The Lord Jesus has had compassion on you, dear Christian. He feeds you from the tree of life. His pierced body, hung once on a tree for the life of the world, poured out water and blood. You have been washed with living water. You receive the blood of the risen Christ on your very lips.
But you don't want life. You know death far better. You would rather Jesus had let you faint on the way. To you your hunger is an illusion. To you your weakness is strength. It's not. Your hunger is hunger. Your weakness is weakness. Without the life Jesus gives you aren't just dying, you're dead. And you like it that way. Life? Who needs it. Death was good enough for Adam and it's good enough for you.
Those who followed Jesus did so at their peril. They didn't have enough food for the journey. All they had was Jesus. They sought the greatest and highest good, and though providing for one's body is a good thing, it was the last of their concerns.
But they wanted for nothing. God gave manna in the desert. Jesus Himself was enough to provide for all their earthly needs. He has compassion. He does not leave you to your own devices.
The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. Not the order you would expect, is it? You live by the sweat of the brow and work earth filled with thorns. By pain do you eat bread, and it is bread that does not even satisfy. But the Lord's ways are not our ways, are they?
He plants a garden in Eden. He gives four rivers to water it. A verdant pasture, a pleasing fount. The gold of that land is good, and there is treasure buried in it.
House and home, fields and cattle... at that we need to support this body and life. Even the gold in them thar hills... God makes it all. All is prepared... All is there for the giving. And so then and only then comes the next line.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. The to-be-given stuff already abounds, but God needs a someone for it to be given-to. He puts the man in Eden, the one whom He has formed from the dust of the ground.
And to the man He gives all the fruit of the garden. All of it except that which grows from the one tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not given to the man, and so, just like his children, it's this fruit Adam decides he wants.
Oh, it looks good, but the fruit of this tree is death. And that's why Adam wants it. That's why you want it. What God gives isn't good enough. The death He keeps from you is what you want.
Lemmings love the look of the cliff. The higher the precipice the faster you run for it, and so you fall to your death. You faint on the way and receive the death you crave.
You can't depend on Jesus and so you do it all on your own. It's your hard work and decent living that's going to get you home. Jesus didn't work his fingers to the bone to get that paycheck. Jesus didn't plant that corn. Jesus didn't harvest that soy. Jesus didn't answer that phone or take care of that client. Nope. It's you. Sweat of your brow day in and day out.
Your family gets three squares and your heart swells just a little bit with pride. That's what it's all about, right? Hard work will get its reward, for you and your family too.
But why do you think so much of yourself? Let's be honest, shall we? Who made the seed sprout? Who made the sun shine? Who gives your heart its every beat? Who gives your blanket its warmth and causes your roof to give you shade?
It is the very One upon whom you have not relied. It is the very One who died to restore all things to you and more. Jesus planted a garden in Eden and gave four rivers to water it. He provided for all Adam's needs before Adam even knew he had them. And Jesus has looked to the crowds with the same love. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people.
Jesus made the seed sprout. Jesus made the sun shine. The One who was crucified for you gives your heart its every beat. The God born in a manger gives your blanket its warmth and causes your roof to give you shade.
And how beautiful is this text for you today. Do you hear the echoes of those words you so love to hear? Jesus gave thinks, broke bread, and gave it to His disciples. And you know what He said next... Your ears rejoice from drum to lobe when they hear it. Jesus said, “This is my body, given for you.”
And so Pastor Weedon lifts the very body that lifted for you on the cross and we bow before the altar. The Lord God King of the Universe is there giving Himself to you just as He has promised.
To those of you who believe His word, receiving His body and blood is life and salvation, the forgiveness of your sins. The tree of life was planted by Roman centurions in Golgotha and on it hung the Son of God.
In the pit of His stomach Jesus had compassion on you, and from His side flowed the source of your life. So it is today and so it will be forever. Words of life spoken by a man over bread and wine will give you the benefits of the death of God.
Do not faint on the way. Do not starve in the wilderness. The Lord has prepared the richest of feasts. Taste and see that Jesus is good. Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in Him.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
