Wednesday 07 June 2017

Psalm: Psalm 146

Background

"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and motherwe know? How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven"?" (John6:42)

This scornful response of Galileans to Jesus' claims about hisorigins brings a repost in which Jesus is explicit both about whereand who he has come from and about where those who believe in himcan expect their journey to take them.

Jesus firstly explains his relationship to God the Father. Itthe Father who enables a response to the Son (verse 44), the Fatherwhose teaching reveals the need for that response (verse 45,paraphrasing Isaiah 54:13), andthe Father whose revelationcomes through the Son who uniquely has seen God (verse 46). Inthese verses Jesus is leaving no misunderstanding as to the unityof the Father and the Son in essence and in purpose.

Jesus then underlines that the divine purpose is the salvationof those who believe in him (verse 47). He has already spoken ofresurrection to eternal life (verse 44) and now he outlines usingthe metaphor of bread to describe how he will give thatresurrection life to those who receive him, just as bread nourishesthose who eat it. Like the manna in the wilderness (Exodus16) this bread originates in heaven, but unlike the manna inthe wilderness, this bread does not give life for a limited time(verse 50) but for eternity. All bread though, has to be receivedand ingested to be efficacious.Jesus' gift of his flesh on thecross is for the whole world yet it too has to be embraced andinternalised for it to be the bread of life; "whoever eats ofthisbread will live forever" (v. 50).

To Ponder

• Do you have preconceived ideas about people based upon theirorigins which hinder us seeing Christ in and through them? If so,how might you open your eyes?

• "Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where hefound bread" (D T Niles). How helpful is this image for thechurch's mission and evangelism? What other one(s) can you thinkof?