Is John 6 about the Lord's Supper?

Since many Lutheran parishes will be reading through John 6 for the next few Sunday's I found the following which might help in preperation for Sunday's sermon.

Is John 6 about the Lord’s Supper and therefore a proper place to turn when establishing our teaching on the Lord’s Supper? Or does John 6 speak of something else, making it something less than a wise place to turn when establishing this important doctrine.

Why is it so important to point out that John 6 doesn’t refer to the Lord’s Supper? – It is primarily a matter of biblical interpretation. The important Reformation principle of sola scriptura [the Scriptures alone interprets the Scriptures] demands that every doctrine of the church be drawn only from passages that speak of that doctrine. To draw a doctrine from passages of Scripture which speak of a different subject would mean reading theology into Scripture instead of drawing theology from the Scripture.

There are several things in the discourse itself that show that Jesus does not seem to be speaking of the Lord’s Supper in John 6. First of all, consider the context. [A text without a context becomes a pretext for something else!] Jesus has just fed the five thousand (John 6:1-15) who have now followed him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, hoping that Jesus will feed them miraculously again. But Jesus turns their minds from earthly food to the more important matter of having a right relationship with God (cf. John 6:27-29; note how the people’s response to Jesus’ words shows their understanding of his figurative language).

The principle of sola scriptura urges us to draw doctrine from Scripture passages that clearly speak of that doctrine. Since John 6 is about the necessity of believing in Jesus as the Savior, it does not appear wise to turn there to establish the doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. Instead, we draw our doctrine of the Supper from the words of institution recorded in the Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and to Paul’s words concerning the Supper in 1Corinthians. By following this important principle of biblical interpretation, we protect ourselves from saying less and from saying more than Scripture.

Notice also the care with which Jesus chooses his terms in this discussion. Throughout the chapter, Jesus always refers to his “flesh” (Greek: sarx) rather than his “body” (Greek: soma). It would seem strange – if Jesus wants us to understand the eating and drinking here to refer to the Lord’s Supper – that he would use a different word than the one he used in the upper room and with Paul.

Many who insist that John 6 is speaking of the Lord’s Supper deny the real presence. They insist Jesus’ figurative words must refer to the Lord’s Supper and, therefore, his body and blood are only figuratively or spiritually present in the Lord’s Supper.

It is difficult if not impossible for any New Testament Christian to read John 6 without thinking of the Lord’s Supper. In addition to the oral reception of Christ's true body and blood in the Supper, we also know that there is a spiritual eating in the Supper which is identical with the spiritual eating of John 6. However, to insist that John 6 is about the Lord’s Supper (and therefore to seek to draw doctrinal truths about the Lord's Supper from John 6) seems not to deal fully with the context of the chapter.

Source:
http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=813&cuItem_itemID=24638

Time in the Word Pentecost 9 - Proper 13

This coming Sunday marks an interlude in the long series of passages from Mark during the Pentecost season. The Gospels for three Sundays are taken in course from John 6 - The Bread of Life chapter. Jesus explains that the people have come for more physical bread, but He would rather they had spiritual food which comes from heaven, food for the soul. He then identifies Himself as the bread from heaven similar to the manna God sent to His people in the wilderness. The Old Testament. Paul speaks repeatedly of growth into the fullness of Christ’s stature and growth as “bodily growth”. As everyone knows, physical growth is not possible without adequate food. The Psalm of the Day sings of God’s goodness and greatness in satisfying the physical needs of every person. Jesus our Savior fills our deepest needs.

Collect for Proper 13 – Merciful Father, You gave Your Son Jesus as the heavenly bread of life. Grant us faith to feast on Him in Your Word and Sacraments that we may be nourished unto life everlasting;; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen

Collect for Pentecost 9—Grant us, Lord, the Spirit to think and do always such things as are pleasing in Your sight that we, who without You cannot do anything that is good, may by You be enabled to live according to Your will; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen

Monday, 27 July 2009—Psalm 78:23-25, Antiphon, Psalm 78:72 – With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with His skillful hand. Israel under the care of the Lord’s royal shepherd from the house of David was for the prophets the hope of God’s people (see Ezekiel 34:23; 37:23 Micah 5:4) fulfilled in Jesus Christ. (See Matthew 2:6’ John 10:11; Revelation 7:17)

Tuesday, 28 July 2009—Psalm145:10-21; key verse v15—The eyes of all look to You and You give them their food at the proper time. This is a psalm of praise and fitting for our theme for this week. The Lord is the provider of all both physical and spiritual blessings. He supplies physical food for us daily as we acknowledge in the Lord’s Prayer. He also supplies us spiritually as He comes to us through the means of grace.

Wednesday, 29 July 2009— Exodus 16:2-15— In response to the people’s complaint that they had no food, the Lord sends food from heaven. Only a few weeks after deliverance from Egypt the people complain about the lack of food. They murmur against Moses and Aaron, but God fknows that hey complain about Him. They doubt whether the Lord cares about them and His ability to provide for them. In response to their complaints the Lord sends quail in the evening and bread, “manna,” in the morning. To this day the Manna is a mystery – “What is it?” Moses answered, “it is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.” By this the people are to know that He is their God.

Thursday, 30 July 2009—Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 — Bread makes for bodily growth. Christians are to live lives worthy of their calling in love, unity, and growth to maturity in Christ. The church is urged to become what they are by the grace of Christ. Paul appeals for unity on the basis of the unity of Spirit and body. Various functions are gifts of Christ to equip the members and to build up the church in love. The goal of the growth is the matching of the stature of Jesus so that we are not children but mature in faith and love.

Friday, 31 July 2009—John 6:22-35 — Bread satisfies hunger. John urges the people to seek bread from heaven and reveals Himself as the Bread of Life. What is the work of God? Jesus replies that the work of God is to believe in Him. The people ask for a sign that would persuade them to believe in Him and refer to the manna received in the wilderness. Jesus assures them that God sent the bread from heaven, the bread that gives life to the world. Then they ask Him to give this king of bread. He reveals that He is the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to Him and believes in Him will never hunger nor thirst.

In the center of Pentecost we will be reading the Bread of Life chapter of John 6. Following are the Gospel readings for the next three Sundays.

August 2, 2009 – Pentecost 9 – [Proper 13] John 6:22-35
Eat More then Bread - The Necessity of spiritual bread for life.

August 9, 2009 – Pentecost 10 – [Proper 14] John 6:35-51
Eat and Live – Spiritual food gives eternal life

August 16, 2009 – Pentecost 11 – [Proper 15] John 6:51-69
To Eat or Not to Eat – The decision whether or not to follow Christ

Saturday, 01 August 2009—John 6:22-58 - Sunday’s hymn of the day, Father, we Thank Thee (LSB 652) is a liturgical hymn based on John 6. The point of Jesus’ teaching and the text of the hymn is that to live spiritually we need the bread which comes from heaven namely our Lord and Savior Jesus. As Christ is received we as the children of God live new lives. Throughout the next several weeks we will be focusing on Jesus’ teaching on this import chapter from the gospel of John.

In John 6:1-15 is the feeding of the 5,000. (A prelude to the next three Sundays of readings) Some believe that the crowd could have been over 5,000 as only "men" were counted. If you would count "women and children" it could have been up to 15,000 (See Matthew 14:21). Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana seats close to 17,000 people....

According to the concessions manager the following items were sold at the Indiana Vs Wisconsin game, on Saturday, March 12, 1994 (per my telephone conversation with him on March 15, 1994)...

400 1bs of hot dogs,3,000 popcorn boxes, 8,200 cokes (about 1,000 gallons) 684 candy bars, 436 nachos, 284 boxes of caramel corn, 917 soft pretzels, 247 polish sausages, 100 sandwiches, 179 bags of peanuts ,50 muffins, 160 cups of coffee.

This game was played on an afternoon with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 pm. Most fans had eaten their breakfast and had probably had their lunch also! And fans had to pay for their food! Jesus feeds the crowd freely, without cost! When we pray "give us this day our daily bread" we can know that the Savior will supply us with all that we need to support our body and life.

Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 and Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House and from Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcut used with permission from WELS
Lectionary Preaching Workbook Series B – John Brokhoff © 1981 CSS Publishing, Lima, OH
The Text This Week can be found at http://www.textweek.com/scripture.htm

Ah Summer!

The cool temperatures have been great on our flowers this summer!

Some of Tammy's flowers outside the deck.
Ever bearing roses from K-Mart no less!

Roses Tammy received last year for being a garden tester.

A gift from the 2008 Confirmation class.

Pentecost 8 - Proper 12

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again. In the course of a conversation when it appears that a Christian is going through a rather difficult time of testing I’ll say, “stick out your hand…you have five fingers. You can be reminded of the last five words Jesus ever spoke to humans before He ascended into heaven…”I am with you always.” Or, I might say to that person, “remember God’s promise to you – this is for my good…” And yet, the cynic inside of us can use another five word sentence that says, “It stinks to be me!” In a real sense all three phrases are true. We can be assured of Christ’s presence in our lives. His promise is for you, ‘I am with you always.” Nothing will happen to you without His perfect will being played out in your life. We can conclude, “This is for my good.” And at the same time we know that when we are in the midst of a battle, ‘It stinks to be me!”

God brings His children into difficult and fearful situations to strengthen their faith in His presence and power only to deliver them from ultimate peril. During these difficult times especially in times of hardship you need to know of Christ’s presence and power to save.

1. God sometimes sends His people into fearful situations.
A. Jesus sent the disciples into a perilous situation. (Vv.45-48)
B. God sometimes sends us into difficult contexts.
C. The question is why God would do this.

2. God sometimes appears to pass us by in the time of peril.
A. Jesus appeared intent on passing by the disciples in their time of peril. (v. 48b)
B. It can appear to us that God isn’t paying attention to us in our time of need.
C. The question is why Go would do this.

3. When God’s direction brings us hardship and He appears to neglect us, we often respond with fear and despair.
A. The disciples failed to trust Jesus’ presence and power to deliver them (Vv.49-50a. 52)
B. When our obedience to God’s direction brings hardship, we doubt God’s presence and his gracious purpose.

4. But God’s purpose is to use this experience to benefit us.
A. God shows how powerful He is by delivering us from that which would destroy us.
1. Jesus demonstrated to His disciples His presence and power to save. (Vv.50b-51)
2. Christ rescued us from the ultimate perils of sin, death, and hell by His sacrificial death and victorious resurrection.
3. Christ delivers us from the need to fear or doubt.
B. God uses these experiences of hardship to strengthen our faith.
1. The disciples were awed and amazed at Jesus’ power (V.51b)
2. WE are awed at God’s grace and power to save.

Everything that is happening to you is ultimately for your good. Christ can not fail you. He is with you always! Even when it stinks to be you!

2004 Pontiac Sunfire

A 2004 Pontiac Sunfire has been added to the family fleet. The new ol green! Henry will drive a 2004 Dodge Neon, Lydia will drive a 2001 Dodge Neon, Tammy gets the 2005 Chrysler Town and Country. [And they're all paid for!]

Ol Green was a 1995 Dodge Spirit that I drove before both kids drove it to high school. Previous owners were three nuns from Convoy, OH. Ol Green once had to stop for a herd of deer. Missed the first two - the third - Bamby's brother Bubba - plowed right into the driver's side. Ol Green was so tough we didn't even need to get him fixed! Ol Green was sold for $500 after we put 180K miles. Now he's someone's beater work car.

Time in the Word Pentecost 8 - Proper 12

In the lessons for this coming Sunday God’s promises are given and the Lord remembers those promises while man might not. The Lord promises Noah and his family that He will never again destroy the earth by a flood. In the Epistle lesson Paul thanks the Lord for the richness of grace which the Lord has established in Christ. In the Gospel Christ comes walking to His frightened disciples on the sea. They do not recognize Him because of fear and hardness of heart. The sermon hymn reminds us that it is the Lord Himself that orders our days. Faith calls for us to recognize the Lord working in our life especially when we can not see His hand at work. God will not abandon us to the world we create for ourselves. God does not withdraw to a contamination-free zone and leave us to get on with it, but enters into the darkness, seriousness and consequences of human wrong-doing … in order to save us.

Collect for Proper 12 –Almighty and most merciful God, the protector of all who trust in You, strengthen our faith and give us courage to believe that in Your love You will rescue us from all adversities; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. . Amen

Monday, 20 July 2009—Psalm 145:1-3, 6-7, Antiphon, Psalm 145:5. On the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. This is a hymn summarizing the characteristics of God. It is in acrostic form, making it easy to memorize: each verse in Hebrew begins with a successive letter of the alphabet. Vv. 1-3 are the psalmist’s personal expression of praise. In v. 4, he expands to speaking of descendants, of passing on knowledge and experience of God. God is known for his “wondrous works” (v. 5). In vv. 8-20, he expands still further, to “all people” (v. 12). Vv. 8-9 mention his love, vv. 10-13a his kingship over all, vv. 14-20 of his care of all in need. Responsiveness to his call brings protection (v. 20a) but those who oppose his ways will be destroyed. Finally, v. 21 combines the personal commitment to God with that of “all flesh”.

Tuesday, 21 July 2009—Psalm136:1-9; key verse v26— The phrase “the God of heaven” (v.26) is a Persian title for God found frequently in Ezra, Nehemiah and Daniel. The Psalm is a liturgy of praise to the Lord as Creator and as Israel’s Redeemer. Its theme and many of its verses parallel much of Psalm 135. Most likely a Levitical song leader led the recital which the choir or worshipers responded with the refrain. The Psalm recounts God’s mighty acts as the psalmist devotes six verse to God’s creation acts (Vv.1-3) six to His deliverance of Israel out of Egypt (Vv.10-15) one to the desert journey (v. 16) and six to the conquest (Vv.17-22) The four concluding verses return to the same basic themes in reverse order; God’s action in history ion behalf of His people (Vv.23-24), God’s action in the creation order (v.25) and a closing call to praise (v.26).

Wednesday, 22 July 2009— Genesis 9:8-17— We need to recognize the reality and depth of human resistance to God. That is seen in killing Jesus. What we call “sin” is not just the naughty things we do that make the tabloid headlines. Sin can be deadly and destructive. It has consequences. And it offends. There is a deep seriousness to human wrong-doing – sin – that means that consequences cannot simply be bypassed.

We can either turn away from them, or we can wrestle with them. Here we see God’s refusal to be marginalized. The next time instead of destroying the world through a flood He will turn His wrath on His own Son.

Thursday, 23 July 2009—Ephesians 3:14-21 — This section of the letter offers a bit of relief from the heavy theological portions that have been read up to this point. It presents a moment of tenderness, in which the author speaks directly to his readers about his care for them. He speaks of his prayer for his readers, which he does on bended knee. Paul, like other apostles, had been entrusted with revelation by the Spirit. Specifically, it had been revealed to him that Gentiles, who receive the gospel in faith, are fellow heirs of the promises of God. They too are members of the body of Christ, and therefore they have access to God. "For this reason," the author prays that his readers may be strengthened in spiritual power, love, and knowledge.

Friday, 24 July 2009—Mark 6:45-56 —In Mark 1:16-20 when Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James, and John without any apparent previous knowledge of Jesus, they left everything immediately and followed him. What had they recognized in Jesus? It is remarkable that none of the gospels provide a physical description of Jesus. We will never be able to pin him down by virtue of his appearance. Rather, we will always have to recognize Jesus for who He is and what He does. It is more than the miracles and healings Jesus performed or the things he taught. It may actually take the gift of faith to recognize the one who died on the cross as the Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world.

Saturday, 25 July 2009—Psalm 37:5 - Sunday’s hymn of the Day Entrust Your Days and Burdens, (LSB 754). In the midst of our busy and hurried lives it is easy to loose sight that it is the Lord who orders our days and directs our path. Thus the hymn writer will remind us, “For He who guides the tempests along their thunderous ways will find for you a pathway and guide you all your days.” Place you confidence in Him. He can be trusted at His word. We can rely on Him as we recall what He has done.

Collect for Pentecost 8— O almighty and most merciful God, of Your bountiful goodness keep us, we pray, from all things that may hurt us that we, being ready in both body and soul, may cheerfully accomplish whatever things You want done; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen

Prayer in time of affliction and distress: Almighty and most merciful God, in this earthly life we endure sufferings and death before we enter into eternal glory. Grant us grace at all times to subject ourselves to Your holy will and to continue steadfast in the true faith to the end of our lives that we may know the peace and joy of the blessed hope of the resurrection of the dead and of the glory of the world to come; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.


Prayer for Home and Family: Visit, we implore You, O Lord, the homes in which Your people dwell, and keep far from them all harm and danger. Grant us to dwell together in peace under the protection of Your holy angels, and may Your blessing be with us forever; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Prayer the Unemployed: Heavenly Father, we remember before You, those who suffer want and anxiety from lack of work. Lead us so to use the wealth and resources of this rich land that all persons may find suitable and fulfilling employment and receive just payment for their labor; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Pray for Peace: O God, whom come all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works, give to us, Your servants, that peace which the world simply cannot give, that our hearts may be set to obey Your commandments and also that we, being def3ended from the fear of our enemies, may live in peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.

Prayers from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 and Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House and from Lutheran Worship © 1980 Concordia Publishing House.
Schnorr von Carolsfeld woodcut used with permission from WELS
The Text This Week can be found at http://www.textweek.com/scripture.htm

More news from Urbania, Italy

Lydia's been hard at work studying Italian, vocal training, and doing opera. This weekend she traveled to Pesaro the birthplace of Rossini which is on the Adriatic Sea. It's been hot there all week - 104 degrees! We can IM her @ 6:30 am here which is 12:30 pm there. She has three weeks left then it'll be time to pack up her things and move back to school.