Almighty
God, whom to know is everlasting life; grant us to know Your Son Jesus to be
the way, the truth and the life that we may steadfastly follow His steps in the
way that leads to life eternal;
Do you live to ear or eat to
live? That all depends on your age, and your metabolism. While miss manners may
offer advice of the proper answer, the unique spiritual answer to this question
in light of today’s Gospel is that you need both. With eagerness, we receive
all that God gives. Through His working in our life, we have real life in
Christ.
- People often undervalue
God’s gifts.
A.
The gifts
seem too simple (Vv.41- 42, 52) “They
were therefore grumbling about Jesus because He had said, I am the bread that
came down from heaven. And they were saying, is this not Jesus, the son of
Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He say, “I am the bread of
life?” And the leaders of the people continued to argue saying, how can this
man give us His flesh to eat?”
1.
How could
Jesus come from heaven? The crowd knew His family. They were familiar with His
father and mother. He was no different from them. He most certainly could not have come from heaven. They had no
idea; standing before them was the Lord of life. [illustration spotting Yoko
Ono in NYC]
2.
The world
wants a Jesus they can claim to be their own. If they have control, over which
Jesus they will trust in they can tell us everything of which He is about.
Unfortunately, this Jesus is often the invention of their own sinful
imagination and will. And the Jesus the
world falls in love with is by no means a man from God.
B.
The gifts
are often thought to be worthless (V.58) “This
is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but
whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
1.
People
value too highly their own works.
2.
Believing
seems too simple to have any real value.
People living in ignorance and
blindness have no clue whatsoever who Jesus is, where He has come from let
alone His mission. Through the proclamation of the clear Word of the Lord
people are brought into a right understanding of Jesus the Savior of the world
- Christ offers the life and death gifts to
God’s people.
A.
God the
Father calls us. (v.44) “No one can come
to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the
last day.”
1.
The
Father is always pleading and calling us.
2.
He uses
those means, which draws us as. This is what He has always done. This is what
He will always do.
B.
He
sustains us through this life (V. 51) “I
am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread,
he will live forever and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the
world is My flesh.”
1.
The
Scriptures reveal the Gospel.
2.
The
Sacraments bring the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, as they are the
means by which the Gospel flows from the Father’s hand into the believer’s
heart.
C.
Christ
gave His flesh and blood a payment of sin and for the life of the world.
1.
This is
why the Son was sent to destroy the works of the Devil.
2.
As Jesus
made His trip to the cross, we see those deliberate acts, which He performed to
draw you to Himself. His miracles, His
sufferings, He trip to the cross were not random acts of Jesus kindness. They
all a part of the Father’s plan to win for you salvation.
God’s mercy has provided a way
that we will always know where the next meal is coming from. Believing, we
trust and find contentment in His merciful sustain feeding hand.
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