Can you remember where you were on Christmas Day 1984? I was staying, with fellow volunteers, in a bunk house around 8000 feet above sea level. We were being entertained by an all singing, all dancing local man, probably in his '60's dressed in traditional costume; pigs tusks round his neck and through his nose, a loin cloth and grass skirt to cover his modesty, all topped off with an impressive wig. For Christmas 1984 I was in Papua New Guinea. Our entertainer was one of only a few people left who had eaten human flesh. He had, before the arrival of the white man, been a cannibal, and probably would have loved, earlier in his life, to have taken Jesus’ invitation to eat his flesh literally.

Are you shocked at hearing about people who ate human flesh? If you are, you may understand the impact of Jesus' words on his listeners. They were horrified even. Drinking blood was against Jewish law, as was eating meat with the blood still in it. No back puddings or a steak cooked rare!

But surely, Jesus’ listeners were not taking Jesus' words literally? An expert writing about this passage says: Any dullard could see that Jesus was not speaking literally; no-one would suppose Jesus was seriously advocating cannibalism and offering himself as the first meal.

Jesus' language was figurative, symbolic. Yet, we are still left with the question, ‘What does Jesus mean by, “I am the bread who came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Let's begin with the references to the manna in the wilderness and the bread from heaven in verses 49-51. The manna was God’s gift to the people, but it was a gift that did not last, it rotted away if you tried to store it, and those who ate it would eventually die (verse 49).

In verse 50 Jesus tells his listeners that there is a bread that comes down from heaven which, if you eat it, you will not die. After which Jesus says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven”.

This reminds us of the opening of John’s gospel where John makes the bold claim that God’s Word, Jesus, became flesh . . . and came to live among us. From this point on John describes what it means for God to live among us. As he describes the person and life of Jesus of Nazareth, John wants his readers to understand the unlimited love of God’s nature and purpose in living among us in all its grace and wonder. The idea that Jesus has ‘come down from heaven’ tops and tails John’s gospel; the Word, Jesus, who was with God and was God has been made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and Jesus ‘has come from the Father and is returning to the Father’ (John 16.28).

Photo by Christina Rumpf via Unsplash

Back to the manna, the bread in the wilderness. Jesus accused his listeners of placing too much emphasis on Moses and the manna, and not enough on God who provided the manna.

Likewise, the crowd listening to Jesus were putting too much emphasis on the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 and all they had eaten and not enough on God who had provided for their needs.

Ultimately the manna was not important, (although it was necessary for survival); what, or rather who, really mattered was the one who sent it, GOD.

Jesus like the manna, came down from heaven, but the manna only kept people going physically, whereas Jesus gives eternal life.

How do you eat the bread of life without becoming a cannibal?

Jesus makes it clear.

To eat the bread of life, Jesus’ flesh, you must believe and have faith in Jesus and he will ‘raise you up on the last day’ (verses 40 and 44).

Jesus is from God, and the bread he gives is his own body, given on the cross for the life of the world (verse 51). Augustine said, ‘Believe and you have eaten’.

Sadly, many of Jesus’ listeners refused to believe.

Some of them knew Jesus’ mother and father and so couldn’t bring themselves to believe Jesus’ claims for himself.

I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.

We would probably find it hard to believe that anyone famous might live near us. Just imagine if you knew the parents of an Olympic gold medal winner, or a famous actor or politician.

Then contemplate what it must have been like for the people to look at Joseph and Mary’s boy and believe that he had come down from heaven, that he could raise people from the dead on the last day and that he would give his life for the life of the world. By ‘the last day’ Jesus meant the Day of Judgment at the end of time.

Everything Jesus said seemed to stretch people’s ability to believe and yet we know that he longed for people to have faith in him and believe all that he taught them.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection his followers began to understand his words. In the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection it all made sense.

Jesus, the bread of life, had given his body for the life of the world, and then he had been raised to eternal life.

Believing this to be true, Jesus’ followers, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and no longer fearful, set out to convince the people of the world that Jesus had died for every one of them.

They set out to convince people of the central truth of this Bible reading.

And that central truth is this: we need feed on Jesus, to receive Jesus, by believing that he is who he claims to be.

Jesus’ disciples had good news, great news to share and they had a job to do, starting in Jerusalem and gradually working their way out in to the world they were to make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Everybody needed to hear the good news of God’s love shown to humanity through Jesus’ death on the cross, his resurrection, and God’s offer of the forgiveness of their sins. Everyone needed, and needs today, to hear how they can feed on the Bread of Life and so never be hungry again.

I pray that each one of you will believe and so feed on Jesus who is the Bread of Life. I pray that your faith will grow and deepen, and that on the last day, Jesus will raise you up to eternal life.

MP 746 'What a friend we have in Jesus'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwi_qKVI8lQ African children’s choir

MP 446 'Lord thy word abideth'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcghwj7zZZg

Prayers of Intercession – with thanks to Revd David Clowes

Father, we pray for those who are receiving unwelcome news and for those whose lives are being turned upside down:

for young people whose end of year results are not what they had hoped for; for those whose future plans seem to have been completely wrecked by the pandemic and for those joining the fruitless search for employment.