Bread and Water

Good Morning Church

Bibles open to John 6…

SUNDAY SCHOOL SERIES

Last week Woman at the well

He asks her for a drink…

Jews hate Samaritans…

Jesus said “if you knew who you were talking to…you would ask Him for a drink…I have living water…”

She says you have nothing to draw water with…

John 4:12 “Are you greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?”

ARE YOU GREATER???

You have to realize the context of the entire OT and the 4 Gospels…

They are Jewish writings…

The men writing them are Jews…

They originate from Judea…they deal mostly with Jews…

98% of the interactions are between Jews...

SO…when you read these writings you must read them in the Jewish context…

These people have been seeking and waiting for this final Prophet…

They have seen many prophets

The greatest of whom they believed to be MOSES…

They would say…

MOSES delivered us from Egypt…

MOSES walked us across the divided Red Sea…

MOSES fed us manna in the desert…

Moses is their greatest prophet…

SO…IS JESUS GREATER THAN MOSES????

The Jews know that One will come and be greater than Moses…One they will call Messiah or Christ...

How do they know this will happen…

Because God told Moses it would…

Deuteronomy 18:18–19 “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like to you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

THIS IS WHAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE TODAY…

Jesus telling the Jewish people…I AM GREATER…I AM THAT PROPHET…I AM THE MESSIAH

He is going to do this through 2 miracles…

Jesus by this time had done many miracles

-Water into wine

-healed a noble mans son

-healed a sick and lame man at Bethesda

Word of these signs had spread all across the land…

And by this time Jesus had ALOT of people who have sought Him out and began following Him…

Thats where we pick up today…

As we get to see the next 2 miracles Jesus shows the people of Israel…

-Feed (over) 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish…

(this is the only miracles, beside His resurrection, that is in all 4 gospel writings)

-Walk on water…

Lets look at how they unfold…

READ V 1-21

The Miracles

Feeding the 5,000 (v1-14)

NOTICE: “After these things…” (look back in the text for context

Jesus had been off healing…mainly in Jerusalem…

And the Pharisees are looking for Jesus to persecute Him and kill Him…

So He goes back up North to Galilee…

MAP

The bible tells us that Jesus crosses over the sea of Galilee and lands somewhere near Bethsaida…

A GREAT MULTITUDE IS FOLLOWING HIM…They have seen His miracles…

(other places in scripture tells us this was 5,000 men (but women and children were there as well)

SO ALOT OF PEOPLE!!!

The passover feast was near…SO they had to eat…

Jesus looks up…sees the multitude following Him…

Says to Philip (one of His apostles) “where shall we buy bread so that these may eat?”

He asks Philip this because Philip is from Bethsaida…

Verse 8- He asks this question to “Prove” or “test” Philip

Not to tempt but to teach…

Philips response…200 penniworth of bread wouldn't feed this crowd

1 penniworth= 1 denarri (Roman currency)

1 denarii= a days wage

200 days wages wouldn't feed this crowd

ITS IMPOSSIBLE…

So if we dont have enough money to buy bread…

What do we have to give them???

Andrew says “theres a boy here…he has 5 barley loaves…and 2 small fish…

to feed over 5,000 people…

Thats laughable yall!!!!

Like…why would you even bring that up ??? (Really Andrew…)

So we see a need…

They cant supply themselves with what they need…

they have a little of what they need… but nowhere near enough…

How does the Lord respond????

READ (Look at) verse 10—-He has them sit in a green pasture

Psalm 23:2 “He makes me to lie down in green pastures…”

As the great shepherd…Jesus has led His flock to a place where they can eat…and He is getting ready to feed His sheep

And He took the loaves and gave thanks…

and he distributed the loaves and fish to the disciples and they passed them out and they ate…AND LOOK AT THE END OF VERSE 11 (they had…as much as they would (or wanted))\

AND v12 (they were filled!!!)

And not only that…

From 5 loaves and 2 small fish…

They had 12 baskets of leftovers….

LEFT OVERS…

Picture the apostles (12 of them)…moments before being like there is no way we are feeding all these people bro…

And NOW…Each of them has there own goodie bag of left overs…

Like when you leave your mommas house after a holiday…and she sends leftovers home with ya…

Listen…

In Gods hands…nothing is too little…In God’s hands…nothing is impossible… AMEN!?!?!

Look how the people respond…

READ V 14…

THAT PROPHET:

Remember…

Deuteronomy 18:18–19 “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like to you, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.”

THAT PROPHET…has come into the world…

THEY ARE STARTING TO SEE…

BUT JESUS AIN’T DONE YET…

READ with me V15-21

Walking on Water (v15-21)

To make Him a King…why?

Because He provided for them (we will get deeper into that here in a second)

But Jesus went back up the mountain alone to pray…

The disciples get into a boat and start rowing toward Capernaum…

Its dark…Jesus is not with them…

And then a storm came…a great wind…the seas rose…

They had rowed about 30 furlongs…about 3 and a half miles by this time…so they are out in the middle of the sea…

And they are afraid…being tossed to and fro

We know from the book of Matthews account that the disciples were afraid because of this great wind…

And all of a sudden they see Jesus WALKING ON THE SEA

And they are afraid…for they think He is a ghost (MARK)

And He says…Its me..do not be afraid

and when they brought Him in the boat…they were immediately at their destination…

AGAIN…

They have a need…similar to the bread and fish…

They need food to survive…

In this moment they need rescued to survive…

They were rowing against the waves and getting nothing from their own strength…

It is impossible…

Just a few hours after seeing the impossible happen…

Here they are again…

And again…He who is faithful…comes to do the impossible…

Here is what we have to see in these 2 miracles…

THAT WE HAVE A NEED…

Lets look at…

The Need

Bread (v22-31)

READ V22-31

Bread is significant to the Jews…

It is the staple food for them

It means sustenance…

It also represents God’s faithfulness to His people…

(manna in the wilderness…show bread in the tabernacle shows that God’s chosen people always have a seat at His table)

BREAD WAS LIFE TO THEM…

Their focus was on the physical always…

JESUS COMES AND TELLS THEM…

You have a greater need than bread

Stop concentrating on your physical needs

And focus on your spiritual need…

HOW MANY OF US TODAY DID I JUST DESCRIBE???

Saved or Unsaved…we are often focused on our physical state…

What we have or don’t have…

And if we do have…

How much of it we have…

We determine “how we are doing” based on our physical state

-Physical need/desire

-Financial need/desire

-Possessions

Jesus is telling them…You come to me to seek my hands but not my face…

You only seek and care about what is created not WHO created it…

They said to Him…”what sign do you show?”

And they tell of the bread (manna) from heaven in Exodus…

They are showing themselves no better than the Israelites walking through the wilderness..

“We are hungry…we are thirsty…we are going to die of hunger and thirst…OH NO!!!”

Before the Israelites got in the desert…they saw so many miracles…

Plagues- attack on all the false gods of Egypt…

The Red sea parted….The greatest army in the world destroyed…Pharaoh brought to his knees…

God was literally with them…Pillar of fire and smoke

AND STILL after all of that…they get in the wilderness and start crying about their physical state….

Look how the Lord responds…

READ 32-40

Eternal Life (v32-40)

You have a need that is greater than bread and water…

Look forward to:

John 6:49 “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.”

I AM GREATER…that I can fulfill that need evermore!!!

Notice that they question if His signs are greater than Moses…

Moses parted the Red Sea…

Moses gave us bread from heaven…

Notice Jesus just did both those same miracles…but way better!!!

Jesus said…I don’t need to part it…Ill walk on top of it!!!!

I TREAD ON THE STROMY SEAS…IT IS BENEATH ME…

And as for bread from heaven…

First off…He says Moses didn’t give you bread…God did…

And now…I AM the bread from heaven…and I have come down to give you something Moses could never provide for you

EVERLASTING LIFE!!!

BIG IDEA: Jesus has given us the only thing we truly need…Eternal life in Him!

There is nothing in this life more valuable than everlasting Life….

Hear this…you can have all the money…all the food…all the success…all the world….

And your still gonna die….

If your NOT a follower of Jesus…this is all you have…

These worldly possessions…

Without Jesus…you will go to work everyday…you will earn and you will buy…

Until you die…

Because the physical is ALL YOU HAVE…

Your work…your labor…is for meat that which perishes…

SO STOP WORKING FOR IT…

Instead…”do the work of God”

Jesus says in verse 29…”this is the work of God…BELIEVE IN ME”

BELIEVE TODAY…

And for the Christ followers in the room…

Just because we know this…doesn’t mean we don’t fall to it…

How often do we…who know the power of the Lord…doubt His ability to do the impossible in our lives…

And even worse than that…

How many of us know the Lord…but fall back into focusing on what we have or don’t have…

I don’t have the car I want…

I don’t have the house I want…

I don’t have the job I want…

I don’t have this or that…

YOU HAVE ETERNAL LIFE!!!!!

Stop seeking the things that are created to fulfill you…

AND START SEEKING THE CREATOR!!!!

The one who gave you life…

AND THE WAY YOU CAN BEGIN TO DO THAT IS TO REMEMBER HOW YOU GOT THAT ETERNAL LIFE…

It was bought and paid for…BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST!!!

Remember the cross!!!

So we are going to take some time to do that today…

To Remember…that eternal life was gifted to us…and how it was gifted to us…

COMMUNION:

We need the constant reminder of what He did for us out of His love for us!!

Together as a body of believers, we are going to take communion…

We are going to take a little bit more intentional quiet time as a church body to pray and remember Jesus’s death on the cross, the blood spilled that gave us eternal life!

Now, Communion is a time for those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone.

If you have not trusted Jesus with your eternal salvation, I ask that you not partake, but instead take this time to reflect on the truth that Jesus died for your sins on the cross, and through His resurrection you can live eternally with Him!

SO…COME UP AND GRAB THE CUP AND THE BREAD…(TABLES UP FRONT AND IN BACK)

AND GO BACK AND TAKE SOME TIME TO REMEMBER…

SO, TAKE THIS TIME IN SILENCE …AND WE WILL COME BACK TOGETHER AND TAKE THE BREAD AND THE CUP TOGETHER AS A CHURCH BODY….

QUIET PRAYER!! 3-5 MIN

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11,

“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for[f] you. Do this in remembrance of me.”[g]

TAKE THE BREAD AND EAT

25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

TAKE THE CUP AND DRINK

PRAY…AMEN