It’s Time To Eat | John 6:41–59

Opening Remarks:

Title:

Pray:

Introduction:

Recently visited with someone about a young couple that is considering marriage.

Talked about their similarities and all the ways they were compatible.

Similar personalities

Similar backgrounds

Similar beliefs

But then a comment was made that I thought was interesting

This person said, “My only concern is this, and I’m not trying to be silly, but the man she’s interested in is a Yankee.”

One of them is from the south and the other is from the north.

And being a Yankee was a concern.

And I was like, “Yeah, that’s true.”

But then I thought, “I live in South Dakota. Does that mean I’m a Yankee?”

So I looked it up, because I wanted to make sure I didn’t have reason to be offended, and it seems we’re off the hook.

A Yankee is someone from New England.

So I’m not offended. But if you’re a Yankee, I’ve now offended you, and that’s a bigger problem.

But it did cause me to consider how different regions of the country have different personalities and characteristics.

If you’re from the south you have a certain demeanor.

If you’re from California or the west coast people consider you having certain trademarks.

If you’re Minnesota, there’s Minnesota nice.

If you’re from Iowa, your favorite pizza is probably Casey’s.

If you’re from South Dakota, you can tell the change of seasons not by month but by whether or not Milky Way is open.

The point is, all regions have different quirks and stereotypes and personalities.

And in studying this text, that was apparently true about Galileans as well.

Galileans were known for their appetite for fleshly things

They were materialistic. They had strong appetites for the things of the flesh.

That’s why Nathanael said in John 1, “Can anything good come from Galilee?”

They didn’t have a good reputation.

Those in southern Israel like Judea and Jerusalem were known for their religious commitment and spiritual piety.

Not the Galileans. Which makes it even more interesting that Jesus came from Galilee.

And it makes even more sense that Paul wrote in Philippians 2 that Jesus came and “made himself of no reputation.” He was a carpenter’s son from Galilee.

The Galileans were fleshly people. They were materialistic.

Just consider this account.

Review chapter 6

At the beginning of the chapter, 5000 men plus women and children had come to hear Jesus preach, and Philip, one of the disciples said, “There’s nowhere around here to buy bread.”

So they found the boy with five loaves and two fish and Jesus multiplied it so that the entire multitude was fed to the full.

Not only that, 12 baskets of leftovers remained.

You know that fish and bread was the best meal they’d ever tasted. If you’ve ever had a great cook or chef make you a meal, it’s next level. So what happens when the Creator prepares your meal? You know it was good.

So that caught the Galileans attention. Good food? All we can eat? Yes, please!

And that night the disciples left to cross the Sea of Galilee and go to Capernaum.

But they ran into a storm, which Jesus then walks on the water to go to them and calm the storm.

So they go to Capernaum.

Meanwhile, the next day, the multitude wakes up and realizes Jesus is gone, so they cross the Sea of Galilee to go to Capernaum too. Why?

Because they love teaching?

Because they’re so spiritual?

Well Jesus gives us the answer when He says in Vs. 26, “You’ve sought me because you liked the food and your bellies were filled.”

John 2:24–25 “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”

So this exchange between Jesus and the Galileans is about Him confronting their materialistic tendencies using an example they were familiar with: FOOD.

He’s trying to get their minds off of material things onto spiritual things, and He uses shocking language to do it.

Think about how shocking these statements would have been:

Vs. 48 - “I am the bread of life”

Vs. 51 - “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Vs. 52 - They respond with astonishment. “How can he say these things?”

Another good question would have been, “Why would he say these things?”

Well remember the context.

Why had they followed Jesus to Capernaum?

According to Jesus, they came for more food.

So Jesus says, “I know you’re here for food to fill your bellies, but let me tell you about a different kind of bread.”

“The bread you eat satisfies for a few hours, but I am bread that can satisfy you for eternity.”

Jesus was a Master at taking something people understand and relating it to something spiritual. Food was on their minds, so he uses it to help them understand something eternal.

He uses the concept of Eating to draw attention to His identity as the Savior.

And they needed it, because they weren’t spiritually minded. They were so aware of their material, physical needs, that they weren’t thinking about spiritual things at all.

The problem is, once Jesus shifts from earthly “bread” to calling Himself “BREAD,” they don’t like it.

Vs. 41 - They murmured

Vs. 52 - They strove, which means there was division, strife. They said, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

They weren’t getting it. They’re saying, “We just want food. We don’t want to talk about the hard stuff. Give us the good stuff.”

“We just want free food. All you can eat. Like manna in the wilderness. Give us food and we’ll move on.”

But rather than softening His approach, Jesus turns to even more uncomfortable language.

Vs. 53 - “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”

Vs. 54 - “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood”

Vs. 55 - “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.”

Vs. 56 - “He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood.”

And they’re looking at each other like, “We’re here for bread and fish. What are you talking about?”

This really is a hard saying. It sounds like cannibalism. They’re feeling it. Look down in Vs. 60.

This is hard. It’s confusing. We could easily not get what He’s saying.

So how do we ensure we understand His point?

I think asking questions is always a help.

So I’d like to ask three questions to help us understand this passage:

The first is this:

I. Why Did Jesus Come?

Vs. 40 - “This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Sounds like Jesus came to give everlasting life.

Vs. 47 - Everlasting Life

Vs. 51 - Live forever

Vs. 54 - Eternal life

Vs. 58, “This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”

So clearly, Jesus came to offer people eternal life.

The problem the people had was His approach was hard.

It’s popular these days to make the Gospel a feel-good movement.

It’s all positive thinking and it’s all Jesus meeting our felt needs.

But the Gospel, if presented correctly, is hard.

It confronts our sin. It’s dependent on Christ’s death. It forces us to die to ourselves and accept His plan.

Jesus didn’t come simply to make you successful in your career.

He didn’t just come to help you prosper.

He certainly didn’t come promising to make your life easier.

He came to give eternal life.

And in the end, that will make you feel good, but it means you have to come to the end of yourself as a sinner and recognize your need for a Savior.

But don’t let the reality of the Gospel deter you, know this:

Why Did Jesus Come? To Offer Eternal Life

Whether or not we like the packaging, in the end, that’s Christ’s purpose. That’s the message of John 6.

Question #2: How Does He Offer Eternal Life?

II. By offering His flesh and blood

When Jesus mentions those two elements - Flesh and Blood - He’s giving a clear indication that He was going to die.

Vs. 51 - “The bread that I will give is my flesh”

That’s looking ahead about 1 year to the cross when Jesus Christ will literally lay down His life for the sins of mankind.

He would lay down His body and shed His blood on Calvary, for them.

And they should have been able to connect the dots.

John the Baptist came saying, “Behold the LAMB of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

They all knew that Jesus had been declared the Lamb.

What did Lambs do in that period of time?

They were sacrificed in the Temple for the sins of the people.

They people understood that lambs died.

They understood that the blood of lambs was shed.

So even though it would have been hard, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that they could have understood this.

But they were so consumed with their bellies, with material things, that they couldn’t understand spiritual things.

They missed the message that was right in front of them.

But Jesus was clearly saying, “I will soon be the Lamb that does what the other lambs could never do.”

“Those other lambs offered temporary atonement, but soon I will offer my body and blood as a permanent solution to your sin problem.”

“My body and blood will provide eternal life.”

See, if there’s no sacrifice, there’s no salvation.

If He doesn’t offer His flesh and blood, we can’t be saved.

Eternal life is made available to every man and woman and child by reason of the offering of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree”

Hebrews 9:22 “…without shedding of blood is no remission.”

So Question #1 Is: Why Did Jesus Come?

Answer: To Offer Eternal Life

And Question #2 is: How Does He Offer Eternal Life?

By Giving His Body And Blood

But Question #3 present the sticky point:

III. How Do We Receive Eternal Life?

This is the hard saying in Vs. 60.

Because the answer to "How Do We Receive Eternal Life” is this: You Have To Eat.

And it sounds strange. But that what He says.

Vs. 51, “I’m the living bread which came down from heaven, if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.”

Vs. 53, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”

And they’re confused, but He doesn’t stop.

Vs. 54 - Whose eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life

Vs. 55 - My flesh is meat, my blood is drink

Vs. 56 - He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I in him

Vs. 57 - He that eateth me, he shall live by me.

So we have to eat.

Why Did He Come? To offer eternal life.

How? By offering His body and blood.

How do we receive it? We have to eat.

Application:

You’re sitting there in your pew saying, “This is a hard saying.”

“What do you mean I have to eat His body and drink His blood? Literally?”

It can’t be literally. Jesus had one body. It’s in Heaven. Some denominations teach that, but this is not a literal lesson.

Remember, their problem was they were focused on material things. So why would Jesus give them a material solution?

Let’s be logical. Because it’s probably not as hard as we think.

Remember, it was hard for them because they were focused on material things.

But this isn’t a material lesson. This is a spiritual lesson.

Jesus is simply explaining how a person receives eternal life.

And He uses the concept of Eating to do it.

It was language they understood. Food. Eating. Consuming.

It’s something anyone can understand. We all have to eat to live.

So He simply goes from something they wanted - Bread - to something they needed - Eternal life.

And what He’s saying is placing your faith in Jesus Christ to have eternal life is like eating and drinking.

In the same way that the food on the table needs to be consumed, eternal life must somehow get from Jesus Christ to us.

Think about it: Eternal life is in Jesus Christ.

And it must get from Jesus to us if we are to have it.

It must be appropriated from Him to us somehow.

So in the same way you eat and drink, you must spiritually receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ, because that’s how He offers eternal life to us.

You’ve got to eat!

Illustration: We have breakfast every Sunday morning for Men’s Prayer Meeting

The ladies get here early to make it, for which we’re thankful

Then as prayer time is ending, they set food out

We say grace then line up to put the food on our plates

Then we take a seat

But what happens next?

Sit and stare at it?

Think about it?

Smell it?

That would be very disappointing

It would defeat the whole purpose of breakfast

If I want that food in my belly, what do I have to do?

EAT! Or else I starve.

That’s what Jesus is saying.

If you want eternal life, it has to get from Jesus to you. Which means you have to eat.

And so many know about the sacrifice of Christ and all they ever do is stare.

All they do is smell.

All they do is think about it.

And Jesus says, “It’s time to eat. If you don’t, you don’t get the benefits of the food.”

About a year later, Jesus would willingly lay down His life for mankind.

No man took His life from Him. He laid it down.

He was betrayed by Judas.

Tortured by Roman guards.

Placed on a cross with nails pounded into his wrists and feet.

He hung there suffocating, bleeding out.

After He died, they took His body down and buried Him.

He was dead.

But after three days. He rose again.

He was seen of over 500 people that knew Him.

Now He’s ascended back to Heaven at His Father’s right hand.

I heard a preacher say it this way:

The Table’s Been Set

It’s all prepared

Eternal life has been offered

But if you want it, you have to eat.

Okay, but what does He mean by eating??

Let’s interpret His meaning by in the same passage.

Vs. 47 - “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life”

Vs. 54 - “Whose eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life”

So Jesus is saying, “If you want eternal life, you have to believe. And believing is like eating and drinking.”

You weight the evidence and you choose to place your trust in Jesus Christ alone. You’ve got to eat.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross and offered His body and blood in obedience to the Father, it was like setting the table for spiritually hungry people.

The work is finished. Jesus Christ died and paid the price. But if we don’t eat, eternal life never gets from Him to us.

It sits on the plate.

Eating means we recognize our sin, acknowledge our need for a Savior, and believe. Place our faith.

Just like eating, you must choose to believe in order to receive Eternal life from Jesus Christ.

Not just looking at it. Believing.

Not just smelling. Eating.

Not just head knowledge. That doesn’t feed you.

Making the choice to trust Jesus alone.

Jesus wasn’t just talking to those materialistic people who liked good food. He’s speaking to us.

He says, “Here are terms you’ll understand. It’s time to eat.”

If you don’t eat:

You don’t get nourished

You don’t get satisfied

You starve

You waste away

You die

Spiritually, you die and spend eternity separated from Christ

If you do eat:

You get fed

You are filled

You gain strength

You have health

You’re satisfied

Spiritually speaking, have you eaten?

Because the table is set. The offer has been made.

Jesus Christ gave His body and blood for us to have eternal life.

It’s time to EAT.

If you don’t, you don’t have eternal life.

If you don’t eat, you die. That’s the message.

If you die without Christ, you spend eternity in hell.

But it’s not just about Eternal life.

It’s about being satisfied.

Vs. 56, “Eating is dwelling with Christ. Living a satisfied life.”

The only way to be satisfied is it eat.

Christian, maybe you’ve eaten. You have eternal life.

But you don’t just eat once.

You have to eat every day or you starve.

The reason we starve is not because there’s not enough food. It’s because we don’t eat.

This food never runs out. That was the picture of the five loaves and two fish. There’s more than enough.

You can lead a Christian to Jesus, but you can make Him eat.

You have to choose that.

Last Application:

We’re so much like the Galileans.

We’re filling our lives with things that can’t satisfy.

Money, career, pleasure, temporary things, some relationship.

If you want to be satisfied, you’ve got to eat.

You’ve got to come to Christ and believe, or you don’t have eternal life.

You’ve got to come to Christ every day or you’ll starve.

He’s the only satisfaction for a hungry soul.

Until then, you’ll be spiritually hungry.

Malnourished. Starving. Unhealthy.

Until you eat, you’ll be dissatisfied.

Until you eat, you’ll have no life.

At lunch today, I don’t want to only look at it. I want to eat.

I don’t want to only smell it. I want to eat.

And I don’t want to taste a little. I want to eat to the full.

And I can, but I have to choose.

Friend. It’s time to eat. The table is set.

The offer has been made. The food has been paid for.

Why don’t you eat?

If you’re a Christian, go back every day. The food never runs out.

If you’re lost, it’s time to eat. It’s the only way to have eternal life