NEW TESTAMENT: Ephesians 5: 15 - 20 (all)

Ephe 5:15 (NRSV) Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, 16 making the most of the time, because the days are evil. 17 So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Ephesus had been part of the Roman Empire for over a century.

2. It was a city second only to Rome in size, almost 500,000 inhabitants.

3. The large temple of Artemis generated jobs for local statue makers and Paul caused some controversy among them Acts 19:23-41)

4. To be wise is more than to know; it means to use, apply, and thus to get the most out of knowledge in our walking or in the management of our life.

5.the Christian must buy back time which evil has taken over.

6. Speaking about making use of opportunities in the interest of the Kingdom of God, whatever that opportunity may be. Unbelievers make use of opportunities to further their own material gain. It is not wrong for Christians to do that. They should do that. But, in addition to that, they must wisely seize opportunities which are in the interest of God's Kingdom.

7. The text is speaking about what we should do in specific cases for the good of people as prospects for the Kingdom of God. Lord what would you have me do?

8. "Debauchery" literally means "unsavingness." The translations are interesting: "excess, debauchery, dissipation, wild living."

9. The band SAVAE plays authentic songs and psalms from the Biblical era.



GOSPEL: John 6: 51 - 58 (RCL, Roman Catholic)

John 6:51 (NRSV) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."



1. Manna, temporal, from God, only protected the chosen people, the new bread gives life forever.

2. The participle in verse 54, trwvgwn, is almost shockingly graphic: it means to eat noisily, often used of animals (“gnaw,” “nibble,” “munch”).

3. Very truly, I tell you, - you don’t know how true your words actually are…

4. Flesh and blood stand for faith, not the Last Supper, over a year later. Lots of controversy and blood over the ages on this.

5. Ordinary food for the body is temporary and merely sustains life. Jesus' flesh and blood is eternal and gives eternal life

6. Here we have the fourth and last "In very truth I tell you." This clause always denotes Jesus' divinity and authority.

7. "In" should be compared to John 17:23. This "in" denotes the mystical union between believer and Savior. This use of this preposition is found only in the New Testament and no place else in literature. Even a husband and wife are not so closely bound as are believer and Savior. Furthermore, the bond between husband and wife ends when either one of both die. But the death of the Savior brought about this bond between believer and Savior, and it will last forever