John 6:41-59

 John 6:41-59

This passage is so vast and so deep that it may pull together threads from more subjects and more passages of scripture than any other paragraph in the Bible. Let's focus on only one. Life in the ancient world was hard. It was often a life marked by doing without. A life marked by hunger and famine. These two realities were never far away and any hope of a better life for most people in that ancient world was more fantasy than reality. But in the lives of the people of Israel there was an intersection of hope and daily life, the prescribed religious festivals. At the feast there was more food than on any other occasion.  There was the remembering of God's care in the past, and the promise of His presence and care in the present and future. It is hard for us to understand the importance of these feasts. We live a life where everyday we feast, our intake of calories daily is more than many ancient peoples ever had except on feasting occasions.

Also the feast was a sacred meal, as if the meal were eaten with God Himself.  The meal was exclusive; it was only for people with a covenant relationship with God. Imagine a celebration with the excitement of July 4th, the food of Thanksgiving, the warmth and tenderness of Christmas, and the fun and hopeful anticipation of New Year's all rolled into one. All of this celebrated by people living hard, drab, gray lives of want and near starvation.

On top of all this Jesus takes it up a notch. In this passage Jesus talks about the convergence of the truth God teaches us and the Bread of Heaven, the Incarnation of the Son and the Bread of Heaven, as well as communion and the Bread of Heaven. One could spend a lifetime of study on this passage and all its implications and never exhaust the meaning. But in brief, in communion we enter into a unique moment with God's truth and with God’s Son our Savior. There are two errors, which we must avoid. First is that by frequent or weekly communion the Lord's Supper becomes commonplace and we fail to meet Christ. Second by infrequent occasional communion the Lord's Supper becomes a stranger to us and we fail to meet Christ. But with focus, discipline and our own preparation we can be frequent and special in the celebration of the Lord's Supper.   Any failure to do so is entirely our failure to make the effort to come to Christ.

“Lord, prepare my heart to meet You and the celebration of communion with You. AMEN”