The Bread Of Life - John 6

INTRO: Life can feel like a wilderness. The Israelites wandered hungry, thirsty, and uncertain, learning that only God could provide, protect, and guide them. Our wilderness may not be desert sand, but it’s just as real—financial strain, broken relationships, storms we never saw coming. The wilderness strips away our control and forces us to ask: “Who will take care of me here?”

That’s exactly where John 6 speaks. A hungry crowd in the wilderness, disciples straining in the dark against the wind—and in both moments Jesus steps in. He doesn’t just give bread, He is the Bread. He doesn’t just calm storms, He walks on the waves. In your wilderness, He is more than enough.

“Prophet Like Moses”. In John 6, John intentionally draws parallels between Jesus and Moses, and between the crowds and the Israelites in the wilderness.

The Israelites saw so many great things from God, they saw God provide in many great ways!

In the Ex.16, the Jews started to grumble to Moses and Aaron saying that life was better in Egypt because they were hungry and tired out here.

Seems irrational to us. But there is something about physical hunger that seems to short circuit our rational minds. Snickers “you’re not you when you’re hungry” - my favorite one is betty white playing football, she eats snickers bar, and she turns back to normal which is a regular guy playing football. There’s some truth to that, when we’re hungry we’re not quite level headed. To prove it, this sermon is going to be twice as long while we smell potluck! (See, you’re already getting irrational and getting ready to get up and leave).

God wants us to be more than our fleshly selves and desires. But God didn’t take them out of egypt to make them suffer — He hears them and provides for them. Each day they wake up there is this bread that has been provided all over the wilderness, it’s white and sweet like honey and call it “Manna”, bread from heaven. And for the next 40 years they will eat this providence of God on a daily basis, relying entirely on God to provide for them.

God providing was all for a purpose of understanding. Moses tells them that in Deut.8 that they need to know that the point behind all the physical provision is that they recognize that there is NO ONE including themselves that has the ability to provide EVERYTHING they need. Deuteronomy 8:3 “...that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

God is saying put your trust in me for your survival! He brought bread from Heaven to earth to help them in their needs and understanding....

Its God bringing a part of heaven to earth...

What better foreshadowing of Jesus? There is layer upon layer of readying the mind of the Israelites, and us as well, for the Messiah. And in John 6 he declares Himself to be “The Bread of Life” in the conversation with the Israelites in a wilderness setting about Moses and Manna after he had provided food for 5,000 of them in a miraculous way, he was providing for their physical needs but was trying to point them to something profoundly spiritual and eternal!

John 6

V.1-4

Moses Parallels:

Large crowd of Jews wandering with Him, they were in a more spiritual wilderness desperately needing provision.

The setting of a mountain, very similar to the image of Moses going up Mt.Sinai

Passover - Began with Moses and the Israelites, fulfilled with Jesus as the ultimate lamb sacrifice

V.2, their motive in following isn’t what it should be. They’re seeking Jesus in order to “get” from Jesus.

Why do you follow? Get out of Hell free card? Fix my problems in life? Do we ask Jesus to clean up the mess we leave behind but not to clean up us and change us? These things are shallow and self-seeking if that’s all there is to it.

V.5-7

“It’s an impossible situation!” — I’m glad he admitted that there was no way they could do it. It highlights the fact only God could!

But that’s the point. Jesus wanted His disciples to see their limits so they would recognize His power.

Here’s the lesson:

Sometimes God allows our plans to fall through.

It’s not to crush us, but to remind us that the solution is beyond what we can calculate or control.

Faith isn’t about predicting what God will do; it’s about trusting that He can do what we’ve never seen before.

It’s hard to anticipate God doing something you haven’t seen done yet. (RESURRECTION)

V.8-14

“The Prophet” = Deuteronomy 18:15 where Moses spoke saying “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—”

There were many prophets God sent. Prophet means “FORTH-TELLER”, a mouthpiece for God.

BUT...there would only be ONE prophet like this, they referred to Him as THE prophet, understanding the link of Him and being the ultimate leader of God’s people.

And they got it right!!...yet they still got it wrong.

You and I can sit here and read about Jesus and hear about Him and what God has done, but if we don’t spiritually position ourselves to really hear and see we will miss what God wants us to grasp on to.

Jesus uses this sign as that very thing, a sign that points to something else. He uses it to show something about Him OTHER THAN Jesus having a wow factor.

V.15

Why did He withdraw? The enthusiasm of the people is about who He ACTUALLY is.

Sometimes we can be in love with “the wrong Jesus”...they are in such a poor spiritual condition that they aren’t seeing Jesus as they should.

If our enthusiasm isn’t for the right Jesus, I can’t help but wonder if He’d pull away from us if we’re not seeking the Biblical Jesus for Biblical reasons.

It’s vital for us to “come & see” Jesus, the real Jesus because…

A false picture of Jesus is just as dangerous as rejecting Him outright. The crowd in v.15 wanted a political king who would overthrow Rome. Their “Jesus” was a mirror of their desires, not the reality of who He was.

A shallow view of Jesus leads to shallow discipleship. When He doesn’t do what we expect — when He doesn’t fix life on our timetable, when He allows suffering, when His words cut across our comfort zones — then we’ll turn back just like the disciples did in v.66.

V.16-21

Jesus pulls away from His closest 12 as well! They likely were part of the crowd that were ready to make Jesus a King that fit their desires and their views!

So, out of only 7 miracles in the Gospel of John, why does John include this more “private” miracle with such enormity and awestruck results that is only between Jesus and the Apostles? Because Jesus needed to win them back.

Jesus shows them that He is so much more than they’re seeking. He’s not a political king. Don’t box Jesus into your politics. He is King, but He’s not just king of a nation, He’s King overall Creation.

Fix your eyes upon Jesus, the real Jesus!

V.25-26

Just like the Israelites struggled with their own pure motives of following in the OT, so did many of those who followed Jesus - and even still today right?

They went to great lengths to find Jesus and get more from Him —— but how many really went to great lengths to truly follow?

They missed the sign pointing — Jesus didn’t come to satisfy our worldly appetites! But to heal and sustain our souls!

V.27

He’s asking them to overcome the temptation to be “hangry” and lose sight of what’s really important when their physical being isn’t satisfied from their perspective.

What are you HUNGRY for? What SUSTAINS you day by day pushing you forward in the direction your life is going?

ILLUSTRATION: “ersatz bread”, ersatz means “substitute”. In WWI & WWII this bread was made when food was scarce for soldiers or mainly prisoners of war. They’d make bread with saw dust. It’d look similar and seem to have substance and fill you, but it really was void of anything healthy or beneficial.

Are you filling your life with “ersatz bread”—things that look like fulfillment (success, pleasure, relationships, money) but ultimately poison you? Or are you taking the true bread of life?

Your life’s direction always reveals your hunger… It might be that we have to change our cravings!!!

Do we want Jesus for the fact that He’s the son of God and a loving savior, or do I just want things from Him and blessings I think I’m going to get if I follow Him?

V.28

They want a “checklist”.

“as long as I’m in the pew Sunday and I sing a little and give a little, and as long as I pray a little in my week, and as long as I try to cuss less and be nicer and clean up my act - as long as I do those things I’ll make it to heaven one day”… anyone else think and treat it what we’re doing that way? Sure was a lot of emphasis on what “me myself and I” are making sure I do to get me there... If you think that sums up Christianity, you’re missing a lot.

A checklist faith is

Shallow — it can make us feel religious without actually knowing Jesus.

Exhausting — you’re always wondering if you’ve done enough.

Dangerous — because it puts the spotlight on self instead of the Savior.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

A checklist approach isn’t TRUE BELIEF...

V.29

BELEIVE

That’s the whole purpose of this book. John 20:30–31 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Biblical Belief - action and commitment that at the heart of it is TRUST. Trust in God is the motivation to get moving and stay moving!

V.30-33

It wasn’t Moses who made heaven and earth collide, it was God who gives life and sustains us! Jesus is SO MUCH MORE than the prophet Moses!

Jesus is the one giving the miracle bread, not an agent of God but God Himself!

Jesus is King - no doubt about it. But Jesus is showing that He has come to rule our lives not by military might, but by being the bread of life, our SUFFICIENT everything. Not by subduing armies, but satisfying souls. Not conquer with the power of armed forces but overcoming death itself by Himself for His people.

V.34

They miss it because they’re too caught up in the physical, their ears are tuned only to hear what they DESIRE to hear....

This is a dangerous place to be spiritually: hearing Jesus’ words, but filtering them through our own desires. It’s possible to listen to every lesson, read Scripture regularly, and still only latch on to what fits our wants instead of what God is actually saying.

How do I avoid that danger? I’ve got to take a real hard honest evaluation of myself, and I may not like what I see. If I don’t — GOOD, now I know what to change.

God is asking you and me “What are you going to do from here forward?” God cares more about changing where I’m going! But I’ve got to have the right guide for the journey and the right provision for the spiritual wilderness.

V.35-40

V.35

You don’t yet know me, but I’m trying to teach you! You don’t grasp my power and the glory of what I’m doing!

V.39

Perhaps that’s what Jesus was showing in the sign of the bread, v.12, gathering up all the pieces and leaving none behind.

In John 6:12 “And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” —- that word “LOST” literally means, destroy/parish/kill....if we were wondering why Jesus used that specific word before, we’re not now.

It was part of the sign and object lesson where Jesus is showing us He is here to gather and save — to do that which only God has the power to do!

V.40 he describes what He later states in v.51. He explains it beforehand.

To eat of the true bread = real belief, which is 100% trust in Him and wholehearted following of Him with pure motives!

Jesus is stating that the story of the Manna in the wilderness was about Him! It was pointing to a deeper truth than just a full stomach.

He points to a DEEPER NEED we each have! And what is that?

A Reconciled Relationship With God

Reconcile = bring back into the right relationship.

Romans 5:10 “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”

Just like the Israelites in the wilderness, in the spiritual wilderness that we’re all in, we’re powerless to provide for ourselves our deepest need so God provides it HIMSELF, sent down from Heaven!

Jesus is saying in this chapter that you need to rely on me and ALL your spiritual needs will be met! God says pursue the CREATOR of all things and He will provide what you NEED. There’s a lot of faith there that’s needed to accept “If I Have Jesus, I will ALWAYS have what I NEED.”

Jesus’ followers, and us, recognize this is a hard teaching. John 6:60 “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”… John 6:66 “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”

What or Who are you relying on to satisfy you? Where is your sense of significance? What are you hungering for and what are you feeding yourself with? Be honest.

What would need to change for you to seek Him FIRST (Matt.6:33), what step do you need to take to become so spiritually connected to Him that even all of your physical necessities become secondary to your pursuit of God?

Jesus says “let the thing you crave be ME! And if you do, you will have everything you need between now and when you cross over into eternity”.

We all need spiritual sustenance. Will you let the spiritual hunger for Jesus be the thing your pursue above everything else?