The former director of the Seminary Chorus once told of a time in his past where he was on a plane reading a book on homiletics. The passenger in the seat next to him asked what he was reading, and he told them. They asked him, “What’s homiletics?” So, he went on to explain that homiletics is the study of preaching—what to preach, how to preach, why to preach, etc. As he was explaining this, a look of confusion developed on the passenger’s face, and when the director finished his explanation, they asked, “Why don’t you preach from the heart?” “Because I know what’s in there, and it’s not good,” he replied.

Jesus said,

Dear Bev, Crystal, and Stacia; Ken and Adam; Bryson and Branson; and everyone assembled in this place: grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ, and from the Father of all mercies who raised Him from the dead. Hallelujah! Christ is risen!

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” St. Paul laid out plainly in his roadmap that is chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8 of his epistle to the church at Rome why exactly those who are in Christ are now not condemned. Perhaps, he heard or read an early draft of St. John’s Gospel, especially the portion read earlier, or more likely, heard from the other Apostles what it is that Jesus had said (and John would later record): “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…”

That plain explanation is this: “By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Note: This sermons was written and preached while dealing with the grief over a dying member.

The prophet Isaiah recorded these words from God: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men…” (Isaiah 29:13) Today, you heard Jesus quote from Isaiah, these words which are full of Him, these words which He is: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

The words of Isaiah were fulfilled in the hearing of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel, though they were most certainly true throughout the history of Judah and Israel, and even into today. It centers around the word “tradition,” and all the baggage that it carries.

After putting the topic off, in detail, for the past few weeks, today I will get to the details of the Lord’s Supper, as it pertains to our continuing stroll through John 6.

Feeding on the flesh or body of Jesus and drinking His blood is exactly what is done in the Lord’s Supper, “in, with, and under” bread and wine. And it is because of this, and especially verses 54-56, just quoted, that when you hear Jesus call Himself the Bread of Life and Living Bread, and when He says, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world,” your first instinct as a Christian who confess a real presence of Christ in the elements of the Sacrament is to hear Him talking about the Sacrament.

What is bread? What image first comes to mind when the word bread is said? Is it the loaf you can find bagged at the back of Walmart. How about the appetizer placed on your table at the restaurant as you look over the menu? It’s the biscuit on which is placed the sausage, egg, and cheese, the bun on which you place your all beef patty, the slices you pile high with tuna, chicken, or egg salad, the roll with which you mop up the last bit of gravy or salad dressing, and the tortilla in which you place your beans, meat, cheese, and salsa. It’s a filler food—white, wheat, multi-grain, gluten free, what have you.

Bread is a staple food; it has long been seen as such. It is given by God, granted to all people alike, be they good or evil, but it is a food for which you have to work, as all First Article gifts are. As the curse pronounced to Adam went, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread...” (Genesis 3:19a), even as St. Paul wrote, “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10b) Bread is a staple food, but much hard labor is required to obtain and enjoy it.