John 6:47-58; 1 Corinthians 11:27-34; Psalm 50
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“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 you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” It seems that whenever Jesus’ words in John 6 are considered a debate breaks out: Does Jesus mean a physical eating here, or a spiritual eating? Surprisingly and sadly, this was even a debate between Doctors of Theology, my professors, while I was a student at seminary. One professor and his supporters insisted that Jesus intended a physical eating; another professor and his supporters insisted that Jesus intended a spiritual eating. This was even a matter of debate during the Reformation that found Martin Luther himself siding with a spiritual interpretation. Following Luther’s death, the Lutheran Church nearly fell apart over several issues including this one, but all was finally resolved in the Formula of Concord, one of our Lutheran Confessions appearing in The Book of Concord. Drawing upon that confession, I resolved that theological tension for myself long ago. Does Jesus mean a physical eating or a spiritual eating in John 6? The answer is clearly and plainly, “Yes.”
Jesus begins tonight’s pericope saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” It is entirely clear and without argument that it is faith in Christ that justifies, without which one cannot be saved. Then Jesus transitions to the object of that justifying faith, Himself, saying “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” It is clear that Jesus is not speaking of mere physical bread, for such bread, like the manna in the wilderness, does not provide eternal life, for all who eat of it eventually die. The object of faith must be Jesus, the whole Jesus, His body and blood, His faith, works, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming again.
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven,” Jesus continues, “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.” Here Jesus inextricably links lifegiving bread with His body, His flesh. No, Jesus is not talking about cannibalism here, as many of his hearers understandably believed, yet He does mean precisely what He says – our confessional hermeneutic [our interpretation of Scripture] demands it. Words mean things; and if they are the words of Jesus, not only do Jesus’ words mean things, but Jesus’ words bring into being what they say. The bread the Israelites ate in the wilderness brought life only for a time. It was worldly bread, fleshly bread. The bread, the food, we eat today is no different. The bread that Jesus gives, the bread that Jesus is, however, gives life now and unto eternity. Jesus is the bread of which a man may eat and live, even though he should die physically in the flesh, such that man should never die. And Jesus says plainly and clearly that this bread is His flesh.
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” The men who asked this question missed Jesus’ first point, “whoever believes has eternal life.” Faith in the Word, faith in Jesus, justifies and saves because of its object, Jesus, the Word of God made flesh. Because of the incarnation, there is no conflict or dichotomy between the Word and Jesus’ flesh, but they are one and the same: “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, and thus men live by eating the bread of Jesus’ flesh both spiritually and physically, for there is no distinction, dichotomy, or contradiction.
“So, Jesus 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 you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.” Jesus Himself drew life from the Word of God when He fasted in the wilderness forty days before being tempted by the devil. The LORD sustained the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years, feeding them with the manna and quail promised in His word. Just as men must eat physical bread to live physically, so must men eat spiritual bread to live spiritually and eternally. The thing is that, in Jesus, these two are one and the same.
Therefore, whether Jesus intends a spiritual eating or a physical eating in John 6 is truly the wrong question. In fact, there is no question, for the answer is “Yes, both.” At the point in Jesus’ ministry which John records in chapter six Jesus has not yet instituted the Lord’s Supper, not that John follows a chronological timeframe; he most certainly does not. In John 6 Jesus is catechizing His disciples and all who will hear and believe concerning the one thing needful, faith in His Word, and a spiritual eating. In His teaching, however, Jesus is already pointing them to an outward, physical eating, a sign, that He will institute on the night in which He was betrayed while eating one final Passover meal with His disciples. There is a reason that the disciples do not question Jesus concerning His words, “Take, eat; this is my body,” and “Take, drink; this is my blood”; they’ve already heard this teaching and are well familiar with it, even if they did not entirely understand.
The Small Catechism teaches that physical, bodily eating and drinking Jesus’ Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper is the main thing in the Sacrament, along with the words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus commanded that we physically and orally eat and drink the real bread and wine that He declares to be His true body and blood. But this physical, bodily eating is not the only kind of eating. In fact, without the spiritual kind of eating, faith and trust, the Lord’s Supper is not only not helpful, but is even harmful to us, as the Scripture testifies.
In order to eat and drink the Sacrament bodily for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, and not for judgment, one must also eat and drink Christ’s flesh and blood spiritually, as Jesus taught in John 6. This is nothing other than faith, which Jesus commanded when He said, “This do in remembrance of Me.” When we believe the Word of the Lord, that His body and blood are truly given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins, and then in faith eat the bread that is His Body and drink the wine that is His Blood, then we can be certain that our sins are surely forgiven us and that we will live with Christ forever.
“Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.” These words of Jesus are so very comforting and should motivate believers to receive the Lord’s Supper as often as it is offered, for through it our Lord is with us, both spiritually and physically. As He is the vine and we are His branches, so His life flows through us, enlivens us, and makes us fruitful, bearing His fruits in our lives, words, and deeds. He is both host and meal as we make our pilgrimage through the valley of the shadow of death into our Father’s home. He is our manna in the wilderness, our water from the rock, our quail in the evening, our life and salvation now, and forevermore, spiritually, and physically.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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