3 - I Am the Bread of Life

SLIDE: Scripture John 6:33

John 6:33 (NLT)

33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Full Text: John 6:25-70

SLIDE: Bumper

SLIDE: Welcome Home

SLIDE: Sermon Title

Introduction

Let’s think about bread for a minute.

Bread:

It’s something used to hold the main part of a sandwich together.

It’s a side item to go along with the main meal.

It’s something American children tear the crust from before eating.

Bread in modern Western culture is really not a necessity. One could function quite easily without bread. Many low-carb diet plans encourage us to avoid it altogether. There’s a lot of other more healthy stuff to eat.

At the end of the day, bread is an ordinary option against a backdrop of endless dietary choices.

Not so in Bible times. At the very center of life during the times of Jesus and earlier, stood the stalks of grain that sustained life from day to day. Without bread, there was no life. Listen to this quote from Abraham Rihbany, author of The Syrian Christ, to get a sense of the importance of bread to the ancient, as well as some modern, Semitic minds.

“As the son of a Syrian family I was brought up to think of bread as possessing a mystic sacred significance. I never would step on a piece of bread fallen in the road, but would pick it up, press it to my lips for reverence, and place it in a wall or on some other place where it would not be trodden upon. What always seemed to me to be one of the noblest traditions of my people was their reverence to the “aish” (bread; literally “the life-giver”). While breaking bread together we would not rise to salute an arriving guest, whatever the social rank. Whether spoken or not, our excuse for not rising and engaging in the cordial (Near East) salutation before the meal was ended, was our reverence for the food (hir-metal-‘aish). We could, however, and always did, invite the newcomer most urgently to partake of the repast…The ‘aish was something more than mere matter. Inasmuch as it sustained life, it was God’s own life made tangible for his child, man, to feed upon. The Most High Himself fed our hunger. Does not the psalmist say, “Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.”

(From The Syrian Christ by Abraham Rihbany, published 1916.)

Bread also speaks of covenant. The expression “There is bread and salt between us,” conveys the idea that the parties were one in a solemn agreement. A vow invoking these terms spoke of the highest kind of commitment. This is what happened when Abraham was greeted by the priest Melchizedek in the Book of Genesis. We also see it in Psalm 41:9 when David wrote:

Psalm 41:9 (NKJV)

9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, Who ate my bread, Has lifted up his heel against me.

They didn’t just have a good meal together. They made a sacred covenant, and the breaking of bread was to be a seal and reminder of their commitment to one another.

This is what Jesus was referring to at the Lord’s supper. Jesus was making a sacred oath, a vow, a covenant, a legal contract. He was expressing a sacred oath with his disciples. He did not bring in a lawyer and a notary when He did this. According to the ancient tradition, he broke bread with them. And what is our part of this covenant? Eat, remember, and receive the full provision of Christ who dwells in you richly!

Main Teaching

Now, fast-forward to John, chapter six. Jesus has just fed the 5,000 with the miraculous multiplication of five loaves and two fish. Now he has withdrawn to the other side of the lake to get away from the crowds. But they follow him to the other side. From his conversation with them we learn three things about human nature:

SLIDE: Human Nature

First: We’re always hungry for the wrong things.

John 6:26-27

verse 26 – “You’re looking for me because you want to have your bellies filled again…”

verse 27 – “Don’t work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which I will give you.”

This could be a reference to Isaiah 55:2 – “Why do you spend your money for what is not bread, and your labor for what does not satisfy?”

It also brings to mind Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:31-33

Matthew 6:31–33 (NLT)

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Ask yourself this question every day:

What do I really want?

What am I really hungry for?

Not just the superficial needs of food, clothing, and shelter; but the deeper spiritual needs that distinguish humans from all other creatures. And learn to measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.

ADVANCE:

Second: We expect God to provide us with those (wrong) things.

These people were running after Jesus hoping he would perform another miracle of multiplication, just so they could have their stomachs filled. And Jesus called them on it. He knew they were not seeking God, but rather the things they hoped God would do for them.

How about you? Check your prayer life. What do you ask for most often? Do you want God more than anything else, like a deer panting for streams of water—his presence, his life flowing within you? Or do you just want the same stuff everybody else wants, and you hope God will give it to you?

ADVANCE:

Third: We’re always demanding that God prove himself to us.

John 6:30-31

verse 30 – “What miraculous sign will you give that we may see it and believe?” (Remember, the day before they were part of the crowd of 5,000 people that had been fed with five loaves and two fish.)

And then they offer a suggestion, still thinking about their stomachs, apparently:

verse 31 – “Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert. [Moses] gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

SLIDE:

Then Jesus identifies himself as the Bread of Life.

First, indirectly, in the third person.

John 6:33

verse 33 – “The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Their response: “Sir, from now on give us this bread.”

They still don’t know what he’s talking about. They’re still thinking physically, materially. (like the woman at the well of Samaria with water, that we talked about last week) And, they’re comparing it to Moses and the Manna in the wilderness.

So, he gets more direct.

John 6:35

verse 35 – “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry…”

Then this challenge: John 6:36 - “But you have seen me and still you do not believe…”

Everyone here this morning has “seen” Jesus. That is, we understand his claims to some degree: Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the World.

And yet we don’t believe it. How do I know? We’re still spending our money on what doesn’t satisfy… We’re still demanding that God prove himself to us.

The Aftermath:

(John 6:52-59) What follows is one of the most difficult sections in scripture; there’s just no sugarcoating it.

John 6:53-56

verses 53-56 - 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. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains me, and I in them.”

The result:

(in a mastery of understatement):

John 6:60

verse 60 – On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

In the modern Greek it literally reads like this: “What?!! What the heck are you talking about?!!”

But Jesus explains himself in private:

John 6:63

verse 63 - “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are spirit and life.” I.e. “I’m talking about spiritual realities, not physical flesh and blood!”

But it was still too much for some: John 6:66 - “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

The line in the sand:

John 6:67-68

Jesus asks the Twelve,

verse 67 - “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

verse 68 - Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Conclusion

SLIDE: Our Dilemma

This is our dilemma.

Jesus is not who we want him to be.

He’s not a genie in a bottle.

He will not always meet your expectations of what you want God to do for you.

ADVANCE

But he is the bread of life; the sustenance, the source, the nourishment.

And there is no place else to go for real life. You know that’s true. And God will show you that the pain, the failure, the disappointment, the stumbling are all a necessary part of the mystery. Because the walk of faith begins with a stumble, as we realize that only Jesus can provide the bread that feeds our deepest hunger.

Let’s pray together.

Prayer:

“Father, we are hungry today. We come here keenly aware of our physical needs and human desires. Make us aware of our deeper, more important hunger, and feed us today with the Bread of Life.”