Sharing the Bread of Life; John 6:51-58

Summary

The video script delves into the fourth part of the 'Bread of Life' discourse, exploring the spiritual significance of Jesus' words beyond the physical act of feeding the 5000. It discusses the cultural and symbolic context of bread in Hebrew tradition and the early church's struggle with accusations of cannibalism and incest. The script emphasizes the importance of internalizing Jesus' teachings as part of the believer's eternal life, highlighting the transformative power of the Eucharist as a living experience of Christ's presence within the faithful.

Takeaways

• 🍞 The discourse on the Bread of Life is a multi-part sermon that explores the deeper spiritual significance of Jesus' feeding of the 5000 beyond its physical aspects.
• 📖 In the second part, the sermon delves into the cultural symbolism of bread within Hebrew traditions during the first centuries.
• 🔍 The third part encourages a multifaceted perspective on Jesus' teachings, urging the congregation to consider various interpretations and references.
• 💰 The 'money shot' of the discourse is the challenging statement by Jesus about consuming his flesh and blood, which was culturally grotesque and misunderstood by both contemporary and early Christian societies.
• 🚫 The early church faced accusations of incest, infanticide, and cannibalism, stemming from misunderstandings of their practices and teachings.
• 👥 The 'kiss of peace' and the use of 'brother' and 'sister' in the early church were misconstrued as evidence of incest.
• 🍷 The accusation of cannibalism arose from the Eucharistic practice of consuming the body and blood of Christ, which was misunderstood by outsiders.
• 👶 The claim of infanticide was a misinterpretation of the story of Jesus' birth, his sacrificial death, and the consumption of bread and wine in the Eucharist.
• 🕊 The Holy Spirit is presented as God's gift, a living presence that guides and transforms believers into the embodiment of Christ's teachings.
• 🌱 The metaphor of 'eating' in the script suggests a deeper, more active engagement with the teachings of Jesus, akin to tearing apart and internalizing the message.
• 🛐 The Eucharist or Communion is not merely a memorial but a living experience of Christ's presence, calling for a deeper understanding and internalization of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the 'Bread of Life' discourse in the script?

The main focus is on the deeper spiritual and symbolic meanings of Jesus' teachings about the bread and wine, particularly the metaphor of consuming his flesh and blood, and its implications for the early Christian community.

How does the script describe the early Christian community's understanding of the bread and wine?

The script suggests that the early Christians understood the bread and wine as symbolic representations of Jesus' body and blood, partaking in a spiritual experience that internalizes the teachings and presence of Christ.

What cultural misunderstandings did the early Christian community face regarding their practices?

The early Christians were accused of being incestuous, engaging in infanticide, and practicing cannibalism due to misunderstandings of their rituals and teachings, particularly the consumption of bread and wine symbolizing Jesus' body and blood.

Why were the early Christians accused of cannibalism?

The accusation of cannibalism arose from the scriptural concept of consuming Christ's body and blood during the Eucharist, which outsiders did not understand as a metaphorical act but rather as a literal consumption.

What does the script suggest about the importance of the resurrection in understanding the 'Bread of Life' discourse?

The script suggests that the resurrection is integral to understanding the 'Bread of Life' discourse, as it represents the living presence of Christ that believers are to internalize and embody in their lives.

How does the script interpret the Greek word used for 'eating' in the context of the 'Bread of Life'?

The script interprets the Greek word as 'noshing,' which implies a more intense and active form of eating, suggesting a deeper engagement with the spiritual consumption of Christ's flesh.

What role does the Holy Spirit play in the script's interpretation of the 'Bread of Life' discourse?

The Holy Spirit is presented as God's gift to believers, enabling them to internalize and live out the teachings of Jesus, thus becoming part of the eternal life and the continued body of Christ.

How does the script differentiate between the Catholic and Protestant understandings of the Eucharist?

The script notes that Catholics view the Eucharist as a transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ (transubstantiation), while Protestants generally do not believe in this transformation but still recognize the spiritual significance of the act.

What is the script's perspective on the necessity of grappling with the 'Bread of Life' discourse?

The script emphasizes the necessity of grappling with the 'Bread of Life' discourse because it represents a transformative and living experience of Jesus within believers, rather than a mere memorial or symbolic act.

How does the script relate the 'Bread of Life' discourse to the broader Christian understanding of salvation and eternal life?

The script relates the 'Bread of Life' discourse to the broader Christian understanding by suggesting that through the internalization of Jesus' teachings and presence, believers become part of the eternal life and the ongoing work of God in the world.

Outlines

00:00

🍞 Spiritual Interpretation of Bread in Christian Discourse

This paragraph delves into the fourth part of the 'Bread of Life' discourse, building upon previous discussions about the feeding of the 5000 and the cultural symbolism of bread in Hebrew traditions. It highlights the evolution of understanding Jesus' teachings from different perspectives and emphasizes the challenging statement of consuming Jesus' flesh and blood, which was culturally grotesque in the first century. The speaker also touches on the accusations of cannibalism, incest, and infanticide that the early Christian church faced due to misunderstandings of their rituals and teachings.

05:01

📖 Theological Misunderstandings and the Early Church's Response

The second paragraph explores the accusations against early Christians, focusing on the misinterpretations of their rituals that led to claims of cannibalism, incest, and infanticide. It clarifies how these accusations stemmed from the church's practices and narratives, such as the sharing of bread and wine symbolizing the body and blood of Christ. The speaker discusses the early church's efforts to explain their beliefs to those in authority, emphasizing the importance of understanding the spiritual, rather than literal, consumption of Jesus' body and blood.

10:02

🕊 Embodiment of Christ's Presence and the Transformative Experience

In the final paragraph, the speaker discusses the deep theological implications of consuming the 'bread of life,' which represents the living presence of Christ within believers. It addresses the discomfort with the literal interpretation of eating Jesus' flesh and blood, advocating for a spiritual understanding of this act as part of the Eucharist or Communion. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of internalizing Jesus' teachings and recognizing the transformative power of his life, death, and resurrection within the believer's life, suggesting that believers are part of a larger, ongoing divine narrative.

Keywords

💡Bread of Life Discourse

The 'Bread of Life Discourse' refers to a series of teachings by Jesus, particularly in the Gospel of John, where he uses the metaphor of bread to describe spiritual nourishment and eternal life. In the video, it is the central theme, with the discourse being explored in four parts, each revealing deeper spiritual meanings and implications for followers of Jesus.

💡Feeding of the 5000

The 'Feeding of the 5000' is a miracle of Jesus as described in the New Testament, where he fed a large crowd with five loaves of bread and two fish. In the video, it is mentioned as the starting point of the Bread of Life Discourse, symbolizing not just a physical act of feeding but also a spiritual experience.

💡Hebrew Culture

The term 'Hebrew Culture' in the script refers to the cultural and religious context of the Jewish people in the first century. It is important in understanding how certain teachings of Jesus, like consuming his 'flesh and blood,' would have been perceived as grotesque and controversial within that cultural framework.

💡Kosher

'Kosher' pertains to the Jewish dietary laws, which dictate what foods are permissible to eat and how they must be prepared. In the video, it is mentioned to highlight the cultural shock of Jesus' words about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, as it directly contradicted these dietary laws.

💡Accusations against Early Christians

The script discusses accusations made against early Christians, such as being incestuous, involved in infanticide, and cannibals. These accusations stem from misunderstandings of their rituals and beliefs, particularly the Eucharist, and illustrate the challenges the early church faced in communicating their faith to outsiders.

💡Eucharist

The 'Eucharist' is a Christian sacrament that commemorates the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, where bread and wine are consecrated and consumed as the body and blood of Christ. The video explores the different interpretations of this sacrament and its significance in the context of the Bread of Life Discourse.

💡Transubstantiation

'Transubstantiation' is a Roman Catholic doctrine that asserts the bread and wine used in the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. The video mentions this concept as part of the scriptural justification found particularly in John 6, which is central to the discussion.

💡Resurrection

The 'Resurrection' refers to the biblical account of Jesus rising from the dead. In the video, it is connected to the idea of consuming Jesus' flesh and blood, symbolizing the living presence of Christ in believers and the transformative power of his resurrection.

💡Holy Spirit

The 'Holy Spirit' is the third person of the Holy Trinity in Christian theology. The video discusses the Holy Spirit as God's gift to believers, promised by Jesus, to guide and be with them always, reinforcing the living presence of Christ within them.

💡Internalization

The concept of 'internalization' in the video refers to the process of believers taking in and embodying the teachings and essence of Jesus. It is a key aspect of the spiritual journey, where the 'Bread of Life' becomes a part of the believer's identity and existence.

💡Communion

'Communion' is a term used to describe the act of sharing in the Eucharist, symbolizing unity and fellowship among believers. The video emphasizes the importance of recognizing Jesus' presence in the act of communion and the transformative experience it represents.

Highlights

The discourse on the Bread of Life is divided into four parts, with the fourth part being the crux and crescendo of the entire discussion.

The Feeding of the 5000 is viewed as a spiritual experience rather than just a physical event.

Symbolisms and meanings of bread in Hebrew culture during the first centuries are explored.

The importance of perspective in understanding Jesus' teachings on the Bread of Life is emphasized.

Jesus' statement 'you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood' is examined in the context of Hebrew culture and its prohibitions.

The early Church faced accusations of incest, infanticide, and cannibalism due to misunderstandings of their rituals and teachings.

The concept of 'eating Christ's body and drinking His blood' was misconstrued by outsiders, leading to accusations of cannibalism.

The early Church had to explain and defend their practices against these accusations, showing the development of theology over time.

The Gospel of John's unique approach to the Bread of Life discourse, focusing on the living presence of Christ rather than a memorial.

The idea that consuming the bread and wine represents making Jesus a part of us, embodying His teachings and resurrection.

The challenge for believers to grapple with the literal and metaphorical meanings of consuming Jesus' flesh and blood.

The living Christ concept, where Jesus' teachings and resurrection are internalized by believers, forming an ongoing relationship.

The significance of the Holy Spirit as God's gift to guide and lead believers, forming part of the eternal life in Christ.

The transformative experience of believers becoming the embodiment of the Word through the acts of worship and communion.

The call to internalize Jesus' message and allow it to change believers, moving beyond a simple memorial to a living experience.

The responsibility of believers to show the world the transformative power of Jesus through their actions and faith.

The concept of 'working in communion' to recognize Jesus as part of believers and to understand the broader implications of this unity.

Transcripts

this week we start on the fourth part of

the uh bread of life discourse

the first time first part was the um

feeding of the 5000 where he looked at

it as more than just a physical thing

but actually a spiritual experience

um the second week we looked at all the

other symbolisms and meanings that we

could bring into that conversation about

bread that would have been part of the

hebrew culture in the first centuries

last week we looked at perspective and

how to how to take another look at

uh what jesus could be meaning bring

more uh more into it more references

into it look at it from different angles

this week it's the money shot this is

the crux the crescendo of

the entire

uh

discourse on the the bread of life

next week we will bring it home when we

realize that a lot of the new disciples

who were really keen to follow jesus

when he was feeding them not so crazy

about what he was talking about them and

they kind of hit the road they're not

interested they take off jesus closest

core stays but the rest don't

but before they leave

and after we have all of this richness

of symbolism and perspective and meaning

to work with

we get the very small

discourse where jesus explains

you have to eat my flesh and drink my

blood

hard stuff especially in the first

century with hebrew culture where

if

animals were not killed in

the kosher manor

they were not edible they were not uh

they were not able to be eaten and no

one touched blood that was absolutely

verboten you used didn't

so

jesus is offering symbolism that is

truly grotesque

to that culture as well as it is to our

culture

in the early church right in the first

centuries when this would have been

spoken when the early church was just

developing and when there was a whole

lot of questions

about who these

christian

followers christ followers were

three things were regularly used as

accusations

one

that

we were incestuous

two that we were into

infanticide and three that we were

cannibals

and the thing is all three accusations

have their basis in our tradition not

not directly obviously because we're not

cannibalistic we're not uh

adulterous and incestuous and we

certainly don't

involve ourselves in child sacrifice

but it came with the misunderstanding of

some of the stories that the early

church told and at this point in time

there was no definite theology there's

no um teachers there's no professors

there's no preachers like we have today

people were just going based on what

they thought was going on it took

centuries for the church to work this

stuff out

so if you look at the three accusations

i mean the first one

incestuous that's really easy to dismiss

we at the early church were known for

giving the kiss of peace and calling

each other brother and sister

now everybody knew it wasn't a

biological connection and the kiss of

peace was like

kissing your grandma there was nothing

into it more than showing a level of

affection

so people who didn't understand that

misinterpreted willfully or unknowingly

who knows but that kind of takes out the

incestuous part

the third part cannibalism

kind of came from the scripture that

we're reading today and this whole

concept that we drink christ's blood and

eat christ's body

we know it's bread the early church knew

it's bread but people outside didn't

quite grasp that

so they accused us of cannibalism and by

the way we were not unique uh christians

and jews have been

accusing each other of incest and

cannibalism right down through history

it was done beforehand it's your

standard one two if you want to insult a

culture you don't exist

you accuse them of sexual immorality and

cannibalism and inappropriate use of the

body that's just to happen all over so

that wasn't a big deal the thing is that

we could explain what was going on and

some of the early church um people did

actually step up and explain to uh those

in authority what was going on

the third infant uh

infant um cannibalism and inform

mentality

that was a little bit different

so you got to follow this one that they

heard the story of jesus

being born as a baby

and jesus saying you have to eat my

bread my my body drink my blood

and that baby jesus was put in a manger

which is little more than a feed trough

for animals

so baby jesus in a feed trough

eventually the

bread and wine that people were eating

baby jesus got killed

so

follow that along and that's where you

get infanticide and the cannibalism that

goes with it

so all of these

kind of sort of logical and kind of sort

of not at the same time but this is what

the early church was dealing with and

when the writer of john wanted to

explain what was going on to the

community that they were writing in in

turkey they used some very specific

images

that followed along with paul's very

first teaching in the first letter of

corinthians

that when we gather together we do this

recognizing that

the bod the bread represents jesus body

and cup represents jesus blood and we

ingest it we make make jesus part of us

we consume jesus

john is

you can look at it as

part of

a lord's supper or a communion narrative

because there's no last supper

in john the same way there is in matthew

mark and luke at no point in the gospel

of john does jesus say do this in memory

of me

this is the only part john 6 is the only

part in john's gospel that talks about

bread and wine

you can connect to the to eucharist or

not the the roman catholics certainly do

this is where they find their scriptural

justification for transubstantiation

that jesus is the holy presence

in the in the bread and the blood is

jesus body and blood

protestants tend not to go there

but it's it's scripture so how how do we

if we're part of a tradition that does

not

recognize uh

jesus as

transformed or the bread and blood bread

and cup as transformed into jesus body

how do we unpack this because it gets

really uncomfortable

we say we don't necessarily believe in

that but here it is in scripture written

right out for us and we've got a deal

we've got a deal

it'd be so much easier to just disappear

into the memorial service that we have

as communion and say we're doing it as a

memory

with the spirit as part of our entire

community not as jesus in a living form

but see that's the kind of thing it it

is living form and that's where we have

to come back to jesus did not tell them

do this later

jesus said i am

every time you consume the bread that i

give you are consuming my flesh you have

to eat my flesh to get me to get me in

you

we got to get away from the literal

meaning of jesus actual

bleeding body in this

because the bleeding body that is

connected is not necessarily us eating

his literal flesh

but the resurrection that is coming the

destruction that jesus is going to

experience on the cross

see the people who wrote john had

already lived through that as part of

their history they're writing back in

time to a time before

in the gospel itself before

people had this experience but they're

writing to an audience after

this had happened an audience who

believed in the resurrection who

understood that jesus came back to life

after three days and eventually ascended

to heaven and the holy spirit is now

god's gift to us as promised by jesus to

be always with us

jesus is speaking as that living

presence that has been resurrected

that when we look at the bread of life

in the very beginning of john's gospel

even said the word is flesh

everything about god's message in jesus

is the embodiment

of

god's message to us god's teaching to us

how we're meant to live how we're meant

to be and we're meant to internalize

that

jesus used the the metaphor of of

gnoshing and eating uh in fact in

english it's muted by the word eat but

the actual greek word means noshing and

tearing apart with your teeth like a a

dog does with

with meat left on a bone that we have to

get in there and be part of the

destruction of jesus body and the

resurrection and the coming back to life

because this is a living experience of

jesus this is not uh he's dead and we're

past this kind of thing it's not

strictly a memorial thing this is a

living we're to eat the living flesh the

real

reanimated the the

up the the ascended the resurrected

jesus in

what we are doing

it is not just simply a metaphor we

can't simply dismiss it that way

although our sensibilities wish we could

we have to grapple with this concept of

everything that jesus embodies

the word of god the

the blood of the new covenant

the life everlasting

the

vine of growth the

water that washes and quenches forever

all of that

all of those metaphors all those symbols

all those those meanings come together

in the living presence of christ

and by consuming that by internalizing

that by by getting it in us through

whatever means necessary we are

accepting that we are part of jesus

continued body that we are

part of the eternal life that on the

last days with the resurrection we're

part of that with god working in us with

god teaching us with god having

expectations we're part of that that is

in us that is part of who we are

we can't simply leave it

as this this function of shared

bread and wine

we have to look for the richer deeper

meaning that everything that jesus was

everything that jesus told us everything

jesus

could be

or was expected to be

has been eternalized in us through our

acts of worship through our acts of

following

that jesus

is in us

jesus flesh his living being

is in us

and every time we go through the ritual

of

a eucharist or lord's supper communion

whatever we're going to call it how

however theologically we're going to

look at that

we are reenacting this assumption that

jesus has come into our being

the way the word came into christ and

made christ living and made christ flesh

we are the embodiment now

of the word and is our responsibility to

listen to how god guides us and leads us

and it's not necessarily going to be a

pleasant image as we

as we look at

how

we are going to develop our faith

it might be a whole lot of gnoshing and

gnarling and snarling as we accept jesus

in ourselves could be

bland and

and almost

happenstance that we're not barely

paying attention to

whatever imagery is used whatever words

whatever symbolism is used the living

christ is in us as followers

he said just a couple of passages above

believe that's all we have to do

we're not going to become cannibals

the bread and wine we have are still

bread and wine jesus knew that too jesus

flesh and blood body needed to live and

eat the way we do but there's something

additional that jesus is trying to tell

us here that we are consuming

his entity

the word made flesh the flesh goes in us

the word ultimately

lives in us

that is a huge takeaway

that is why we have to wrestle with this

passage and not kind of dismiss it

as some form of

sacramental understanding that we might

not necessarily like or want to

understand

we are

the ones who stayed and listened to the

message

now it's up to us to internalize that

message to be changed by that message

we're no longer people who have to get

fed regularly we have been given this

gift of eternal bread what is nourishing

us is eternal it is

never ending it is ongoing it is

something that we can count on being

there

we can acknowledge it however we want

but it is jesus in us

the word made flesh

the flesh in us

that we are now able to show to the

world and through us who knows others

can come to to understand the truly

transformative world that jesus has

allowed us to see the knowledge that

anything is possible if we work in

communion there's that word again we

work in communion

recognize that jesus is part of us and

also our leader that we are invited to

be part of something so much bigger than

we can ask or imagine

so much bigger than we can understand

by jesus being in us

through the light the bread of life