The Last Word: John 6:25-59
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I am the Bread of Life
I am the Bread of Life
● The stakes are getting higher…
Miracles, crowd following, momentum building.
● What had been happening leading up to this passage?
They had witnessed Jesus;
- feed 5000 with 5 loaves and two fishes
- Walk on water
- Heal people
The crowd is literally waiting around for the next encounter with Jesus
● Difficult to understand
Some of his closest followers stopped following him even though they had just seen what they had seen.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
Why was it such a big word for the time, for the disciples and let's be honest for us today…
I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has (possesses now) eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day.
What does this claim mean to them: God the provider (manna to the Israelites in the OT)
Bread as sustenance of life
Jesus introducing a new spiritual meaning of life ie relationship with Jesus.
That we can have life, not just existence though Jesus.
-The restless soul is at rest and the hungry heart is satisfied.
Jesus says in order to gain these that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood…
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
And for us today… eating the flesh and drinking the blood? The translated word implies an almost carnal eating of the flesh. Devouring and ripping apart…
It’s getting weirder right?
What does it mean for them, us and me?
The image Jesus uses of bread implies that there is a hunger in all of us...
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
Theory of what drives human motivation… ie we are motivated firstly byt the bottom level ideas and works our way up.
Best example- teachers in the room: have you ever tried to teach a child that is hungry or tired?
Have you ever sat through a lecture and been lacking in sleep (not just bored) or skipped breakfast.
Very hard to stay motivated on lecture or the lesson.
Uses this image of something that is at our very core, the very basis of our survival is centred on what Jesus is claiming… to be bread, the sustenance is to meet the very basic and foundational needs that we have.
Jesus in this passage speaks to three needs that exist in every person for all time;
Jesus in this passage speaks to three needs that exist in every person for all time;
Salvation
Acceptance
Fulfillment
● Salvation:
● Salvation:
The people needed saving. Their actions showed this, their need showed this. There was a far greater need in the people that could not be met by anything that they had encountered to this point. And they were waiting for a saviour to rescue them from them.
We need a saviour. Without one we are ensnared, tangled and weighed down by the burden of our sin and the consequences that follow this. The bible says that the consequence of sin is death. Which means we carry not only the weight of eternity without God but we carry the burden of a God-less life with no way to ease this or fix this.
We need a saviour.
Without one we are ensnared, tangled and weighed down by the burden of our sin and the consequences that follow this. The bible says that the consequence of sin is death. Which means we carry not only the weight of eternity without God but we carry the burden of a Godless life with no way to ease this or fix this. We need saving from it. We need a saviour.
Jesus is beginning to tell the people that He is the saviour they’ve been waiting for. He’s beginning to lay down the heavy so their eyes can be open to their need of him.
● Acceptance:
● Acceptance:
There was a hunger in them to be apart of something…
Jewish people were the ‘chosen people’. Doesn’t get more set apart then that. Except that there was something not quite finished. They wanted more.
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
Jesus in his words in this passage is trying to re-shape their image of God.
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.
V35 Jesus replied to them, “[g]I am the Bread of Life. The one who comes to Me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in Me [as Savior] will never be thirsty [for that one will be sustained spiritually].
Accepted by the Father v39-40
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.”
No one can come to me except by God’s hand. Reshaping their image of a distant vengeful God that they had believed in.
Jesus was trying to show his disciples that God was the loving father that sacrificed his greatest gift for them.
We too desire to be accepted. To be part of something, seen by someone, accepted as part of or into something bigger then just us. It can drive pretty much everything we do on a relational level.
Have you ever been a visitor somewhere? Been new to something? Felt like you were outside the click?
Its our fundamental need to be part of something, accepted. And its how God made us so he knows that we need it.
● Fulfillment:
● Fulfillment:
They had come wanting more… more food v26, more miracles v30, more knowledge v28.
Roman culture was about consuming
Often feasts and banquets that today would have been thousands of dollars
So excessive that people would take a drug to make them vomit between meals so that the next course might taste better than the previous.
Extravagant food, clothing
Deep emptiness and dissatisfaction that was trying to be filled
Not so different from today where we look for something, anything to fill the need each of us have for something more. Without Jesus we are either sitting in a place of dissatisfaction or seeking to have it fulfilled.
Empty Full
Physical- empty bellies, focus on clothing
Emotional- need to fulfill emotional emptiness ie hopelessness, despair
Spiritual- deeper need in each of us that needs a saviour
There are varying degrees of need
Bread to a starving person is the most incredible sight, but bread to a person that has never had to fight for a meal is just wasted calories.
Disciples weren’t hung up on the words he was saying- their bellies were full, their appetite was temporarily fixed. They were hung up on what the words he was saying meant.
It’s a hard word.
Jesus was saying I am all you need.
As soon as i say i need God, i lose 51% of the vote. I am no longer in control. Giving up control goes against the large strong part of us that longs to be in control. It’s been around since the beginning of time. We rearrange our lives to stay in control...
Adam and Eve: they wanted to be like God
Camden thinks they don’t need Jesus (our bellies are full in many ways) | Perhaps Camden doesn't want to need Jesus.
Jesus warns the disciples of becoming full on the temporary. It’s not going to last.
And he gives an invitation to something far greater than their own desires, their own control. It was an invitation to not just survive from feed to feed but to have life!
So we come back to this claim that Jesus makes…
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.
Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].
AMP version helps with this image of eating his flesh and blood defined by belief and acceptance, adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith in Jesus.
That is… Full integration with Jesus. Its no longer me… no longer autonomous.
To devour Jesus relationally, consume him with carnal nature,
consume and digest who I am
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Become, act, love, sacrifice like Jesus.
● The consequences of such a word...
● The consequences of such a word...
I am all you need…
To admit this, to consume Jesus we are saying that Jesus is enough, the only option.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
To whom shall i go?
I am not autonomous, i need you, i need truth, forgiveness, life, hope, relationship, salvation.
And i cannot get these things myself.
Because who really is in control…?
● Application
● Application
What does it mean for Jesus to be our bread of life?
Accepting our need for more and believing that Jesus is the answer to this- as our saviour, our father (loving, generous, kind), and all we need (fulfillment).
Are you wanting bigger, better, more… Good indication that you’re seeking something more.
The disciples couldn’t see what their hearts needed because they were thinking too much about their stomachs.
Georgie Insta inspiration…’once you stop chasing the wrong things, the right ones catch up with you…’
Know that this is not met by a vengeful, distance God but by a loving Father that says I’ve got something far better for you… You don’t need to keep upgrading. Just come to me. Eat from me, consume me.
Jesus is our daily portion, to be consumed each day.
Jesus has more for us each day… we can’t live off old moldy or dry manna.
Communion next week: symbol of this. Not just a tradition or a ritual that we do. But a public act of standing as a body to
Salvation:
Salvation:
Jesus I know that I have fallen short need help. I need a savior. I cannot do this life on my own. I believe in you. I believe in your life and that you died and took the weight of all of my sin- my guilt and shame. I believe that through you i am set free. And i invite you into my life.
Acceptance:
Acceptance:
I am a child of God. Part of something bigger. Stop fighting to get into the click, you’re in the family of the most high God. Stop craving for acceptance from people, your FB feed. These things are not wrong, they’re just not enough.
Fulfillment:
Fulfillment:
When there is a need in me, a hunger then I go to Jesus and eat his flesh and drink his blood.
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.