Hymn: LSB #507 “Holy, Holy, Holy”

Invocation


O almighty God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — we come into Your presence to seek Your mercy, hear Your Word, and offer up to You our prayers and praises. Hear us for the sake of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for our sins. Amen.

Psalm 130 A Song of degrees.

1 Out of the depths have I cried to thee, O LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice: let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. 3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. 7 Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. 8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Confession of Sins

P: Let us, therefore, confess our sins unto the LORD our God and look to Him for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the plenteous redemption accomplished by Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us from all our iniquities.
C: Almighty God, our Maker and Redeemer, we poor sinners confess unto You that we are by nature sinful and unclean and that we have sinned against You in our thoughts, desires, words, and deeds. We, therefore, flee for refuge to Your infinite mercy, seeking and imploring Your grace for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
P: For the sake of Jesus’ holy life and His atoning sacrifice on the cross, I announce unto you the grace and mercy of God and, in the name and stead of Jesus Christ our Savior, proclaim to you forgiveness for all your sins through faith in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Scripture Lesson and Message

“The Jews therefore began to dispute among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever. These things he said in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.” John 6:52-59

How can Jesus give us His flesh to eat? This was a question that troubled Jesus’ hearers in the synagogue at Capernaum, and it still troubles those who hear His words today.

And, certainly, eating Jesus’ flesh and drinking His blood is important because Jesus also said, “Verily, verily, I say to you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you” (John 6:53).

Was Jesus talking about partaking in the Lord’s Supper? Some might say yes, but He had not yet even instituted His Supper when He spoke these words, and nowhere does the Bible ever say that those who have not been afforded the opportunity to partake of the Lord’s Supper remain spiritually dead and are condemned forever.

Jesus said, “Whoever eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (John 6:54-55). Jesus says that His flesh is food indeed, and His blood is drink indeed, using the same Greek word used for “is” when He said of the bread in the Lord’s Supper, “Take, eat; this is my body,” and of the wine, “Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matt. 26:26-28). In fact, Jesus’ words here in John 6 are even stronger because He adds the word “indeed,” meaning it truly is, to His statements concerning His flesh and His blood.

Yet, Jesus is not talking about actually eating and drinking His flesh and blood and digesting it in our bodies. He is talking about partaking of Him and His sacrifice on the cross in faith — a spiritual eating and drinking of His body and blood that we might also partake of the forgiveness of sins and eternal life that He won for all when He suffered and died on the cross and then rose again in victory.

Understanding how the sacrificial system pointed to Christ is necessary to rightly understand Jesus’ words. Sacrifices were offered, pointing ahead to the perfect sacrifice God would provide, that “Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29; cf. Gen. 22:13-14). And as the people often partook of their sacrifices, so we partake of Christ and His sacrifice for us on the cross when we trust in Him (cf. Ex. 12:1ff.; 24:1-11 29:33).

Jesus’ words in John 6:56-57 make this clear: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” We abide in Christ and are in communion with Christ when we confess our sins and partake of His sacrifice for the sins of the world in faith (cf. 1 John 1:5 — 2:2; John 3:14-18). Not all who partake of the Lord’s Supper are saved, but those who by faith partake of Jesus’ body and blood, given and shed for all upon the cross, live through Him. They have the forgiveness of sins Christ won for them, and they have the promise of eternal life as God’s redeemed people.

As Jesus said in John 6:58, “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers ate manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.” Jesus is the true life-giving bread that came down from heaven. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The question is: Do you partake of Jesus and His perfect sacrifice for you on the cross in faith?

Dear Jesus, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, grant that I look to You and Your cross and partake of You in faith as the holy and sinless sacrifice for my sins that You may raise me up on the last day to life everlasting. Amen.

Prayers

Merciful Father, for the sake of the shed blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ, forgive us for failing to walk by faith in the promises of Your Word. Move us to read and study our Bibles regularly and to come before You with our petitions and praises. Keep us from being overcome by our sinful inclinations and preserve us in the true and saving faith unto life everlasting. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.

O Christ Jesus, eternal Son of God and our Savior, You gave Your life for ours when You died on the cross and made atonement for our sins. Bless the work of our pastor and congregation and of faithful pastors, missionaries, and congregations everywhere so that Your life-giving Word might be proclaimed among us and among the peoples of the world, and those who hear might repent of their sins and look to You and Your cross for pardon and forgiveness. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.

O Holy Spirit, do not forsake us because of our weakness and disobedience to Your Word. Be patient with us and move us to continually repent of our sins and look in faith to our Savior for mercy. Teach us from Your Word. Strengthen and keep us in the true and saving faith. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.

O loving and merciful God, our nation and people are living in darkness and are under Your wrath and judgment. Open the eyes and ears of our people and rulers that they might see and hear the truth of Your Word, repent of their evil deeds, and fall down at the feet of Jesus, pleading for pardon and forgiveness and then seeking to walk in Your ways, that Your judgment may be turned away and Your eternal wrath against us be averted. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer.

O Healer and Preserver of our bodies and souls, as You have promised, we ask You to provide for all our needs and to preserve us from all harm and danger and all evil. We lift up to You those among us who are afflicted. We remember especially today Linda and John, Joyce, Carl, Richard, Harley, Mike and Kathy, Wolfie, John and Karen, and all others we name in our hearts. Have mercy upon us, grant healing to the sick, comfort to the oppressed, and strength for all to endure the troubles and afflictions of this life in the hope of everlasting glory for the sake of Christ Jesus, our Savior. Lord, in Your mercy, Hear our prayer. Amen.

Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26)

“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious to thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Amen.

Hymn: LSB 917 “Savior, Again, to Thy Dear Name We Raise”

[Scripture is taken from the Revised Webster Version, an update of the King James Version of the Bible. Music is from The Hymnal Project.]