I Am The Bread of Life

Questions:

Who is John?

What does Jesus mean when he says “I Am?

Provide background on “I Am” from last sermon.

Today we look at the first “I AM” statement.

I am the bread of life

Do y’all like food? Food is great. But it doesn’t last

- If you leave raw chicken in the fridge it’s good for about 1-2 days.

Potatoes stored properly can last 1 to 2 months

According to the FDA you can keep steak in a freezer for 6-12 months. Probably even longer but you’ll begin to lose the quality

A McDonald’s burger that was purchased by a dude in Utah in 1999. And in 2013 it still had no mold on it. And then again in 2020 was mold free. Making it 20 years old. So I guess McDonald’s burgers last if you wanna just stick to eating that.

The idea of having food that doesn’t perish sounds amazing.

Here in John, Jesus is offering everlasting food. Food that will never perish, never go bad. And food that will keep you from ever going hungry again.

Intro

Before the passage...

Jesus had gotten away from the crowds and the people were trying to find him. They had witnessed him do some crazy miracles like the feeding of the 5 thousand…

Illustration???

John 6:25–35 (ESV)

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

John 6:25–26 (ESV)

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

From the start Jesus calls the people out. “You’re not here for me or for the signs but because I gave you food.

They had the wrong motive coming in. Their heart was in the wrong place.

Maybe you’re here today with the wrong reasons for being here. Your heart isn’t in the right place. You’re here for someone else or here for the free chips… But that’s okay. We’re still happy that you’ve come tonight.

But that’s the first thing to wrestle with…

Why are you here?

Reflect on that question… good or bad reasons. Why have you come tonight? Why do you continue to come? Who/what are you pursuing?

Lets look at Jesus’s response to a group of people here for the wrong reasons.

John 6:27 (ESV)

27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Jesus provides a solution. He doesn’t tell them to leave, but recognizes they are confused and misguided. So he points them to the truth.

“Hey stop living for the temporary. The food of this world is going to perish. It might satisfy your physical needs (for a moment) but your soul will perish. Instead pursue the food that is everlasting/eternal. How do we get this?

The Son of Man (Jesus) will give it you.

Stop relying on other people or things for fulfillment in life. That ultimate fulfillment can only be found in Jesus.

And he says at the end of verse 27 “For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

last week we learned about the statement “I Am.”

Jesus is claiming to be God.

And here he comes back to that. The Father God in heaven has set his seal on me. A seal would be set an Item or document to authenticate it. Show that its valid And not a fake.

here Jesus again is saying, the God you claim to worship authenticates me as Lord.

So Jesus challenges the people to seek after food that lasts forever… naturally, they have more questions

John 6:28–30 (ESV)

28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?

The people are like, okay what do we need to do? Still confused. Jesus says the “work” of God is simply believing in Him. There is no work required on our part to receive this everlasting food. The work has been done by Jesus on the cross...

by faith, not by works

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

And they STILL don’t get it. “okay then show us a sign so we can believe you.”

They wanted a sign from Jesus, even though At the beginning of chapter 6, Jesus multiplied 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish into enough food to feed 5,000 people!

How many times are we unsatisfied or completely unaware to what God has done in our lives? He’s provided time and time again and we sit here wanting a sign.

these people here just witnessed the man do the impossible and said “nah that’s not good enough. We need to see something else.”

Remember their intentions at the beginning of this passage…they were looking for some more food. They wanted their temporary needs to be fulfilled by Jesus but could care less about the person of Jesus.

2. Look for the blessing that’s in Jesus, not the blessings that come through Jesus.

We all know the Lord blesses us in life. He provides for us good things.

But

If Jesus is only a pipe to channel God’s blessings, then He simply becomes a convenient Add on to our life; a vessel we can go to get good things from God and nothing more...

John 6:31–34 (ESV)

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

The people bring it back to the time of Exodus when the Israelites were in the wilderness and God miraculously provided food, manna (bread), for them in order to stay alive.…

And Jesus reminds them… God the Father provided the bread for the people. But more than that, he offers the “true bread” from heaven.

what’s this true bread?

John 6:33 (ESV)

33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Who’s Jesus talking about? Himself.

He is the source for everlasting fulfillment. Everlasting nourishing.

And then comes the biggest statement in this passage.

John 6:35 (ESV)

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

This bread of life Is Jesus. Whoever comes to him, whoever believes in him, will never go hungry or thirst again.

The ultimate blessing is Jesus. Jesus gives us Jesus. We receive everlasting life in Him.

3. Jesus is our life source.

We see the use of bread a lot in the Bible. Another place is in Matthew 26 where we get the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Before Jesus heads to the cross and is arrested he has a meal with the disciples. And they break bread togetHer.

Matthew 26:26 (ESV)

26 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.”

Jesus uses the bread to symbolize his body. Jesus’s body being broken, beaten, torn a part, was the breaking of the bread for our sins.

And back here in John he says “I am the bread of life.”

Life can be found at the cross. Where Jesus’s body was broken and his blood was shed so that whoever would believe in him would have everlasting life (John 3:16).

Response

What are you running to today to satisfy your thirst and hunger in life?

anything outside of Jesus is temporary and will fail

As long as we live we’ll still face struggles, pain, hunger, etc.

But, if we are in Jesus, we’re given a new life that has a purpose and identity that will never fail. We will find ourselves under a God who will always provide. Despite the struggles, in Jesus, we’re able to hold onto a life that transcends time itself.

Questions

Highs/lows

Jesus moment.

What does Jesus mean when he says “I AM”? (connection: Exodus 3 “I Am who I am”)

What were the people searching for in John 6?

Do you ever find yourself using Jesus as a convenient add on to life? If so, why do we do this?

What does Jesus mean when he says “I am the bread of life?”

7. How does Jesus being “the bread” connect to the cross?

8. What things do you tend to run to instead of Jesus for fulfillment or satisfaction? How can we begin to run to Jesus in those areas of our life?

9. Any other takeaways?