John 6:41-71

A number of weeks ago I was asked, do you have drama in your services at IPC?

! Do Presbyterians do drama in their services?

! What's the answer to that?

The answer is yes.

We do drama the first Sunday evening and the third Sunday morning.

Some Presbyterian churches in our denomination, they do drama every week.

The Lord's Supper is drama.

You will see bread broken.

You should see wine poured.

We don't do that, we probably should do that, shouldn't we?

My job tonight, I think if we preach John 6 right, I think it has to end in the drama

of the Lord's Supper.

That's my job for you tonight.

Which is why unusually we're having the Lord's Supper both morning and evening services.

At John 6 it started, Jesus fed 5,000 families with five loads, two fish.

And the next day he preaches a very long sermon.

And it's got one basic theme, verse 35.

And as we come to this last big chunk in this chapter, there's a tension going on.

I hope you can see it.

There are no words in John 6 that children cannot understand.

Jesus was a brilliant yet very simple preacher.

But as Jesus gets clearer, there is a reaction of hostility and antagonism.

And not just from the wider crowd, but from many of the disciples.

Look at verses 66.

We read that many of his disciples, many of his followers, they no longer walked with him.

There's a mass defection.

There's a point that comes to any of us in our relationship with Christ.

Where it becomes clear to you that Jesus is laying claim in the most radical and far reaching way possible.

That the way that I live and the decisions that I make and the way that I think and the attitudes that I have,

they are poisoning me.

And poisoning the ones that I love.

And I have to choose between the people I've invested myself in, and I think are going to make me happy,

and Jesus, who says, I am the true bread of life.

There comes a point, doesn't there, where we realise, actually, I'm just playing about with the edge.

About the edge with Jesus.

But to be a true disciple, it means that I'm going to have to let go of my iron grip

on all the things that I think make me happy.

And allow Jesus Christ and his grip of grace to grab hold of me.

I realise that I'm so frantically busy going off in different directions,

and that to truly follow Jesus means I'm going to have to simplify my life.

I'm going to have to make Jesus Christ first.

And that means I'm going to have to demote some of those things.

And I'm going to have to, in the language of John 6, feed on him first.

And last.

And I wonder if you've ever felt that tension.

I hope some of you might be feeling that tonight.

Because if you are, Jesus is revealing himself to you,

and your choice is to listen to him,

and come with humility to him,

or to walk away like those disciples.

And many choose to be offended and scandalised.

And they say in verse 60, this is all too hard for me.

I don't have to listen to this.

So the question is, will you feed on Jesus, or will you defect?

Two big points.

The first is feeding on Jesus' flesh.

And then we'll look at some responses.

Verses 47 to 59, feeding on Jesus' flesh.

So verse 48, can you see Jesus says, I'm the bread of life.

He's echoing what he's been teaching already that day.

And in verse 49, he speaks about the ultimate futility and inadequacy

of anything else to ultimately satisfy.

Even the very best gifts that God gives to you in this life.

The things that you think will feed you most in this life

will lead to dust and to death, apart from Christ.

There is nothing, apart from the Lord Jesus,

that can truly satisfy and fulfil and feed our needs.

Because I'm so culturally aware, I am aware of FOMO.

Do you know what FOMO is, isn't it?

FOMO is the fear of missing out.

Fear of missing out.

Other people have experiences that we would love to have and we want.

People talk about things that they are frightened of not getting.

It's FOMO.

And every single one of us here has experiences that we think,

if we have that, it will make me happy.

Or we compare ourselves with those who do the coolest things

and we feel inadequate.

And you fear that you're going to miss out.

FOMO.

But if you could accumulate, if you could put together all the coolest experiences in the world,

they are not true food.

And they are not true bread, the life of God.

They cannot connect you or they cannot bring you close to the God who made you.

They cannot give you the life of heaven.

Because Jesus in John 6 is saying to us that he alone is the true food and the true bread.

And what Jesus does in this last section of John 6,

is there are two shifts and two new directions.

And the first shift is the picture from bread to the picture of flesh and blood.

So the one thing that you must do to inherit eternal life is to,

listen, eat his flesh, drink his blood.

Jesus is speaking about his death.

The way in which Jesus can give you tonight the true food from heaven

is through his atoning death on the cross.

At the cross, his flesh and his blood are torn apart.

In the Bible, blood does not mean life.

It's not the blood that's pumping around our bodies normally.

But in the Bible, when it speaks about there being power in the blood,

nothing but the blood of Jesus like we sang this morning,

it's talking about blood poured out, blood lost, blood shed.

Blood separated from the living thing.

Blood is always a symbol of death in the Bible.

So that the bread of life that Jesus offers us,

it becomes available when the flesh and blood of Jesus are separated on the cross.

It's a very dramatic, gaudy picture, isn't it?

Of a violent and bloody death.

Look down at the second half of verse 51.

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.

It's a very important detail like, and he says,

the bread that I will give.

The wonder of what Jesus offers you tonight is that it is completely free, completely gracious.

None of us deserve this.

Jesus is not compelled to do it.

He is not coerced to give his life.

And he's talking here about the horror of crucifixion.

And he is going to do that freely for the life of the world.

The word for means in the place of, on behalf of, as a substitute for.

So as he gives his life over to death, it is for the sake that we will have life.

He says, it is my flesh.

And of course, he's speaking symbolically here.

He's not speaking specifically about the sacrament.

Although, as we come to the Lord's table, at the end, you'll see the relevance of this.

So verse 53, Jesus said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you have no life in you.

When Jesus left the glory of heaven and became incarnate,

took on flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and he was made.

He was made man.

The whole fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily.

But Jesus' flesh and blood were not magic.

There was no more magic in Jesus' flesh and blood than there is in yours.

The Lord Jesus had human DNA.

And so if we could go back 2,000 years,

and we could bleed a litre of blood from Jesus' body,

sounds grotesque, doesn't it?

And you were somehow able to bring that litre of blood forward in a time machine to this evening,

and you could drink it, it wouldn't do you any good at all.

What he's talking about is that on the cross,

his flesh and his blood are torn apart.

That on the cross, he becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And his human flesh and blood, his body as it were, becomes the channel,

it becomes the conduit through which eternal life which dwelled in him comes to us.

He gave his flesh over to death.

He takes our place so that his body becomes the source and fountain of eternal life for you and for me.

The other shift that he makes when he starts talking about his flesh and blood,

he changes the word eating that we would use in a normal meal to the word munching,

chomping,

gobbling,

feasting.

If I was to speak to teenagers,

I might use the illustration of zombies here.

But the Bible translated as feeding to show there's a difference.

Just look at verse 54.

It doesn't talk about eating there.

He says,

whoever feeds,

the word is feast,

whoever feasts on my flesh,

drinks my blood,

has eternal life.

And I will raise him up on the last day.

For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

Whoever feasts,

feeds,

gobbles on my flesh

and drinks my blood,

abides in me and I in him.

As the living Father sent me

and I live because of the Father,

so whoever feeds,

feasts on me,

he will also live because of me.

This is how we receive

the gift of eternal life through Christ.

Can you see,

it's not through believing in Jesus generally.

It's not just through believing in his death.

It is feasting on him as our substitute

and saviour in his death.

Don't you think it's astonishingly humble

for Jesus to use this picture?

We might say,

Jesus,

why didn't he use something like chocolate and caviar

as a picture of precious,

eternal life giving flesh?

No, he says,

whoever,

whoever feeds and drinks,

it's domestic,

it's ordinary.

It is something we all do,

isn't it?

It is something we all understand.

If you'd ask me,

what's my favourite restaurant in Ealing,

I would say to you that it is

Espresso Kebabs.

I don't know if you've been to Espresso Kebabs

in Hanwell.

It's a little hole in the wall.

It is a remarkable place.

And it's difficult for me to express to you

what it tastes like.

What is the only way

that you could understand

what it tastes like?

It is for you to

experience it.

To taste it.

To feast on it.

The same is true with the Lord Jesus.

You can be a fan of the Lord Jesus,

you can be a follower,

and you can have never really tasted

the true bread of life.

Tragically, we know, isn't it,

you can even stand up and say,

I believe Jesus died on the cross

without experiencing who he is

and the reality of his death for you.

It's possible to grow up in a church like this,

to know the story,

but never to be known by him.

Because apart from actually sampling

and savouring Jesus himself

and his death,

there can be no changes,

no real heart changes.

I think that's why Jesus uses

this illustration of the manna,

the bread in the Old Testament.

The manna was a really good gift from God

that was meant to point people

to the Lord Jesus.

And I think it's a picture

of every good experience

that you have in life.

And thank God there are many.

Your best experiences come from God,

but as good as every experience is,

it cannot feed you with eternal life.

It is meant to turn us,

so that we feast on him each day,

each hour.

And so our God is not anti-pleasure.

Our God is not anti-good experience.

But at their best,

those experiences are meant to turn us

to Jesus Christ.

And if they don't turn us to Christ,

what they do is they turn us away from Christ,

to themselves,

and all your hunger,

and all your tastes,

constantly need recalibrating like mine do.

And the only way to recalibrate your heart,

to set it right,

is to feast on Christ.

This passage warns you that your good pleasures

will lead to dust.

If there's something in your life

that you really need

to be happy apart from Jesus,

if there's something that you choose

above him,

before him,

Jesus promises

it will turn to dust.

But when we learn to feed on him,

if we are able to feed on him,

it becomes the key.

It becomes the key

to be able to serve others.

If I am feeding on him,

it means I can love others

even if they don't love me.

and if I am feeding on him,

and say,

if I am feeding on him,

I think that is the only way

to starve my pride

and my bitterness

and my anxiety

and my regret.

None of us have power

over those things

apart from Christ.

What does he mean to feed?

He is speaking about

taking Jesus into our heart,

the ongoing,

soul-filling fellowship with him

as we partake in his death.

Right.

There you go.

That's good.

He is speaking about

the soul-filling fellowship with him

as we partake in his death.

It is digesting him.

It is actively taking him in

through faith.

The way that we grow,

the way that we transform

and change

is taking into our heart

the crucifixion

and Jesus crucified

to ourselves.

That is feeding on Jesus.

So what is the reaction?

This is our second point.

The second point is

there is more at the end

of this chapter

on people's response

than Jesus' word.

There are three different responses.

Let's look at them.

The first two

are both offence and rejection.

The last one is tentative faith.

The great surprise

is the first response

comes from the crowd

but the second one

comes from the disciples.

People have begun

to follow Jesus.

Now you might begin

to think that when Jesus

speaks in this way

people would just rush

to him, wouldn't they?

They'd feed on him

what he is offering.

These promises

are too good

to be true almost

but there's realism

in this chapter.

And so for a time

the crowds did flock to him.

But as Jesus becomes clearer

people take offence

and then they complain

and they reject

and I think that's

the basic human disposition

towards God

outside the Garden of Eden.

The basic disposition

is suspicious.

I think the children

are saying

get me away

from this boring man

tonight.

Alright?

Aren't they?

They're saying

we've had enough of him.

Alright?

I understand children

I feel the same.

Alright?

And so

they are offended

the crowds

and then they complain

and they reject him.

And that is the basic

human disposition

outside the Garden of Eden.

That's the normal reaction.

People are offended.

And so if you are

partially offended

by what I've said tonight

this is for you.

And if you have friends

that are offended

by Jesus

this is very helpful.

Let's see the three responses.

Okay?

First the reaction

is the crowd

verses 41 to 45.

The crowd begin

to grumble

and complain.

Jesus has just said

I've come down

from heaven

four times

and that's what's

made them complain.

I've come down

from heaven.

I've come down

from heaven.

And I think

we need to feel

something

the offence of this.

The incarnation

of Jesus

is offensive

because of what

it says about us.

You see

on our own

our best

spiritual insights

and intuitions

and thoughts

are completely

in the dark.

You can take

the most

brilliant

accomplished

compassionate

person

and apart

from Christ

coming from

heaven

and feeding

on him

their best

opinion

about God

is a stab

in the dark.

One of the most

powerful assumptions

in our culture

is this idea

that we can look

at all the

spiritual experiences

and spiritualities

and we can

construct a view

of God

and we get

to decide

what God

is like.

So it's a

massive affront

when Jesus

comes and he

says no one

has ever

seen God.

Verse 46

except the one

who has come

from God.

You can only

truly know

God

if you know

me.

You can only

truly please

God

or experience

God

if you please

me.

You can only

worship God

by coming to

me

and believing

in me

and feeding

on my flesh

and drinking

my blood.

It's so

offensive.

It cuts

across

right across

that we can

somehow find

God

by accumulating

spiritual

experiences.

You can see

the scandal

in verse 42

just after

Jesus says

he's come

down from

heaven

they say

verse 42

is not

Jesus

the son

of Joseph

and Mary

the carpenter

he fixed

my coffee

table last

year.

How does

he now

say I

have come

down from

heaven?

It's contempt

isn't it

dogmatic.

It's an

adamant

refusal

to accept

that God

could come

to us

through this

one man.

And this

dogmatism

can be so

disheartening

can't it

particularly

when you're

trying to

share your

faith

with a

friend or

someone that

you love.

The most

wonderful

and delightful

people

automatically

dismiss

Jesus

without even

a thought.

And what

does Jesus

say to

people in

those

circumstances?

What does

he say to

the person

with a

dismissive

attitude?

The one

who just

rejects

him?

His answer

is quite

amazing.

He doesn't

become insecure

and threatened.

He doesn't

even defend

himself.

He doesn't

justify

himself.

Look at

verse 43.

He says

stop

grumbling.

And then

he says

this.

Only God

can really

convince you

in your

heart of

my

authenticity.

Since I

am heaven

sent, I

come from

God with

eternal

life.

The only

one who

can back

up my

claim is

God

himself.

And you

have to

hear from

him directly

or you're

just going

to keep

on grumbling.

Verse 44,

no one

can come

to me

unless the

father who

sent me

draws him.

The word

draw is

very, very

important.

it is

always

against

resistance.

It's not

a violent

or abusive

drawing in

any way,

but it's

always

against

inertia

and

resistance

and

disinterest.

Because you

see, only

God's grace

is powerful

enough to

overcome

our

grumbling.

we cannot

approach God

with our

own

competency.

The movement

begins with

God himself.

And it's

very encouraging

in one way,

in that it

means that

every single

one of us

tonight who

have come

to the

Lord Jesus,

we have

done so

because God

the Father

has drawn

us.

that's the

reason why

you are

feasting on

Christ tonight,

if you are.

It is

because God

has drawn

you.

And I

think because

it is God

who draws

them, I

think it

means that

we shouldn't

harass or

nag our

friends.

We should

certainly pray

for them.

Your witness

is important

and your

conversations

and your

invitations

are very

important.

But it is

only God,

isn't it,

who can

enter into

someone's

life and

show them

spiritually

what is

going on.

And so I

want to

encourage those

of us who

are Christians

tonight to

pray for

your friends,

particularly

those who

are most

antagonistic.

And how

does God

draw us?

Verse 45,

the next

verse,

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.

It's a

quote from

the Old

Testament,

that when

Messiah comes,

that God

himself will

be our

teacher,

that God

by his

spirit,

as we

hear his

word,

as we

hear the

word of

God

outwardly,

he will

shine in

our hearts

illuminating the

beauty of

Jesus,

that he's

our Messiah.

So none

of you have

believed

tonight because

of your own

strength,

or insight,

or intellect.

none of

you keep

believing because

of our own

strength and

insight.

I don't

have the

strength to

be faithful

for 24

hours,

or 12

hours.

But if

tonight you

feel that

God is

drawing you

now,

don't

resist him.

Come to

Jesus.

That is the

reaction of

the crowd,

it's offence

and rejection.

That's the

reaction of the

crowd.

There's a

second,

and we'll be

briefer here,

the even more

troubling reaction

is from the

disciples,

verses 60

to 66.

It's so

searching,

isn't it?

It's not the

crowd,

you don't have

any commitment

to Jesus.

No,

these are

those who

become

disciples,

who begin

to follow

him.

And there's

a great

number of

them who

turn away

because they

start to

grumble as

well,

don't they,

as Jesus

becomes

clearer.

They say,

don't they,

it's all

too hard to

swallow.

You can't

expect Jesus

to take

over a

life like

that.

It's so

impractical.

We've

seen that,

haven't we?

People who

come and

they seem

to be

enthusiastic

and they

begin to

follow Jesus

Christ,

but when

it becomes

clear that

Jesus disagrees

with us,

or Jesus

is calling

us to

have a

deeper,

clearer

commitment,

there's a

cooling off

at a

distance,

and the

grumbling

begins.

And what

does Jesus

say to

those who

no longer

want to

continue with

him?

What does

he offer

those who

say,

I really

can't be a

disciple anymore?

Well, in

verse 62,

he points us

to the

cross again.

And then

in verse 63,

he says,

it is the

spirit who

gives life.

The flesh,

speaking about

our human

flesh,

is no help

at all.

The words

that I've

spoken to

you are

spirit and

life.

Our human

flesh,

on its own,

apart from

the spirit,

cannot gain

satisfaction.

It comes

to us

through

Jesus'

word.

And so

tonight,

if you are

feeling

particularly

fatigued

and worn

out,

and if

you're

feeling,

I'm not

sure whether

I can

even continue

as a

disciple,

the way

forward is

not to

try harder,

it's not

to work

harder.

The way

is simply

to hear

the words

of Jesus

because we

cannot feed

on Jesus

apart from

his words.

And if

you sense

in your

heart,

you're

pulling

away

from

Jesus,

and you're

feeling

overwhelmed

with other

hungers,

you wonder

if you can

keep being

a disciple,

and perhaps

even in

your heart

you've

begun to

grumble

against

him.

Or maybe

you feel

God has

not come

through

for you,

you and

I need

to attend

to these

really

simple

words of

Jesus

here.

And the

prayer I

think for

me and

for you

is,

Lord,

I do

believe,

help my

unbelief.

Isn't

that the

prayer of

all of

us?

And he

says,

I will

give my

spirit

without

measure

because

my

words

are

spirit

and

life.

And finally

and quickly

there's the

lovely and

true response.

In verse

66,

many disciples

walk away.

We've gone

from a

crowd of

hundreds,

maybe

thousands,

and they've

gone,

and we're

left,

aren't we,

with

twelve?

In verse

67,

Jesus said

to the

twelve,

do you

want to

go away

as

well?

And he

says it

for their

benefit,

and Simon

answers,

it's a

wonderful

answer,

isn't it?

To whom

should we

go?

You

have the

words of

eternal life,

we have

believed and

come to

know that

you are

the Holy

One of

God.

And that's

the

fundamental

mark of

what it

is that

God is

drawing

you,

and that

you are

feeding on

Christ.

That you

know tonight

there's no

real

alternative.

You know

the power,

something of

the power

of Jesus'

words,

and when

you read

them for

yourself,

you hear

them taught,

it is like

fire,

you get a

taste of

the world

to come

as his

word enters

your heart.

You know

what it is

to be acted

on by a

force outside

of you,

making you

more like

the Lord

Jesus.

Feed on

his words,

and as you

feed on

him,

and above

all you

have come

to know

and believe

in Jesus

as the

Holy One

of God,

not just

to know

about

him,

but to

know

him,

that he

is real

to you.

And this

is important,

it is so

important,

let me tell

you how

important it

is,

that on

the night

before he

was crucified,

the Lord

Jesus gave

us a meal,

and he

gave us a

meal to

repeat.

the Lord's

supper,

and it

enacts

the gospel

in exactly

these terms

that we're

about to

participate

in.

It tells

the story

of the

great heart

of the

gospel of

Jesus'

death for

us,

and at

the end

as we

come to

receive bread

and wine,

we are

invited to

feed on

him,

and drink.

in the

Anglican

prayer book,

the 39

articles,

one of the

articles says

this,

that the

Lord's

supper is a

sacrament of

our redemption

by Christ's

death,

and insomuch

that to

such as

rightly,

worthily,

and with

faith receive

the same

bread which

we break,

is a

partaking of

the body

of Christ.

And

likewise,

the cup

of blessing

is a

partaking

of the

blood of

Christ.

So

come and

feed on

him in

your heart

by faith

with

thanksgiving,

and come

and drink

his blood

with

thanksgiving.

Because

Jesus says

whoever feeds

on my

flesh and

drinks my

blood has

eternal life,

and I will

raise him up

at the last

day.

My flesh

is true

food,

and my

blood is

true

drink,

and whoever

feeds on

my flesh,

and drinks

of my

blood abides

in me,

and I

in him.

Let's come

to the

table.

Let's pray.

Thank you.