Saturday after Misericordias Domini

Scripture: St. John 6:41-59 (NKJV)

6:41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, 8“Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 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.”

52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Devotion

As any of us have most likely experienced, there are always an endless number of people who grumble at the words of Jesus when it comes to Him being the only bringer of peace and life in this fallen world. Try as they may, there will never be a separation of Jesus from the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promises. It was the will of God that His people in the wilderness not perish; so manna from heaven was sent by Him with the intended purpose that, should they eat of it, they would not die. In fact, this is a repeated theme in the Old Testament.

It was God’s will that He send His Son to be that Living Bread which gives life, and should His believing people partake of it (Him) they might have eternal life. Over and over Jesus keeps proclaiming the location of true peace—and it is Him! What a blessing to realize that the Father has drawn (and continues to draw) us to the true location of peace and life. He not only brings us to trusting in Christ’s fully atoning merits, but to taking and eating His true body, which was delivered unto death for you, and to taking and drinking His true blood, shed for you, all for the forgiveness of sins. Partaking of Jesus is truly knowing peace and gaining life—right from His very wounds!

Prayer: O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.