John 6:35, 41-51   NT p. 93 or 1310

6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

6:41 Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

6:42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?"

6:43 Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves.

6:44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.

6:45 It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.

6:46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.

6:47 Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.

6:48 I am the bread of life.

6:49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

6:50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

6:51 I am the living bread that 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."

NRSV (ComLec) (c) 1989 NCC

INTRODUCTION:

A mother was getting her five-year-old daughter, ready for church and the little girl asked, "Mom, why do we go to church?"

Her grandmother, who happened to be in the same room, answered, "Baby, we go to Church to find Jesus!"

Later in church Mom noticed her little girl looking all around. And after church the little girl said, "Mom, I looked all over that church for Jesus and I couldn't find him no where." (1)

That story reminds me a little of the crowds in our passage today. The crowds that had been following Jesus, being fed and healed, really had another purpose. They weren't just searching for Jesus. Their ultimate search was for the Messiah. That's why they came to listen. Always in the back of their minds was the question, "Is He the One? Is this the long hoped for and long awaited Messiah? Is this really Him?"

And here in this conversation, Jesus all but says, "Hey guys, it's me." He does everything but put on a big red t-shirt with the word "Messiah" on it in big white letters.

But the people's response is less than thrilling. Their reaction is, "Whoa, wait a minute. Isn't this Jesus? Isn't this the kid who grew up in Nazareth, whose father Joseph was a carpenter? Isn't this Jesus, Mary's son? We know him. How can HE be the Messiah? Where does HE get off telling us he's the "Bread from heaven."

Their reaction was sort of like the reaction I used to get from some of the people I went to High School with when I told them I'm a preacher. Their first reaction was to be dumbfounded. And they usually said something like, "You! A preacher?"

You know the old saying, "Familiarity breeds contempt?" I think it was talking about situations like this. The people came from miles around searching for the Messiah. And even though the only thing missing was the big neon sign and arrow pointing down to Jesus, most people just didn't get it. Most of the people sounded like that little girl, "I looked all over for the Messiah and I couldn't find him no where."

But there He was, standing right in front of them, bigger than life. There He was, in the flesh. And that was part of the problem. Some people had a hard time accepting the packaging. Some of the people found Jesus' claim to be the Bread of Life, the Bread from Heaven a little hard to swallow. (The Pun was fully intended). The concept just wouldn't digest. It wouldn't go down right. The whole idea of God becoming human just stuck in their craw.

I. A HARD CONCEPT:

A. To be real honest, the Incarnation of Jesus, this whole concept of Jesus being both God and human at the same time, is one of the most difficult concepts to understand. And yet it's central to our faith and our beliefs.

It's difficult because our finite minds can't wrap themselves around such an infinite idea. How do you describe God with us? How do you describe God being one of us. How do you wrap God in flesh and blood? How do you squash the Author and Creator of life and eternity into a single man. How do you package infinity into a particular time and space?

How do you put the One who is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, into the here and now? How do you put the One who is bigger than the universe onto a speck of dust called Earth in that self same Universe?

The concept is just too big. Any number of people balk at the idea of God becoming human. God couldn't, wouldn't dare stoop that low and still be God.

But they miss the point because that's just exactly the point. God did stoop that low.

B. I read a story about a grandfather who found his grandson, jumping up and down in the playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, "Out, Gramps, out."

It was only natural for the grandfather to reach down to lift him out of his predicament, but as he did so, the mother of the child stepped up and said "No, Johnnie, you are being punished, so you have stay in there."

The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child's tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart. But the mother's firmness in correcting her son couldn't be taken lightly. It was a problem of love versus the law!

But love found a way. The grandfather couldn't take his grandson out of the playpen, so he climbed in with him. He may have looked ridiculous but his love for his grandson superseded any thoughts of how ridiculous it looked. And that's exactly what Jesus did for us.

Jesus took off the royal robes of heaven; wrapped Himself in the rags of our flesh and blood and climbed in with us. Scripture says "the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." (2)

No matter how ridiculous it may appear to some. No matter how hard it is to comprehend. That's exactly what Jesus did.

II. FLESH AND BLOOD:

A. Jesus didn't just appear to be one of us. He did just pretend to be one of us. He wasn't a shape shifter or chameleon who could look like us and be something completely different. Jesus became one of us. He was flesh and blood, just like you and me. He felt hunger and pain and loneliness. He got hot and cold and thirsty just like us. He had family and friends. He knew joy and sorrow. He knew triumph and disappointment. He experienced the same temptations we experience. He was everything we were created to be.

You see, that's really the only way God could find out what it was like to be one of us. God had to become one of us.

B. Next to the Bible, my favorite book is Harper Lee's award-winning novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird." I love both the book and the movie. The main character, the one who tells the story, is a little girl named Jean Louise Finch, who goes by the name of Scout. Her father, Atticus Finch, is the town's lawyer and a man of deep principles and integrity. I always wanted to grow up and be like Atticus Finch.

One day, Scout came home from school and told her father about some problems she was having with the teacher and several other students. In an effort to help her get along better with others, Atticus gave her this advice:

"First of all, if you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

That's exactly what Jesus did. Clothed in human flesh, Jesus felt pain as we feel pain. He suffered as we suffer. He even experienced death. Jesus climbed into our skin and walked around in it.

C. Maybe one more story will help. A number of years ago there was a story in the newspaper about a California Highway Patrol Officer who received a call. It seems a woman was about to jump off a bridge. Immediately, the officer was confronted with a very difficult dilemma. You see, the officer had an extreme fear of heights, and the jumper was perched on the railing of a bridge 443 feet above the floor of a deep gorge. So, you can appreciate her situation.

The officer forced herself, however, to walk calmly toward the woman and sit down beside her. And there, high above that gorge, they talked for two hours while the officer struggled with her own panic. Finally, the jumper agreed to come away from the railing and get help. (3)

That officer put herself in the very same place and the very same danger as the woman who was fixing to jump. And that's exactly what God did through Christ. God put Himself in our place. Not out of duty but out of love. In Christ, God put on our flesh and blood walked amongst us.

CONCLUSION:

Heather, age 5, was playing outfield in her first T-ball game. She was enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable about the game. As a matter of fact, she sort of reminds me of Lucy from Charlie Brown. You see, during the game the ball was hit and rolled about 5 feet in front of her. Everybody was excitedly yelling at her to get the ball. The boy next to her was yelling at her to get the ball.

Exasperated, she put her hands on her hips and yelled over to the boy next to her, "If you want the ball, get it yourself!" (4)

It's a good thing that's not what God said when we started searching for forgiveness and salvation. We would be in a sorry mess, wouldn't we? Let's face it, most of our problems come from trying to do it all by ourselves, don't they? And then trying to put the pieces back together when it all falls apart.

God understands that. God understands it not just from a mental point of view. But God understands it from a personal point of view because Jesus climbed in with us; because Jesus climbed into our skin and walked around in life with us. God understands because Jesus came out on the ledge with us. Jesus put on our flesh and blood and experienced everything we experience.

God wrapped His heart in flesh and blood and let it break upon a cross.

He did so willingly, because He loves us, unconditionally. Jesus said, "I am the living bread that 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."

And He did. He walked among us to experience every aspect of our lives. And He gave His life on the cross to show us how much God loves us. We may not be able to wrap our minds around it. But we sure can wrap our hearts around it. And that's what counts.

Wrap your heart around Christ Jesus. And let Him wrap His arms around you.

1. Grace Witwer Housholder, The Funny Kids Project, http://www.funnykids.com, Adapted.

2. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), April 1985

3. The Pastor's Story File (Platteville, Colorado: Saratoga Press), December 1993

4. Grace Witwer Housholder, The Funny Kids Project, http://www.funnykids.com, Adapted.

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