Dear First Family and Friends,
Somebody asks you, “Who are you?” Usually this question is answered by our name. So, when I’m asked this, I’ll say something like, “I’m Jim.” Once someone knows my name, they can call on me … to come to them, to do things for them, to talk to me or greet me. We all have names … and that name is how people reach out to us.
God is no different. Recall in Exodus how Moses was tending his sheep on Mount Horeb when he saw a bush that was on fire. But, it wasn’t being consumed! Little did Moses know, but the fire was actually God … a fact He discovered as the bush began speaking to him, asking him to rescue His people who were enslaved in Egypt. Moses asks a simple question, “What is the name of the god who is sending me?” Moses wanted the identity of his taskmaster. “Who are you?” God responds, “’I am who I am.’ And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:15) The Hebrew word “I am” is “YAHWEH.” That might sound familiar to us … YAHWEH (or YHWH) is the name of God used throughout the Old Testament.
When you and I in 21st century Calvert County hear Jesus say, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” (John 6:51) we might think, “Oh yeah … His words nourish and feed my soul, like bread feeds my body.” Or, “His body, present in Holy Communion, feeds my faith.” And … we’d be correct. But for a 1st century Jew, living in Palestine, this statement carries extra weight.
In the Gospel of John several “I am” statements grammatically reveal much more than simply Jesus saying, “I’m bread … I’m light … I’m the one” and so forth. Grammatically, Jesus is calling Himself God. He uses the name of God His Jewish hearers clearly recognize. Asking, “Who are you?” … to the Jewish ear, Jesus replies, “YHWH, the living bread from heaven.”
Many do hear Jesus … which is why they dispute with Him. “How can you be God? You’re from Nazareth!” Jesus then lays out the facts for them … facts they must believe … or reject. Like the people of Joshua’s day, the people have a choice, “Choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served … But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Exodus 24:15) Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life” (John 6:63) by enabling people to believe in Him. Many rejected the gift of the Spirit as “(they) turned back and no longer walked with Him.” (John 6:66) But some were led by the Spirit to continue following Jesus, “I AM,” YHWH, God the Son.
Jesus asks us today. “Do you want to go away as well?” With Peter, because we believe and confess that Jesus is the Son of God, we answer, “LORD, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life … you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69) We call Jesus by name in all things … He comes to us.
In the Love of the Living Bread,
Pastor Jim