The Sermon Notes of Harold Buls
On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
Text from John 6:48-57
Lent IV
1. The feeding of the 5000 is found in all four Gospels (Mt.
14:13-21; Mk. 6:32-44; Lk. 9:10-17; Jn. 6:1-13). But the
bread of life discourse (Jn. 6:26-58) is found only in Jn.'s
Gospel.
2. This large group of people did not believe in Jesus. See
vs. 36. They wanted only physical bread, not the Bread of
Life. Vss. 26-27. At the end of the discourse they left
Jesus, still in unbelief. Vss. 60 and 66. They grumbled. Vs.
41. They fought with each other. Vs. 52. They remained
spiritually dead. Jesus did not satisfy them.
3. Natural man cannot become a Christian by his own powers.
Only God can do such a miracle. See vss. 44, 29, 37, 39.
Faith and conversion is a work of God, not of natural man.
These people were still unconverted.
4. Moses gave Israel manna which can only _sustain_ life. But
the Father gave Jesus, the Bread of Life. This Bread _gives_
life. Four times Jesus says: "I will raise him up on the last
day." Vss. 39, 40, 44, 54. Who is "him"? The one whom the
Father gives to Jesus, the one who believes in Jesus, the one
whom the Father has drawn to Jesus, the one who eats Jesus'
flesh and drinks His blood. In this chapter Jesus is
earnestly inviting these unbelievers to believe in Him. He is
not celebrating the Lord's Supper.
5. Vss. 29, 35, 40 and 64 show clearly that this discourse is
only about believing, not eating and drinking the Lord's
Supper.
6. Jesus says "I am the bread of life." He does not say: "I
am the bread and wine of life." He is not talking about the
Lord's Supper. That was instituted one year later.
7. In vs. 54 Jesus says: "The one who eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life." He is talking about how a
person _becomes_ a Christian, not the eating and drinking in
the Lord's Supper. St. Augustine rightly said: "Here eating
and drinking simply means to believe."
8. In vs. 53 Jesus says: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink His blood you do not have life in
yourselves." This cannot be speaking of the Lord's Supper. If
Jesus were speaking of the Lord's Supper it would mean:
"Unless you go to the Lord's Supper you don't have God's life
in you." That would automatically eliminate all the O.T.
saints.
9. Jesus speaks here about "_flesh_ and blood" not "_body_
and blood" as He does when speaking about the Lord's Supper.
10. In vs. 51 Jesus says: "The bread which I give is my flesh
(given) in behalf of the life of the world." He is talking
about what He has done for the whole world, not the Lord's
Supper which is only for Christians.
11. In vs. 51 Jesus says: "If anyone eats of this bread he
will live forever." That is not what He said about the Lord's
Supper. Read I Cor. 11:27-32. If anyone eats and drinks the
Lord's Supper unworthily, that is, in unbelief, he eats and
drinks condemnation to himself. The bread of life is for all.
The Lord's Supper is only for those who repent of their sins
and believe Jesus' Words.
12. At. Mt. 4:4 Jesus quoted Deut. 8:3: "Man will not live on
bread alone but on every Word which comes out of the mouth of
God". The 5000 wanted bread alone, not the Word of God. At
the end of this chapter (Jn. 6:67) when Jesus asked the
disciples: "You don't wish to go away too, do you?" Peter
answered: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of
eternal life. And we have believed and know that You are the
Holy One of God." That's what Jn. 6 is all about. It is
talking about _spiritual_ eating. The Formula of Concord,
Art. VII says: "This spiritual eating, however, is precisely
faith--namely that we hear, accept with faith, and
appropriate to ourselves the Word of God, in which Christ,
true God and man, together with all the benefits that he has
acquired for us by giving his body for us into death and by
shedding his blood for us (that is to say, the grace of God,
forgiveness of sins, righteousness, and everlasting life), is
presented."
The Sermon Outline of Harold Buls
On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia
Text from John 6:48-57
Lent IV
THEME: The Bread From Heaven
INTRODUCTION
After Jesus fed the 5000 they came back because they wanted
more bread for their stomachs. But Jesus wanted to give them
not only physical bread but also the Bread from heaven,
Himself. To eat Him, to believe in Him gives eternal life.
The first vs. of our text guides us at all times: "I tell
you the absolute truth, the one who believes in Me has life
eternal."
I. THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
The main passages are: Ex. 16:14-36; Num. 11:7-9; Deut.
8:3.16; Josh. 5:12; Ps. 78:24.25. It is mentioned at Heb.
9:4 and Rev. 2:17.
A. It was miraculous. It was not Moses who gave
the children of Israel bread from heaven but
rather the heavenly Father. It did not grow from
the ground. It rained daily, except on the
Sabbath Day, from heaven. This lasted for forty
years while the children of Israel wandered in
the wilderness. When they arrived in the
promised land the heavenly bread ceased to fall.
B. It was only temporal. The fathers ate the
manna in the wilderness but they died. Manna
only sustained life. It did not give life. It
was the kind of bread we pray for in the Lord's
Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread."
Daily bread keeps the body alive and active. It
is necessary. But more than that is necessary.
When Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into
bread Jesus repeated what Deut. 8:3 says: "Man
will not live on bread alone but on every Word
which comes from the mouth of God." Even the
O.T. children of God knew this. Deut. 8:3 reads:
"God humbled you, and fed you with manna which
you did not know nor did your fathers know, that
He might make you know that man shall not live
by bread alone; but man lives by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." The
miraculous manna served the purpose of reminding
God's children that they needed spiritual bread
from the Word of God.
II. THE BREAD FROM HEAVEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
A. It is miraculous. Jesus says: "I am the bread
of life." That means: "I am the bread which
_gives_ life, eternal life." Manna could not do
that. Our bread today cannot do that. Jesus said
"I am the way, the truth and the _life_." He
also said: "I am the resurrection and _the
life_." That is why He says in our text: "I tell
you the absolute truth, he who believes in Me
has life eternal."
B. It is eternal. Four times in this chapter
Jesus promises: "I will raise him up on the last
day." Vss. 39, 40, 44, 54. Think of how bodies
grow old, waste away and die. Think of how they
decay in their graves and are forgotten. But,
Jesus will raise the believer on the last day
and give him a spiritual body (I Cor. 15). That
is why He says in our text: "I am the living
bread which came down from heaven. If anyone
eats of this bread he will live forever, and the
bread which I will give is my flesh (given) in
behalf of the life of the world." He is speaking
of the atonement for all people.
C. It gives life now already. Jesus says in vs.
53: "I tell you the absolute truth, unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His
blood, you do not have life in yourselves." He
is not speaking about the Lord's Supper. He is
talking about faith in the Lifegiver. What makes
people spiritually alive now already? Faith in
Jesus. What makes new creatures out of sinners?
Faith in Jesus. What makes people joyful over
the prospect of being raised on judgment day to
be with their Lord forever? Faith in the
Lifegiver.
CONCLUSION
Most of these people left Jesus. Vss. 60 and 66. But Peter
said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words which
give eternal life. And we have come to believe and know that
you [are] the Holy One of God." Lord, make us like the
disciples!
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This text was converted to ascii format for Project
Wittenberg by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain
by permission of Dr. Buls. You may freely distribute, copy
or print this text.
Please direct any comments or suggestions to:
Rev. Robert E. Smith
Walther Library
at Concordia Theological Seminary
E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu
Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA
Phone: (260) 452-2123 Fax: (260) 452-2126
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