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Gospel
Jn 6:60-69

Many of Jesus’ disciples who were listening said,
“This saying is hard; who can accept it?”
Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this,
he said to them,
“Does this shock you?
What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life,while the flesh is of no avail.
The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.”
Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said,
“For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”
As a result of this,many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

SERMON:
In the passage just before this Jesus had just told the crowd that he was the bread of life that has come down from heaven. He told them that if anyone eats His flesh and drinks His blood would never die. The majority of the crowd had a very hard time accepting His words. For a Jew to drink human blood or eat human flesh is something completely unthinkable. Jesus of course was not speaking literally. Jesus was using this symbolism to root out those who were not truly following him. Those who stumbled over these words and could not follow Jesus were those who the Father had not called.

Jesus had just told them that the words He spoke were spirit and life. The manna that had come down from heaven to feed their ancestors was meant to be a foreshadowing of Jesus who would come down from heaven to bring us eternal life. The manna was a foreshadowing of Jesus just as the blood sacrifice of a spotless lamb once a year for the atonement of sins was a foreshadowing. Neither of these, the manna nor the animal blood, were able to permanently suffice. The manna was given to sustain life and the blood was offered up to cover sins.

In John 6:44-51,
Jesus said,

44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: 'They shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

And then....

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats 19 my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 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 have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Jesus came to do two things:

1) Forgive sins
2) Give us eternal life

By the pouring out of Jesus blood on the cross our sins are forgiven; our sins are removed from the eyes of God never to be seen again. But forgiveness doesn’t bring life to the dead. Only life can bring life to the dead. Just as Jesus was raised to life on the 3rd day, the Spirit also can bring us back to life. Because of sin, man dies (physically AND spiritually). In order to be reborn of the spirit you must come to Jesus for His life and ask that His spirit dwells inside of you. Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sins. Without the resurrection we cannot have life. Because the sins of the entire world were taken away at the cross, the life Jesus gives is eternal. Sin brings death and with sin removed, you cannot die spiritually again after you have received the Jesus’ life. You cannot lose your salvation!

This is the message symbolized in the statement Jesus had made. Of course this could not be realized when Jesus spoke these words but those who knew Jesus was the Son of God were drawn to Him even though His words might have conflicted with their understanding. Those who the Father was not drawing turned away at this teaching.

By coming to Jesus for His life and trusting in His death, burial, and resurrection you have partaken of the blood and flesh of Jesus by "feasting" on His eternal life.

The act of communion is simply a memorial and representation of this true spiritual reality. By thinking one can be saved by drinking red wine and eating wafers blessed by a priest, is silly and a misunderstanding of what Jesus was really telling us. Jesus often spoke in parables and He even said quote:

Matthew 13:13
"This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”

Those who do not understand these spiritual truths have not come to Him. Jesus had just finished telling the crowd that what He was telling them is Spirit and Life. By "feasting" upon Him, He was refering to a spiritual act, not a physical one. And it is the Spirit that gives Life. You must receive His Spirit and eternal life in order to “feast” upon Him. Those who “feast” upon Jesus abide in Him, and abide in His Word and in turn, Jesus abides in them.