I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.”I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.
8 sermons cite this verse
… This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. Think of both of those things. But consider the catechism's wording regarding what Jesus wants to teach us. That his body and blood nourish our souls for eternal life just as bread and wine nourish our temporal life. And so perhaps then we can also ask and benefit from thinking about how is it that the Bible, the scriptures itself, might shape our expectations regarding how bread and wine themselves nourish temporal life. Perhaps to a Jewish mind, well steeped in the Old Testament, such a question might bring to mind something like Psalm 104. We got to read Psalm 104 already in our order of worship, so it's there in your bulletin. I'd love for you to look back at it now because I want to read it again with you. …
If anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh. The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. You have no life in yourselves. And now verse 66. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. Jesus said therefore to the twelve, You do not want to go away also, do you? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God. Between 20 and 25 times every week, we are all doing the same thing at just about the same time. You've already done it once this morning, and before a couple of hours have passed, you will do it again. …
… In today's gospel, Jesus was telling the truth when he said he would give us his flesh to eat and blood to drink. And then he actually gave us himself the last supper, right? When he is with his apostles and he takes bread and wine and says, take this all of you and eat of it. This is my body. Take this all of you and drink of it. This is my blood. We know this, right? This Corpus Christi, that every mass, Jesus is truly and substantially present with us. It's incredible, incredible. maybe the most incredible gift. In fact, St. John Vianney once said this. He's a saint, parish priest. He said, there is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something better to give us, he would have given it to us. It is his greatest gift. And I think there's something powerful that happens when we discover this. Like for Catholics, when they discover that the mass really is Jesus, like this is what happened to me. …
… drink his blood, you don't have life within you. We need to receive the Eucharist. Jesus, in fact, in John 6, he says, my flesh is true food, my blood is true drink. He also says, the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. And then, of course, at the Gospel, Luke's Gospel, Matthew's gospel, Mark's gospel, Jesus says, this is my body given for you. This is my blood given for you. So we know this. We know what we do here is not a symbol. Okay, so here's the deal. If it is a symbol, stay home. If it's just a symbol of Jesus, there's no reason to be here. In fact, there's one of the greatest American authors. Her name is Flannery O'Connor. Flannery O'Connor lived in the deep south in the last century. And she was a Catholic, but she lived as a Catholic in the midst of a bunch of non-Catholics. And there's a story where Flannery, she was kind of a quiet person, kind of a private person, but she had to go to this dinner because they made her go to dinners as you do when you become the best author in the United States. …
… which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Jesus is the true bread from heaven. Manna came from heaven at night and Jesus came from heaven into our night. the manna wasn't defiled by the earth Jesus was pure and sinless the manna was sweet to the taste and the psalmist says taste and see that the Lord is good the manna had to be taken and eaten and Christ tells us that we are to eat of the true bread of heaven manna was sufficient for one million Israelites wandering in the wilderness and can I tell you today that Jesus Christ is sufficient for anyone in the middle of your wilderness today. He alone will satisfy and he alone will sustain you. I read a story just as we close and we're gonna get to take communion together in response. …
… He said, I am that living bread, he continues to talk in those spiritual terms, that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats, he will live forever, and the bread also which I will give for the world is My flesh, give for the life of the world is My flesh. So now he's talking about sacrificing His life. And the Jews began to argue with one another, what? How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" And Jesus said to them, "'Truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I'll raise him on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, He will also live of Me. …
Today, we begin in John chapter 6 at verse 51. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. And the Jews, therefore, quarreled among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? And Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you that 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 food indeed, My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. And as the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so He who feeds on me will live because of me. …
… This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I give for the life of the world. He who has ears to hear this word of God, let them hear it. You may be seated. Let us pray. Oh God, this text. is so rich. And we are so poor. It is so strong, and we are so weak. It is so deep, and we are so shallow. How can we understand these things unless You open them by the illumination of Your Spirit? And so we ask for that even now. Amen. This week I got a letter from a woman who said in the letter that she had been subscribing to Table Talk magazine for many years and has been diligently reading through the daily Devotions, and this year, 2002, the Daily Devotions have been based upon a commentary on Paul's letter to the Romans written by the late James Montgomery Boyce. …