Bread of Heaven

2013_04_07-i-am-the-breadoflife2Living in the Spirit
August 16, 2015

Scripture Reading: John 6:51-58

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” –John 6:52-58

We do give flesh today and continue to live. People donate a kidney to a loved one or perhaps a stranger whose own kidney’s no longer function. Even part of a liver can be donated for transplantation to save a life. Of course, upon death our whole bodies are rich sources of the continuance of life for others—bone, skin, corneas, hearts, and lungs. Now even hands can be transplanted making life more meaningful, not just extending it.

Jesus is not just talking about eating actual flesh or drinking actual blood. Jesus is talking about the source of life at its core. The mystery of our being is inexplicably entwined with God. In a sense, God transplanted part of God’s self in each of us as we were created in God’s image. While God’s image can never be removed from our being, we can chose not to cherish it, not to nurture it, not to love in return the very source of our being, but to do so is our greatest loss.

Jesus was sent by God to give us life abundantly—the richness of knowing God more nearly. It is a gift to be celebrated.

Prayer: Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me ’til I want no more.* Amen.

*Chorus from Bread of Heaven by John V. Kee see at http://www.elyrics.net/read/j/john-p.-kee-lyrics/bread-of-heaven-lyrics.html
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.