Jesus preaches a Word that is hard for His followers to hear. His followers are now a large crowd. They were the same group of 5,000 that Jesus had fed with five loaves and two fish. And they loved the Jesus who fed them with free food. They loved Jesus as their bread king. They loved the Jesus who satisfied their bellies.
And so we find a group of disciples who follow Jesus out of self-interest and earthly gain. But now Jesus is going to test their faith, their trust in Him. He’s going to preach to them a Word that they will find hard to take. In truth, Jesus’ words will be so hard for them to digest that John wrote at the end of chapter 6: “From that time, many of Jesus’ disciples turned back and no longer followed Him” (John 6:66).
That was Jesus’ Church-growth program: faithfully preach the truth. The problem was that such preaching of the truth led to Church shrinkage, not growth. And that negative Church growth of Jesus puts us in a pickle, when filling pews has often become more valuable than being faithful. But Jesus shows us, by example, to preach the hard truth, even if it empties the pews. Of course, we don’t want that to happen–but no matter what, Jesus shows us to preach the hard truth.
But why did the masses quit following Jesus? Simply put, they didn’t want the truth He was preaching. Not only that, but they thought that they didn’t need it. But were those followers of Jesus so different from us?
Most of us don’t think we need Jesus’ hard words. I mean, we say we do, until Jesus forces us to change. And then it’s a different story. We then think we can do well enough going our own way. And that’s just what the crowd did some 2,000 years ago.
So, if you only want to fill these pews, don’t have a pastor who preaches like Jesus. For our sinful nature wants nothing to do with Jesus. And the religious Pharisee in us wants a Jesus who will tell us what we want to hear. And we don’t want the Jesus in our Gospel reading. That Jesus offends. He will shrink our Church.
Yet, Jesus confronts us with the truth–as is His way. Even more, for us to be Church, we are to receive the Word of Jesus, for that’s the only Word the Church is given to receive. But you might be thinking, “I do want to hear the Word of Jesus.” And I’m sure that’s sometimes true, but what about tomorrow or even this afternoon?
What about that moment when you fall into your pet sin? You yell at your spouse. You let that lustful thought linger in your mind for a few seconds. What about when that tourist drives 10 miles below the speed limit on these curvy roads? Do you want to hear the Word of Jesus then?
Would that these were the sins that Jesus was preaching against in our Gospel text. But Jesus is dealing with something even more serious. He is dealing with what we are given to believe.
What the crowd following Jesus wanted was a life where He would physically bless them, but then leave the rest of their lives to be their own. Those disciples wanted their cake and to eat it, too. The loved Jesus as their bread king, but they were unwilling to have Him as their King of kings and Lord of lords. Oh, they didn’t realize that. But that’s what their actions showed.
For those in the crowd, Jesus said that He was the bread come down from heaven who gives life to the world (John 6:33). Those words of Jesus began a discussion where the truth of who Jesus is would soon offend His followers.
So, Jesus repeated Himself. Pointing to Himself, He said, “This is the bread that came down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die” (John 6:50). Now, Jesus was talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. And when the crowd realized that, well, that was just too much!
But Jesus wouldn’t let them weasel. He even changed words to show that He wasn’t being symbolic. In the Greek, Jesus changed from generic eating (fagomai) to chewing (trogo). He said, “The one who chews my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (John 6:56).
Now, the crowd is forced to take Jesus on His own terms. Is Jesus their Savior–yes or no? For if they want to have Jesus any other way, then they miss Him altogether. Jesus is removing the middle ground they think exists. You get Jesus in the way He comes to you or you don’t get Him at all.
So, how are we doing so far? Do you prefer your way over the Lord’s way? And if you can get away with it, would you even change the Lord’s way to fit your way of thinking? But that is the way of death, not the way of receiving the Life who only comes in the Living Bread from heaven.
For faith hears the Word of Jesus and keeps it; unbelief doesn’t. Faith trusts–but unbelief changes Jesus’ words. Faith is too busy hearing, keeping, and trusting Jesus to ask what the Jews had asked. They said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” That sounds disgusting. Who does this Jesus think He is?
If Jesus wanted to keep the Jews in the pews, he would have softened what He said. He would have explained that He was speaking symbolically. “Oh no, I didn’t mean that you really eat my flesh,” He would have said; “that’s just a metaphor.”
But the Lord doesn’t water down His proclamation to make your faith seem more reasonable or make you comfortable. After all, Jesus isn’t in the business of lulling people into being comfortable. He’s into saving people–and that demands the truth.
And so, when Jesus is preaching the truth, He tells it as it is. He says, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
The Jews can’t weasel out of this one. Either they will believe that they receive life by eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood, or they will deny it. There’s no wishy-washy, middle ground. It’s either faith or unbelief. And it’s the same with us. So, on which side of the fence are you?
The Holy Spirit creates faith in those who hear the Gospel when and where He pleases. Yet, it is so tragic that many of Jesus’ disciples say: “No thanks. I’ll listen to what I want, instead. Oh, I’ll eat His loaves and fishes, but Jesus has crossed the line here. No one will ever get me to eat His body and drink His blood.”
Turn from your comfortable ways. Instead, rejoice to receive Jesus when He comes to you, and in the way that He says that He does. Jesus offered His body for you when He allowed it to be nailed to the cross. And that same body and blood offered on the cross now come to you from this altar. Every Sunday, you hear the words that Jesus uses for His Supper: “This is my body; this is my blood.” And as Jesus says, “My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.”
So, whether you believe it to be true or not, it is the body and blood of the Lord Jesus that you receive here. And to those of you who believe, in His meal, in His body and blood, Jesus gives to you His forgiveness, life, and salvation. For the body of Christ is full of life, because Jesus, your Savior, is its author.
And so, in faith, it is a joy to receive Him when He comes to us in such a way. That’s why our Confessions say that we offer the Lord’s Supper on every Lord’s Day, every Sunday. For we always need it. It’s as Ambrose said, a pastor in Spain some 1600 years ago. He said, “Because I always sin, I always need medicine.”
But know this: the Lord’s Supper is not for the self-righteous. It is not for those who deny its reality or power. It is not for those who think they’re doing well enough on their own and don’t need what Jesus gives. No. The Lord’s Supper is not for the secure, for those who refuse to repent, or the unbaptized.
But the Lord’s Supper is for those whom sin has battered in their struggle of faith. It’s for those who realize that they don’t even come close to God’s expectations of holy living. It’s for those who want to receive Jesus in the way He has promised to come: In His body and blood.
As Jesus says, His body is real food and His blood is real drink. Hear the Lord’s words, for they are Spirit and Life. Jesus says to you today, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”
You are in Christ, washed in His blood by the living waters of holy baptism. You have heard His Word and believed it. The faith He has given to you has brought you to His Father. And so you are a child of God, holy, pure, blameless, and forever cleansed by the blood He has shed for you.
So, rejoice. With thirsting tongue, now receive the medicine of immortality, Jesus Himself. Receive Him who is Himself the food of eternal life. Amen.
