Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (Three Year Lectionary—Series B) (Proper 14B)

1 Kings 19:1–8
Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:17—5:2
John 6:35–51

The Lord Jesus Feeds Us with His Flesh, in Order to Strengthen Us with His Own Life

God the Father sent His Son into the world, so that the world might have life in Him. Now He “draws” you to His Son, Christ Jesus, by the preaching of His Gospel. “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father” comes to Jesus, who will never cast him out but “will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44–45). He is “the bread of life,” who “comes down from heaven” in the flesh, that you may eat of Him and “live forever” (John 6:48–51). Although “the journey is too great for you,” in the strength of this food you shall come to “the mount of God.” Do not be afraid, and do not despair, but “arise and eat” (1 Kings 19:5–8). And “no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (Eph. 4:17), but “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2). In Him, you have been “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). Therefore, “be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1), by “forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).