Dear Christian friends,

We say that we are believers, that we have faith in God and in Jesus. Our faith is very precious and wonderful. I think that we often are not aware of how precious and wonderful our faith is. Many people refuse to believe in Jesus because they are not aware of the wonderful things of faith.

In our text, Jesus reminds us about these things: how anyone receives faith and the benefits of faith.

One thing that many people do not realize about faith is that only God_can lead a person to believe in Jesus, Man, himself, alone, can never believe in Jesus, We see that from our text here. Jesus told the Jews that he had come down from heaven. (vv. 33-35) They refused to believe that. They complained to one another, "this man is the son of Joseph, right? We know His mother and father. How can He say that He came down from heaven?" (v. 42)

These Jews did not believe that Jesus, Son of Mary was also the eternal Son of God. Human reason cannot understand or explain how God becomes a man through a Virgin. No doctor or scientist can explain this event. The human mind and human reason are frustrated before this teaching. That is why also many people today refuse to believe in Jesus and accept Him for their Savior, Man, himself alone, laughs and mocks such a teaching. His mind and reason cannot accept it.

God, Himself, must come to man and give him faith. In our text, Jesus tells the Jews, "Stop complaining among yourselves. A person can come to Me only if the Father Himself draw him....." (v. 44) And St. Paul says, "No man can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:3)

The Holy Spirit of God comes to man and opens his eyes to see and believe:

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see."

God does this wonderful work through His Word. In our text, Jesus quotes the prophets: "God will teach everyone. And everyone that listens to the Father and learns from God will come to Me." (v. 45)

So it is very important that we faithfully preach and teach the Gospel. We, ourselves, should come to church regularly to hear and learn God's Word. Then the heavenly Father can teach us! Then we can come to Jesus and believe in Him. We also must be interested and eager to invite strangers and those outside the church to come and hear God's Word. Then God, the Father, can teach them, too, and they can come to Jesus. Also, we must gladly support our church, Pilgrim Lutheran Church, and also our Synod so that we and many others can learn from God and through the Holy Spirit's work come to Jesus and believe in Him.

It is most important that we faithfully preach and teach the Gospel. Don't worry about results, whether someone believes or not. Leave that to God. He calls, and He gives faith to those whom He chooses to become His children,

The second wonderful thing About our faith is the benefits of it. In our text, Jesus tells about the wonderful and precious benefits of faith in Him, He says, "I tell you the truth; if you believe, you will have eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate bread in the desert and they died. But I am the bread that came down from heaven, so that anyone that eats My bread will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give is My body and I give it so that the world will have eternal life." (vv. 47-51) The benefit of faith is eternal life.

We worry so much about death and the end of our life. But we who have faith in Jesus need not worry or fear. He gives us eternal life. This wonderful eternal life is really spiritual life. It begins even now here on earth. We know God now as our dear Father, Helper, and Friend. We need not fear Him anymore because he forgives us in Christ Jesus. We live here on earth now to honor Him and please Him, as Paul writes in the Epistle lesson for today: "You are God's dear children, try to be the same as God. Take away all bad feelings, temper, anger, yelling, mockery, and every way of hurting people. Instead, be kind to one another, loving and forgiving towards one another as God has forgiven you in Christ." (Eph. 4:31-32, 5:1)

This wonderful spiritual, eternal life we have now here on earth through faith in Jesus, the Bread of Life. And when we die, this spiritual life continues in heaven. Immediately we are with our Lord. We see Him who loved us and died for us. We will see Him face to face. Then we shall be fully with our dear Savior. The Bible says that "The day of our death is better than the day of our birth." (Ecclesiastes 7:1)

Unbelievers say this is a mistake. They think a person's birth is better than his death. They prefer youth to old age. That is because they know nothing about the Gospel, forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

You, who now are very old, and many of you are. Do not feel sad, but rejoice! You are very near the day when you will see the Savior Jesus face to face and be with Him forever. Do not worry about your weak and failing bodies. Yes, our bodies must die. But, they, too, will be changed and eternal and share in the glory of heaven. Jesus will raise up our bodies new and glorious when He comes again on the last day.

This is our wonderful faith. Let us not fear or be sad! Let us rejoice in Jesus, the Bread of Life who came down from heaven to give His body on the cross that we might have eternal life!

AMEN