Sermon by Mack Dennis, Pastor A biblical scholar once told me he’d spent years studying only the Greek versions of Matthew, Mark, and Luke—what are commonly called the Synoptic Gospels because they are “seen together” and share common sources. Then, when he opened the Gospel According to John, he was astounded by how different it was. I suppose we could experience a similar amazement were we to do the same thing in English. John is beloved for his unique style and enchanting account of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. But I remembered this scholar’s story as I worked with this text, because it echoes the startling encounter of people hearing Jesus’ claims about himself. You can almost see the faces of people in his audience turning to one another in bewilderment, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” It’s remarkable that were Jesus to say the exact same thing to people on the street today—“Eat my flesh”—they might have the same reaction: Come again? And that is a testament to the enduring power of the Gospel to leave us perplexed, confused, defensive, and even argumentative. In the Gospel account today, people responded to Jesus by quarreling with each other about his claims. As a matter of fact, versions of this quarrel have gone on for centuries. If you’ve ever studied the Protestant Reformation, you might have come across the legendary argument between Martin Luther and Zwingli about the doctrine of transubstantiation. Transubstantiation means that at communion, the bread and wine are mysteriously transformed into Jesus’ body and blood. Zwingli thought this doctrine went too far, and served to magnify priestly authority in corrupt ways. Luther tended to agree, but still wanted to preserve the whole meaning of “This is my body.” So, their argument went something like this: Zwingli: It is not Jesus’ real body. Luther: Yes, it is. Zwingli: Is not. Luther: Is. Zwingli: Is not. Luther: Is too. Zwingli: IS NOT. Luther: It’s in the Bible. Zwingli: Doh! Jesus interrupts the argument to remind everyone that if we do not eat the Son of Man’s flesh, we have no life in us. But, if we do eat it, we have eternal life. So, while theologians have quarreled through the ages about what happens to the elements, what the elements are or what they represent or signify, Jesus gets the last word by reminding us that eating whatever they are is a matter of life and death. So, what is at stake in eating this bread and drinking from this cup?

One of the ways I’ve been taught to read the Gospel of John is this: whenever you find yourself stumped, go back to the beginning of the chapter, read it all the way through, and notice the overall themes. In chapter 6, life-giving bread is a theme from the beginning. Chapter 6 begins with the feeding of the five thousand. First, we learn that Jesus saves people with bread. Next, we are reminded that God saved the Hebrews in the wilderness by showering them with bread. Then, for those who are still confused, Jesus makes the direct connection: I have come down from heaven. I am the bread of life. But if we would read the whole chapter and still need clarity, then let us go back to the very beginning of John. In the first chapter, we learn that “The Word became flesh.” So, in the sixth chapter, when Jesus says, “Eat the flesh of the Son of Man,” he means for us to eat the flesh of the Word, to consume the Word, ingest the Word, drink the Word, feast on the Word. Placing chapter 1 alongside chapter 6, we can see that the flesh of the Son of Man is the Word of God. And if, at this point, you’re hanging on to this sermon for dear life, I’ll make it plain: To eat this bread and drink this cup is to eat God’s wisdom. The Flesh is God’s Word. The Word is God’s Logic. The Logic we also call God’s Wisdom. “Those who eat my Wisdom and drink my Wisdom have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.” Paul tells the Ephesians, “Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16). How comforting it is, then, to know that Proverbs tells us Wisdom has built her house, and prepared a feast for us, and she has sent out her servants to the tops of the mountains, and announces from the rooftops of every high rise, “You that are simple, turn in here…Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (Prov. 9:1-6). Emily, today you have lifted up your eyes to Wisdom’s house and crossed her threshold. In these baptismal waters your sins have been washed away, and you have been saved from sin and death. You have set aside your old life, and been given a new life. The God of Jesus Christ was at work in your heart from the beginning. But here in Wisdom’s house, you have walked in the way of insight, and God’s wisdom has grown in you and now dwells in you with power. From now on you may live fully in Christ’s freedom and passion. Remember always your first love, the Church, and her children, the weak and the strong. Let Christ’s wisdom grow in you. Eat his flesh. Ingest his Word. And you will live with him forever. Sisters and Brothers, do you know that if you eat this bread and drink this cup, you have eternal life? Eternal life is not a prize at some distance from us. It is not a realm of life we find only on the other side of death. Eternal life is not merely life without end. It is life lived with the Risen Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Jesus says those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life. Which means, as we have taken Christ’s body into our own, we have taken Christ’s risen body into our own. We now have a share in His eternal life. That is the gift communion gives, and that is part of the meaning of how it saves us. We become attached to the One who calls himself, “The Beginning and the End,” the One who transcends life, the One who gives us eternal life.

Then again, I don’t know how to answer the question, “How does this man give us this flesh to eat?” But I do know in part, and this I convey to you, that he does it by building a house where wisdom dwells, where she calls upon all of us from the hilltops and every highrise – to come in, to take a share in Christ’s body, Christ’s blood, to be built up into the house called ‘Church,’ to gather at this meal for the ages. So, come now. Eat. Drink. Be joined to the Risen Christ. And live forever.