Seventh Sunday After Trinity [Mark 8:1-9, Genesis 2:7-17]
Sermon From July 18, 2010

In the Name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit;

     Let's look a little closer at some of the details here from Genesis: "The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And the man became a living creature [or "being" or "soul" as other translations put it]." -Regardless, this is how man was given life. And so, Adam and Eve were in the Garden. They still knew no sin; and therefore, they knew no death. And yet they still were to eat. Or perhaps we could say, they could eat, for it was by God breathing into them that they were made alive as such. But God planted the garden with all kinds of trees that were good for food, regardless, as it says. It seems that food was more for their enjoyment than life-support. Indeed, when they had been created, they were up and walking for a while before they had anything to eat. Food wasn't what gave them life, but rather, it was thru God giving it to them, breathing it.

     And yet, furthermore, there were also two trees in Eden that were distinguished: the Tree of Life, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. ...There was a tree of Life that bore fruit. ...But weren't they alive already? Why would they need something like this? ....Indeed, by the fact that God made this Tree of Life to exist, it shows there was something more yet to Life, even here before sin and death ever entered the picture.

     But we also heard about death here. God told Adam that in the day he would eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would surely die. But you know what happened - how they did just this. ...And yet indeed, what happened when they ate of it? Although God said they would surely die on that day, we didn't hear of anyone keeling over, did we?

     What I mean to point out to you is that the way we commonly think about "life" and "death" and "food" is different from how the Scriptures define these terms. It's different from how God defines these terms. Life has another dimension to it besides just being able to move and breathe. And so does death. Even as Adam and Eve were running and hiding from God, they were dead - for they went against God's Word. They were running from Him - the source of their life; and yet couldn't hide. They hated Him and were in utter terror and confusion. They didn't have any hope; no power to change their fate. They were only prolonging the day they would stop breathing, being permanently separated from Him.

     But this is the way the Bible often speaks of death, even where they were at this point. Jesus, for example, once told a man who asked to bury His father before he would follow Him, "Let the dead bury their own dead." In the parable of the Prodigal Son and forgiving Father, the son was said to be "dead" when he had been away. St. Paul tells us in Ephesians that before God's grace in Christ, we were dead. -We were just like Adam and Eve, who hadn't quite yet stopped breathing - yet to taste the second dimension of death.

     Because death also has a second dimension to it, much related to the first, this is no doubt why everyone naturally fears approaching physical death and wants to avoid it. Death isn't a simple happy end of the pain and suffering of this so-called life, as some have mistakenly and tragically been duped into thinking. For those who don't know Life as God sees it, this extra dimension of death is the beginning of eternal torment and hopeless separation from God, no chance at life again.

     Remember how if the devil is going to have his will, He doesn't always go after God directly. No, but He goes after us - God's beloved; and he does it by always attacking the Word of God, the source and means of our existence, what works and sustains true Christian faith in us. He tries to remove us from this. He calls it into question. He tells the truth, but not the whole truth. He tries to change definitions to suit his own agenda: "Surely you won't die if you eat this; you'll be like God knowing good and evil." -True, but not the whole truth. Like this, He took their eyes off the second dimension of both life and the second dimension of death. ...And oh how there's been such a mass of confusion ever since!

     But now, look at what you see today: Here there is a crowd who is following Jesus for three days into a deserted place. And they run out of things to eat. Have you ever done this? Probably not. I've heard people say it's too hard to make it thru a whole morning without food, much less to be a long desert-distance away from it. We know that daily food gives us energy and vitality. It's what prolongs us facing the second dimension of death. ...But here they were following Jesus in this hot, desert climate - certainly no Garden of Eden. They're listening to Him. They're hanging on His words, enamored so much that they don't care about the fact that it's far, far past their mealtime. Apart from food, their most critical needs were being met. Just like at creation, where the breath of God was the means that gave Adam life, now Jesus' words were giving them life - literally, and life in both dimensions.

     What do you think He was preaching about? I'm sure it was no gimmicks or entertainment, self-help advice, or even illusions to get their minds off of reality. No, He had plenty to say - about all those wonderful things God was doing in the OT; about the real meaning of it all- how it pointed to the coming Savior. He'd tell the plain truth- that they are condemned by God's law, as we heard last week in the Sermon on the Mount, and yet Jesus' promises gave hope, and in Him they do have life. In fact, that same Law that condemns them now takes on new meaning now with Him. He'd tell them about life and death. ....And He certainly could tell it like no one else. For He was one didn't know any sin - it stood in utter contrast to Him, - but instead He even became sin for us, so He could know our death (in the Biblical sense); and give us His righteousness and life.

     ...And so, the whole truth was being told boldly, plainly, and joyfully. He was revealing to them the mystery, the secret of life. And indeed He bringing them into it, taking away their sin and death, and giving them life.

     Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life... whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and died. ...[But] if anyone eats of this bread, He will live forever. ...Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of his blood, you have no life in you. [He means life with the second dimension]. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life [present tense], and I will raise Him up on the Last Day [There's that the second dimension referred to again]. My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.... As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he will also live because of me."

     You see, life, as in only this temporal existence, depends on how long God gives you breath, and is supported somewhat by food that perishes until you finally die with it. But Life, i.e., complete life with the second dimension, has to be breathed into you again, by hearing Jesus' words. And so it also comes by eating - eating of the right food, namely of Jesus' body and blood.

     Remember at the end of Genesis 3 after God punished Adam and Eve? It then says that God placed a cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way back into Eden, to guard the way back to the Tree of Life (lest anyone partake of it). ....But now, that's what you do. You partake of the fruit of Jesus, the Vine. In the Sacrament, you partake of the fruit that comes forth from His cross that came forth from His side. You reap the benefits of His death, which was for you. -You partake of the Tree of Life.

     And yes, in the meantime He is the Lord God who cares for and provides you with daily breath and food in this life too, just as He did with those 4000. Just as He is the God who made you and has been providing for you. But all that comes secondary, of course, and it does you no good apart from the Tree of Life. Being in Him though, you have life in all its dimensions, so that death and the second death (as Revelation refers to it) cannot harm you.

     You are doing here this morning what Adam and Eve could not do. By this food you are about to receive, as Jesus' words are spoken over this Bread and Wine, He dwells with you and in you in His own body and blood. Thru this He does away your sin and feeds you for life everlasting. Better than what that crowd had that day, by this food your sin is removed, you are re-joined to and nourished by Him who lives forever. Amen.