Lord to Whom Shall We Go?August 23, 2015

John 6:56-69

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ who is the Bread of Life come down from Heaven.

We’ve finally arrived! This is the last week we read from what I lovingly refer to as the Panera Bread section of John. We have finally reached the crust. Over the past five weeks in John’s Gospel we’ve heard about miraculous feedings, nature miracles like walking on water, and listened to three straight weeks of very tough theological teachings from Jesus and we’re finally at the end. We’ve seen Jesus attract huge crowds, 5000 men plus women and children and we’ve seen as group by group begin to grumble about Jesus ways and His teachings. This lectionary sojourn through the sixth chapter of John started off with a great crowd, but as Jesus spoke and taught, the

crowd grumbled and complained and the numbers dwindled… At first it was the Jews who argued among themselves regarding the teachings of Jesus, and the crowd dwindled. The people were scandalized at the thought of Jesus’ claim to have come from God--after all they knew his mother and his father. Yet, Jesus kept on hammering home the point of His divine origin. He is the bread that came down from heaven. The main issue at stake through this entire discussion is who is this Jesus? Is he the son of a carpenter or is He the Son of Man? Beginning with the feeding of the 5000, Jesus’ teaching became more and more offensive. The vast majority of those who had been following Jesus found His teachings difficult and now, in our 5th week of following Jesus through this bread of life discussion He’s whittled that huge crowd down to just His 12 disciples and even these, the ones who had been with Jesus from the beginning, the ones who had witnessed the changing of the water into wine, the casting out of demons, the ones who got to hear the inside scoop as Jesus explained the scriptures in great detail--even these now ask who can accept this word. The Greek here is the word logos. This is a huge concept in the Greek language. John starts his Gospel by telling his readers the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. John tells us the Word was with God and the Word was God. What does John mean by the Word of God. Last week I told you about the

Hebrew word khot-moth for Personified Wisdom from the Old Testament. Today we look at the same word from the New Testament only this time it’s from the Greek. The word is Logos. Last week I explained Personified Wisdom is the sum total of the intellectual, philosophical, and theological knowledge and teachings of all of mankind and even those truths yet undiscovered. Here’s why you should come to church every week… Last week I only gave you half the truth. It occurred to me as I pondered the Greek word Logos which is basically the same concept as the Old Testament Holy Wisdom, that this is more than just the total of all our human knowledge and philosophical endeavors. What we’re really talking about here is God’s thoughts and knowledge. It’s actually God’s Logic. We speak words and we write words on paper all the time. If God had wanted to communicate His Words to the human race He could have written them in neon lights in the clouds. There’s much more to this issue than just God wanting to communicate something to a bunch of stiff necked human beings… If we’re talking about the Word or the “Logos” of God then it’s even bigger than all of our definitions and imagination combined! Last week I implied that this concept only consists of the thoughts and capabilities of humankind, but the Hebrew khot-moth and the Greek Sophia for Wisdom and Logos for Word of God, all of these are really God’s wisdom, not human wisdom. More than just mere

words, Logos also includes the logic behind God’s thoughts and actions. It is far bigger than just the mind of mankind. Logos or Word become flesh is also the logic of God become flesh. So, the disciples are literally questioning far more than the mere words of Jesus, they are questioning the logic, the thought processes behind the words of Jesus or the mind of God...

So Jesus asked the disciples, the faithful twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” As usual, it’s Peter who speaks for the group when he says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” These words are so familiar to us as we say or sing them in our Liturgy every week. After coming to a better understanding of Logos I don’t think I’ll ever say or sing these words and think of them the same way again. Jesus doesn’t just have the words of eternal life, Jesus is the Logos of eternal life. When we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood we consume all the fullness of the Logos of God.

This is how it is for us today as well. The postmodern culture of the 21st century seems to think we’re too sophisticated for this teaching. Today the numbers of disciples is also dwindling. They tell us the era of Christendom is over and we now live in a society where the rules that govern our behavior are derived from secular humanism or some such undefined spirituality. All you have to do

is pay attention to the recent Supreme Court decisions and you quickly figure out who sets the agenda in our society today. It isn’t the Church… So in the environment we live in today it’s even more crucial to ask Jesus’ question today, “Do you also wish to go away?” It’s appropriate to strip the question bare and get to the heart of the matter. Is it our faith that ultimately holds us together as God’s people or is it an intellectual agreement to a set of rules and doctrine-a decision on our part? Part of what Jesus says in these verses is that no one is able to come to him unless it has been granted that person by the father (v. 65). Can we hear that hard word? If we do, that means we are completely at the mercy of almighty God for our coming to Jesus -- our faith -- our salvation--everything. Rather than saying, "I will do this or that and trust God" our confession becomes: "I can’t do this or that -- I can only trust God." This means that even our good, pious stuff, such as faith, devotions, Lutheran theology and confessions, even the good works we’re so proud of, cannot be the source of our trust, but only God. Have you chosen to be here at this place and this time or has God chosen you? Did you decide to follow Jesus or were you dragged here by our Heavenly Father so that you may be a witness to the world concerning God’s loving gift of Jesus to us. Make no mistake about it; you are a witness to the world regarding your faith. The only question that remains is what kind of

witness will that be? As for me and my house we proclaim, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words, the wisdom, and the holy logic beyond my mortal comprehension, of eternal life. We here in this House, have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

And there it is! After all these weeks--the answer Jesus longed for his disciples to get. Who is this Jesus Christ? No! Jesus isn’t just the son of a carpenter. No, He’s not just another wonderful counselor or great teacher. No, He’s not just another miracle worker or snake oil salesman. Yes, He is the son of God!

May the harsh words of Jesus bring you to deeper understanding of what Jesus requires of those who dare to call themselves Disciples and Apostles. May we come to rely on the difficult words of Jesus as the only words that lead to eternal life. May the Logos of God surround us and infuse into every pore and molecule of our very essence so that the will of God and the will of humankind become one and God’s name be glorified, amen.