26/8/12 year B Trinity 11, Family Service - John 6:56-69

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.  60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"  61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."  66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. :68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

eternal life anagrams print cards and arrange them with children/people, numbering from 6 to 11, holding them up

an eel trifle

Feline alert

lie near felt

I feel antler

A teen filler

i free all ten

A fine teller

Fertile lane

Inflate reel

Elfin eel rat

Inert ale elf

A tree fell in

Eaten filler

flee real tin

alter eel fin

left ear line

ten fail reel

flat eel rein

fat neil leer

rant flee lie

ernie fell at

We can re-arrange the letters of "eternal life" but we cannot and should not change the teachings of Jesus. Today's passage reminds us we need to go to Jesus for teaching, even though this may, at times seem difficult-cf grumbling v60f. The fringe disciples found it difficult that Jesus claimed to come from heaven and that those who feed on him, spiritually, will live with God forever.

Jesus was also, and is a way to imitate - a way of love, healing, forgiveness, obeying God, even when it was difficult. Jesus obedience led him to the cross, but also to resurrection and salvation for those who trust him.

Peter said that they had no-one else to go to. There is no other option if we desire eternal life.

We also need to realise that some, even some that appear to be followers of Jesus, will not be able to accept his teaching and will fall away. We see this in those disciples who did not trust trust him, those who would grumble and leave him, and the one who would stay yet betray him.

Get a child to lie down on floor & pretend to be dead. Offer them a cake or chocolate bar. Point out that they cannot respond and eat because they are dead!

Jesus words are spirit and they are life, verse 63. It is God who enables people to come to Jesus, v.65. Until God gives us life through Jesus words we are spiritually dead, even though our bodies are alive. We can't respond to Jesus until God helps us to.

We need to be humble, accept Jesus' words, obey them, pray, rely on God's Holy Spirit. We need to rely upon God's Spirit because it is he who gives life, v.63.

God's free gift is life with HIm forever through what Jesus has done

We are to use everything at our disposal, our will, our intellect, our energy, our emotions as we follow Jesus in the power of the Spirit.

We need to keep going in our trust of Jesus. Peter's words were very sincere and true, but he did not really understand that Jesus would have to be rejected, suffer, die and rise again and that God would pour out His Holy Spirit on the disciples after Jesus had gone back to heaven.

It may take us a while to fully grasp what it means to follow Jesus but God will help us by His Spirit once he has helped us to start to trust in Jesus.


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Year B Trinity 11 - John 6:56-69

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

PRAY

A number of years ago a 'plane crashed on an icy mountain top. Some people survived the crash, but soon ran out of food. They were faced with a decision. Starve, or become cannibals and eat their dead friends and fellow passengers. It was actually some time after they were rescued that they admitted what had happened. This incident was made into a film.

The Jewish crowd think that Jesus is suggesting that they become cannibals and eat his flesh and drink his blood. The early church had a reputation for cannibalism because they celebrated the Lord's Supper. Clearly the teaching of Jesus is misunderstood.

Jeremiah 15: 16 When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty.

This is the type of imagery that Jesus is using. The idea of something, or somebody becoming part of our very self. Just as the goodness of food and drink flows into, and through, our bodies.

Chapter 6 shows the full cycle of people's response to Jesus. At first, excited by his miracle of feeding the 5,000, they tried to make him king. But Jesus escaped. The next day he rebuked them for having an interest only in physical concerns, not in spiritual truth . He used the miracle of the feeding to give an important lesson about himself, the bread of life. These words, however, so disappointed the sensation-seeking crowd that many turned away from him.

The crowd were not really interested in following Jesus. They were more interested in food, verse 26, Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

They were more interested in a political Messiah, verse 14, After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

They were more interested in manipulating Jesus to perform miracles, verse 30, So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?

They were not prepared to relinquish their own opinions and authority to Jesus. We saw this when we examined verses 41-46 two weeks ago.

As well as being offended by Jesus' cannibalism, they were also offended by his claims to be greater than Moses, sent by God, and his offer of eternal life.

But Jesus adds to this. 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!

Jesus is challenging them saying, 'If you think this is offensive you will be offended even more when you see me, the Messiah raised on a cross before I am raised to life and raised back to heaven.'

We saw earlier that the crowd wanted to make Jesus king by force, verse 15. This fitted in with their expectation that the Messiah would come in military might, defeat the Romans and establish a prosperous, earthly kingdom. The idea that the Messiah would suffer humiliation and die on a cross was abhorrent to them. Not only because of the false picture that they had of the Messiah, but also because of a verse in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 21:22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, 23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse.

Jesus hung on a cross, a wooden item made from a tree, and received God's curse for the sins of the world.

Not only did Jesus' words offend many of the crowd, they also offended many, so-called disciples, verse 66. The word translated 'turned back' refers to recoiling away from something, or someone, rather than a calculated change of direction.

It is clear that there were two types of disciples. There were those who followed Jesus around, perhaps intrigued and entertained by his teaching, eager to see miracles, and hoping that he might free them from Rome.

I think it was Mark Twain who said that the parts of the Bible that concerned him were not the parts that he did not understand, but the ones that he did.

These disciples said that Jesus' teaching was 'hard', verse 60. This does not mean that they did not understand Jesus' teaching. The problem was that they did understand it, but it was too harsh and difficult for them to accept.

How we address difficult teaching is a true measure of our faith in God. We should work at trying to understand what the words in the Bible meant when they were first given. Then we need to understand how this applies to our world today and act upon them.

Augustine wrote, 'The faith will totter if the authority of the Holy Scriptures loses its hold on men. We must surrender ourselves to the authority of Holy Scripture, for it can neither mislead nor be misled.'

In verses 63-65 Jesus explains why some people will reject him and his message. A rejection that resulted in his death on a cross. The reason for this is God's sovereign choice. God has chosen to reveal himself to people and to reconcile some of them to himself through Jesus death and resurrection. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

This should lead us to action in two areas.

Firstly, outreach. Telling the good news of Jesus to people to see if they have been chosen by him.

Secondly to let trust in Jesus transform our lives and persevere so we may show that our faith is genuine.

In verses 70 and 71 we read that faithfulness is needed as well as God's choice.

This passage shows that Jesus is a life giver. Seven times the word life is mentioned, often referring to eternal life. That is, a life lived in a right relationship with God through Jesus, 17:3.

63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. God the Holy Spirit is the agent of God's enabling, verse 65. The best way that we can know about God is through the 'words' of Jesus. Here they are referring to himself, his divine origins, and his offer of eternal life.

This is why it is so important that our faith is based on the Bible, and that it is expounded faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is clear that a large number of 'disciples' left, perhaps only leaving the twelve.

This is a reminder to us that Christianity is a minority religion. It will be rejected by the majority of people. Even people who may, at first, appear to be followers of Jesus.

Jesus was rejected. The apostles were rejected. As his disciples today we should also expect rejection. Our faith will not be popular with the majority of people. We know this from the teaching of Jesus in Matthew 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

This is why it is so important that Christians attend church regularly. We need to meet together to support one another in an atmosphere of love, to worship, to pray, to learn from the Bible and to show the love of Jesus to the world.

67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

Jesus was asking this question expecting a negative answer. 'Surely, you are not going to leave as well ? ' might covey this better.

We live in a world that seeks life in many ways. Some people live to work, working long hours, neglecting their families, friends and health for the sake of work. Yet work does not last. Ask someone who has been made redundant or who is no longer physically able to work.

Some people seek life in material things. Possessions, the home, car, and holidays. Yet these things can isolate us from life, making us feel secure, until a disaster strikes and we suddenly feel very frail and helpless.

Some people live for their feelings. They want to feel better so they turn to alcohol, drugs, sex, or even bungee-jumping or getting fit.

Others may try to escape life by immersing themselves into a fantasy world of television or films, thinking that this is reality. We see this in the way that television 'soaps' are taken so seriously by some so they are almost considered to be real. Sadly to many, they are more real than the relationships that people enjoy with their own neighbours.

This is not to say that having a nice car, going to a gym, working or watching television are wrong in themselves. But they have to be put in the right place. After Jesus.

68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

There is no alternative. No-one else to turn to. Jesus should be Lord and master of our lives. His teaching, which point to his life, death and resurrection, offers eternal life. True disciples believe and know Jesus. The belief is not merely an intellectual; acknowledgment that Jesus existed, was a good teacher, or was the Son of God. The belief is radical and has to involve an act of trusting in the words of Jesus, and handing over control of our lives to him again and again as we seek to follow him in repentance and faith.

'Holy One of God' is a messianic title. But it also refers to the fact that Jesus was holy. The word means 'set apart'. Jesus was set apart by God to come to earth and die in our place on the cross. He was also morally set apart, perfect, and therefore, able to offer himself as a sinless sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world. We know this is true because God raised him from the dead. If Jesus' claims were false, and he was not perfect, God would not have raised him.

Jesus is alive today. He gives life to people today. 'Life in all it's fullness' 10:10.

Let us do all that we can to live that abundant life.

Let us do all that we can to share that life with those who are dying.