Eat the Bread and Have Life: 15 August, 2021
John 6:51-58
Jesus lays it on the line to the Jews: without eating his flesh and drinking his blood, there will be no eternal life and there is “no life” in the person. Jesus likens himself to manna, although he clearly indicates to the Jews that he is, as it were, a step above the manna that their forefathers ate in the desert. The Jews had a difficult time accepting what Jesus said in this regard; indeed, even Jesus’ disciples struggled mightily with the concept.
Jesus, like the manna in the desert, is a gift from God, yet historically the proposed recipients of the gift of Jesus have often been reluctant to accept the gift. Knowing as Christians that God is always blessing our lives, what must we do to ensure that we are not reluctant recipients of—or, perhaps worse, ignorant of—God’s gifts intended for us? –– Daniel Lund III
Ephesians 5:15-20
Human living is fraught with potential pitfalls. In the scripture, Paul warns us to be “careful” how we live, suggesting a series of guidelines to avoid being “filled” with things other than the Holy Spirit. Paul clearly recognized that even devout Christians could “fall out” of the faith. Does the Christian church today adequately accommodate that possibility and provide believers with adequate warnings and means to avoid such problems? –– Daniel Lund III
Proverbs 9:1-6
Woman Wisdom is a powerful figure, a prophet who preaches in the high points of the city where all can hear (1:20– 33; 8:1–21) and a master craft worker, celebrating all God’s work of creation (8:22–31). If anyone wants to know how this world works, they should ask her; she was there when it was put together, and she is eager to take on apprentices. “Hear instruction and be wise” (8:33).
Now she has built a place for her feast of instruction, symbolized in the lavish meal of meat and wine. She sends out her servants to those same high points to call out her invitation: “You that are simple, turn in here!” To the one who lacks sense, she says, “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight” (9:4–6). To enter her house and sit at her table is to call her teacher.
But another voice calls from that same high place, delivering the same words: “You that are simple, turn in here!” Any similarity ends there as she adds, “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret tastes best” (9:16–17). Her promised rewards are as poor as the behavior that obtains them. She is called Woman Folly, and her actions show it. She sits idly at the door to her house, knowing little and proclaiming it loudly.
Like a photographic negative, Folly reverses all that Woman Wisdom does and offers, including the promise of life. Those who hear Folly’s invitation to enter her house “do not know that the dead are in there, that her guests are in the deep places of Sheol” (9:18). –– Paul E. Koptak
Paul E. Koptak is professor emeriti of communication and biblical interpretation at North Park Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois.
Daniel Lund III, is a lawyer who holds an MA in theological studies from Duke Divinity School.
Homily Service 42, no. 3 (2009): 121-132.