Laetare Sunday (Lent 4)
John 6:1-15
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
March 30, 2025
At the beginning of John 6, a crowd of 5,000 men, not including their wives and children, advance on Jesus to make Him their king by force, because they loved Him so much for feeding them bread and fish in the wilderness. At the end of John 6, all of Jesus’ disciples have abandoned Him except for the twelve, one who was a devil, because Jesus offered them the true bread of life from heaven, His own flesh and blood. The multitude was eager to make Jesus their king for feeding them bread which perishes. Yet, the crowd abandoned Him when He offered them the bread of life, which if one eats it, he will live forever. And so is the epitome of all human existence. Man in his sin and unbelief craves that which perishes, but desires not that which grants everlasting life. Today it is anathema to miss work to worship God, but it is considered perfectly reasonable to skip church, where one feeds on the bread of life, even for months at a time, in order to work for the cares of the body.
A few weeks ago, we witnessed Satan offer Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their glory in exchange for Christ’s soul. Yet, Satan is too good of an economist to offer the whole world for every human soul. He’s going to offer the lowest price he can get for it. In the old German story Faust, Satan offers the titular character hedonist pleasures such as money, power, and a beautiful wife in exchange for his soul. In the end, Faust loses everything and goes to hell. Yet, Satan has found that for many people, he can get their soul at the bargain price of a loaf of bread. As Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red soup, so most are eager to sell their soul for that which fills the belly for a moment. Yet, had Esau considered that if he waited just a little bit that God would provide for him and not let him starve, would he have sold his birthright so cheaply? And if people recognized that God gives daily bread to everyone without our prayer, even to all wicked people, would they spend their souls on bread for the body, instead of seeking that food for the soul which grants everlasting life?
Jesus tested Philip by asking him where they could buy bread for the massive crowd, because He already knew what He would do. God always tests us with daily bread. The Lord declares in Exodus 16, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” (vs. 4) The purpose of a test is to teach. Moses later explains what this test meant to teach them in Deuteronomy 8, “And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus quoted this same passage to Satan when he tempted Him to teach us how to respond to Satan’s proposition for our soul.
God will provide for your daily bread. He promises to do so. Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men plus their wives and children with only five loaves and a few fish. Yet, there were twelve baskets of fragments left over after everyone was full, more than they had started with. This indicates that if the crowd were 50,000 or 500, 000, Christ still could have satisfied all their hunger. In fact, Christ provides for the billions of people on earth every day, both those who worship Him and those who don’t, along with all the animals. And He does this to teach you to seek first the kingdom and God and His righteousness and the rest will be added unto you. God’s kingdom and righteousness come to you through His Word.
Yet, it is only those who realize this and receive their daily bread with thanksgiving, who pass the test. That means it is only those who have faith in Christ, who can pass the test of daily bread, receiving it with thanksgiving and not selling their souls for it. Yet, those who do not have faith in Christ can only labor for bread which perishes, while they refuse the bread that lasts to eternal life. The Christian sees that every good thing comes from the hand of God in due season. The unbeliever can only see the means by which God provides: the hours of labor, the steel, the fuel, plowing, planting, and trucking. Yet, all this labor would be in vain had God not blessed it.
Yet, this is not simply a matter of converting the unbeliever to faith in Christ. St. Paul points out that Ishmael was born of the slave woman according to the flesh, while Isaac was born of the free woman according to the promise. And so, their mothers represent two covenants, the slave woman represents the covenant of the Law which keeps its children in slavery, while the free woman represents the New Covenant of the Gospel, which grants freedom to her children through faith. Those born according to the flesh are always under the old covenant of the Law, because the Law can only govern your flesh. Yet only those born of the Spirit can enter the covenant of promise, because the promise can only be received through faith. As a Christian here on earth, you have both the son of slavery and the son of promise living in you. You have your old Adam, born according to the flesh, and your new self, born according to the Spirit. This is why St. Paul commands you to cast out the slave woman and her son. Because the son of the slave woman cannot inherit with the son of the free woman. You cannot receive the kingdom through promise and through works. If it is by works, it is no longer through promise. If it is by promise, it is no longer through works.
Your flesh wants to serve your flesh without helping the spirit. The son born of slavery picks on the son born of promise, telling him he’s younger and less important. And so, it is with your flesh. So, you must cast out that slave boy, so that you might be a free child of God. This is why Christians fast. It is good to tell the flesh that it’s not that important, that the needs of the soul come first. Your flesh will let your soul starve to death rather than feel hunger for a moment. So, it is good to let the flesh hunger in order to feed the soul and to put the flesh in its proper place.
And it’s not just fasting from food. Your flesh craves all sorts of things, and it deems them all more important than the needs of your soul. So, you must regularly tell your flesh, “No.” And like a spoiled three-year-old, it’ll fuss and complain and throw a fit. Don’t give in. Man does not live by bread alone. “Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27) Put your flesh to the test, not the Lord, so that you may learn from the Lord that He will provide for your needs in due season, while your soul is refreshed with food lasting to eternal life. If God provides living bread from heaven, His only Son Jesus Christ to be given into death for us, how certain can you be that He will provide the bread you need for the body. Your sinful flesh will never be confident in this. So, your spiritual self must tell the flesh who is the true heir.
The body hungers for bread, because it thinks it needs it. If your spirit does not think it needs the bread of life, it will not hunger for it. So, God must bring you to realize your need. Jesus does this very simply by telling us not to labor for bread which perishes. What is bread which perishes? Bread which perishes is whatever you may consume that does not give you everlasting life. Everyone who eats bread dies. Everyone who eats fish dies. Everyone who works as a farmer or engineer or teacher or trucker dies. People who eat processed food die along with vegans and carnivores. Baseball players and wrestlers die. Do not labor your soul for these things! And why does everyone die? Because everyone is a sinner! The wages of sin is death and death is everyone’s wage.
Everyone dies and then comes judgment. Those found guilty of sin will suffer eternal punishment. And since the wages of sin is death, all who die will be found guilty. I hope you see that you have a more pressing problem than your next meal or even your next mortgage payment. The flesh, whose cravings drive you, is flesh guilty before God. You deserve death and punishment on account of your flesh and its evil deeds, yet your flesh continues to only crave that which leads to death. This is why your soul’s hunger is so much more important than your body’s hunger. If you do not hunger for the bread of life Christ offers, then you are oblivious to the situation you are in! Then you do not take seriously your sins against God! Then you are so shortsighted, you are worse than blind! When you recognize that your time is very short on this earth and that the reason your time is so short is because you are a sinner deserving of death and judgment, you should crave the food Christ offers that leads to everlasting life.
Jesus said to the Jews who had come to Him to get more bread for their bellies, “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:50-51) Christ offered His flesh as bread by being baked on the cross for our sins. His blood is true drink, because He poured it out for our redemption. Jesus is speaking of feasting on Him spiritually through faith. When you believe God’s Word concerning Christ and His redemption for you by offering up His body and blood for your salvation, then you feast on the bread of life, on Christ’s flesh and blood.
Some erroneously believe they are sated, because they have heard the Gospel once or twice. They ignore that they are constantly harassed by their old Adam and Satan and burdened with their sins. They think, “I already know what Christ tastes like, I don’t need to keep hearing His Word.” Yet, they continue to stuff their faces with the same perishable food. Yet, Christ bids us to eat of the bread of heaven often. He teaches us to pray for forgiveness every day. And when He offered His Church His very body and blood to eat in the Sacrament of the Altar, He instructed us to receive it often in remembrance of Him. As there were twelve baskets left over after the 5,000 had eaten, so until the end of the age, there will be more Jesus available for hungry souls to feed. Jesus makes Himself available, because we need Him! Unless we eat of the bread of life, we have no life in us and will perish eternally! So, let us not abandon our Lord to sell our souls for bread which perishes, but rather let us confess with St. Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Amen.
John 6:1-15
Pastor James Preus
Trinity Lutheran Church
March 30, 2025
At the beginning of John 6, a crowd of 5,000 men, not including their wives and children, advance on Jesus to make Him their king by force, because they loved Him so much for feeding them bread and fish in the wilderness. At the end of John 6, all of Jesus’ disciples have abandoned Him except for the twelve, one who was a devil, because Jesus offered them the true bread of life from heaven, His own flesh and blood. The multitude was eager to make Jesus their king for feeding them bread which perishes. Yet, the crowd abandoned Him when He offered them the bread of life, which if one eats it, he will live forever. And so is the epitome of all human existence. Man in his sin and unbelief craves that which perishes, but desires not that which grants everlasting life. Today it is anathema to miss work to worship God, but it is considered perfectly reasonable to skip church, where one feeds on the bread of life, even for months at a time, in order to work for the cares of the body.
A few weeks ago, we witnessed Satan offer Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their glory in exchange for Christ’s soul. Yet, Satan is too good of an economist to offer the whole world for every human soul. He’s going to offer the lowest price he can get for it. In the old German story Faust, Satan offers the titular character hedonist pleasures such as money, power, and a beautiful wife in exchange for his soul. In the end, Faust loses everything and goes to hell. Yet, Satan has found that for many people, he can get their soul at the bargain price of a loaf of bread. As Esau sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of red soup, so most are eager to sell their soul for that which fills the belly for a moment. Yet, had Esau considered that if he waited just a little bit that God would provide for him and not let him starve, would he have sold his birthright so cheaply? And if people recognized that God gives daily bread to everyone without our prayer, even to all wicked people, would they spend their souls on bread for the body, instead of seeking that food for the soul which grants everlasting life?
Jesus tested Philip by asking him where they could buy bread for the massive crowd, because He already knew what He would do. God always tests us with daily bread. The Lord declares in Exodus 16, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.” (vs. 4) The purpose of a test is to teach. Moses later explains what this test meant to teach them in Deuteronomy 8, “And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Jesus quoted this same passage to Satan when he tempted Him to teach us how to respond to Satan’s proposition for our soul.
God will provide for your daily bread. He promises to do so. Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men plus their wives and children with only five loaves and a few fish. Yet, there were twelve baskets of fragments left over after everyone was full, more than they had started with. This indicates that if the crowd were 50,000 or 500, 000, Christ still could have satisfied all their hunger. In fact, Christ provides for the billions of people on earth every day, both those who worship Him and those who don’t, along with all the animals. And He does this to teach you to seek first the kingdom and God and His righteousness and the rest will be added unto you. God’s kingdom and righteousness come to you through His Word.
Yet, it is only those who realize this and receive their daily bread with thanksgiving, who pass the test. That means it is only those who have faith in Christ, who can pass the test of daily bread, receiving it with thanksgiving and not selling their souls for it. Yet, those who do not have faith in Christ can only labor for bread which perishes, while they refuse the bread that lasts to eternal life. The Christian sees that every good thing comes from the hand of God in due season. The unbeliever can only see the means by which God provides: the hours of labor, the steel, the fuel, plowing, planting, and trucking. Yet, all this labor would be in vain had God not blessed it.
Yet, this is not simply a matter of converting the unbeliever to faith in Christ. St. Paul points out that Ishmael was born of the slave woman according to the flesh, while Isaac was born of the free woman according to the promise. And so, their mothers represent two covenants, the slave woman represents the covenant of the Law which keeps its children in slavery, while the free woman represents the New Covenant of the Gospel, which grants freedom to her children through faith. Those born according to the flesh are always under the old covenant of the Law, because the Law can only govern your flesh. Yet only those born of the Spirit can enter the covenant of promise, because the promise can only be received through faith. As a Christian here on earth, you have both the son of slavery and the son of promise living in you. You have your old Adam, born according to the flesh, and your new self, born according to the Spirit. This is why St. Paul commands you to cast out the slave woman and her son. Because the son of the slave woman cannot inherit with the son of the free woman. You cannot receive the kingdom through promise and through works. If it is by works, it is no longer through promise. If it is by promise, it is no longer through works.
Your flesh wants to serve your flesh without helping the spirit. The son born of slavery picks on the son born of promise, telling him he’s younger and less important. And so, it is with your flesh. So, you must cast out that slave boy, so that you might be a free child of God. This is why Christians fast. It is good to tell the flesh that it’s not that important, that the needs of the soul come first. Your flesh will let your soul starve to death rather than feel hunger for a moment. So, it is good to let the flesh hunger in order to feed the soul and to put the flesh in its proper place.
And it’s not just fasting from food. Your flesh craves all sorts of things, and it deems them all more important than the needs of your soul. So, you must regularly tell your flesh, “No.” And like a spoiled three-year-old, it’ll fuss and complain and throw a fit. Don’t give in. Man does not live by bread alone. “Do not labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27) Put your flesh to the test, not the Lord, so that you may learn from the Lord that He will provide for your needs in due season, while your soul is refreshed with food lasting to eternal life. If God provides living bread from heaven, His only Son Jesus Christ to be given into death for us, how certain can you be that He will provide the bread you need for the body. Your sinful flesh will never be confident in this. So, your spiritual self must tell the flesh who is the true heir.
The body hungers for bread, because it thinks it needs it. If your spirit does not think it needs the bread of life, it will not hunger for it. So, God must bring you to realize your need. Jesus does this very simply by telling us not to labor for bread which perishes. What is bread which perishes? Bread which perishes is whatever you may consume that does not give you everlasting life. Everyone who eats bread dies. Everyone who eats fish dies. Everyone who works as a farmer or engineer or teacher or trucker dies. People who eat processed food die along with vegans and carnivores. Baseball players and wrestlers die. Do not labor your soul for these things! And why does everyone die? Because everyone is a sinner! The wages of sin is death and death is everyone’s wage.
Everyone dies and then comes judgment. Those found guilty of sin will suffer eternal punishment. And since the wages of sin is death, all who die will be found guilty. I hope you see that you have a more pressing problem than your next meal or even your next mortgage payment. The flesh, whose cravings drive you, is flesh guilty before God. You deserve death and punishment on account of your flesh and its evil deeds, yet your flesh continues to only crave that which leads to death. This is why your soul’s hunger is so much more important than your body’s hunger. If you do not hunger for the bread of life Christ offers, then you are oblivious to the situation you are in! Then you do not take seriously your sins against God! Then you are so shortsighted, you are worse than blind! When you recognize that your time is very short on this earth and that the reason your time is so short is because you are a sinner deserving of death and judgment, you should crave the food Christ offers that leads to everlasting life.
Jesus said to the Jews who had come to Him to get more bread for their bellies, “This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:50-51) Christ offered His flesh as bread by being baked on the cross for our sins. His blood is true drink, because He poured it out for our redemption. Jesus is speaking of feasting on Him spiritually through faith. When you believe God’s Word concerning Christ and His redemption for you by offering up His body and blood for your salvation, then you feast on the bread of life, on Christ’s flesh and blood.
Some erroneously believe they are sated, because they have heard the Gospel once or twice. They ignore that they are constantly harassed by their old Adam and Satan and burdened with their sins. They think, “I already know what Christ tastes like, I don’t need to keep hearing His Word.” Yet, they continue to stuff their faces with the same perishable food. Yet, Christ bids us to eat of the bread of heaven often. He teaches us to pray for forgiveness every day. And when He offered His Church His very body and blood to eat in the Sacrament of the Altar, He instructed us to receive it often in remembrance of Him. As there were twelve baskets left over after the 5,000 had eaten, so until the end of the age, there will be more Jesus available for hungry souls to feed. Jesus makes Himself available, because we need Him! Unless we eat of the bread of life, we have no life in us and will perish eternally! So, let us not abandon our Lord to sell our souls for bread which perishes, but rather let us confess with St. Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also, we have come to believe and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Amen.
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