QT 3 Aug 12, The real issues of life are spiritual, not physical

John 6:41, 45-52 (NIV) At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

NOTE: Verse 41 strikes me as an odd statement. Clearly, the similarity to the bread of Exodus and the grumbling can't be ignored, but that's not what is so interesting (this is the only chapter in John which uses the word grumble and grumbling). Verse 41 says that they grumbled because he said he was the bread that came down from heaven. In other words, they wanted real bread that they could eat -- they wanted a physical answer for their temporal life -- they were not interested in a spiritual answer to their needs. By saying that he was the bread, the Jews knew they could not eat him to survive. But actually they got it all wrong. Jesus tells them that there forefathers ate manna in the desert and died. The real problem is not temporal issues of life, but the eternal state of your life. And, Jesus continues, you must eat his flesh and drink his blood to live forever. Now we have a very clear reference to communion that Jesus will teach his disciples right before the crucifixion. So, Jesus makes it absolutely clear that our real problem in life is not physical but spiritual. We ought to know that instinctively, but sometimes the problems of life seem so overwhelming that all we can focus on is just what is in front of us.