Jesus, the Bread of Life

Introduction

Has anyone ever made a trip to the grocery store/convenience store just for a snack you were craving?

Opening Illustration

The way I choose food/snacks.

Most times if I’m at a store picking out a snack for myself,

the biggest factor in deciding what I want is:

VALUE!

I want to get the most I can, for what I’m spending.

My wife and I were just talking about this the other day.

Sometimes we’ll go to Dollarama and grab a chocolate bar.

They’re a little cheaper there than other places.

But all the name brand chocolate bars are the same price… $.98 cents.

So I mentioned to Jessica that I will sometimes look at the chocolate bars,

and see how many grams are in it, so that I buy the one that’s the biggest.

Does anybody else do this?

I want to pick the thing that will best sustain me,

for the longest period of time,

for the least amount of money.

This actually leads me to buying the off-brand chocolate bars sometimes,

which in my opinion, aren’t actually that bad! Lol

I know that some of you would rather spend the money and get good quality.

Main Point of Sermon

But we know that a chocolate bar, or whatever treat you prefer,

doesn’t have the ability to fully satisfy or sustain you.

You’re going to to need more to keep you going.

There’s nothing in this life that truly satisfies our needs and desires.

That’s the lesson that Jesus wanted to teach those who were coming to Him.

We’ve been going through the Gospel According to John,

and last week we learned how Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 men,

with only 5 loaves and 2 fish.

After this we read in John 6:22-24…

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.

What we’re going to see shortly, is that

these people were seeking Jesus, hoping to get another free meal,

and Jesus wants them to know there’s more to life than food…

it doesn’t truly satisfy…

The only thing that truly satisfies the hunger in our longing hearts is:

Title

Jesus, the Bread of Life

This morning we are going to learn why Jesus, the Bread of Life,

is the only thing that can satisfy us.

Scripture

Announce

As I mentioned,

we’re going to be in John 6:22-71.

Introduce

Jesus has just miraculously fed the 5,000, with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

We learned last week it could have been around 20,000 people including women and children.

After that, we read of Jesus coming to His disciples walking on water,

as they were battling a storm crossing the sea of Galilee in a boat.

Jesus intends these to be signs that point to His identity.

That He is the Son of God,

and was sent by God,

to deliver His people.

Now, we pick up in verse 22 of John 6,

as Jesus begins teaching the people.

Remember the pattern we’ve seen in John is that:

John gives us a sign/miracle that Jesus performs,

followed by teaching.

The idea is the sign gives authority and weight to His teaching.

If Jesus can do the miracle that clearly shows His power/authority,

then He must also have the authority to teach.

Therefore, we should believe Him,

because He is the bread of life!

Billboard

Today, as we continue in John chapter 6, we’re going to be encouraged to:

Work for food that endures to eternal life

Work for food that satisfies and sustains you

Work for food that is always good for you

Prayer for Illumination

Lord…

Transition

The first thing we’re going to see today is that you should…

1. Work for food that endures to eternal life

The people are seeking Jesus,

but not because of his signs and the fact that they point to who he is.

They are seeking him because they want a free meal.

Jesus calls them to work for food that endures to eternal life,

rather than wasting their time on things that are temporal.

EXPLAIN

As they talk, Jesus encourages them to…

a. Believe in Jesus, God’s messenger

John 6:25–29 ESV

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 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.”

The work that Jesus calls them to is believing in the one whom God has sent.

They clearly understand that he is talking about himself.

Jesus has been sent from heaven by God,

to show his power and authority through signs, and

to teach about the kingdom of God.

Therefore they should believe in him!

b. Believe in Jesus, the bread from heaven

John 6:30–33 ESV

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.”

They ask Jesus to give them a sign,

citing the fact that God provided manna for their fathers in the wilderness.

It seems based on the way Jesus responds that they are referring to Moses as being the one who gave them the food,

and therefore the one they were putting their hope in.

Jesus tells them that it was God who gave them the manna, not Moses,

and now God is giving them true bread from heaven,

which Jesus is referring to himself.

He is the sign!

He is the food that endures to eternal life!

Therefore, they should believe in him!

Having been sent by God as the bread that endures to eternal life.

APPLY

FCF

Why are you seeking Jesus?

Is it because of the blessings that you hope to get from him in this life?

Maybe you wouldn’t say that you believe in the prosperity gospel,

but at the same time you’re hoping that God blesses you with health, wealth, and prosperity.

Don’t we ALL want these things!

We should not be working for the things that perish…

because we know that all the things of this world will perish.

PROP

We should be seeking and working for the food that endure to eternal life.

We should seek Jesus,

God‘s messenger from heaven, and

the true bread from heaven.

When we believe in him,

we have the hope of eternal life!

We have what truly satisfies the longing in our hearts.

ILLUSTRATE — Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler is currently ranked as the #1 golfer in the whole world!

He has been #1 for the last 115 consecutive weeks…

That’s about 2 years and 3 months.

Back in May, Scheffler won the Byron Nelson tournament,

and won almost $2 million dollars.

The tournament was special for him because it was in his hometown.

He dreamed of playing at that golf course, and winning that tournament as a kid.

A few weeks ago Scheffler was doing a press conference,

and speaking of winning that tournament, and being world #1, he said:

“It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes. That kind of euphoric feeling like to win the Byron Nelson Championship at home… I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf to have an opportunity to win that tournament.

And you win it. You celebrate. Get to hug my family. My sisters there. It's such an amazing moment. And then it's like, okay, now what are we going to eat for dinner? You know, life goes on.

I'm not out here to inspire the next generation of golfers. I'm not here to inspire somebody else to be the best player in the world because what's the point, you know? This is not a fulfilling life. It's it's fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart.”

There are many of us in the room who wish we were as good at golfing as Scheffler…

Yet here he is telling us it still doesn’t satisfy!

Summary

Maybe you’re not into golf,

but there are other things you’re chasing,

things you believe will satisfy you,

BUT THEY WON’T!

There is a sense of godly pride that God has built into this world that is good.

It’s good to work hard,

to do a good job, and

be successful,

but we should never find our sense of fulfilment in those things,

because they can’t!

They only leave us wanting more!

Let’s stop believing the lies that this world satisfies our hearts and our souls.

Jesus is the only One who can truly satisfy our hunger,

so let’s put our faith, hope, and trust in Him,

the bread from heaven that satisfies our hearts,

and endures to eternal life!

Transition

The next thing we see is that you should…

2. Work for food that satisfies and sustains you

The Jews were struggling to believe in Jesus,

because of where he came from and his teaching.

But in all of their doubts/questions/concerns,

they are refusing to believe in the One who could truly satisfy and sustain them.

EXPLAIN

You should…

a. Believe in Jesus, who will accomplish his mission

John 6:34–40 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. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jesus is telling them to trust him,

but they still don’t believe.

Jesus then makes the point that everyone who comes to him,

everyone whom the Father gives to him,

will be satisfied, never hunger/never thirst, and

be raised on the last day.

Jesus has been sent by God for a purpose,

and He will not fail!

Jesus will keep all those the Father gives Him, who will come to Him,

and raise them up on the last day!

Tension

Now there is a tension Jesus’ teaching that I want to address.

And that’s the tension between human free will and God’s sovereignty.

Jesus says that whoever comes to Him and everyone who believes,

will be saved/have eternal life/be raised on the last day.

But Jesus also addresses the fact that He has told them who He is, yet they haven’t believed.

Jesus then says, “All the Father gives me will come to me.”

Jesus is saying that He has been sent on a mission to save the people God the Father is giving Him.

GOD KNOWS all those who will be saved, and who will not.

This is called: Predestination

At it’s most basic level, predestination means…

Predestination:

Pre (before)

Destination (where you’re going)

Does God know, before the foundation of the world,

where every person is going, heaven or hell?

YES!

This is why we all should believe in predestination at it’s most basic level:

because we believe in an all-knowing, eternal God.

Where we may disagree,

is HOW God knows that.

Some people believe that God knows because chooses people;

Some people believe that God knows because He looks ahead and knows who will believe.

I do believe that God chooses people,

and I’ve had some good conversations with some of you who don’t believe that.

Here at GNC we do not make that a hill to die on.

We can disagree on this issue and still have fellowship,

because it doesn’t affect how we worship God, serve one another, and spread the gospel.

However God knows, we all still believe that we must share the Good News with the lost,

and God is the One who does the saving!

The thing I find so interesting about this section of Jesus’s teaching is that:

Jesus is perfectly fine with the tension between these two things!

On the one hand, in this passage Jesus says whoever comes will have eternal life…

On the other hand, in this passage Jesus says no-one can come to me unless the Father draws him…

Jesus doesn’t try to reconcile those two things,

He’s perfectly content to let that tension sit.

Is it true that whoever comes to Jesus will be saved?

YES!

Is it true that God alone draws and saves?

YES!

We must believe both of these things,

because they’re both biblical.

We shouldn’t feel the need to try and make sense of this tension,

because it doesn’t make sense to us!

Who can understand the mind of God?

NOONE!

Main Point of this section:

Jesus has been sent by God to do his will,

and he will be faithful to accomplish it!

Believe in Him!

b. Believe in Jesus, who gave his life for you

John 6:41–51 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’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The people doubt Jesus is being from heaven,

because they know his family and origin.

Jesus makes the point that if they really knew the Father

then they would know him, and

would come to him.

The tension between free will/human responsibility and

God sovereignty is continued.

Main Point of Section:

Everyone who believes in Jesus will be saved and

live for eternity.

Though Jesus doesn’t say it explicitly,

this will be accomplished through His death.

“And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

When we believe in Jesus,

and all that He accomplished through His life and death,

we have the hope of eternal life.

This truly is food that satisfies and sustains!

Transition

You should also…

c. Believe in Jesus, He is the ONLY way

John 6:52–59 ESV

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

The Jews again are struggling to believe,

this time because they don’t understand how Jesus will give them his flesh to eat.

Jesus does not explain how he is going to do this,

simply that it is the only way to eternal life.

If you do not accept/believe and come to God through Jesus’s sacrifice,

you are lost!

There is only one way to find life,

and it is through Jesus!

ILLUSTRATE

APPLY

Jesus is the food that truly satisfies and sustains you!

Believe in Him, because He will accomplish His mission.

He will raise you up on the last day.

Believe in Him, because He gave His life for you.

Believe in Him, because He is the ONLY way.

Nothing in this life satisfies us like Jesus!

So why do we struggle to put our faith in Him?

Even as believers we fail to trust Him as we should.

FCF

One of the reasons we struggle to truly put our faith in Jesus because

we don’t fully understand everything.

Like the Jews who couldn’t understand how Jesus came from heaven,

or how He could give them His flesh to eat,

and so they refused to believe.

Maybe you don’t understand as much as you think you should,

and therefore don’t trust and give yourself over to the Lord.

PROP

What you and I need to hear this morning is:

You don’t need to understand everything!

you simply need to believe in Jesus:

his miracles, his life, his teaching.

When you put your faith in him

you abide in him and have eternal life.

Don’t try and understand everything, because you can’t!

Deuteronomy 29:29 ESV

29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

There are secret things that are only for God to know.

But He has revealed enough for you and I to walk in obedience to Him!

FCF

Another reason we struggle to put our faith in Jesus because we don’t want him.

We don’t want transformation.

We don’t want him to change us from the inside out.

In fact, he’s quite confusing and mysterious.

“I don’t want all the religion, I just want to be blessed!”

Like the Jews who didn’t want Jesus,

they just wanted some free food!

This thinking leads us to believing Jesus is some kind of genie,

who grants our wishes and desires,

and leaves us feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled.

PROP

When you reject Jesus,

you are rejecting the one who can actually bring real satisfaction and fulfilment in your life.

You don’t want to come to him because you think you will have to give up too much.

You won’t get to enjoy the things of this world.

The truth is that you can’t really enjoy the things of this world

until you have true satisfaction in your life and in your heart.

To know that you are right with God,

that you have put your faith in Jesus, and

have the hope that you will be raised from the dead, and

live in his presence imperfection for all eternity,

it is only then that you can fully enjoy all the things that God has given us in this life,

recognizing that they all point us back to him!

Summary

Jesus gave His life for you,

and He came to fulfill His mission,

of raising all those who will believe in Him from the dead.

Do you believe in Him?

He is the ONLY way to heaven!

Transition

Next we are going to see…

3. Work for food, that is always good for you

Many of Jesus is disciples become offended at His teaching

and choose to walk away/stop following him.

But the 12 disciples are willing to stay

because they understand who Jesus is.

Even though he will say difficult things,

and they won’t always understand,

they trust him!

We should do the work of trusting in Jesus,

even when it’s hard or doesn’t make sense,

because it is always good for you!

EXPLAIN

a. Believe in Jesus because he speaks the truth

John 6:60–65 ESV

60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

Many of His disciples are questioning him because of His hard teaching.

The problem isn’t with Jesus’ teaching,

the problem is with their hard hearts.

Jesus says “if this offends you,

what if you were to see me ascending back to heaven?”

“You think that’s offensive? You ain’t seen nothing!”

The point though, is that they don’t believe!

They don’t believe in Him, therefore they don’t believe His teaching.

They need to be born again by the Spirit,

so that they understand that His words are true.

Jesus isn’t interested in tickling peoples ears by only saying things they agree with.

He speaks the truth because

He IS truth, and

He knows the truth is the best thing for us.

That’s why we should put our trust in Him,

because He’s always interested in giving us what’s good for us.

Transition

We should also…

b. Believe in Jesus because He is the Holy One of God

John 6:66–71 ESV

66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 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.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

This section I believe is actually an enacted parable.

Jesus used parables, which are stories, to teach about the kingdom of God.

An enacted parable, is a real life story that is acted out, that highlights a spiritual truth.

This whole time, Jesus has been teaching about the fact that He is revealing Himself as having been sent by God,

but there are those who don’t believe and won’t accept Him.

But whoever comes to Him He will grant eternal life to.

Now we see in real life this principle acted out!

Those who don’t believe in Him, reject Him and walk away,

while those who do believe in Him, continue to follow Him!

Many disciples decide to leave Jesus

because of his hard teaching.

But the disciples remain because they understand who Jesus is.

Do they understand all of what Jesus is saying?

NOPE! But they believe in Him,

so they are willing to continue following Him.

Since Jesus is the Holy One of God,

the disciples realize that there is nowhere else for them to go.

He is the truth, and

has the words of truth in life.

They trust and believe Jesus,

and therefore trust and believe His teaching,

that it must be good for them,

since He is God, and always speaks truth!

ILLUSTRATE

Mary’s Belief

In our church Bible reading plan,

we just got to the NT.

In Luke 1 we read that the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary,

to tell her she would conceive and bear a son, Jesus,

who would be great,

be called Son of the Most High, and

have an everlasting throne!

Luke 1:34 ESV

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

Luke 1:35 ESV

35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.

Does Mary understand all of the implications of this?

NO! Not at all!

But what is her response?

Luke 1:38 ESV

38 And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Summary

Even though God’s Word to Mary through the angel Gabriel is hard to understand,

Mary submits herself to the Lord.

APPLY

FCF

Some of the things found in the Bible are incredibly difficult to understand/comprehend.

We may be tempted at times to

water it down, or

choose not to believe it, or

even choose not to follow Jesus at all because it offends us.

PROP

We need to understand that the problem is not with God‘s Word,

the problem is with us.

We don’t see or understand as we ought to.

What we need, is the Holy Spirit to

illuminate our hearts and

give us wisdom and understanding.

We must come submissively to God‘s Word

to be changed and transformed by it,

not manipulate it to fall in line with what we believe is true.

God may not always speak the things we want to hear,

but He will always tell us the things that we need to hear.

We must recognize that He is God,

and there is no other way to be saved and

have the hope of eternal life than through Jesus.

Therefore we must understand that we are the ones who don’t see clearly,

and must submit ourselves to God and what He has revealed in His Word,

calling on Him to transform us as He opens our eyes and ears to know Him better.

Summary

Believe in Jesus!

He always speaks the truth, even when it’s hard.

But He is God, and He knows what’s best for you.

He will never deceive, mislead, or trick you.

He is the bread of life,

and His purpose is to lead you safely to eternity in heaven,

and He will not fail His mission!

Closing

We have talked a lot about believing in Jesus this morning.

Maybe you’re thinking,

“Joe, I already believe in Jesus!”

I’m glad to hear that!

But the truth is, that none of us believe in Jesus as much as we should.

What I mean by that is,

we may believe, and have saving faith in Christ,

but don’t trust Him enough in our daily lives.

We still think we have to do it all on our own.

What area of your life is God calling you to a deeper trust in Him?

Closing Illustration

Jairus was a ruler from synagogue,

and he came to Jesus begging Him to heal his little daughter who was close to death.

While they were on the way they were delayed because:

a large crowd was pressing in from all sides, and

Jesus’ interaction with the woman healed from her bleeding.

I can imagine how impatient Jairus was getting,

thinking about his daughter!

Right after the woman was healed,

some people from Jairus’s house come,

and tell him his daughter is dead!

Mark 5:36 ESV

36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

After arriving at the house, Jesus,

Mark 5:41 ESV

41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.”

Mark 5:42 ESV

42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

Point to Christ (How does the Gospel speak to this?)

Jesus has the power to raise from the dead,

because He is the Holy One of God!

And even though He is God,

The only work that Jesus requires of us, is to believe in Him!

And that’s not work at all!

It is faith… trusting Jesus.

And when you believe in Him,

He will gives you the truth of His Word,

and lead and guide you by His Spirit…

When you believe in Him,

He satisfies and sustains you through His sacrifice,

and He will be faithful to accomplish His mission,

and raise you up on the last day…

When you believe in Him,

you will receive eternal life,

because Jesus is the true bread from heaven!

Land the Plane (Last call to action)

I don’t know all that you’re going through in your life...

But I do know that you can trust Jesus!

He has the power to give you hope!

That doesn’t always mean He will answer in the way you want,

But it does mean that He will satisfy you with His presence,

giving you hope that extends far beyond this life into eternity!

No matter how hard your life gets,

no matter how challenging the things are that you’re going through,

learn to call on Jesus, believing in Him and His power!

He will give you what you need in the moment to continue resting in Him,

trusting that will use it all for His glory, and your good!

Let’s pray…