Th.8.27.15...The Bread of Life...John 6:22-71

Were you raised Catholic? Then you received holy communion many times. But a former Catholic priest by the name of Martin Luther and others of the Great Reformation in the 1500's strongly opposed the Catholic belief surrounding holy communion. What do Catholics believe about it? They get some of their unique views of it within our passage today.

We've already read about Jesus feeding the five thousand men and then walking on the water. Today we are going to cover his bread of life discourse (speech). It's long, so let's jump right into it. Then we'll discuss the Catholic view of communion, which they support from within our passage today.

1.- Read through passage John 6:22-71, and be on the lookout for repeated words and phrases Jesus uses. There are several. Here are the ones I observed- I tell you the truth, food/bread/loaves/manna, work vs. believe(s), life/eternal life/live forever, the Son of Man, the Father/my Father, he who sent me, I have come down from heaven, comes to me, I will raise him up at the last day, I am the bread of life, my flesh, blood, disciples. Pick one or more of these words or phrases and underline them in your Bible. Share some of your thoughts on a truth that strikes you from the passage.

Now let's deal with the popular but aberrant belief Catholics have regarding communion. Roman Catholics believe that Jesus was teaching in John 6:53-57 about their unique doctrine of transubstantiation. They believe that when the priest utters a certain prayer over the bread and the wine during mass, that they mysteriously turn into the actual blood and body of Christ. But Jesus was not inviting the those who found him in the synagogue to cannibalize him and he wasn't serving them bread to eat at the time. He was making a spiritual analogy as he clearly stated, "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" 6:63. He links feeding on him with having eternal life in 6:54. We are dependent on food to sustain us physically. By way of illustration, Jesus is saying we are to be dependent on him to sustain us eternally. Notice that Jesus had already been teaching earlier in the chapter that eternal life is by simply believing in Him. This is the great theme throughout John and the NT. Nowhere else in this gospel or in the Bible is eternal life tied to receiving holy communion. Even the Roman Catholic Church didn't officially speak of transubstantiation until the the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215. But if a Catholic should deny such now, he would be cutting himself off from the possibility of gaining eternal life, which they tie in part to receiving the sacraments. We know there is a big difference from receiving bread and juice and receiving Christ. But many Catholics think they are one and the same. One Catholic man who was being witnessed to on his death bed said, "I receive Christ every day." O Lord, open the eyes of the blind as you did for us.

2.- People need the good news that eternal life is a free gift through faith in Christ alone. I'm glad you are seeking opportunities to offer the gospel to others. Share a time recently that you got to give a Greatest Mini-movies card or present your testimony or witness to someone.

Speaking of Roman Catholics, Ricardo wrote, "I have recently had a conversation with my 2 oldest boys. My oldest was just more curious about what is the difference between a Catholic and a Christian, I showed him a video from a link I saved, "7 reasons why I'm not a Roman Catholic". My other son is a little more difficult, he feels if there is a God, why do bad things happen? I did share a few videos with him but he's still struggles."

Way to share Ricardo. Did he watch the Greatest Minimovies, "Good God? Evil World!" Let me know how I might be able to help. We are a band of brothers and all want our sons to follow the Lord too. "Lord, draw our sons all the more to follow you."

Announcements

I am happy to introduce a new teammate, Kevin Long. He lives in Missouri and was invited by Lemmy to join M3. (Lemmy, you hold the new record for recruiting someone the quickest after joining M3. Way to go!) I've enjoyed talking with Kevin and asked him to share a bit with us. Here is part of his testimony-  

"I'm married with no children, and have been calling Jesus my Lord and Savior for about 8 years.  I was raised and confirmed as a "sometimes" Catholic, but identified as atheist most of my life citing "logic, reason, science," and the like. 

God works in amazing ways: We began visiting a local church for "business contacts".  We happened into the church at the beginning of a week long Prophecy Conference and spent every night looking for "holes" in the Bible.  After not finding any, I continued studying and reading the Bible as well as listening to radio sermons (Bott Radio) all day, most days.  After several weeks, I finally realized that it takes way more faith to maintain the charade of modern science and reason than to believe what our hearts already know:  We were created by a loving and merciful but just and holy God who has given us the freedom to choose Him or the emptiness of isolation.  I finally understood I needed a relationship with the One who made me. That the Lamb of God I heard so much about growing up, actually paid the cost(s) for my hedonistic past and my eternal future in pain and blood.  All I had to do was repent, accept the Gift, and accept Him as my King." 

We're so glad you did Kevin. Welcome aboard!