & now. As a foretaste of being raised at the last day as only Jesus the Christ can raise us!

Afterthought: Yesterday, my wife & I came across a couple - good & religious, in the best sense - folk who need to be helped through a really ‘bad patch’ so they can enjoy God better in more fulfilling lives. Would you, as part of your preparation for preaching this passage, pray that a simple invite to coffee - eagerly accepted - may become a starting point in Jesus becoming life-giving bread beyond the level they’ve been experiencing for some time? Thank you. 

Brian

¹ Sermons, Harper, SF, 1999, p.142