Many Disciples Turn Away

Monday after Jubilate

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Sacramentarians[1] have the same problem here that the disciples who left Jesus had: Jesus’ teaching that His flesh is food indeed, and His blood is drink indeed is for them a hard saying and they cannot understand it. Some teachers of that sect try to use the words of this verse to spiritualize and symbolize all that Jesus had previously said about Him being the Bread of Life come down from heaven, and whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life. The following quotation, taken from Bibleref.com, is typical of the Sacramantarian teaching on this passage:

The idea of His flesh being the bread of life was meant to extend the analogy of bread, in order to include His upcoming sacrificial death on the cross. Here, Jesus makes a direct statement that His prior words were not meant to be taken literally. In other words, Christ is not actually saying that people need to consume His material flesh or drink His liquid blood. Rather, the point Jesus is making is spiritual…faith in Christ is not the same as intellectual knowledge. Saving faith means receiving Christ in the deepest parts of ourselves.[2]

Faith is indeed different from intellectual knowledge. It is the gift of God;[3] it is the substance, the foundation, of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.[4] Why, then, do we treat it as intellectual knowledge by rationalizing Jesus’ words, and changing their context? Jesus is not speaking in figuratively in the Bread of Life passage. In fact, when John is writing something figurative or symbolic he, like the other New Testament authors, makes it clear in the text. Jesus often teaches in parables, which are figures of speech. When He does so, it is obvious; He says things like, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?” Or, “A certain man had a fig tree…” And the Gospel writers clearly indicate that Jesus is speaking figuratively by writing something like, “He spoke this parable to them, saying…” When Jesus cleanses the temple and the Pharisees demand a sign from Him to show the authority by which He did what He did, Jesus answers, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They misunderstand, and think Jesus is talking about the actual building, but John makes sure it is clear to the reader, “But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.”[5] It was symbolic language, a figure of speech. There are no such indications in the Bread of Life passage that Jesus is using the eating and drinking of His flesh and blood figuratively.

On the contrary, Jesus gets more and more specific and clear as He teaches precisely what it means that He is the Bread of Life. He uses the Greek word for true, living flesh, [6] and the blood that goes through that flesh,[7] when He teaches. His reference to the Holy Spirit being life in verse 63 hardly negates as figurative His statement, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in Me and I in him.”

Jesus’ words here mean precisely what they say. It is the Spirit who gives life: It is the Holy Sprit who creates life and faith in men, turning their hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, as we know, through the word. And it should be no surprise that Jesus delivers the word of His promises to us by different means. There are many examples of Him using something intermediate as an instrument to deliver His faith-creating word. He attaches His words to water in Holy Baptism where He promises to give us a new birth, save us from sin, death, and the devil, clothe us with His righteousness, and connect us to Him, His death, and His resurrection. He attaches His words to mud made out of spit to restore sight to a man born blind.[8] He attaches His words, through the prophet Elisha, to the waters of the Jordan river to heal Naaman’s leprosy.[9] Even the preacher preaching the word, and the book containing the scriptures itself, are means – instruments for delivering His word. If we say that Jesus does not use means to deliver His word to men to create faith in them, we must say that He creates faith directly in a man’s heart without means. This is directly contradicted by scripture, for we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.[10]

The flesh profits nothing: Jesus did not say His flesh profits nothing, but rather the flesh profits nothing. His use of the word flesh recorded in verse 63 is different from His use of it earlier. Here Jesus uses it as Paul does when the apostle writes about the sinful human nature, when he writes, for example, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.”[11] Jesus is here talking about man’s sinful human nature. He is literally saying that the flesh profits nothing; the sinful flesh which lusts for bread rather than the things of God cannot help in spiritual matters.[12] But Jesus, the word made flesh, can and does. The words of promise that He delivers to us, through the waters of our baptism, through the word preached to us by faithful pastors, through the word read in our Bibles and meditated upon, and through the word combined with bread and wine by which Jesus gives us His real body and blood to eat and drink, bring to us also the Holy Spirit, who creates faith and gives eternal life.

It is the word that makes the sacrament of the altar, i.e. the Lord’s Supper, and sets it apart.[13] Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me.” In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them saying, “Drink of it all of you; this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”[14] It is about this that Jesus was teaching in John chapter six. And in this sacrament He gives us his real body and blood.

If a hundred thousand devils, together with all fanatics, should rush forward, crying “How can bread and wine be Christ’s body and blood?” and such, I know that all spirits and scholars together are not as wise as is the Divine Majesty in His little finger. Now here stands Christ’s Word, “Take, eat; this is My body…Drink of it, all of you; this is My blood of the new testament,” and so on. Here we stop to watch those who will call themselves His masters and make the matter different from what He has spoken. It is true, indeed, that if you take away the Word or regard the Sacrament without the words, you have nothing but mere bread and wine. But if the words remain with them, as they shall and must, then, by virtue of the words, it is truly Christ’s body and blood. What Christ’s lips say and speak, so it is. He can never lie or deceive.[15]

Bibliography

Baumler, Gary P. John. Saint Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 2005.

Engelbrecht, Edward. The Lutheran Study Bible: English Standard Version. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016.

“Haima Meaning in Bible - New Testament Greek Lexicon - King James Version.” Bible Study Tools. Accessed May 4, 2020. https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/haima.html.

Lutheran Worship. St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1982.

McCain, Paul Timothy., W. H. T. Dau, and F. Bente. Concordia: the Lutheran Confessions: a Readers Edition of the Book of Concord. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2009.

“Sarx Meaning in Bible - New Testament Greek Lexicon - New American Standard.” Bible Study Tools. Accessed May 4, 2020. https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/sarx.html.

Websters Collegiate Dictionary. Third Edition of the Merriam Series. The Largest Abridgment of Websters New International Dictionary of the English Language. 1700 Illustrations. Springfield: Published by G. and C. Merriam Co., 1919.

“What Does John 6:63 Mean?” BibleRef.com. Accessed May 4, 2020. https://www.bibleref.com/John/6/John-6-63.html.

---

[1] Sacramentarian: One who holds the sacraments to be simply symbols; a name given to Zwinglians and Calvinists. Websters Collegiate Dictionary. Third Edition of the Merriam Series. The Largest Abridgment of Websters New International Dictionary of the English Language. 1700 Illustrations (Springfield: Published by G. and C. Merriam Co., 1919))  

[2] “What Does John 6:63 Mean?,” BibleRef.com, accessed May 4, 2020, https://www.bibleref.com/John/6/John-6-63.html)

[3] Ephesians 2:8

[4] Hebrews 11:1

[5] John 2:13-22

[6] Sarx: 1. Flesh (the soft substance of the living body, which covers the bones and is permeated with blood) of both man and beasts; 2. the body; 3. a living creature (because possessed of a body of flesh) whether man or beast; 4. the flesh, denotes mere human nature, the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God. “Sarx Meaning in Bible - New Testament Greek Lexicon - New American Standard,” Bible Study Tools, accessed May 4, 2020, https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/sarx.html)

[7] Haima: 1. Blood (of man or animals; refers to the seat of life; of those things that resemble blood, grape juice); 2. blood shed, to be shed by violence, slay, murder. “Haima Meaning in Bible - New Testament Greek Lexicon - King James Version,” Bible Study Tools, accessed May 4, 2020, https://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/kjv/haima.html)

[8] John 9:6-7

[9] 2 Kings 5:9-10

[10] Romans 10:17

[11] Romans 7:18

[12] Edward Engelbrecht, The Lutheran Study Bible: English Standard Version (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2016))

[13] LC V, 10

[14] Lutheran Worship (St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House, 1982)): The Words of Institution.

[15] LC V, 12-14

Simeon Sees God's Salvation

Simeon

A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2:32).

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.[1] Mary and Joseph circumcised Jesus on the eighth day after His birth as the Law of Moses required. Having received this sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, Christ is formally brought into Israel according to the Law. Being the first born male, Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple to offer the sacrifices required in the Law to consecrate Him to the LORD, and to redeem Him.[2] By this act Jesus enters into the service of God. All that Jesus did in His earthly life, or that was done to Him by His faithful earthly parents, was so that He could serve His Heavenly Father perfectly under the Law, something mankind was not capable of doing since the Fall of Adam.

At the temple, the Holy Family meets Simeon, who has been supernaturally directed to the infant Jesus by the Holy Spirit. This faithful Israelite had been waiting for the Consolation of Israel.[3] The Spirit of the Lord had told him that he would see the Messiah. When he sees Jesus Simeon sings a song of Joy. His vigil was now complete. He could go in peace, that is, he could now die, because God had fulfilled His promise. Simeon had held the Light to the Gentiles, and the Glory of Israel in his arms.

Simeon had seen the One who was the fulfillment of the covenant. This child whom he held in his arms was the one about whom Isaiah wrote: I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness and will hold Your hand; I will keep you and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from prison, those who sit in darkness from the prison house.[4] Jesus is indeed a light to the nations. Whoever sees Jesus sees the Father who sent Him; whoever believes in Him believes in the Father and no longer abides in darkness.[5] He has freed us from the prison house of sin and made us servants of righteousness. Jesus, perfectly righteous under the Law, was rejected by His own, killed as a ransom for many on the cross, and risen from the dead on the third day.[6]

We who believe, like our brother Simeon, are also waiting for the Consolation of Israel. We await Hs return in glory, to judge the living and the dead. As we wait, we gather faithfully to eat His body and drink His blood, as He calls us to do, for the forgiveness of sins, proclaiming His death until He comes.[7] Each time we receive the gift of Jesus’ body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar, we rejoice; we sing Simeon’s words in the Nunc Dimittis: Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word, For mine eyes have seen Thy Salvation. By these means of Word and Sacrament Jesus gives to us Salvation – He, Himself. Like Simeon, after receiving this pledge of redemption from sin, death, and the devil, and the resurrection to life eternal, we to can proclaim that we are ready to die.

---

[1] Galatians 4:4-5

[2] Exodus 13:2, 11-13

[3] Luke 2:25

[4] Isaiah 42:6-7

[5] John 12:44-50

[6] Mark 8:31; John 1:11; Mark 10:45

[7] 1 Corinthians 11:10-23-26

Many Disciples Turn Away

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:60-63).

Jesus is abandoned by many of His disciples. He has spoken to them hard sayings; He told them they must eat His body and drink His blood that they may abide in Him and have eternal life. But they are offended by Jesus’ words. In answer to His complaining disciples, Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Evangelicals who deny the validity and working of God through the Sacraments often point to this verse. Here, they say, Jesus explains that all those things about His flesh being real food were just symbols. Picture language! The flesh profits nothing! It is the Spirit that gives life.

The words that Jesus speaks are spirit and life. But Jesus isn’t negating what He has previously said. He here expands on His previous teaching. Just as bodies need spirits to live, believers need the Holy Spirit to make them alive; the Spirit is given through Jesus’ words.[1] Jesus connects His words, His promise of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, to the eating and drinking of His body and blood. This will come into sharp focus on Maundy Thursday when Jesus and His disciples eat the Passover, and He institutes the Lord’s Supper. Here, as Jesus answers His complaining disciples, He is speaking of the sinful human nature, unlike earlier in the chapter. Jesus says “the flesh” profits nothing, not “My flesh”.

Peter is indeed correct to answer Our Lord as he does. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Jesus’ words are spirit, and life. Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you. This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins. Whoever now accepts these words, given and shed for you, and believes that what they declare is true has forgiveness.[2] We have a body and a spirit. Both body and spirit together make up one being. It is for this reason that God attaches His promise of forgiveness and life to physical things like water, word, bread and wine. Our physical being comprehends the physical element, and our spirit comprehends the spiritual element. Writing of Baptism in his Large Catechism, Martin Luther explains it this way: “For that is the reason why these two things are done in Baptism: the body - which can grasp nothing but the water - is sprinkled and, in addition, the Word is spoken for the soul to grasp. Now, since both the water and the Word, make one Baptism, therefore, body and soul must be saved and live forever. The soul lives through the Word, which it believes, but the body lives because it is united with the soul and also holds on through Baptism as it is able to grasp it.”[3]

Jesus’ words are spirit, and they are life. They must be taken at face value. Jesus tells us that we must eat His body and drink His blood in order to abide in Him. He gives us the means by which we can do as He says in the Lord’s Supper. Our eating and drinking of the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper is a communion with His body and blood.[4] Believing Jesus’ words, we have what He promises to those who eat His body and drink His blood: the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

---

[1] Engelbrecht, Rev. Edward A., ed. The Lutheran Study Bible. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 2009.

[2] McCain, Paul Timothy, Robert Cleveland Baker, Gene Edward Veith, and Edward Andrew Engelbrecht,. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Translated by William Hermann Theodore Dau and Gerhard Friedrich Bente. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

[3] LC IV 45-46

[4] 1 Corinthians 10:16

Jesus the Bread of Life

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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 them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 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. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum (John 6:53-59 NIV).

 

The Jews begin to grumble. They don’t like what Jesus is saying. He isn’t talking about restoring the glory of the kingdom of Israel. He isn’t organizing a rebel force to overthrow the Romans. He isn’t even talking about filling their bellies with loaves. The only bread He is talking about is the bread of life. He says that this bread of life that came down from heaven is He Himself! How absurd! We’ve known Jesus for a long time. We know His parents. He must be insane to say that He is the bread that came down from heaven!

 

Jesus goes farther. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Now they begin to argue sharply. How can we eat His flesh! That sounds like cannibalism. Jesus is steadfast: 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. Jesus meant what He said. Real eating. Real drinking. He isn’t using the word flesh in a figurative way. He is not describing the sinful human nature, as St. Paul does in his letters. There is no getting around what Jesus is saying. His flesh is real food, and His blood is real drink. The one who feeds on Him will live. The Israelites eating the manna in the wilderness was a shadow of the true bread from heaven that was to come, Jesus.

 

The question asked is a valid one: How can this man give us His flesh to eat? We don’t know how it works, but we do know the means through which He gives it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread: and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and gave it to His disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.” After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, gave thanks, and gave it to them saying, “Take, drink ye all of it. This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the remission of sins. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.” Jesus provides for us a means to receive His unmerited favor, by eating His flesh and drinking His blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.

 

The Marburg Colloquy - Hoc Est Corpus Meum

Not a sacrifice re-presented to God, but the Bread of Life distributed to those who are His own. God’s word of promise, the forgiveness of sins, joined to physical elements of bread and wine for our benefit. Eating and drinking that bread and wine, we eat the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Believing Jesus’ words, we have what He promises: His body and blood, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The Sacrament of the Altar is given as a daily pasture and sustenance, that faith may refresh and strengthen itself.[1] But here our wise spirits twist themselves about with great art and wisdom. They cry out and bawl, “How can bread and wine forgive sins or strengthen faith?” They hear and know that we do not say this about bread and wine. Because, in itself, bread is bread. But we speak about the bread and wine that is Christ’s body and blood, and has the words attached to it. That, we say, is truly the treasure - and nothing else - through which such forgiveness is gained.[2]

 

 

______________________

 

[1] McCain, Paul Timothy., ed. Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions: A Readers Edition of the Book of Concord. Translated by W. H. T. Dau and F. Bente. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2009. LC V 24

 

[2] Ibid. LC V 28-29