Tag: eternallife

The Bread of Life for Eternal Life

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(John 6:35-51)

You are at the drug store looking for something to provide relief and recovery from certain symptoms you’re experiencing. While in the aisle you are scanning everything, sorting through what seems like an endless assortment possibilities. What exactly are you looking for? Something that not only claims to be able to provide the relief you’re looking for, but will effectively do so. You aren’t looking for a placebo. You aren’t looking for something that is cheap and ineffective. How do you know what will work? You read the box, assess the claims it makes, and end up purchasing the one that holds out the most promise to get the job done. 

As we continue giving our attention to Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we see a number of very bold claims on the part of Jesus. And his claims are not fuzzy. They do not cause confusion by lacking clarity, nor are they hidden in some mysterious verbiage that requires special enlightenment to understand.

No, just as you’d expect to see on the product in the drug store, Jesus clearly states who he is and what he’s able to do. When you find that, what you need, what not only claims to work, but which actually does, you take hold of it. You don’t keep on looking for something inferior that underpromises. You take what works. Jesus, the Bread of Life, reveals this morning that where nothing else works, he does.

The first part of Jesus’ teaching, which we looked at in the first post in this series, drew our attention to that which doesn’t work. Not only what doesn’t work, but what actually will end up doing more harm than good. Jesus emphasized the importance of not making our lives about food that spoils.

We do well to carry out a routine review in our lives to guard against slipping back into sloppy spiritual habits that find us favoring the pursuit of food that spoils instead of food that sustains and endures: Jesus, the bread of life. When any busyness of life that we have chosen prohibits us from feeding more on the Bread of Life in our own lives, we had better be aware: prioritizing a diet of food that spoils is going to leave us spiritually malnourished and potentially starved. Keep allowing the food that spoils at your own risk!

In this middle portion of Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we see the focus shift from avoiding the stuff that spoils to highlighting why we have every reason to purse the food that endures to enteral life. Similarly, parents don’t just warn their children against eating too much junk food; they also make sure they eat their fruits and vegetables and the stuff that’s actually good for them. There is nothing better for us than that which is best for us, Jesus, the Bread of Life.

The more I have reflected on these words of Jesus from John 6, the more I am convinced this might be one of the best places to direct a skeptic of Christianity. Why? Because these words of Jesus provide a great opportunity to simply put Jesus’ words to the test. 

Suppose someone recommended some superfood or nutrition that is going to improve your health and make you feel so much better. If they urged you to try it and you were reluctant, you’d probably look into it a bit more. You might ask some others if they’ve heard of it or know anything about it. You’d undoubtedly Google it to find out more about it. While you can do all of those things, and there is wisdom in doing so, you’ll probably come away with so much information on both sides – for or against the recommendation – that it hasn’t really helped you make a decision. You end up doing what you could have just decided right away: you try it. Assuming there are no dangerous side effects or risks, the worst that could happen is it doesn’t deliver what was promised.

But… what if it does? And what if the benefits of trying it far surpass even your wildest expectations? What if it’s life changing and positively impacts your daily mood and energy in a way that you could never have imagined? Well, you’d never know unless you tried it. 

These words of Jesus serve as an invitation to try him out. Read, study, and reflect on what Jesus is saying in all this talk about bread. Then you can make an informed decision on who this Jesus really is. And, as others have pointed out, there are really three possible conclusions to arrive at about Jesus. He must be an off-his rocker lunatic, a deceiving, fork-tongued liar, or he is the Lord God himself. He cannot be all three; only one.

I believe these words of Jesus to be powerful enough to set himself apart as the Lord God, the Bread of Life. He alone is able to provide what we cannot find anywhere else at all. So let us try him out. Let us, as the psalmist encourages us to do, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Let’s start with Jesus’ bold promise in the first verse of this section. “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty’” (v.35). Since this teaching of Jesus came on the heels of his miraculous feeding of the 5,000, it would be natural for the crowds to understand Jesus to be speaking literally, as if referring to his miracle as proof of being able to provide unlimited food and drink.

Even if that were the case, however, the word “never” says more than that. I can personally make a promise to others to do this or that, but I cannot attach a “never” to it, because I won’t always be around to see it through. My days are numbered, so I cannot make promises of “never.” So Jesus’ claim that those who come to him will “never” go hungry or thirsty is on a different level. It sets him apart from your average Joe.

Another straightforward statement of Jesus highlights very directly what is different about him. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (v.38). Hard to confuse that one, isn’t it? Who would make such a claim as to have come down from heaven??? 

Jesus’ statement is so bold that it might be natural for the modern reader to force some other interpretation of his words of here. However, the response of Jesus’ listeners indicates that they knew exactly what he was claiming, and it didn’t sit well with them. “At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven’” (v.41).

They thought Jesus was crossing a line. Healings and miraculous feedings and all that were one thing, but to have the audacity to claim heaven as one’s hometown? That was too far! So they knew full well exactly what Jesus was claiming. And in their minds, things only got worser from there. 

Their reaction provides insight in how to address the common argument from skeptic’s today who claim that if God existed, all he would need to do was appear and it would be all the proof they’d need. If he just made himself visible then they’d believe. Is that too much to ask?

Well, it isn’t too much to ask, but it’s pretty shallow thinking for a person in denial about God’s existence to contend that he’d suddenly believe if God just showed up. After all, that’s an atheist, an unbeliever, we’re talking about; but those listening to Jesus were Jews who already believed in a God. Not only did they believe there was a God, but they were about as devout as could be when it came to worshipping him! And if those who already believed in a God refused to believe that Jesus could be him, then it would be a far greater stretch for a God-denying atheist to believe so even if God showed up as he insisted.

Back to Jesus’ teaching. Those listening to him began to resent him. They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (v.42). It just wasn’t adding up for them. They couldn’t fathom how Joseph and Mary’s son could be what he was claiming. They knew the family. They saw little Jesus grow up. They possibly even heard stories of the unique details about the day he was born. Certainly someone who was born didn’t just beam down from heaven! They made up their minds. Jesus was just another local citizen, albeit a wise teacher with the power to perform miracles. But that wasn’t unique – God had often permitted his prophets in the past to do such things. But none of them had ever claimed to come from heaven. So what could be so special about Jesus?

His claims. Jesus’ claims don’t line up with the claims of ordinary men. Multiple times in this teaching he made a claim that no ordinary human being could ever have made. We see one of the most profound in verse 40. “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (v.40).

We cannot miss the three bold claims woven into this statement. Jesus says that the Father’s will is for all to look on and believe in the Son – in Jesus! Remember that the Jewish people were monotheistic – worshipping only one God was a BIG part of their religion It set them apart from so many other religions with multiple gods to worship and please. They believed and worshipped in one God, but now Jesus’ claim was that that one God desired for them to believe in his Son, in Jesus, for eternal life!

He didn’t stop there. He also claimed to be the one to raise up believers on the last day. That kind of ability surpassed that of a doctor; it belonged only to the divine. People don’t rise from the dead alone; only God raises them or gives others the ability to do so!

Finally, we can’t miss the timing. Note that Jesus wasn’t talking about raising the dead yesterday, today, or tomorrow, but on the last day. How could man, whose life is determined by decades, not only raise anyone from the dead, but still be around on the last day to do so?!?

There is no misconstruing or confusing what Jesus is saying here. His words are not convoluted or complex. He is making clear, yet bold claims that are beyond the reach or ability of any human being.

So to the argument which some make that Jesus never claims to be God in the Bible, what other conclusion are we to draw about Jesus’ words here? There is no alternative! Jesus, the Bread of Life, is the ultimate manna from heaven. “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die” (v.47-50).

What a difference! The Israelites ate the bread from heaven, manna, and they died. But Jesus, the true Bread from heaven, died, so that all who eat him may live!

How could all of this be? How could Jesus make such a promise?

Because he had in mind the very sacrifice he was going to offer to make it all possible. “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” (v.51). Jesus was foreshadowing his crucifixion, where he gave himself up so that the world could have life. The Living Bread willingly died so that the spiritually dead – all people – could live. Only Jesus offers what cannot be found anywhere else: eternal life. 

Do we forget that God originally created us to live eternally? There was no death in his design of things. The word “eternal” only had to be added to describe eternal life after sin and its separation from God changed everything.

So the same way jokes are made asking whether it’s called “Chinese” food if it’s in China or if the French call them “french” fries or just “fries,” there was no need to call it “eternal” life when God first created Adam and Eve, because that’s what life was originally. Sin and eternal death necessitated the distinction between “life” and “eternal life.”

Jesus has reversed that. Jesus restored eternal life, because the sinless One suffered and died and served the sentence for us. Jesus forgave our sins – including every time we sinfully slip into searching for food that spoils again and again.

But with the debt of our sin cancelled, the path to eternal life has been reopened. And it comes only through Jesus, the Bread of Life. Next time, as we close out Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse, we are faced with the question of how we will respond to Jesus’ invitation to feed on him as the Bread of Life. 

Asking – and Answering – the Question That Matters Most

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(Luke 18:18-30)

A great question can have a huge impact in a variety of settings. One of the qualities of exceptional leaders is that they ask great questions. In being coached and in coaching other pastors, the value of great questions that force hearers to reflect deeply or differently cannot be overstated. In the classroom, students learn well when teachers ask great questions and teachers can better tune in to the learning needs of students when students ask great questions, too. 

In Luke 18, Jesus was faced with a great question. In fact, Jesus was asked the greatest question anyone can ask: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (v.18). There is no question more important than this one. It both acknowledges an afterlife and also seeks out assurance for what happens to us after we die. This question assumes there is more than just this life and the one asking it wants to be confident of his place in the life to come. 

As great a question as this most important question is, it’s also terribly frustrating that precious few people are asking it today. Why is that? If it is the most important question- and it is – why aren’t more people asking it? It would be lovely to conclude that more people aren’t wrestling with it because they are already confident of the answer.

But sadly, a much more likely reason is that they are simply indifferent to the answer. They don’t care. Perhaps some have thought about what happens when they die and may or may not have their own answers, but so many are perfectly content not giving this most important question the time of day. Chalk it up to the same level of indifference our culture has with so many other important matters. Meanwhile, we wouldn’t dare miss out on the “important” stuff like a scathing sports tweet, the latest celebrity hook-ups or break-ups, or some political rant.

But, rather than lament why so many in our society are content to stick their head in the sand rather than wrestle with this question, let’s focus on you. Are you asking the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” More importantly, are you confident in your answer? As our faith increases, so does our confidence in the answer to that question. 

Speaking of confidence, the man who approached Jesus in this chapter of Luke didn’t seem to lack it. Yet, while he certainly seemed to have confidence in his own standing, there’s no reason to presume he was being disingenuous or that he had some agenda in asking the question. He was asking the right question, the question that matters most. And he wanted to be sure of the answer.

Jesus’ initial response isn’t what we might expect. One might suppose that Jesus could have answered the ruler’s question very simply: “Believe that I am the promised Savior and eternal life is yours.” That would have made for a short and sweet encounter and the man may very well have gone on his way.

But the man would have gone on his way with a jaded idea of what was required for heaven. As we see his dialogue with Jesus play out, the man had a misplaced confidence in his own efforts. And as far as salvation is concerned, when man’s efforts – whether they be great or small – are combined with God’s grace, the result is hell. There is no room in the salvation equation for works plus anything else. So Jesus didn’t give him the good news of the gospel, for it would have done more harm than good. The man first needed to see how much he needed Jesus.

That may also have something to do with why Jesus initially keyed in on the term “good.” Jesus wasn’t trying to avoid the man’s question. In fact, he was likely prompting him to think very carefully about what significance he was attaching to the term “good” in addressing Jesus that way. However, regardless of what the man’s intent was in using that description, look at Jesus’ response: only God is good. 

That should have made something clear to the man asking what he must do to get to heaven (in other words, “How good do I have to be?”): no one is good enough. But he missed the point, as made clear by his response to Jesus bringing up the commandments: “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (v.21). While the overconfidence oozing from the man’s reply is obvious to us, based on his upbringing and understanding of the law, he probably legitimately figured he was measuring up to God’s expectations for him.

There’s a part of us that is right there with him. “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” (v. 20). We’ve mostly kept those commandments, on the big stage, at least. Sure, a few small things here and there, but all-in-all, when we think of how others demolish these laws with their sins, we’ve only “bumped into” them a bit. No affairs. No murders. No breaking and entering or grand larceny. No lying under oath. No dishonoring our parents in a way that tarnishes the family name. See, it’s not so hard for our thinking to line up quite well with the self-righteous ruler, is it? 

So Jesus does him a favor and makes a more pointed application of the law. Jesus pointed out that he was still lacking something: he needed to sell his stuff.

To understand how Jesus was helping the man diagnose his sin, consider a visit to the doctor to treat an ankle injury. Suppose you injured your ankle and wanted to see if it was broken. How helpful would it be for the doctor to ask you to move your elbows or your knees to see if something was amiss? How helpful would it be for him to apply a little bit of pressure to different spots on your forearm, asking each time if that hurt at all? In order for him to be able to help you, he’d have to be treating the right part of your body. 

Jesus did just that by applying pressure to the ruler’s spiritual sore spot: his wealth. And Jesus’ effort hit the mark. “[Jesus] said to him, ‘You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy” (v.22-23). The man’s reaction demonstrated that the law accomplished its purpose. It exposed his sin. It showed where the man’s heart truly was. It didn’t belong to God. It belonged to his stuff, and his sorrow showed it.

Had the man measured up to the kind of goodness required for heaven, his response would have been delight. “Is that it? What a great opportunity it will be for me to richly bless the less fortunate, for I have far more than I need. I will gladly give away every penny of my wealth so that it can serve those in need.” For an example of this, see Zacchaeus’ response to Jesus and the good news. The gospel prompted Zacchaeus’ generosity. But in this case, the law had a completely different effect on the ruler. It prompted his despair.

The man seemed like a prime candidate for heaven, based on his own confidence in having kept the law, but now Jesus was saying it was easier for a camel to thread the eye of a needle than for a guy like this to get into heaven. Understandably, that shocked those listening. “Those who heard this asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’” (v.26). Jesus’ hearers must have concluded that if it’s impossible for a pretty upright fellow like that to get into heaven on his own, then what chance of eternal life does anyone else have?

And that is exactly where God wants everyone to be at some point in his life. Hopeless. Helpless. Having the realization that nothing we could ever hope to do and nothing we could ever hope to be is enough to assure us of eternal life. On our own, we are… on our own. The awareness of our inability to be good enough, to try hard enough, to be enough leaves us absolutely and completely desperate. 

To those who have been there, who have experienced that, the words of Jesus that come next are life and deliverance. They are hope. They are just what despairing hearts and ears long to hear: “Jesus replied, ‘What is impossible with man is possible with God’” (v. 27). What is impossible with man? The ability to save himself. What is possible with God? Salvation. 

And it isn’t just possible. It isn’t just plausible. God actually did it! God did what the rich ruler couldn’t. He did what we couldn’t. He got the job done – completed it 100%.

How refreshing in a half-done and undone society like ours! We hire a contractor for this or that project, and only 90% of the job is done, yet he claims he’s finished. The coworker or classmate submits their portion of the work or assignment that is “mostly” done, leaving you to finish it up. Into a “partially-done-is-good-enough” world, God came in the flesh and completed 100% of what was necessary for our salvation, from start to finish. 

Unlike the rich ruler, Jesus didn’t have to fudge the law’s standards just to pretend he had kept most of the commandments, but he kept every one. Unlike our best efforts at trying to make up for wrongs, which could not even on our best day come close to paying for even the smallest sin, Jesus paid for every sin with his very life. And the impossible continued when he defied death and rose to life again, making the impossible possible and guaranteeing our resurrection, too. What is impossible with man is possible with God. Indeed, it has been accomplished in full by God. 

So we have the answer to the question we must ask, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Not a thing. Jesus did the impossible. Jesus did it all. Believe it.