A number of weeks ago I was asked, do you have drama in your services at IPC?
! Do Presbyterians do drama in their services?
! What's the answer to that?
The answer is yes.
We do drama the first Sunday evening and the third Sunday morning.
Some Presbyterian churches in our denomination, they do drama every week.
The Lord's Supper is drama.
You will see bread broken.
You should see wine poured.
We don't do that, we probably should do that, shouldn't we?
My job tonight, I think if we preach John 6 right, I think it has to end in the drama
of the Lord's Supper.
That's my job for you tonight.
Which is why unusually we're having the Lord's Supper both morning and evening services.
At John 6 it started, Jesus fed 5,000 families with five loads, two fish.
And the next day he preaches a very long sermon.
And it's got one basic theme, verse 35.
And as we come to this last big chunk in this chapter, there's a tension going on.
I hope you can see it.
There are no words in John 6 that children cannot understand.
Jesus was a brilliant yet very simple preacher.
But as Jesus gets clearer, there is a reaction of hostility and antagonism.
And not just from the wider crowd, but from many of the disciples.
Look at verses 66.
We read that many of his disciples, many of his followers, they no longer walked with him.
There's a mass defection.
There's a point that comes to any of us in our relationship with Christ.
Where it becomes clear to you that Jesus is laying claim in the most radical and far reaching way possible.
That the way that I live and the decisions that I make and the way that I think and the attitudes that I have,
they are poisoning me.
And poisoning the ones that I love.
And I have to choose between the people I've invested myself in, and I think are going to make me happy,
and Jesus, who says, I am the true bread of life.
There comes a point, doesn't there, where we realise, actually, I'm just playing about with the edge.
About the edge with Jesus.
But to be a true disciple, it means that I'm going to have to let go of my iron grip
on all the things that I think make me happy.
And allow Jesus Christ and his grip of grace to grab hold of me.
I realise that I'm so frantically busy going off in different directions,
and that to truly follow Jesus means I'm going to have to simplify my life.
I'm going to have to make Jesus Christ first.
And that means I'm going to have to demote some of those things.
And I'm going to have to, in the language of John 6, feed on him first.
And last.
And I wonder if you've ever felt that tension.
I hope some of you might be feeling that tonight.
Because if you are, Jesus is revealing himself to you,
and your choice is to listen to him,
and come with humility to him,
or to walk away like those disciples.
And many choose to be offended and scandalised.
And they say in verse 60, this is all too hard for me.
I don't have to listen to this.
So the question is, will you feed on Jesus, or will you defect?
Two big points.
The first is feeding on Jesus' flesh.
And then we'll look at some responses.
Verses 47 to 59, feeding on Jesus' flesh.
So verse 48, can you see Jesus says, I'm the bread of life.
He's echoing what he's been teaching already that day.
And in verse 49, he speaks about the ultimate futility and inadequacy
of anything else to ultimately satisfy.
Even the very best gifts that God gives to you in this life.
The things that you think will feed you most in this life
will lead to dust and to death, apart from Christ.
There is nothing, apart from the Lord Jesus,
that can truly satisfy and fulfil and feed our needs.
Because I'm so culturally aware, I am aware of FOMO.
Do you know what FOMO is, isn't it?
FOMO is the fear of missing out.
Fear of missing out.
Other people have experiences that we would love to have and we want.
People talk about things that they are frightened of not getting.
It's FOMO.
And every single one of us here has experiences that we think,
if we have that, it will make me happy.
Or we compare ourselves with those who do the coolest things
and we feel inadequate.
And you fear that you're going to miss out.
FOMO.
But if you could accumulate, if you could put together all the coolest experiences in the world,
they are not true food.
And they are not true bread, the life of God.
They cannot connect you or they cannot bring you close to the God who made you.
They cannot give you the life of heaven.
Because Jesus in John 6 is saying to us that he alone is the true food and the true bread.
And what Jesus does in this last section of John 6,
is there are two shifts and two new directions.
And the first shift is the picture from bread to the picture of flesh and blood.
So the one thing that you must do to inherit eternal life is to,
listen, eat his flesh, drink his blood.
Jesus is speaking about his death.
The way in which Jesus can give you tonight the true food from heaven
is through his atoning death on the cross.
At the cross, his flesh and his blood are torn apart.
In the Bible, blood does not mean life.
It's not the blood that's pumping around our bodies normally.
But in the Bible, when it speaks about there being power in the blood,
nothing but the blood of Jesus like we sang this morning,
it's talking about blood poured out, blood lost, blood shed.
Blood separated from the living thing.
Blood is always a symbol of death in the Bible.
So that the bread of life that Jesus offers us,
it becomes available when the flesh and blood of Jesus are separated on the cross.
It's a very dramatic, gaudy picture, isn't it?
Of a violent and bloody death.
Look down at the second half of verse 51.
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.
It's a very important detail like, and he says,
the bread that I will give.
The wonder of what Jesus offers you tonight is that it is completely free, completely gracious.
None of us deserve this.
Jesus is not compelled to do it.
He is not coerced to give his life.
And he's talking here about the horror of crucifixion.
And he is going to do that freely for the life of the world.
The word for means in the place of, on behalf of, as a substitute for.
So as he gives his life over to death, it is for the sake that we will have life.
He says, it is my flesh.
And of course, he's speaking symbolically here.
He's not speaking specifically about the sacrament.
Although, as we come to the Lord's table, at the end, you'll see the relevance of this.
So verse 53, 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.
When Jesus left the glory of heaven and became incarnate,
took on flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and he was made.
He was made man.
The whole fullness of the Godhead dwelt in him bodily.
But Jesus' flesh and blood were not magic.
There was no more magic in Jesus' flesh and blood than there is in yours.
The Lord Jesus had human DNA.
And so if we could go back 2,000 years,
and we could bleed a litre of blood from Jesus' body,
sounds grotesque, doesn't it?
And you were somehow able to bring that litre of blood forward in a time machine to this evening,
and you could drink it, it wouldn't do you any good at all.
What he's talking about is that on the cross,
his flesh and his blood are torn apart.
That on the cross, he becomes the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
And his human flesh and blood, his body as it were, becomes the channel,
it becomes the conduit through which eternal life which dwelled in him comes to us.
He gave his flesh over to death.
He takes our place so that his body becomes the source and fountain of eternal life for you and for me.
The other shift that he makes when he starts talking about his flesh and blood,
he changes the word eating that we would use in a normal meal to the word munching,
chomping,
gobbling,
feasting.
If I was to speak to teenagers,
I might use the illustration of zombies here.
But the Bible translated as feeding to show there's a difference.
Just look at verse 54.
It doesn't talk about eating there.
He says,
whoever feeds,
the word is feast,
whoever feasts on my flesh,
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.
Whoever feasts,
feeds,
gobbles on 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 whoever feeds,
feasts on me,
he will also live because of me.
This is how we receive
the gift of eternal life through Christ.
Can you see,
it's not through believing in Jesus generally.
It's not just through believing in his death.
It is feasting on him as our substitute
and saviour in his death.
Don't you think it's astonishingly humble
for Jesus to use this picture?
We might say,
Jesus,
why didn't he use something like chocolate and caviar
as a picture of precious,
eternal life giving flesh?
No, he says,
whoever,
whoever feeds and drinks,
it's domestic,
it's ordinary.
It is something we all do,
isn't it?
It is something we all understand.
If you'd ask me,
what's my favourite restaurant in Ealing,
I would say to you that it is
Espresso Kebabs.
I don't know if you've been to Espresso Kebabs
in Hanwell.
It's a little hole in the wall.
It is a remarkable place.
And it's difficult for me to express to you
what it tastes like.
What is the only way
that you could understand
what it tastes like?
It is for you to
experience it.
To taste it.
To feast on it.
The same is true with the Lord Jesus.
You can be a fan of the Lord Jesus,
you can be a follower,
and you can have never really tasted
the true bread of life.
Tragically, we know, isn't it,
you can even stand up and say,
I believe Jesus died on the cross
without experiencing who he is
and the reality of his death for you.
It's possible to grow up in a church like this,
to know the story,
but never to be known by him.
Because apart from actually sampling
and savouring Jesus himself
and his death,
there can be no changes,
no real heart changes.
I think that's why Jesus uses
this illustration of the manna,
the bread in the Old Testament.
The manna was a really good gift from God
that was meant to point people
to the Lord Jesus.
And I think it's a picture
of every good experience
that you have in life.
And thank God there are many.
Your best experiences come from God,
but as good as every experience is,
it cannot feed you with eternal life.
It is meant to turn us,
so that we feast on him each day,
each hour.
And so our God is not anti-pleasure.
Our God is not anti-good experience.
But at their best,
those experiences are meant to turn us
to Jesus Christ.
And if they don't turn us to Christ,
what they do is they turn us away from Christ,
to themselves,
and all your hunger,
and all your tastes,
constantly need recalibrating like mine do.
And the only way to recalibrate your heart,
to set it right,
is to feast on Christ.
This passage warns you that your good pleasures
will lead to dust.
If there's something in your life
that you really need
to be happy apart from Jesus,
if there's something that you choose
above him,
before him,
Jesus promises
it will turn to dust.
But when we learn to feed on him,
if we are able to feed on him,
it becomes the key.
It becomes the key
to be able to serve others.
If I am feeding on him,
it means I can love others
even if they don't love me.
and if I am feeding on him,
and say,
if I am feeding on him,
I think that is the only way
to starve my pride
and my bitterness
and my anxiety
and my regret.
None of us have power
over those things
apart from Christ.
What does he mean to feed?
He is speaking about
taking Jesus into our heart,
the ongoing,
soul-filling fellowship with him
as we partake in his death.
Right.
There you go.
That's good.
He is speaking about
the soul-filling fellowship with him
as we partake in his death.
It is digesting him.
It is actively taking him in
through faith.
The way that we grow,
the way that we transform
and change
is taking into our heart
the crucifixion
and Jesus crucified
to ourselves.
That is feeding on Jesus.
So what is the reaction?
This is our second point.
The second point is
there is more at the end
of this chapter
on people's response
than Jesus' word.
There are three different responses.
Let's look at them.
The first two
are both offence and rejection.
The last one is tentative faith.
The great surprise
is the first response
comes from the crowd
but the second one
comes from the disciples.
People have begun
to follow Jesus.
Now you might begin
to think that when Jesus
speaks in this way
people would just rush
to him, wouldn't they?
They'd feed on him
what he is offering.
These promises
are too good
to be true almost
but there's realism
in this chapter.
And so for a time
the crowds did flock to him.
But as Jesus becomes clearer
people take offence
and then they complain
and they reject
and I think that's
the basic human disposition
towards God
outside the Garden of Eden.
The basic disposition
is suspicious.
I think the children
are saying
get me away
from this boring man
tonight.
Alright?
Aren't they?
They're saying
we've had enough of him.
Alright?
I understand children
I feel the same.
Alright?
And so
they are offended
the crowds
and then they complain
and they reject him.
And that is the basic
human disposition
outside the Garden of Eden.
That's the normal reaction.
People are offended.
And so if you are
partially offended
by what I've said tonight
this is for you.
And if you have friends
that are offended
by Jesus
this is very helpful.
Let's see the three responses.
Okay?
First the reaction
is the crowd
verses 41 to 45.
The crowd begin
to grumble
and complain.
Jesus has just said
I've come down
from heaven
four times
and that's what's
made them complain.
I've come down
from heaven.
I've come down
from heaven.
And I think
we need to feel
something
the offence of this.
The incarnation
of Jesus
is offensive
because of what
it says about us.
You see
on our own
our best
spiritual insights
and intuitions
and thoughts
are completely
in the dark.
You can take
the most
brilliant
accomplished
compassionate
person
and apart
from Christ
coming from
heaven
and feeding
on him
their best
opinion
about God
is a stab
in the dark.
One of the most
powerful assumptions
in our culture
is this idea
that we can look
at all the
spiritual experiences
and spiritualities
and we can
construct a view
of God
and we get
to decide
what God
is like.
So it's a
massive affront
when Jesus
comes and he
says no one
has ever
seen God.
Verse 46
except the one
who has come
from God.
You can only
truly know
God
if you know
me.
You can only
truly please
God
or experience
God
if you please
me.
You can only
worship God
by coming to
me
and believing
in me
and feeding
on my flesh
and drinking
my blood.
It's so
offensive.
It cuts
across
right across
that we can
somehow find
God
by accumulating
spiritual
experiences.
You can see
the scandal
in verse 42
just after
Jesus says
he's come
down from
heaven
they say
verse 42
is not
Jesus
the son
of Joseph
and Mary
the carpenter
he fixed
my coffee
table last
year.
How does
he now
say I
have come
down from
heaven?
It's contempt
isn't it
dogmatic.
It's an
adamant
refusal
to accept
that God
could come
to us
through this
one man.
And this
dogmatism
can be so
disheartening
can't it
particularly
when you're
trying to
share your
faith
with a
friend or
someone that
you love.
The most
wonderful
and delightful
people
automatically
dismiss
Jesus
without even
a thought.
And what
does Jesus
say to
people in
those
circumstances?
What does
he say to
the person
with a
dismissive
attitude?
The one
who just
rejects
him?
His answer
is quite
amazing.
He doesn't
become insecure
and threatened.
He doesn't
even defend
himself.
He doesn't
justify
himself.
Look at
verse 43.
He says
stop
grumbling.
And then
he says
this.
Only God
can really
convince you
in your
heart of
my
authenticity.
Since I
am heaven
sent, I
come from
God with
eternal
life.
The only
one who
can back
up my
claim is
God
himself.
And you
have to
hear from
him directly
or you're
just going
to keep
on grumbling.
Verse 44,
no one
can come
to me
unless the
father who
sent me
draws him.
The word
draw is
very, very
important.
it is
always
against
resistance.
It's not
a violent
or abusive
drawing in
any way,
but it's
always
against
inertia
and
resistance
and
disinterest.
Because you
see, only
God's grace
is powerful
enough to
overcome
our
grumbling.
we cannot
approach God
with our
own
competency.
The movement
begins with
God himself.
And it's
very encouraging
in one way,
in that it
means that
every single
one of us
tonight who
have come
to the
Lord Jesus,
we have
done so
because God
the Father
has drawn
us.
that's the
reason why
you are
feasting on
Christ tonight,
if you are.
It is
because God
has drawn
you.
And I
think because
it is God
who draws
them, I
think it
means that
we shouldn't
harass or
nag our
friends.
We should
certainly pray
for them.
Your witness
is important
and your
conversations
and your
invitations
are very
important.
But it is
only God,
isn't it,
who can
enter into
someone's
life and
show them
spiritually
what is
going on.
And so I
want to
encourage those
of us who
are Christians
tonight to
pray for
your friends,
particularly
those who
are most
antagonistic.
And how
does God
draw us?
Verse 45,
the next
verse,
it is written
in the
prophets,
and they
will all
be taught
by God.
Everyone
who has
heard
and learned
from the
Father
comes to
me.
It's a
quote from
the Old
Testament,
that when
Messiah comes,
that God
himself will
be our
teacher,
that God
by his
spirit,
as we
hear his
word,
as we
hear the
word of
God
outwardly,
he will
shine in
our hearts
illuminating the
beauty of
Jesus,
that he's
our Messiah.
So none
of you have
believed
tonight because
of your own
strength,
or insight,
or intellect.
none of
you keep
believing because
of our own
strength and
insight.
I don't
have the
strength to
be faithful
for 24
hours,
or 12
hours.
But if
tonight you
feel that
God is
drawing you
now,
don't
resist him.
Come to
Jesus.
That is the
reaction of
the crowd,
it's offence
and rejection.
That's the
reaction of the
crowd.
There's a
second,
and we'll be
briefer here,
the even more
troubling reaction
is from the
disciples,
verses 60
to 66.
It's so
searching,
isn't it?
It's not the
crowd,
you don't have
any commitment
to Jesus.
No,
these are
those who
become
disciples,
who begin
to follow
him.
And there's
a great
number of
them who
turn away
because they
start to
grumble as
well,
don't they,
as Jesus
becomes
clearer.
They say,
don't they,
it's all
too hard to
swallow.
You can't
expect Jesus
to take
over a
life like
that.
It's so
impractical.
We've
seen that,
haven't we?
People who
come and
they seem
to be
enthusiastic
and they
begin to
follow Jesus
Christ,
but when
it becomes
clear that
Jesus disagrees
with us,
or Jesus
is calling
us to
have a
deeper,
clearer
commitment,
there's a
cooling off
at a
distance,
and the
grumbling
begins.
And what
does Jesus
say to
those who
no longer
want to
continue with
him?
What does
he offer
those who
say,
I really
can't be a
disciple anymore?
Well, in
verse 62,
he points us
to the
cross again.
And then
in verse 63,
he says,
it is the
spirit who
gives life.
The flesh,
speaking about
our human
flesh,
is no help
at all.
The words
that I've
spoken to
you are
spirit and
life.
Our human
flesh,
on its own,
apart from
the spirit,
cannot gain
satisfaction.
It comes
to us
through
Jesus'
word.
And so
tonight,
if you are
feeling
particularly
fatigued
and worn
out,
and if
you're
feeling,
I'm not
sure whether
I can
even continue
as a
disciple,
the way
forward is
not to
try harder,
it's not
to work
harder.
The way
is simply
to hear
the words
of Jesus
because we
cannot feed
on Jesus
apart from
his words.
And if
you sense
in your
heart,
you're
pulling
away
from
Jesus,
and you're
feeling
overwhelmed
with other
hungers,
you wonder
if you can
keep being
a disciple,
and perhaps
even in
your heart
you've
begun to
grumble
against
him.
Or maybe
you feel
God has
not come
through
for you,
you and
I need
to attend
to these
really
simple
words of
Jesus
here.
And the
prayer I
think for
me and
for you
is,
Lord,
I do
believe,
help my
unbelief.
Isn't
that the
prayer of
all of
us?
And he
says,
I will
give my
spirit
without
measure
because
my
words
are
spirit
and
life.
And finally
and quickly
there's the
lovely and
true response.
In verse
66,
many disciples
walk away.
We've gone
from a
crowd of
hundreds,
maybe
thousands,
and they've
gone,
and we're
left,
aren't we,
with
twelve?
In verse
67,
Jesus said
to the
twelve,
do you
want to
go away
as
well?
And he
says it
for their
benefit,
and Simon
answers,
it's a
wonderful
answer,
isn't it?
To whom
should we
go?
You
have the
words of
eternal life,
we have
believed and
come to
know that
you are
the Holy
One of
God.
And that's
the
fundamental
mark of
what it
is that
God is
drawing
you,
and that
you are
feeding on
Christ.
That you
know tonight
there's no
real
alternative.
You know
the power,
something of
the power
of Jesus'
words,
and when
you read
them for
yourself,
you hear
them taught,
it is like
fire,
you get a
taste of
the world
to come
as his
word enters
your heart.
You know
what it is
to be acted
on by a
force outside
of you,
making you
more like
the Lord
Jesus.
Feed on
his words,
and as you
feed on
him,
and above
all you
have come
to know
and believe
in Jesus
as the
Holy One
of God,
not just
to know
about
him,
but to
know
him,
that he
is real
to you.
And this
is important,
it is so
important,
let me tell
you how
important it
is,
that on
the night
before he
was crucified,
the Lord
Jesus gave
us a meal,
and he
gave us a
meal to
repeat.
the Lord's
supper,
and it
enacts
the gospel
in exactly
these terms
that we're
about to
participate
in.
It tells
the story
of the
great heart
of the
gospel of
Jesus'
death for
us,
and at
the end
as we
come to
receive bread
and wine,
we are
invited to
feed on
him,
and drink.
in the
Anglican
prayer book,
the 39
articles,
one of the
articles says
this,
that the
Lord's
supper is a
sacrament of
our redemption
by Christ's
death,
and insomuch
that to
such as
rightly,
worthily,
and with
faith receive
the same
bread which
we break,
is a
partaking of
the body
of Christ.
And
likewise,
the cup
of blessing
is a
partaking
of the
blood of
Christ.
So
come and
feed on
him in
your heart
by faith
with
thanksgiving,
and come
and drink
his blood
with
thanksgiving.
Because
Jesus says
whoever feeds
on my
flesh and
drinks my
blood has
eternal life,
and I will
raise him up
at the last
day.
My flesh
is true
food,
and my
blood is
true
drink,
and whoever
feeds on
my flesh,
and drinks
of my
blood abides
in me,
and I
in him.
Let's come
to the
table.
Let's pray.
Thank you.