Throughout this season of Pentecost we have been working our way through the Gospel of Mark and focusing on the movement of the Holy Spirit in Christ as he lived out for his disciples, and for us, a life of obedience to his Heavenly Father. Previously in my article in the July newsletter, I said that the word ‘salvation’, or ‘sozo’ in the Greek, means many things, ‘to heal’, ‘to be made whole’, and ‘to be restored to life’. For the last six weeks now we have been reading the very theological Gospel of John to get his take on what is probably one of the best know miracles of Jesus, the ‘feeding of the 5,000’, the only miracle that appears in all four of the gospels. John’s discussion of Jesus, as ‘the bread of life’ is a powerful statement about the Holy Spirit and the gifts we receive when he partake in the body and blood of Christ.

After feeding the 5,000, Jesus and his disciples are once more confronted by the sick and hungry people in Capernaum. They are still hungry and want ‘more’. That sounds a lot like the society we live in today, never satisfied with what we have been given, and always looking for more. Jesus says to them, “You have seen me and still you do not believe!” They, like us, still do not ‘see’ that Jesus embodies the power of God, his Heavenly Father. Our eyes are blinded to the truth about the divinity and spiritual nature of God. Just as Nicodemus did not seem to grasp the idea that we must be ‘born again’, born from above, a spiritual birth, we do not and cannot understand spiritual things unless we are born of the spirit.

Jesus tells the hungry people that he is the ‘bread of life’, and whoever eats his flesh, and drinks his blood, will never be hungry or thirsty again. The ‘flesh and blood’ reality of Jesus, and the spiritual benefits we receive when we participate in the bread of life and in the cup of blessing, cannot be understood by our very human minds. From the beginning of John’s gospel we need to remember, John’s words, “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God…and the Word became flesh! and dwelled among us. When Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, he promised to return to us as ‘Spirit’. This is the gift of God that is our when we partake in the bread and the cup. The gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to see and understand the spiritual reality of Jesus, God made flesh, and in John 6:54-58, Jesus lays out for us the benefits we receive from participating in his body and blood.

First, he tells us we receive ‘eternal life’; in his death and resurrection he overcame the earthly reality of death. Second, just as our physical bodies need proteins and vitamins to sustain us, our spiritual bodies depend on the nourishment that comes from feeding on God’s word, the ‘Word made flesh’. Third, when we partake of this spiritual food, God lives in us, abides in us, and we in him, and fourth, we learn that we receive life, spiritual life that is, when we feast on his ‘living word’. We find our very lives in the bread and the cup. Not ordinary, worldly lives, tossed and turned by the forces of the world, but full, ‘spirit filled’, fruitful lives. Finally we are able then to live in his presence forever, beginning right now. The peace, grace and love of God is ours when we first believe and open our eyes to the reality of Word made flesh. In Christ, the ‘bread of life’, we receive ‘salvation’, we are healed, made whole, and restored to live. Praise be to God! ~ Pastor Mike

Posted in St. Croix Falls