I Am, Part 1

This week I will start a series on the “I am” statements of Christ found in the book of John and this week will focus on Chapter 6. The statement indicating Jesus was the “bread of life” comes after He has just fed the five thousand.

Jesus leaves and travels to the "other side” of the Sea of Galilee. Scripture says a large crowd followed Him because of the miracles He was performing. As we can see in the map, the distance was not as much as we might think - from a mile to a mile and a half. He went up into the mountain to be with his disciples near the time of the Passover, indicating there would have been more people than usual to celebrate the feast. Here Jesus looks out over the crowd and sees the crowd coming to where He is and asks Philip where they could buy enough bread to feed the crowd. This wasn’t a question looking for great spiritual insight, but was a rhetorical question pointing towards the divine nature of Jesus. He knew what He was going to do.

Philip tells Jesus it would take close to a years salary (200 denarii) worth of bread and it still wouldn’t be enough for them to get a small piece of bread. Andrew then tells Jesus there is a boy who had five barley loaves and two fishes. This looks like a great statement of faith in Jesus…until the next words… “but what are they for so many?” Basically Andrew is saying there is no way this is going to be enough. Which, in a human’s mind is correct. But in Jesus’ hands…it was abundantly more than what was needed.

Jesus instructs the disciples to have the people sit down, and scripture tells us there were 5,000 men in number. Adding women and children, there could have been well over 15,000 in attendance. He then blessed the meager offering and started breaking apart the bread and the fish. It says each person ate their fill - not a little to cut the hunger pangs - they were stuffed and couldn’t eat any more. After eating Jesus instructed the disciples to gather the fragments so that nothing would go to waste. They filled twelve baskets. It just goes to show us when Jesus sets the dinner table in front of us, there’s always an abundance and with excess left over. Whether we eat until we are full is up to us. What Jesus tells the crowd in the first “I AM” statement confuses, disgusts, and turns away those who were only there for the show. You see, they wanted the physical hungers fed but did not understand the spiritual hungers that Jesus was willing to feed.

Crowd Follows

John 6:22–24 ESV

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

After the miracle, Jesus and the disciples boarded a boat and went back to Capernaum. When the others had awakened, they noticed Jesus was no longer there and He had not gotten back on last boat leaving. They, then, got on other boats and went back to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. In looking at these verses, we have to look at the motives behind their following Jesus. Were they truly seeking Jesus, or were they wanting to be entertained? I think that is a valid question we must ask about church attendance today. Too often, churches are full of activities just to be busy, to fill a calendar. Often times, what fills the calendar is more entertainment than things helping us to grow closer to Christ or fulfilling the Great Commission. So, how do we as churches and as Christians guard ourselves? We have to seek what God wants/desires for us.

Seeking God

John 6:28–33 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? 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.”

What were the people really looking for? First, they wanted confirmation of WHO He really was. They saw the miracles, but it had not been enough. The people were looking for more entertainment, but they also wanted Jesus to prove Himself to them. Their questions to Jesus were centered around physical needs being met. He had just fed the crowds miraculously…once…Moses had fed the Israelites for 40 years in the wilderness. Jesus fed them bread and fish that had been prepared by the hands of a human. Moses had fed them with manna from heaven. Basically they were saying “prove what you are saying” to Jesus.

Isn’t this like many of us today? Lord, I will put my faith and trust in you IF you will… Often times, we do not want to accept by faith, but we ask God to show us something so we can believe. Which is the complete opposite of what is asked of us by God. We are asked to believe, by faith, and THEN He will reveal Himself - not the other way around.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

These who were in attendance were asking Jesus to prove to them who He was. Jesus then reminds them, it was not Moses who fed them, but it had been God Himself. Jesus was about to explain to them, the bread that they had eaten - even the manna - was temporary. It fed the physical hunger, but they hunger came back. It was never going to fill them completely and eternally. Jesus, on the other hand, tells the crowd to be fully satisfied, they must receive the true bread from heaven. It isn’t a physical bread, but a spiritual bread. This does not say God will not provide our physical needs, Jesus had just shown us that He will provide our physical needs too, but it will only last a short time and then we will be hungry again. Jesus is using this as a teaching opportunity. You see, we all have another hunger - a spiritual hunger - one where we crave spiritual food that can only be satisfied with the bread from heaven. It is this bread, provided by our heavenly Father, that will satisfy us for eternity. Jesus then tells the crowd He had been sent from heaven to feed a lost world, so they could be sustained…spiritually…and have eternal life.

Jesus coming to earth, took a starving world where no spiritual bread was to be found, and provided it with life-sustaining nourishment. He came to sacrifice Himself, to feed and save a starving world.

We never have enough, we always want more. Doesn’t matter what it is, either, we can never have enough. Will we ever be truly satisfied? I would suggest to you we will never be satisfied with the earthly things, but we can be satisfied when we receive the bread of life.

Bread of Life

John 6:34–36 ESV

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. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

The crowds were intrigued, perplexed, and asking for something that (in my opinion) they still knew nothing about. Give us this bread always. They wanted this everlasting bread of life.

The Bible is clear that Salvation is partaking in the Bread of Life. It is a permanent experience, a once-and-for-all experience that fills us completely, fully, and for ever more.

Jesus then makes the claim to the crowd that HE was the Bread of Life.

So why do humans need the Bread of Life? Because life - eternal life - had been lost when Adam and Eve sinned. They had lost their source of life, their spiritual bread. Jesus was saying He came to earth to restore the source of life. He will fill their hunger for life. Not only their hunger, but their thirst too. Every need for life is satisfied by believing in Jesus as our Savior.

This doesn’t mean we won’t have struggles or there won’t be times where we still have spiritual hunger or thirst, only that it will never go unsatisfied.

Matthew 5:6 ESV

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Jesus then gives a reminder to those in attendance, just as He does with us today - I have told you and even showed you who I truly was, but you still do not believe. They had seen the miracles, but were still skeptical of Christ. Oh, how many people see God in everything around them, but still don’t believe.

Unbelief

John 6:41–42 ESV

41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus answered their questions, He had given them proof of who He was, and some…the “religious”…still chose to not believe Him. What was it they disagreed with? They disagreed with His claim that He came “down from heaven”. Why was it they could not believe Him? Because they knew the HUMAN side of Jesus. They knew His father, Joseph, they knew His mother, Mary. They knew Him only from the HUMAN perspective. They couldn’t see who He was NOW, because they couldn’t forget who He was THEN.

My goodness, how often do we look at people we may know - know their mamma's, know their daddy’s, know their stories as a young person, and know all their mischief or their faults. We may even know their sins, their rowdy side, and maybe even their trouble with the law. Then when we see them as grown adults, we are skeptical, stand offish, even critical when we hear how they have changed. We want to remember people for their PAST, and not what they have become.

The “religious” of the crowd could not forget Jesus’ PAST, and were unwilling to believe in WHO He was as the Son of God. How could He make the claim He was “from heaven”? Some were so closed minded, they turned away from Him and His ministry.

Turning Away

John 6:60 ESV

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

John 6:66 ESV

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

Many of the crowd, those who were following Jesus, could not bring themselves to believe what they had just been told. What Jesus had said was hard and difficult to accept, but it wasn’t a problem with their head understanding it was with their heart believing. Even after Jesus explained it to them again, they rejected Him. Scripture says they “turned back and no longer walked with Him”. They wanted to see the miracles, they wanted to be entertained. They didn’t want to believe in Jesus as their Savior.

Too often, we have people come to church looking for “something”. They may not know what they are looking for, who they are looking for, or why they are looking - but they come looking in the church. They may even have preconceived notions of what the church should be able to do for them. But, when they don’t get what they want, when they want it, or how they want it, they too turn away from the church. Notice the key word - they turn away from the church. You see, they never really were followers of Jesus. They were just looking for the entertainment, or the therapy, or sometimes even the money. It’s a sad thought, but according to Ignite America, surveys conducted from 2007 - 2016 estimate (on average) 45% of church goers are NOT saved. They believe they are a Christian, simply because they go to church, sing the songs and give their money. But they have never truly believed on Jesus as theirs Savior. Those who remain, though, are the true followers.

True Followers

John 6:67–69 ESV

67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

While we don’t know the true number of those who left, scripture tells us “many” of those who had followed Jesus turned back and no longer walked with Him. And then, there was the twelve. Jesus looked at them as plainly asked them if they were going to leave too. Simon Peter, the bold one who never failed to speak, told Jesus they didn’t have anywhere else to go… You see, Jesus had chosen them and they had chosen Jesus. They knew, and believed in who He was. “You have the words of eternal life and we have believed”. Salvation is that simple. Romans 10:10 tells us “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Closing

Jesus was starting His earthly ministry, and many were willing to follow Him. Not really because of who He was, but what He was doing. Miracles had become the entertainment they sought. They were looking for what Jesus could do to entertain them, not what He could do to eternally sustain them. He spoke truth, He showed them who He was, and they still rejected Him.

When it comes to evangelism and discipleship, we have to also remember, it is not up to us to save people. We have simply been tasked with telling them WHO Jesus is and offer them the same Bread of Life He offered to those who were following Him. Today, I offer you the opportunity to receive the Bread of Life. Jesus is the same today, as He was then - He still is the source of our eternal life. IF we are willing to, by faith, believe in Him as our Savior too.

This morning, the altar is open. If you are in need of a Savior or even if you need to renew your relationship with your Savior, the altar is open. Come, and confess that Jesus is the source of eternal life.