Feed My Soul

John 6:25–58 NKJV

And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to 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 him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Prayer

Introduction

30 times in John’s Gospel, Jesus says the phrase “I am” = “Ego eimi”

Seven times he uses “I am” with a metaphor

John 6 “I am the bread of life”

John 8 “I am the light of the world”

John 10 “I am the door of the sheep”

John 10 “I am the good shepherd”

John 11 “I am the resurrection and the life”

John 14 “I am the way, and the truth and the life”

John 15 “I am the true vine”

Previous Sermon “I who speak to you am he” - John 4

Just prior to this Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and two small fish

12 basket full left over - one for each disciple. Also symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel

Messianic expectation that Messiah—the prophet like Moses from Deut 18—would also bring bread from Heaven.

Message

John 6:25 (NKJV) And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

That’s the question you ask?

John 6:26 “Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

What have you done for me lately?

We hungry!

John 6:27–28 “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?””

What shall we do?

Works based faith.

Lost the relationship with God.

Romans 10:2–4 “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.””

Relationship, not religion.

Jesus-centered, not works centered.

So much more than works

Seek for the sake of seeking.

NOT what can you do for me.

John 6:30–31 “Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ””

Are you kidding me?!?

What sign?

He just fed 5000 of you.

Messiah to be better than Moses.

Mana was for 40 years.

You just fed us for one meal.

Isn’t that like us?

John 6:32–33 “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.””

Not from Moses

God.

God is my Father.

John 10:30 “I and My Father are one.””

Life to the world.

You trust in man, trust in God—the real giver of life

John 6:34 “Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.””

They still think He’s talking about actual bread.

He’s talking spiritually.

They are speaking in human ways.

John 6:35–36 “And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.”

Samaritan woman at the well.

John 4:10–13 “Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,”

“You have seen me and yet do not believe”

Miracles

Water into wine

Healing of the ruler’s son

Healing at the pool of Bethesda on the sabbath

Fed five thousand

How many times have you seen the miraculous works of God, yet didn’t believe?

Shifts gears:

John 6:37–40 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.””

Bronze serpent

John 3:13–14 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,”

Look at the bronze serpent and they were healed.

John 6:41–42 “The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?””

“Man, we know you from Whitmire. What are you talking about?”

John 6:43–47 “Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.”

God draws us

Jesus saves us.

God teaches.

But we must accept and learn.

We often are taught, but how often do we learn?

Many a class in high school and college, I was taught, but I didn’t learn.

We simply must accept the teaching of God.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Jesus continues...

John 6:48–51 “I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.””

Jesus is talking spiritually here, not concretely.

John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Not the Lord’s supper.

Spiritual words.

Concrete people.

Must be guided by the Holy Spirit.

So that our thoughts are spiritual, not fleshly.

John 6:52 “The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?””

Jews would NEVER eat human flesh.

Unclean

Sinful

Filthy rags

John 6:53 “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

Jesus is cooking

They ain’t eating.

Like me when mom made live and onions.

Blood is forbidden.

Deuteronomy 12:23 “... the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat.”

Leviticus 17:10 “‘… [God says He] will set [His] face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people.”

Jesus is telling them, so they think, that they must eat his actual flesh and blood.

They ain’t paying attention.

John 6:54–58 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.””

Give us this day our daily bread.

Hunger for Christ.

Thirst for Christ.

If you do, the Holy Spirit will indwell.

Life will come from within.

Joy from within.

Because Christ is abiding in you.

Joy will spring forth.

John 6:66 “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”

John 6:67–69 “Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.””

Which way will you answer?

Prayer and Altar Call