Sermon- August 12

Pentecost 12B- August 12

John 6:35, 41-51

            Recently I was asked this question by one of our members: “Pastor, I know Jesus never gave in to temptation; but do you think it was easy for him? Or did he struggle with it a little?” This is a great question for many reasons; & it’s not the first time it’s been asked of me or of the church. In fact the basic assumption behind the question goes all the way back to the beginning of Christianity, as believers wrestled with the question-behind-the-question: Just who was Jesus?

            “Who was Jesus?” was a central question behind the writing of John’s Gospel near the close of the 1^st century. You can see it in John’s famous “I am” statements: “I am be bread of life”… “I am the good shepherd”… “I am the light of the world”… “I am the gate”… “I am the way, the truth & the life”… “I am the vine”… I am the resurrection & the life.” Obviously, John is saying, Jesus is God, right?

            But John also answered the “Who is Jesus?” question with verses like 1:14, “The word became FLESH & lived among us” & in chapter 11 with “Jesus wept” & with his total omission of a divine conception or virgin birth of Jesus. Obviously, John is saying that Jesus is a human, right?

            So, which was it? Was Jesus divine or human? That debate raged among early Christians. A group called the Docetists argued that Jesus was totally divine & only seemed to be human. They denied the reality of his human flesh. For them, Jesus’ sufferings--& his temptations—were not real; they only seemed to be real.

            Finally in 325, the 1^st Council of Nicea officially settled the debate by stating that Jesus was, as we will confess in a few minutes, “true God from true God…(&) was (also) truly human.” That makes it about as clear as mud, doesn’t it? How could Jesus be 100% divine AND 100% human? That doesn’t make sense.

            Well, just imagine how little sense that must have made to Jesus. Imagine you are Jesus; & something inside of you tells you that you are God—a voice keeps telling you that you are God’s Son. And yet, you are a human being! You have desires; you have temptations; you have emotions; you know the sting of pain; you suffer! How close to insanity would all of this drive you?

            We’re not going to go further into this internal battle of Jesus’ today; but if you would like to consider it more deeply, I would recommend the fictional book The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis.

            Back to John’s Gospel & the 1^st century debate about the substance of Jesus. We have an additional clue that John was promoting this truly dual identity of Jesus in the 1^st & last verses of our reading today. “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life,’” I am divine. And then he says, “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my FLESH.”

            That last word is very significant—FLESH, or in the original Greek sarx. Sarx refers to the very meatiness, the very flesh & sinew of a human being. It is the word the apostle Paul uses over & over again to refer to the sinful flesh of man; & John uses it here to let us know that Jesus was a real human being who was made of this same flesh that so often leads to our sinfulness, to our temptation.

            And yet Jesus did not sin—even though tempted so far beyond any temptations that you or I could ever imagine enduring. Like hanging in unbelievable agony on the cross & knowing—or thinking that you know—that, as God, you could stop that agony & leave the cross at any time.

            So how did I answer that original question—Was temptation easy for Jesus to resist? My response was--& is—that “Jesus, though he was divine, was also completely human; & so temptation must have been difficult for him to resist. If it weren’t, then his resistance would mean little or nothing to us. Just as Jesus’ death would mean little if he knew, without a doubt, that he would be raised.”

            Can I explain how Jesus was 100% divine & 100% human? Nope. Does his dual divinity & humanity mean everything to me? Absolutely! As our Psalm today says, “I will bless the Lord AT ALL TIMES” because our God did what we cannot fully understand, for one reason & one reason only—because “God so loved” you & me.

            As we approach the altar again today, may we all embrace the mystery of mere bread & wine becoming the flesh & the blood of Jesus, shed for all of us for our sins. For as I’ve heard said, “You are what you eat;” & as we share the Bread of Life today, we are one with him for all of eternity. Amen.