For the Life of the World--August 14, 2024

For the Life of the World--August 14, 2024

[Jesus said:] "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." [John 6:51]

When you think of Jesus, don't picture a vending machine dispensing snacks for paying customers with exact change.  Picture a banquet given freely for the whole world.  That's how big, how wide, Jesus understands his mission to be.  He has come for no less than "the life of the world."

I want to ask us to stop right there and just let that sink in.  Jesus himself says that he has come to give his life like bread for the hungry, not just for a holy few or for elite members in Heaven's Country Club, but "for the life of the world." All too often, we settle for a distorted version of the Gospel that makes it sound like Jesus just gives perks to the card-carrying members of Respectable Religion.  Plenty of preachers have sold a version of Christianity that goes like this:  "Once you believe this list of facts about Jesus (according to the following points of doctrine I have determined are the essentials), then you start to reap all the benefits of club membership, and you'll be saved OUT OF this sinful world, and you'll get access to the Bread of Life Buffet, hosted by Jesus for members in good standing."  If that isn't Pop Religion in a nutshell, I'll eat my hat.

Trouble is, it just isn't the way Jesus actually talks about things.  Jesus doesn't describe his coming as a matter of giving perks to a select few, as though he'll settle for feeding just a handful of devoted disciples and giving up on everyone else.  Jesus says he has come "for the life of the world."  That is, in order that the whole world may live.

It is also worth noting that Jesus is not naive, and he knows full well that "the world" is precisely "the world that typically rejects God, turns away from God, and rebels against God's good Reign."  Look through the Gospel of John and you'll see that in general, the phrase "the world" doesn't have a very positive connotation.  "The world" is John the narrator's shorthand for "the whole mess of sinful systems that are bent on rottenness and turned from God."  And yet, without blushing or second thoughts, Jesus says he has come to feed that very world, so that the world might be brought to life.

And for that matter, Jesus doesn't describe himself in that scene as the bakery's delivery man bringing a fresh baguette to everyone's house for dinner.  He describes himself as the Bread.  In other words, Jesus says he has come to give his very life for us--so that as he gives himself away, we are filled--with his own presence.  That suggests Jesus is willing to pay a pretty costly price for our lives.  After all, the hired delivery guy for the bakery doesn't lose anything when he comes and drops off your order of bread--he actually gets paid for it.  But the bread, on the other hand, gets consumed in the exchanged.  You get to live from eating it, but the bread is gone--it gives itself away, so to speak, in the transaction.   That's how Jesus sees himself.  He is not merely the one doling out goodies at no cost to himself, but the One who gives himself away that we and the whole world might be fed.

The other thing I want to note in this whole discussion, too, is what a different take that puts on the meaning of Jesus' death.  Here Jesus plainly talks about giving up his life--his own flesh and blood--in order that the world might have life. That's absolutely about the cross, but notice that at least here it's not really about "paying a debt" or "making a sacrifice for sins" or "placating an angry deity who is wroth and seething at the impulse to punish sinners."  To be sure, sometimes, the Bible talks about Jesus' death as a sacrifice.  And yes, sometimes, the writers of the New Testament will describe the cross like the cancellation of a debt or the covering over of sins.  But not always--the Bible uses multiple metaphors and perspectives to describe what happens at the cross, sometimes called "theories of atonement," too.  And here Jesus gives us something different.  Here, the cross is not about paying off a debt or appeasing an angry god, but about feeding hungry people.  Jesus casts himself here, not as "Lamb of God," or "ransom for many," but as the "living bread that came down from heaven" who gives himself away "for the life of the world."  In other words, here Jesus isn't saying, "The rules demand that sin has to be punished, so God sent me to receive all of your punishments in your place," so much as he is saying, "The world is hungry, and I am offering myself to satisfy the hunger of that whole world."  For whatever else the Bible has to say about the meaning of the cross (and, again, yes there are multiple angles and images for its meaning), here Jesus simply sees himself as the Bread that feeds the whole world.

What difference does any of this make in our lives?  Well, let me offer at least this much: sometimes we Christians make it sound like Jesus is only here to offer perks to us, like the reason to be a Christian is to get the exclusive benefits of club members.  But to hear Jesus himself tell it, he is simply not interested in advancing the self-interest of "what is good for Christians" at the expense of others.  Jesus is interested, rather in drawing disciples to himself who will share in his work for the well-being of all people.  He is interested, not in handing out snacks to insiders, but in feeding everybody with his own self.  Jesus has come not just to get church folks into heaven when they die, but "for the life of the world."  

If our picture of Jesus' mission is any smaller than that, we are the ones who need to stretch our vision wider.

Lord Jesus, allow us to be a part of your work to bring the whole world more fully to life in you.