The Bread of Life and Difficult Teachings

For worship on August 26, 2018, we tried something very different than usual (again…😀) and had worship outside in the park. In writing this sermon for the final of the five weeks the lectionary spends on Jesus as the Bread of Life in John 6, this God Pause devotional from Timothy Hoyer was a good starting point, and I also found this post from David Lose very helpful. 

Here’s the sermon on difficult teachings, communion, and John 6:56-69 with a bit of Ephesians 6:10-20 thrown in as well.

If you have been to worship any time in the last few weeks, this Gospel lesson might sound familiar. For those who have been here every week, I have good news: After five weeks of Jesus talking about being the bread of life, we’ve made it to the end of John 6.

I love the image of Jesus as the bread of life, but I confess I’m ready for something else to talk about. I have to say, though, I really appreciate verse 60 in today’s reading: When the people following Jesus heard this teaching, many of them said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

It’s a profound question. “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?”

On a basic level, what Jesus is teaching is difficult to make sense of, even after weeks of hearing it. Theologians and churches have debated for centuries what exactly Jesus meant when he said, “I am the bread of life.” Or, “This is my body, given for you.” “This is my blood, shed for you.” “Whoever eats me will live because of me.”

How to understand this idea of eating and drinking Jesus’ body and blood is one of the primary distinctions between different denominations of the Christian church. There’s obviously a connection to communion, but what is it? How exactly do we receive Jesus as the bread of life?

Some traditions say that in communion, the bread and wine are fundamentally transformed into Jesus’ body and blood. Other traditions say it’s obviously symbolic, that the bread and wine or grape juice represent Jesus’ body and blood.

As Lutheran Christians, we look at what Jesus says, and we’re ok with some mystery. We don’t need to totally understand everything in order to believe it.

We believe and teach that Jesus is present in, with, and through the bread and wine. The technical term is consubstantiation, but the point is it’s Jesus’ body and blood for us because Jesus says it is.

In the Message paraphrase of the Bible, the disciples’ objection is this: “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.” I like that pun. Jesus’ teaching about being the bread of life is “Too tough to swallow?” Get it?

The disciple’s problem, though, is not just a technical theological difference between transubstantiation or consubstantiation or something. Jesus’ teaching is difficult on another level because it points to a realm we can’t see. It goes beyond our day-to-day experience. It doesn’t make sense in our flesh and blood world.




When the disciples grumble that his teaching is difficult and hard to accept, Jesus says to them, “Does this offend you?… It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless.” Again, I like how the Message version puts it: “The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen.”

The problem, of course, is that we understand how muscles work. Well, I don’t exactly understand the biology of how they work, but we understand the idea.

We understand the world we live in, the world of causes and effects and consequences, the world where we have to try our best for good things to happen. We understand the world of visible governments and physical laws, the world where life leads to death and that’s the end. The world where bread is bread and wine is wine and that’s it.

Jesus comes along and teaches that this world is not all there is. He teaches that there is a spiritual realm, a kingdom where God is ruling with love and grace, where life lasts forever and there is no death, and not only that, he teaches that this kingdom of God is breaking into our world, coming to us.

It’s good news, but it’s still a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?

We catch glimpses of God’s kingdom coming in around us all the time. We see people doing good in Jesus’ name, we see answered prayers, we see people being welcomed and coming together, we see people loving and forgiving in ways that seem impossible for humans, we see God moving in the people around us and even through us.

But even with all those glimpses – and even those glimpses can be hard to see – even with those glimpses of God’s kingdom, it’s still beyond our comprehension.

It’s a lot easier to see the parts of this world that are not of God, the suffering and the killing, the sadness and the grief, the selfishness and the boundaries we put up between us. And yet, Jesus speaks of God’s kingdom coming among us.

In the Ephesians reading we heard, Paul uses the language of an earthly warrior to describe faith. He calls us to put on the armor of God, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the rest. All of these are spiritual weapons, because as he says, our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against spiritual forces of evil.

It’s a lot easier to get caught up in the struggles of flesh and blood, to fight against the enemies we can see. And often, when we can’t see enemies, we make up some new ones. It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day realities of this life.

It’s a lot harder to remember the reality of the spiritual realm around us, the reality of God’s kingdom breaking in.

It’s hard to find the right footwear to keep proclaiming the gospel of peace. It’s easier to pick up an earthly sword than to wield the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

It’s hard to pray in the Spirit at all times. It’s hard to put Jesus’ teachings into practice.

Brothers and sisters, that is exactly why we’re here today as Church. Look at the example of faith in the gospel reading. For many of Jesus’ followers, it says, this hard teaching was too much for them. It didn’t make sense, so they turned back and no longer went about with him.

Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

As the story continues, it will become clear over and over that Peter doesn’t actually understand Jesus’ hard teachings either. But he knows to look to Jesus.

Peter’s faith is that he knows where to look for life. He knows to go to Jesus. He knows where to find the bread of life.

Martin Luther puts it like this. “Although [God] is present in all creatures, and I might find him in stone, in fire, in water, or even in a rope, for he certainly is there, yet he does not wish that I seek him there apart from the Word, and [thereby] cast myself into the fire or the water, or hang myself on the rope.
[God] is present everywhere, but does not wish that you grope for him everywhere. Grope, rather, where the Word is, and there you will lay hold of him in the right way.”

“Grope where the Word is.” We’re gathered here today because Jesus has the words of eternal life for us. You don’t need to understand all of it right now. You don’t need to believe everything precisely correctly, or to understand the difference between transubstantiation and consubstantiation and sacramental union.




We are here today to look for Jesus where he has promised to be, in the Church, which is the body of Christ.

In the reading of scripture that proclaims the good news of God in Jesus Christ.

In the ordinary bread and wine, that in the mystery of faith through the Holy Spirit become the body and blood of Jesus Christ given and shed for you.

As we wrap up these five weeks of talking about the bread of life, as we enter this new season, I challenge you to have faith like Peter. Not to understand everything, but to look for God in the right places. To come to church to worship, to encounter Jesus, and be fed with the bread of life.

To put on the armor of God, not to get caught up in the earthly divisions and struggles, but to see the world through the lens of the cross so you can fight for what really matters and serve your neighbors in Jesus’ name.

Jesus’ teaching is difficult. Living as a Christian is difficult. But you are not alone on this journey.

You are part of the Body of Christ, created by God, redeemed by Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. May the good news of Jesus the bread of life, the one who has the words of eternal life, transform you now and forever.
Amen