Wednesday after Laetare Sunday
Posted on March 22, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. John 6:41-51 (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.”
Devotion
The Gospel text which is our appointed reading for today beautifully brings yesterday’s Old Testament text into the New Testament context. Jesus graciously offers Himself to be the Lamb of God for all our sins, and is the Bread of Life come down from heaven. All who eat of this food and drink of this drink will never hunger or thirst, and shall inherit eternal life in the life to come after this dark age and vale of tears.
Flesh and blood here point to Christ as the crucified One and the source of life. Jesus speaks of faith’s appropriation of Himself as God’s appointed sacrifice, which atones for the sins of the world. He emphasizes that one must eat and drink of that atoning sacrifice to receive what it graciously brings. Jesus clarifies the divine fact that the value of the Old Testament manna is limited, and is contrasted with the heavenly food Christ gives throughout the New Testament.
For the tenth time in this chapter, reference is made to Jesus’ coming down from heaven or to bread from heaven. The believer, through faith, receives Jesus as the sustenance of one’s life. Jesus points to His flesh, which He will give unto crucifixion, and His blood, which will be shed as propitiation for sin. Jesus bids His hearers to look forward to Calvary, where providing eternal life would be costly to the Giver.
Prayer: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
