Sunday 08/12/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC
Sermon: “I am the Bread of Life”
Scripture Lesson: Ephesians 4:25-5:2
Gospel Lesson: John 6:35, 41-51
Good morning brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ! I hope and pray that you have all had a blessed week, and I am happy to be worshipping with you here this morning.
This morning, I want to talk you about one of the ways in which Christ explained to his Apostles and to all whom he taught, ministered to, and healed, just who he was. Certainly Jesus Christ told many in the four gospels of the Bible various titles and various things about just who he was and is. Jesus for example, said many times in the gospels, “I am the son of Man.” Jesus also said to the Samaritan woman at the well after asking her to get him a drink of water, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” In the gospel reading from the Gospel of John this morning, Jesus wanted to minister, heal, and teach all people, not just the Jews. Further, in this same gospel reading, the crowd debated just as people still do in the present day, of just who this Jesus was and is. In the reading from Ephesians this morning, the Apostle Paul called for the church in Ephesus and all of us to be Christ like, and to live for Christ. Given this, we need to really understand then just who Jesus Christ was and is!
Some of these ways and titles that Jesus used to those whom he taught, ministered to, and healed must have been odd or even confusing. I mean after all, did the Samaritan woman really believe that Jesus could quench her earthly thirst permanently, or did she understand what Jesus really meant about eternal life? I think until Jesus explained himself, she probably just thought, either “this man is crazy,” or “I want some of this water that will permanently quench my thirst!” Either way, not only was there confusion and possible misunderstanding of just what Jesus meant for the Samaritan woman, but many of us who read the Bible today can sometimes feel the same way about some of Jesus Christ’s titles and the things He said. So whether Jesus said He is the “Son of Man,” that He is the “Light of the World,” or that “Whoever believes in Me shall not perish, but have everlasting life,” Jesus was telling his people then and now just who he was and still is today.
So with the many statements that Jesus Christ made about himself, I want to talk to you about just one of those statements today. Further, I have briefly so far just touched on some of the statements, titles, and the ways that Jesus explained who he was. There are quite a bit more as you can read in the gospels, the Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament, and various other books of the Bible. The specific statement I want to talk about this morning though, is when Jesus said “I am the Bread of Life.” The first thing of great interest I think you might notice when you see this statement in scripture, is that Christ starts this statement with the two words “I Am.” This is the statement that you might remember that God told Moses, when he appeared to Moses as a Burning Bush. Moses practically demanded the name of the Lord in the Burning Bush, and the Lord simply responded “I Am.” You see when the Lord appeared to Moses, He was not going to be governed or ruled by a mere man such as Moses. In fact, he didn’t even have to give Moses his name at all, and He just said, “I Am!” I think God was just saying to Moses, that “I Am, and “I Am all that is and ever was!” Who was Moses to demand the name of Almighty God?
When Christ came to earth, he gave us much more than His voice he gave Moses in the burning bush. For Christ gave us many parables or stories, like the parable of the “Mustard Seed,” or the parable of “The Sower,” and the many names and titles of just who He was and is still today. Jesus’ parables or stories for example though, have to be interpreted to really be understood. After all, have you ever seen anyone try to evangelize to win souls over to Jesus Christ by throwing grass seeds on the ground, like the parable of “The sower?” Of course not, God was talking about people and their hearts being changed, not actual seeds! You see though, traditional Christian theology argues that Jesus Christ was God, and that God is also Jesus Christ. That God literally came to earth, took on flesh in the form of a man Named Jesus of Nazareth, and became Jesus Christ. This made Jesus according to the traditional Christian teachings, fully God and fully human. After all, the Gospel of John starts with this verse: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” So therefore, if everything Jesus said was from God and was divine, it means that these truths always were and always will be, and that Jesus and almighty God are one in the same! In the modern day some diminish who Jesus was and is, sometimes reducing him to a mere human, or even a lesser God, but traditionally we believe that Jesus was the living God here on earth.
When looking at today’s sermon statement or title and other titles, statements, and parables that Jesus said and gave himself, it is important to understand that the many things Jesus said, He said because there was great cultural relevance to his words. Without a doubt everything Jesus Christ said is still 100% true and still solid today, but much of what he said was said using the cultural ideals and norms of Jerusalem. An example of this, that I have given you in a few worship services, is when Jesus lifted the cup of wine at the Last Supper, and said “This is the blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sins.” This gesture as I have said was an ancient Jewish marriage ritual of when a young Jewish man wanted to marry a young Jewish woman. Now if she accepted the marriage proposal she drank from the cup, and therefore the man and the woman would be united forever. Jesus new the apostles would know just what this meant by this gesture of the wine cup at the last supper. Today though, most men propose with a ring not a glass of wine! I have yet to see a man get down on one knee and pull out a bottle of liquor and propose marriage! The point of all of this, is that what Jesus said and meant at the last supper is still 100% true and accurate, but we don’t always know what Jesus meant because our culture today is different than that of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. As a result, we have to read and study the scriptures to unlock the fullness of Christ’s Gospel message to us.
About a month to a month and a half ago, I took my wife out to dinner at the Olive Garden in Glens Falls. We were kicking around where to go to dinner to celebrate me becoming the new pastor of this church and the RWJ UMC. We finally settled on the Olive Garden. We did this for two reasons: one I had a gift card for Olive Garden that my seminary gave me for working a conference for them one day, and two Melissa told me that you get unlimited bread sticks at the Olive Garden! I don’t know if telling me you get unlimited anything at a restaurant is a good thing! I think I have gone into a couple of Chinese Buffets and when the owner saw me he started sweating! Unlimited bread sticks! My wife can probably tell you, I took the Olive Garden to task on this one!
Interesting that Jesus said the statement, “I am the Bread of Life.” You see I had already known what Jesus Christ meant by this statement, but it was reaffirmed for me at this restaurant date with my wife. Not because I ate barely any of my dinner, due to eating so many bread sticks, but because Jesus had a message for Melissa and I, I think.
For Jesus said, just like many sit down restaurants that you all have been to here this morning, that if you want the good stuff, if you want the main course, if you want the desert after the dinner, then you must first go through the bread! You see Jesus said that if you want to get to the Father who is the main course of your meal, than you cannot do so unless you go through Him! Jesus is the gateway to heaven! Jesus is the way to the Father! The Father is the main course, yet we start with the bread of Jesus Christ at His heavenly table! In Jesus Christ’s day, most people in Jerusalem ate bread as a staple food. The meals eaten, just like Christ’s last supper meal would often start with blessing and eating bread. You see when Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life,” I have to think most listeners at the time he said it knew exactly what he was claiming to be! He was saying I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the chosen one, I am the Messiah, I am second Adam, where the first Adam God created in the Garden of Eden failed, and I am the savior of the world! If you want salvation in glory though, if you want to get to the Father, you must first go through the Son! You see Jesus is the gateway to paradise, and He is the only vehicle that exists to get us there. Without the “Bread of Life,” we have no hope of enjoying the banquet feast and God’s heavenly table, and we will not enjoy the greatness of eternity! For Jesus Christ, was and is the “Bread of Life!”
Other ways to interpret this scripture was when Jesus spoke to some followers out of last week’s church scripture reading from the Gospel of John, and accused some of those of following him just because Jesus feed them at the feeding of the 5,000. The followers told Jesus how Moses feed the Jews manna (or bread) from heaven when they wandered in the wilderness for 40-years. Jesus then said, “This bread came not from Moses, but from God.” When Jesus said then “I am the Bread of Life,” it can be seen as step even further then just getting to heaven. Not only is Jesus Christ saying He is the gate keeper to glory, the gate keeper to the Father, the way of peace and mercy, I believe Jesus was saying you cannot live fully daily without Him! The Jews in the wilderness could not live without the manna from heaven that God gave them daily, and Jesus was saying I think that you cannot live daily without Him. For without Him, brothers and sisters we are already dead. And without Jesus Christ daily we do not get fed the spiritual manna from heaven that He freely gives us.
I want to close this morning with a story that is often overlooked in the four gospels in our Bible. Of the four gospel accounts, I have only read of this description in two of the four gospels, and I would encourage you to open the book of life or Bible this week and read exactly what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the burial clothes that Christ was wrapped in when Joseph of Arimathea (a rich man and follower of Christ) got Jesus’ body from Pontius Pilot and had Jesus buried in a tomb he owned. In the gospels of Mark and Mathew the burial clothes are not mentioned as only the empty tomb and the angel were mentioned. In the twenty-forth chapter of Gospel of Luke it says that the apostle Peter saw Jesus’ burial clothes in the empty tomb, but in the Gospel of John chapter 20 it says even more. It talks about a napkin like head covering that was put on Jesus’ head, and a fine linen cloth that was put on the rest of his body. In fact, here is what this text from the Gospel of John actually says, from the Gospel of John Chapter 20:4-8. “4 They were running together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and was the first to arrive at the tomb. 5 Bending down to take a look, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he didn’t go in. 6 Following him, Simon Peter entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 He also saw the face cloth that had been on Jesus’ head. It wasn’t with the other clothes but was folded up in its own place. 8”
You might be saying, “Pastor it is good that the rich man Joseph of Arimathea gave Jesus a kings burial in the stone tomb he owned, with fine linens, and a napkin or head covering to cover his head, but other than respect for the messiah what significance does this have?”
Here is the significance, in the Gospel of John is says the linen covering Jesus’ body was in a pile separated from the head covering or napkin, but that the napkin like cloth that covered his head was neatly folded on the stone were he was laid. So what significance is this? I would say huge! Here is why, when a wealthy Jewish man during Jesus Christ’s time sat down to have a meal, his servants would prepare the master’s table. The servants would step just outside of the dining room, as to be available if the master needed something. Every Jewish person at this time knew this “napkin ritual.” You see if the master was finished eating his meal he would wad up the napkin up and throw it on the table. When the servant noticed that the master had left, the servant would know that the master was finished eating by this wadded up napkin. The servant would then proceed to clear the master’s table, and eat of the master’s leftovers. If the master though stood up at the table, and needed to go to the bathroom or do something else, but planned on returning to the table, he did something very different. The master would wipe his hands, his mouth, and his beard, and then very carefully fold the napkin and put it on his table. When the servant saw this, this meant one thing and one thing only, don’t clear the master’s table! He wouldn’t clear the master’s table, because the master was coming back! You see when Christ rose in the Gospel of John the napkin like cloth that covered his head was not wadded up brothers and sisters it was neatly folded on that stone slab in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea! Jesus I think left it this way to tell the people of that time and us, “The master is coming back!” You see Jesus has risen, but if we read the gospels carefully we can find clues such as this to reinforce His message and our faith!
Let us realize this morning brothers and sisters, that he is the “Bread of Life,” that he did fold the napkin, and that our Lord and savior is coming back one day in glory! May we all long to feast at His heavenly banquet! Amen!
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