Pentecost 11 (2015)

Pentecost 11 (John 6:35,41-51)

“I have come down from heaven.”

Who is Jesus Christ?

How do people define Jesus? Who did Jesus claim to be?

The people Jesus met in his three year public ministry held many beliefs about Jesus. Some believed he was a prophet. Some believed he was a rabbi. Some believed he was just an ordinary carpenter will aspirations to power. The political and religious leadership In Jerusalem believed he was a threat.

They believed he was a threat because he could perform miracles. That was an undisputed fact even they admitted. They could not dispute the works so they attempted to discredit Jesus by saying he performed miracles by the power of Satan.

They believed he was a threat because he knew the scriptures, taught the scriptures and lived the scriptures. They could not dispute his commitment to the sacred writings of Moses and the Prophets. Instead, they asserted he only invoked the Scriptures to subvert the Law. It was in fact a bold faced lie. Perhaps they convinced themselves it was true. Jesus made a distinction between the words of Moses and the Prophets and the traditions and interpretations and the commentaries religious scholars had developed over the centuries.

They believed Jesus was a threat because his followers wanted to make him king….by force if necessary. This was the key to the fear the religious and political authorities felt when they looked at Jesus. Perhaps Jesus really was reluctant to assume power. But, his followers were not. Things could get out of control quickly.

The ruling elites calculated that the kinds of people who followed Jesus, the largely uneducated working poor, might just try to make him king. But, they would fail. They lacked the knowledge, the organization and the resources they would need to succeed. They would try and they would fail and many would die in the process.

Jesus was very clear about his person and his plan. In a series of “I am” statements he very clearly and explicitly claims to be God. In those “I am” statements he draws on the observations, experiences and writings of Moses and the Prophets to help the people understand who he is and therefor who God is.

Jesus said: I am the bread, the bread of life that came down from heaven. Jesus is life because God is life. God is not judgment, condemnation, or exclusion. Jesus came to seek the lost who do not want to be found. Jesus came to set free the enslaved who embrace their chains. Jesus came to reunite what people want to keep separate. Jesus came to bring the blessing of divine love and compassionate service  to a people who wanted the power to judge, condemn and rule.

Sadly and tragically, the lost cannot and will not listen to the reality of God. The lost live from the place of pride that says: my will be done. Jesus lived from the place of faith that prays: heavenly Father not my will but Thy will be done.

The lost live from the place of self-will (the will to power) that says: do it my way. I want what I want and I want it now. Jesus lived from the place of charitable love that says: how may I help?

The lost live with a deeply seated fear of scarcity, threat and anxiety. They fear that God may not exist. They fear that if God exists he is distant and demanding and filled with wrath. They fear other people will take from them or hurt them or impose their own will on them. They fear they can’t hold meaning and purpose in their souls and so live on the thin edge of anger, cynicism and despair.

Jesus offers a new life and a new way of living. It is the life he himself has brought from the source of life. it is a new way of living formed by faith, hope and charity.

The last reason the elites in Jerusalem feared Jesus is truth. What if Jesus is who he says he is? What if all of these centuries we have been wrong about God, other people and ourselves? What if God is not the power and the glory of righteous rule and dominance? What if we are indeed our brother’s keeper and not his ruler.

Many people today, both secular and religious, make the assertion that Jesus himself never claimed to be God. The people of Jesus’ day thought differently. The people who knew Jesus and heard him and observed his actions understood very well that Jesus claimed to be God.

They knew this and they rejected this. They did not want the God Jesus revealed. They wanted a God who stayed in heaven and delegated his authority to the religious professionals and political elites.

They could not and would not acknowledge that they were wrong about God, religion or government.

It is one thing to have a set of beliefs about God. It is acceptable to speculate about God. It is common to have debates about whether God exists and who or what God is if God does exist. It is totally shocking and unacceptable for God to show up one day and quietly announce: here I am.

That is exactly what God did and continues to do in Jesus Christ. To the religious of all religions he says: have you been looking for me? Here I am. To the secular in all nations he says. Have I got a surprise for you. Here I am. To the angry, cynical and despondent he says. Come. Let’s talk. Walk with me. Share your griefs and burdens and fears with me. I am here for you just as you are.

Jesus tells us, shows us and helps us to understand that God is real and God is love. God the Father created all of us and each of us by the power of the Holy Spirit to be the forever friends of the co-eternal Son, the Beloved, Jesus Christ.

There is an old song that says; looking for love in all the wrong places. God the Holy Spirit reveals to us that humanity has been and continues to look for God in all the wrong places. Jesus reminds us that we are lost in that search for God. Jesus assures us that God finds us. He finds all of us and each of us in Jesus.

Jesus says; I have come down from heaven. I am God with you. I am God for you.  Here I am.