Bread of Life (2)

Anyone Hungry?

Cindy and I have been practicing with the bread machine all week long to time it so that we would have service this morning with the smell of bread. I hope that the smell is making you hungry.

We’ve also changed the order of the service this morning so that we can enjoy communion at the end of the message today. I want to not only make you physically hungry but spiritually hungry for Jesus as our Bread of Life, broken on the Cross. At the end of the service, we are going to take this fresh bread and break it in remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.

The Bread of Life

During communion I frequently go to Paul’s instructions to the church in the letter to the Corinthians. Today I would like to spend some time with the words of Jesus that are found in the Gospel of John. It is a longer passage, but I believe it will help our understanding of what Jesus has done for us.

John 6:32–58 NIV

Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 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 in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

Prior to this passage, the Gospel of John tells us that Jesus fed 5,000 with a boy’s meal of 2 small fish and 5 small barley loaves. The people following Jesus figured they had found their meal ticket! Free lunches forever!

Jesus wasn’t talking about lunches. This passage is clarification by Jesus that just as God (not Moses) provided the manna, God had provided again in Jesus as the Bread of Life. The source for eternal life. They didn’t understand it, but they would quickly see it.

Wholly Good Bread

Everybody likes bread. Light…. Hot…. fresh…. buttered (not margarine) bread fresh from the oven is hard to beat. The crowds became fixated on physical bread but Jesus wanted them to understand that the Heavenly Father was offering something much more… The Bread of Life.

Bread is Life Giving

The ancient Israelites heavily depended on bread as a staple food, with estimates suggesting that between half and three-quarters of their caloric intake came from various grains.

I hope that I’m not getting that many calories from bread. However, I can tell you that it is hard for me to pass up a Tony’s Stallone sub on hard Italian bread or a grilled cheese sandwich on rye. We definitely like our breads. But there is One who is better than all the physical bread of the world.

John 6:33 NIV

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

I think that there are a couple of things that we should notice in these words of Jesus. (1) The Bread of God has been provided to us by the Heavenly Father. Sometimes we use the term Abba Father to represent His tenderness towards us. In English it is equivalent to “daddy” or “papa”. Jesus used it in the Garden of Gethsemane. Paul used to when referring to our relationship to God as adopted children. And, (2) our spiritual life is provided through God’s gift of the Bread of Life.

[Have someone take the bread to cut it up].

Satisfaction Guaranteed

I made the 1st loaf of bread on Tuesday. It didn’t go so well. Apparently, I used the wrong flour. And, apparently, I didn’t use Cindy’s dad’s recipe. The next attempts were much better. There has to be quality control when I’m baking, but there is no need for quality control when it comes to Jesus!

John 6:35 NIV

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

S.M. Lockridge, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, famously praised God with the message “That’s My King! Do You Know Him?” After describing Him as King, His blessings, and His character, he concludes with these words:

I wish I could describe Him to you, but…He’s indescribable. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible. He’s irresistible.

Dr. Lockridge paused and then began again…

Well, you can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hand. You can’t outlive Him. And you can't live without Him. The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him.

Yea! that's my King, that's my King. Father. "Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory. Forever and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever. How long is that? And when you get through with all the forever’s then AMEN and AMEN!

Rev. Lockridge’s words have become legendary because he strikes the cord of truth. Jesus is beyond our expectations. Trust Him! No quality control necessary.

You Must Participate!

Of course, this passage is Jesus predicting what He would do on the Cross. The Bread and the Cross are connected. Jesus is the Bread.

John 6:51 NIV

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

As a personal response to Jesus as the Bread of Life, I’d like for us to have communion at this time. The ushers will be bringing the elements to you this morning. We will eat the bread and drink the cup. Salvation comes through believing in Jesus, accepting His sacrifice, and living in communion with Him.

John 6:56 NIV

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.

Let’s take the bread…this is His body, the Bread of Life, “do this in remembrance” of me.

Let’s take the cup..this is His blood, the cup of the New Covenant in His blood, “do this in remembrance of me”.

The Bread of Life Was Broken on the Cross

I asked Cindy earlier this week to put out a table with the communion. In back of the table is the Cross with a red cloth draped over it. It is spotlighted with red. Admittedly, it is unsettling. She preferred purple (I do too), traditionally it would be because today is Palm Sunday.  But Palm Sunday is followed by Good Friday- the day remembered the Bread of Life was broken for you and me.

Matthew 27:45–54 NIV

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”). When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.” And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”

Jesus' crucifixion was the fulfillment of this promise. His body was broken, and His blood was poured out for the salvation of humanity. He is the Bread of Life, broken for you and me…

                  He is good

                  He gives us life

                  He invites us to participate

Experiencing the Bread of Life doesn’t end here this morning. It is continually relying on Jesus for our physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. We also have a responsibility to share the Bread of Life with others…

                  Everyone Reach One

                  Come Home