St. Andrews Women's Bible Study November 16, 2007
Lesson 8: John 6:35-71 -- "I AM the Bread of Life"

Today's lecture is the second half of our study of Chapter 6 of the Gospel of St. John. Last week we experienced the miracle of the loaves and fishes: a sharing of resources that was so totally blessed that there were huge quantities of left-overs! Today we're going to delve into that experience a bit more.

On your table is a napkin with a wheat roll in it. Please take it, pinch off a small piece, and eat it, paying close attention to the act of chewing and swallowing. Think of the words of the Psalmist: "O taste and see that the Lord is good." (34:8) And you may say that to the person next to you as you pass it to them: The Lord is good.
When everyone at your table has had a piece, you may put it back into the napkin.

Bread is real and necessary for physical life. When Jesus says that he is the bread of life, he is referencing a real and concrete thing. Just as he had previously said that he had living water, "welling up to eternal life", (Jn.4:14) now he has living bread, which gives life to the world. (Jn.6:33)

From concrete and visual reality, Jesus moves to a whole new area of thought. He wants to use the reality of ordinary physical things to bring us to a mysterious and divine reality. Just as food and water are taken into one's body--becoming part of you--your digestive system and subsequently, part of your blood, your bones, your very being--likewise, Jesus wants to be an intimate part of his disciples. The intimacy that Jesus desires with his followers is that he becomes the very marrow of one's bones--the life giving part of you -- your very life.

Remember that the disciple John who is writing this, is the same  apostle John who was told to "Eat this book" in Revelation 10:9. Eating the WORD so that it become part of you -- your body and your will--"your nerve endings, reflexes, and imagination" is necessary for a disciple. (Peterson, "Eat This Bread", Eerdmans, c.2006, p.9)

This indeed is a hard saying. Jesus' words are not just a philosophy to live by. Nor are his miracles a sign in themselves of the greatness of God. Jesus' teaching and healing ministry is not an end it itself--to be hailed as a genuine prophet or a prospective king. Jesus wants a total refocusing of his Jewish countrymen and women. He explains to them that he has a divine mission--to give of himself to them--so that they may eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. He wants them to KNOW God, the great "I AM", (Ex. 3:14) and these are the first steps toward that knowledge.

But this cannibalistic idea is repulsive and most hearers do not understand metaphorical implications. The Jews are confused and angered by what they hear knowing that this is against the law and all they've been taught. (Gen. 9:3-4; Lev. 17:10-16; 19:26) This man Jesus really has wonderful gifts that he has shared with us as have prophets and leaders of former times. However, we know his background and his family--and none of them are divine. Where does he get these ideas and his blasphemous statements? (v.42) That is the question at that time and throughout all of history that will divide those who choose to believe and those who do not. "Those that come to me have been sent to me by the Father," Jesus claims. Furthermore, "everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me." (v.44) Asserting equality with God was the final straw for many who were in the crowd that day. His statements were too radical for most, including the twelve.
Notice the comment about Judas. (v.71) I wonder if this was the turning point in his association with Jesus that caused him to go to the other side which ultimately he bitterly regretted.

It continues to be a claim which divides believers from those who do not believe. The Word of God always sifts the hearts of the listeners. (Wiersbe) To be a follower of Christ, then as now, necessitates a choice,
definitely, a radical choice. Do you believe in the divinity of Christ or not? Do you believe that the God we learned about in Exodus, who brought his people through the waters to freedom, is the same God who sent Jesus into the First Century world as his Son? The choice of the Father to send his Son with his blessing and authority was a radical choice. Jesus lived his earthly life of holy obedience to the Father and the decisions that had been made as if they were one being. "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." (v.57) Tasting and eating....simple everyday acts---but how the implications have changed.

John began his gospel with the specific purpose of showing Jesus' divinity by equating him with God at the creation of the world. The first creative act was "light" and Jesus came as a bearer of that "light". (Jn. 1: 1-9) As an eyewitness to the events of Jesus' life and ministry, John became a leader in the new expression of God--called "The Way" by the early believers. (Acts 9:2) John became known as the "heroic pastor-theologian of Asia Minor, and his Gospel would be known as 'the spiritual Gospel'. (NIV Application Commentary) This high regard for this unique record of Jesus' life was indicated by the medieval scribes who attached the symbol of the majestic eagle to this gospel--showing the supernatural heights attained by the Gospel's thought. (NIV App. Comm.)

"Who can accept it?" (Jn. 6:60) Only those to whom the Spirit has revealed it; only those whom the Father has enabled. (v.65) The years that John lived after Christ's ascension showed him that being a follower of Christ was not easy. Persecution and conflict accompanied the message. The only way of union with God
was by relying on God to provoke our spirit to seek him. God works in some amazing ways to bring people to himself. Some of you may be reading a new book club favorite: "Eat, Pray and Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Her God-experience is unique and very contemporary. I won't give it away for those of you who haven't read it yet, except to say that the "restless spirit" that St. Augustine wrote about in the Third Century is still with us today as evidenced in her book.

Augustine finally acknowledged that it was God who sought him: "You called, you cried, you shattered my deafness. You sparkled, you blazed, you drove away my blindness. You shed your fragrance, and I drew in my breath, and I pant for you. I tasted and now I hunger and thirst. You touched me, and now I burn with longing for your peace." (Confessions)

The ancient prayer practice called Lectio Divina is often translated as "spiritual reading": reading that enters our souls as food enters our stomachs, spreads through our blood, and becomes holiness and love and wisdom. (Peterson, "Eat This Book", p.4) As we continue studying John, I'd like to challenge you to choose a particular verse or phrase from each lesson to chew on--to ruminate and feed on it again and again, so that this WORD becomes your very flesh and bones. Consider how this experience of Bible reading will be different if you approach it as a meal, instead of reading it as an assignment or for a bit of inspiration.

God seeks us because he has created us with a longing for connection with the divine, with Himself. That is perhaps why we love this Gospel so much. It shows us the divine spirit of this man, Jesus, who came into the world by the Father's will, to show us with love, the way to eternal life. For he SO loved this world, that he gave his only son... (Jn.3:16)

O taste and see that God is good....
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing....
those who seek the Lord lack no good thing....
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and
his ears are attentive to their cry....
The Lord redeems his servants;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
(verses from Ps. 34)

Prayer: from "Prayers for Contemplation"
Rev. Russell W. Vande Bunte (1916-2000)